Some ramblings about my experiences on our AK trip, which included Glacier Bay.
Our family went via Princess Cruise package in 2016. The ship we took made for a very stable platform the day we visited. If the temperature is nice, get up the the bow an hour or so ahead of time to take pictures of the bay as you enter and go to the ice face. Note that the ship is allowed to only approach to a certain distance from the glacier face. The distance varies with the size of the ship. The ship then used the bow/stern thrusters to turn the ship counter clockwise about 2 mph so all areas of the ship could see the ice face. I was in the bow (go early to get to the front--it fills up) and used a tripod to take panoramics. Even with the legs closer together, it was a better platform than handheld. Everything stitched together well, in spite of the movement of the ship. Don't make the mistake of going inside to your room when the ship begins to leave. Go to the stern. I was the only one there as we left. It's a different show, going to and leaving from, even though the scenery is the same! Don't miss half the show. I continued to take panoramics on the tripod until I got tired of it. Since there was no cross wind, the trip out was protected from wind.
I took a MePhoto tripod, 16" folded, max height 62", 3.6lbs, load rating 17lb. I could not afford carbon fiber. On that I used K-1 and DFA 28-105 for Glacier Bay. A prime will give you maximum sharpness, but you do not know how far you will be from the ice face. I recommend a zoom for that reason.
There
will be a breeze if you need to swap lenses. I took a small garbage bag (get one with ties so you can attach it to your wrist, they don't want garbage in the bay--bags kill whales) so I could change lenses in the bag. Practice at home in a breeze. You could also zip shut a jacket, put your hands through the sleeves to the inside for changing, assuming the jacket does not shed on the inside. If I had to do it over again, I would wear a light photographer's vest with pockets for lenses, or a couple of fanny packs to carry them.
I overloaded a backpack. I got real weary by the end of two weeks, as I did not want to leave gear in the cabin when I was gone. My gear included a spare body, at least 4 or 5 primes, which included a macro lens and a 300mm. I did not use most of it. Put all the gear you want to take together. Carry it (including tripod) with you everywhere you want to go for three days straight prior to the trip. You will quickly find out what is too much.
We were blessed with excellent weather. Only 2 days with some minor precipitation. I'm told that is unusual. Do yourself a favor and purchase a couple of plastic camera & lens capes so you can take photos in a drizzle, light rain, or mist. Carry a few extra microfiber cloths to clean the front of your protective filter when it mists up. I'm glad I did. Also get a spare inexpensive 3rd party lens cap for each lens size. A baggie & rubber band works in a pinch. It took a bit more time, but I put my cameras and all my lenses in heavy duty ziplock bags for a bit more protection, and put a few extra in my suitcase. Bring or buy plenty of Deet based mosquito repellent, and wear a shirt or light jacket they cannot bite through. Note: Deet is incompatible with some fabrics. Mosquitoes can ruin an outing, and sometimes the AK ones are real bad.
If I had to do it again, my essentials would be two bodies (I had K-5IIs & K-1), DFA 28-105, macro lens, 15mm LTD, 12-24 sigma, a 300mm prime or lens that zooms zooms to 300mm, HD 1.4x converter, two chargers & spare batteries, 256GB SD cards (at least 128GBs for K-5IIs) so you don't run out during a day of shooting, light duty laptop for transferring and backing up files from cards, and one or two small 3T drives. Don't worry about deleting files until you get home. I wasted too much time doing that on the trip.
And now for the bay itself. All images are K-1 & DFA 28-105 unless otherwise noted. This is an 8 image panorama. 28mm, F8, 1/750th sec, ISO 100
Glacier Bay Panoramic
This is 26 images combined. 105mm, F8, 1/350, ISO 100.
Glacier Bay National Park
This is an actual pixel crop from above.
Glacier Face Detail
Here is the view
leaving the bay. 58mm, F13, 1/180th sec, ISO 100.
If you take the crop factor of the K-5IIs into account, a zoom of 18-70mm should give you the same angle of view I had at Glacier Bay with the K-1 & DFA 28-105.
One final thought. Insure your gear before you leave. I did it a day or two before I left. I'm glad I did.
When on the whale watching tour I had my K-1 & 300mm on tripod knocked over when a wave hit. Both unusable. Both covered by insurance.
I was glad that day I had the heavy backpack along. I would have gotten better pictures with the 300mm, but at least I got better than the iPhones I saw!
This is an actual pixel crop, taken with the spare K-5IIs and the DFA 28-105 at 105mm. Hence photoptimist's encouragement for a longer lens if possible. No matter what you take, you are going to get great pictures, and have a wonderful time. I hope to go back sometime.
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