Sitka Photo SketchbookÂ
My upcoming trip to Sitka, Alaska is primarily a photo-outing. I lived in Sitka for eight years, and despite our travels around the world since then, it remains one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. During this trip, I will do my best to capture some of the emotions and beauty of an amazing place. This page is not really a sketchbook, but it is designed to help me compose a set of images around very specific memories.
Logistics
Tentative Calendar
9/22 Fly to Sitka
9/24 or 9/25 Allen Marine Cruise
10/3 Fly to ABQ
Tour Options and Links
Sitka Zodiac Adventures (through Sept 24)
Russian Bishop's House (through Sept 30)
Tides and Sun
9/23 Sunrise 6:49 am | Sunset 6:55 pm
10/2 Sunrise 7:08 am | Sunset 6:31 pm
Best high tides, morning: 9/25 8:32 am (7.1), 9/26 10:01 am (7.4), 9/27 11:00 am (7.9), 9/28 11:40 am (8.4)
Best high tides, afternoons: 9/22 4:14 pm (11), 9/23 5:01 pm (10.2), 9/24 6:01 pm (9.3), 9/29 12:11 pm (8.8), 10/1 1:02 pm (9.6), 10/2 1:25 pm (9.9)
Best low tides, morning: 9/22 10:06 am (2.5), 9/23 10:52 am (3.6), 9/24 11:52 am (4.6)
Best low tides, afternoons: 9/25 1:22 (5.2), 9/26 3:11 pm (5.0), 9/27 4:40 pm (4.3), 9/28 5:23 pm (3.5), 9/29 6:02 pm (2.5), 9/30 6:38 pm (1.7)
RAINY DAY PHOTOGRAPHY
Sitka Rains
Starrigavan estuary birds and other wildlife
Shoot any time of the day as long as their is enough light
Shoot from the shelter to stay out of the rain
Tripod or monopod, 300mm lens, possibly with 2x extender
Starrigavan muskeg trail
Large Tripod DSLR Video 1: Landscape video of the muskeg in the rain
Small Tripod DSLR Video 2: Shooting from low to the boardwalk, catch the rain falling on the boardwalk with the landscape view in the background
Gimbal Video 1: Walking up from the forest onto the muskeg
Russian Bishop's House
Any time of day (open until sept 30 every day 9-5, starting oct 1 closed)
Handheld, medium-to-wide angle lenses
Totem Park (Sitka National Historic Park)
Any time of day while raining
Rainy day is an option, but secondary to overcast or foggy days
Experiment with long exposures, especially if people are walking on the trail
Take as much rain protection as possible to protect the camera
Tripod, shutter release, ND filters, medium-to-wide angle lenses
Raptor Center
Any time of day (open until sept 29 every day 8-4, starting sept 30 Tu-Fr 10-3)
Tripod on rainy day, all lenses plus 2x extender
Whale Park stairway
Any time of day
Should work fine on either overcast or rainy day
Shoot from the bottom of the stairs looking up, capturing the stairs ascending through the forest
Tripod, shutter release, medium-to-wide angle lenses
Sitka Rains Video
St Michaels from KCAW
Gimbal | Tripod
Seiling Cove Harbor
Tripod
Across channel from UAS
Tripod
Starrigavan Creek near cabin
Gimbal | Tripod
Starrigavan Estuary
Tripod
Starrigavan Muskeg Trail
Gimbal | Tripod
Heart Lake reflection
Tripod
Raptor Center
Tripod
Whale Park Stairway
Gimbal | Tripod
Totem Park Trail and Bridge
Gimbal | Tripod
Sitka Rains Audio
Background bird noise at raptor center
Rain coming down on the street
Rain coming down on still water
Rain coming down on boardwalk
Water flowing in creek
Rain coming down on umbrella
Rain coming down the roof of the Starrigavan shelter
OVERCAST DAY PHOTOGRAPHY
Starrigavan estuary birds and other wildlife
Shoot any time of the day as long as their is enough light
Shoot from the shelter, boardwalk or bridge
Tripod or monopod, 300mm lens, possibly with 2x extender
Starrigavan estuary and creek, salmon spawning (if they are still there)
Shoot any time of the day as long as their is enough light
Tripod or monopod, kit lens or 300mm lens, possibly with 2x extender
Polarizing filter
Swan Lake, birds if present
Shoot any time of the day as long as their is enough light
Tripod or monopod, 300mm lens, possibly with 2x extender
Sitka roses from near the Pioneer Home (if they are in season)
Any time of day, but mid day while overcast is best
Shoot low ISO to saturate colors, but faster ISO if it's windy
Tripod, shutter release, ND filters, medium-to-wide angle lenses
Totem Park (Sitka National Historic Park)
Any time of day, but mid day while overcast is best
If it's foggy, make totem trail the highest priority
Experiment with long exposures, especially if people are walking on the trail
When shooting the trail, get camera as high as possible to minimize the size of the gray featureless walking surface
Tripod, shutter release, ND filters, medium-to-wide angle lenses
From UAS Campus, the eagle tree
Shoot any time of the day
Shoot from the parking lot looking up to the tree, if there are eagles present
Possibly shoot from the car to avoid spooking eagle
Handheld or monopod, medium-angle to 300mm lens
Russian Orthodox CemeteryÂ
Shoot any time of the day
Handheld or tripod, all lenses
Whale Park tide pools
Any time of day, though low tide is best
Works best on an overcast day to reduce glare on the water
Tripod or monopod, maybe shutter release, all lenses
Salmonberries from one of the trails
Any time of day, but mid day while overcast is best
Shoot low ISO to saturate colors, but faster ISO if it's windy
Tripod, shutter release, ND filters, medium-to-wide angle lenses
Whale Park stairs video
Gimbal Video 1: Walking down the stairs
Gimbal Video 2: Walking back up the stairs
Creek video and audio (Starrigavan, totem park, sawmill, etc)
Large Tripod DSLR Video 1: Shoot the creek running down towards the camera, possibly from the middle of the creek. Long video, at least 10 minutes. Â
Audio 1: Attach the audio recorder to the tripod leg using the magic arm, and capture sound for at least 10 minutes.
PARTLY CLOUDY OR BRIGHT SUN PHOTOGRAPHY
Starrigavan estuary birds and other wildlife
Shoot any time of the day as long as their is good light
Shoot from the shelter, boardwalk or bridge
Tripod or monopod, 300mm lens, possibly with 2x extender
Starrigavan muskeg trail
Gimbal Video 1: Walking up the trail from the woods up to the muskeg
Gimbal Video 2: Walking across the muskeg
Harbor Mountain
Shoot any time of the day as long as their is good light
Shoot on either partly cloudy or sunny days, but not overcast or rainy days
Tripod, shutter release, medium-to-wide angle lenses
Swan Lake, birds or landscape
Shoot any time of the day as long as their is enough light
Tripod or monopod, 300mm lens, possibly with 2x extender. For landscape, mid-to-wide angle lenses
Swan Lake, capture serenity of the lake
Tripod DSLR Video 1: Shoot from the shore
Seiling Cove Harbor
Gimbal Video 1: Walking down the ramp and onto one of the slip arms
From UAS Campus, the eagle tree
Shoot any time of the day
Shoot from the parking lot looking up to the tree, if there are eagles present
Possibly shoot from the car to avoid spooking eagle
Handheld or monopod, medium-angle to 300mm lens
From UAS Campus, view across channel
Shoot any time of the day, though partly cloudy is best
Shoot from the parking lot looking across the channel towards town and mountains
Experiment with long exposures, using ND filters if needed to blur the water
Try a composite with boat passing through channel: one shot with long exposure to catch the boat motion, then quickly remove ND filter to snap a quick exposure to freeze the boat passing through channel
Tripod, shutter release, ND filters, all lenses
St Michael Church, walking east from Katltan Street
Shoot any time of the day, though partly cloudy is best
Handheld or monopod, all lenses
St Michael Church, walking east from Katltan Street
Gimbal Video 1: Walking up the center of the street as long as there is no traffic
Silver Bay, from the road
Shoot any time of the day, though partly cloudy is best
Shoot from the pullout along the road, looking at the mountains across the bay
Experiment with long exposures, using ND filters if needed to blur the water
Tripod, shutter release, ND filters, all lenses
Heart Lake
Shoot any time of the day as long as their is good light
Shoot on either partly cloudy or sunny days, but not overcast or rainy days
Create composite: long exposure for water, using ND filter, and a short exposure for the pier and mountains to eliminate blur
There may be a small waterfall from a trail bridge a bit further down the trail after the lake
Tripod, shutter release, ND filters, medium-to-wide angle lenses
Heart Lake
Large Tripod DSLR Video 1: Gently floating boat on the lake
Beaver Lake
Shoot any time of the day as long as their is good light
Shoot on either partly cloudy or sunny days, but not overcast or rainy days
Tripod, shutter release, ND filters, medium-to-wide angle lenses
Beaver Lake trail
Gimbal Video 1: Walking from the top of the ridge to Beaver Lake
SUNRISE PHOTOGRAPHY
From top of the channel bridge, looking at lighthouse
Shoot in the golden hour after sunrise to catch the warm colors on the lighthouse
Experiment with long exposures, using ND filters if needed to blur the waves
Tripod, shutter release, ND filters, medium-to-long lenses
Starrigavan campground, along the shoreline
Shoot in the golden hour after sunrise to catch the warm colors on the water
Experiment with long exposures, using ND filters if needed to blur the waves
Tripod, shutter release, ND filters, medium-to-long lenses
Cloudy Day Sunrise
If it's a heavy overcast day, the only good sunrise light will be looking southeast
Option 1: From the O'Connell bridge looking down the sound
Option 2: Maybe driving down Sawmill Creek Road, looking down Silver Bay
Option 3: Maybe far north along the MEHS parking lot, looking across the channel
Option 4: Maybe from Crescent Harbor looking at the boats
Tripod, shutter release, medium-to-long lenses
SUNSET PHOTOGRAPHY
Starrigavan estuary, view of observation shelter
Shoot in the golden hour before sunset
From road across the creek from the shelter
Best if there are interesting clouds
Possibly include the mountains in the background
If high tide, experiment with long exposures, using ND filters to blur the water
This could be a good zoom background, so keep shelter off-center
Tripod, shutter release, ND filters, medium-to-wide angle lenses
Starrigavan campground, along the shoreline
Shoot at sunrise to catch the sun going down over the volcano and islands (only if clear weather)
Experiment with long exposures, using ND filters if needed to blur the waves
Tripod, shutter release, ND filters, medium-to-long lenses
From Sandy Beach, looking towards Edgecumbe
Shoot in the two hours before sunset
Shoot from the parking lot or from the beach, depending on the tide level
Experiment with long exposures, using ND filters if needed to blur the wave action
Possibly composite: one shot with blurred waves in the foreground, one shot with sharper mountains and volcano on the other side of Sitka sound
Tripod, shutter release, ND filters, all lenses
Base of the channel bridge
Shoot in the blue hour after sunset
From the town side, looking up the bridge
Try get a car coming down the bridge
Experiment with long exposures, using ND filters if needed to catch the headlights streaking down the bridge
Tripod, shutter release, ND filters, medium-to-wide angle lenses
Seiling Cover Harbor
Shoot after sunset
Shoot from Paul's balcony if possible
Tripod, shutter release, medium-to-wide lenses
From UAS Campus, view across channel
Shoot in the two hours before sunset, best in partly cloudy
Shoot from the parking lot looking across the channel towards town and mountains
Experiment with long exposures, using ND filters if needed to blur the water
Tripod, shutter release, ND filters, all lenses