Glacier 2023: One of the fortunate few, Pt 1

[Jay w]

Here's the leadup to the backpack trip. I know, it's long for a "leadup."

https://tworightshoes.wordpress.com/202 ... ew-part-1/

If you take an interest in a photo, you can click on it and a larger version appears.

Jay

[zozeppelin]

Anticipation keeps building

I assume you have a tripod for the long exposures? What mode do you typically shoot in?

[Jay w]

Well, you're right. Shooting long exposures is a bit more involved. I used to shoot aperture priority and then cover the eye finder with the back of my fingers or a lens cap since the camera senses light coming in the back and screws up the exposure. But here's my process.

-Yup, a tripod. Mine is fairly light but not that tall. I have a bracket on the camera so attachment is quick. I usually use a 2 second timer, but if the tripod doesn't feel stable, I'll use 10s.
-I use the auto focus, switch to manual focus and then put on the dark filter
-Take a meter reading with my eye to the camera, set the (manual) exposure
-Based on the histogram, I'll shoot multiple exposures

As I remember, the filters are 100 or 400 (depending on filter size), but I have a number of ND filters that are not as dark. It took me a while to buy the really dark filters, so I have quite a collection in multiple sizes. With film and the large format camera, typical exposures were 4-8 seconds, and I think that's long enough most water shots. I was trying some longer exposures pushing 30 seconds just to try something different.

Jay

[teapot57]

Off to a great start, Jay! I’m enjoying your photos, and look forward to more of both the photos and your story. I know how most of it goes but you sure have a great way of telling it.

[Ipasha Jen]

You always win the gold medal for trip reporting. Let’s carry on, shall we?

[Jay w]

Ok, part II is up. Remember that you can click on a photo if you want to see it a bit larger. Here's what an "AI check" says about the post.

The content illustrates a detailed account of a backpacking trip experience, filled with personal reflections and observations. The narrative style is engaging and provides readers with an authentic and immersive recollection of the journey. The inclusion of photos enhances the storytelling and offers a visual depiction of the adventure. To further improve the post, consider organizing the content into subheadings or sections to streamline the reading experience and make it easier for readers to navigate the story. Additionally, integrating some practical tips or insights related to backpacking could add value to the content for readers interested in embarking on similar trips. Overall, the content offers a vivid portrayal of the backpacking experience and effectively captures the essence of the journey.

So my practical tip of "bring more toilet paper" was not clear.

Anyway:

https://wordpress.com/post/tworightshoe ... s.com/1622

Jay

I claim no knowledge of typos or unclear writing.

Some people had a problem with that link, so here's another.

https://tworightshoes.wordpress.com/202 ... -backpack/

[Ear Mountain]

Jay,
I enjoyed your photos and stories very much. I eEspecially the tree trunk photos. I swear one was a carved cow moose head and another a horse head.
Ralph

[Ipasha Jen]

I would hike with you again anytime! What are you doing in early August?

[Jay w]

Thanks Ralph. it's hard for me to avoid a dead tree. There were a couple shots from Sun Rift....Baring Falls and one shot two above it that I particularly like. If would be fun to see some printed.

Jen, it was a great group. Thank the leader, right? I didn't really realize the group's experience until Mike started asking about how many times we'd been to Glacier. When everyone started talking about decades in the park and you didn't even have to mention much about climbing....it was impressive. August? Well, let's talk. Julie and i keep talking about going somewhere else, but it doesn't seem to happen.

Jay

[zozeppelin]

Really nice Jay! Thanks for compiling and sharing. That is great you made it to Margaret. I really liked the Pyramid Peak pictures (I’m a sucker for those) and also the shot back down Glen towards the east.

So what was the final sheet count- hopefully a surplus?

What is your wide angle lens / recommendations ?

[Jay w]

Thanks Zep. I'm pretty sure I ended up with "0 sheets remaining."

Gear, sigh. I'm kind of disappointed with Canon. In the film days I shot Nikon. In digital, I started with the 5DII and now have the 5Div. I really like the 16-35 F4 and the 5Div, but the combo is pretty big and heavy. For day hikes, no problem. For travel or backpacking, it's really too big. The reason I'm disappointed with Canon is they went to mirrorless and haven't really concentrated (much) on small gear. They make really nice, big heavy lenses with really high price tags, but their small stuff seems to be aimed at the low end of the amateur market. They have some small lenses that rely heavily on computer processing to remove flaws.

On the backpack, I took along a 40mm 2.8 pancake lens. Small and light. On the hikes before the backpack, I was shooting with a Zeiss 25, Contax 50, and a Nikkor 105, all great manual focus lenses. My eyesight isn't good enough for manual focus (except on the tripod), but I have a "focus confirm" adaptor on the 105 that works pretty well, and the 25 has a focus confirm feature. (Blinking lights.) After the backpack, I used the 16-35 again. It's such a useful lens, but I wish it had the same optics and was a 24-50mm.

One we schedule some overseas travel, I think I'll pick up a Sony Ac7cII or Ac7R, or maybe a A75. Sony, Sigma and Samyang all make really nice small AF lenses, and the whole package would be tiny. Voigtlander makes some really excellent manual focus lenses, but Canon is (basically) not allowing 3rd party AF lenses except ones that don't compete with them.

Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Jay