I was pleasantly surprised to learn that one of my fellow voyagers on our annual boat trip was an avid photographer. The wilds of Alaska are simply candy for a camera and spectacular photos can be seen in every direction waiting to be captured. As usual I was ready for photographic effort, with no less than four cameras along, not counting the cameras in my phone and iPad. The Canon 60D, EOS-M, a Canon G12 and a GoPro 2 HD comprised a nice array of capability. I was looking forward to the conversations and maybe a chance to learn a little from another photographer.
There was a surprise when I saw the photo gear Randy was unpacking, it looked a little odd.
Randy was shooting… Umm… How do I put this delicately… Randy was shooting film.
Yes, remember that stuff that came in rolls. For those who might not remember, this is how we took photos before digital sensors, megapixels and SD cards became the language of photography.
Randy timing an exposure with a medium format Pentax 6×7 camera.
Randy does it in style, with a beautiful old Pentax 6×7 medium format SLR camera.
The setup is not compact, a bulky camera requiring a full backpack to carry with the camera, lenses and light meter. It is around fifteen pounds of gear, quite a contrast to the two or three pounds the EOS-M I used for most of my shooting.
The medium format camera presented difficulties on the boat. Taking long exposures is impossible from a moving and rolling platform. Still, he managed some nice shots when the water was calm, as it was when we visited walls of ice in Glacier Bay. Finding solid ground for the tripod required breaking out the launch and going ashore. We created a couple of great opportunities, landing on algae covered rock, we slip and slide to a place where the beauty of Marble Grotto is fully exposed. Another slippery landing, this time caused by glacial mud, allowed us to explore the face of Reid Glacier with cameras and tripods at hand.
