Sitka part 3

I combined two days worth of pics since the rain did kick on. Even though the rain was not heavy it did narrow our shooting to a few locations but that did not stop us from shooting away.

The first location I would like to show you is Sitka's Historical National Park that houses a dozen or so Totem poles that were built by the indigenous peoples known as the Tinglets over the past hundred or so years.

Marc held an off camera flash class during this time since this is the perfect situation where an off camera flash will help with a little fill light onto the subject for dramatic looks or even to just fill in some of the shadows. Some of the totem's are buried in the dense dark cover of the parks foliage. Here are a few examples of where I used my flash with the help of my shooting and workshop buddy Ross.

I used Dan's paper coffee cup as a snoot to light up the top character of this totem. Nothing like using what you have handy.

Natural right from the right and my fill flash from the left. I actually used Marc's flash by triggering it with my off camera flash on a flash cord. Thanks Marc...I know it was not your intention for me to use your flash but it was just so convenient. Maybe this is the start of Nikon and Canon working together in harmony ;-)

Fill flash was used here just to fill in some of the harsh shadowing of the totem's facial features.

Again, natural light from the right and some fill flash on the left side of the totem.

The last one is a vertical pano I did with pathfinder, another great photographer and friend, shooting his wide angle. This is the only totem that is out in the open and i did not use a flash. The original file for this shot is super sharp and is 24" by 72". I think I took a total of 12 shots for this. 6 vertical by two rows using a 70-200mm lens.

Here is a small portion to show you how much detail is in the pano. Nothing extraordinary but it was fun to do and great practice at a vertical pan

Another very cool place Dan brought us to was the The Medvejie Hatchery. The workers there gave us intense details of how they retrieve the eggs and sperm from the salmon, mix them and then incubate them. Each batch of fertilized eggs are carefully marked, track and tested. After depletion of the eggs and sperm form the salmon, the fish go to a process center where they are turned into pet food or even human consumption outside of the US.

These two specialize in clubbing the fish evident by the blood splattered on one of their faces. I think they like their jobs.

Even Ross got into the action...I will leave out the violent side of Ross for all the kids sake but I would not want to get on Ross' bad side. :-D

Da

A fresh vat full of fertilized eggs ready to be incubated and eventually set free back into the ocean.

Along the hatchery was a shallow stream full of pink salmon...a smaller species of the King salmon or Chinooks in the pictures above.

With the bright coloured moss in the stream with the fish crowding the waters, it almost looked like an oil painting.

Water was no obstacle to Dan while trying to capture a great shot.

......Part 4 on its way soon....