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Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog

Exploring the World of Outdoor Photography with Tips, News, Imagery and Insight

Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog
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A Magical Photography Evening with Incredible Light

Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog Posted on April 29, 2019 by DanApril 29, 2019

This past Saturday was a total bluebird day. We’re talking sunup to sundown, with not a single cloud in the sky. No haze, no moisture, none of those thin, whispy feathers that sometimes creep into the atmosphere  during the afternoon. Nope. Nothing but solid blue across the entire expanse above.

After soaking up a few hours of sunshine on my bike, I came home, grabbed my flying stuff and went up to shoot some evening aerials. With the almost certain promise of incredible light on the mountains, I was quite optimistic that I was going to get at least a few worthy shots.

As it turned out, Saturday night ended up being one of the most magical evenings for aerial photography I’ve had in months.

I went wheels-up at around 8:45 pm and climbed straight east towards the Chugach Mountains, specifically to the area around Whiteout Glacier. I knew that some friends of mine were skiing the Eklutna Traverse, which crosses this area, so I figured I’d go see if I could find them.

After photographing a few of the taller peaks at the end of Eagle River Valley for about fifteen minutes, turned east and reached the confluence of Eagle and Whiteout Glaciers. It was right around this point when the light started getting really good, splashing bold pink light on the peaks and west facing snow fields.

I spotted ski tracks pretty quickly, and eventually saw a tent that was set up in one of the high bowls. I circled around the area for a good half hour, snapping about a hundred frames before the sun finally dropped below the horizon and the pink light faded.

Between the gorgeous contrast of pink against shadowed blue, the pillowy, snow-covered mountain faces and the massive cracks and crevasse fields, I had plenty of compositional options to work with. I shot with my XF50mm f/2 lens on my X-T3 the entire time, cranking out frame after frame of saturated, Veliva goodness, all the while, being amazed by the quality of the light.

The only thing I wished I had was warmer gloves. Although it had been 50 degrees in town, up here at 8,000 feet, the outside air temperature was only 10 degrees F, which seeped pretty quickly into my lightweight, Pearl Izumi cycling gloves, which are my favorite cool weather glove.

They’re awesome for 35-45 degrees in the wind. Not so much at 10 degrees. By the end of the evening, my right had was pretty cold and it took awhile for the screaming barfies to finally go away. Oh well. Live and learn. At least I got some pretty pictures.

I hope you had a great weekend as well. What did you shoot?

 

 

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged adventure photography, Aerial Photos, Chugach Mountains, landscapes, mountains, outdoor photography, photography | Leave a reply

28 Years Later…

Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog Posted on February 2, 2018 by DanFebruary 2, 2018

Today is February 2, more commonly known as Groundhog Day, and today, Punxsutawney Phil did not disappoint. In Central Pennsylvania, the famous little critter crawled out of his hole and saw his shadow, which of course, signifies that we have six more weeks of winter.

I live in Alaska, so this is pretty much a no brainer. Of course we have six more weeks of winter, if not eight, or ten. Or even twelve, depending how early April shapes up.

However, I’m not here to discuss the length of the seasons or an odd 132-year old tradition that’s based on the hibernation patterns of the common woodchuck.

To me, February 2 is special for another reason. It’s signifies the day I bought my first real camera.

On the afternoon of February 2, 1990, I walked into Bromfield Camera in downtown Boston and threw down $550 for a silver Nikon FM2 and 50mm f/1.4 lens. That moment marked the official start of this amazing photography journey, which as of today, has lasted 28 years.

28 years is a very long time. I have friends who aren’t even 28 years old yet and many more who weren’t even in first grade when I was roaming around the streets of Boston with my trusty Nikon slung around my neck.

An entire generation of Instagrammers didn’t even exist yet when I was out hiking and scrambling around rocks with the camera during those early days or when I took my first big photo trip to Nepal in 1993. Many of the young contemporary photographers who are making waves in the industry now were but pimply-faced junior high kids when I was selling my first photos to magazines and shooting my first assignments.

And at the same time, there are people in my life who have watched this entire journey from a front row seat, or at least part of it. How interesting would that have been, to watch young Dan Bailey become enamored with photography and follow it with such enthusiasm for nearly 3 decades.

28 years is a very long time. That first Nikon ended up getting stolen, but I bought another. When I first started, I shot Kodak Gold 200 print film. Within a year, I started shooting Kodachrome, and in 1993, bought my first roll of Velvia and began my long love affair with the Fuji colors.

Back then, I was captioning my slides by hand with a fine point black pen and stamping them “©Daniel H. Bailey” with a custom stamp and one of those ink pads. I’d sit in my little studio apartment in Cambridge, MA, and get one or two pages done in the evening after work.

On a big night, I’d get 3 pages captioned- 60 sides. Eventually, I got a little beige Mac Classic and a printer and graduated to using Cradoc Captionwriter software to print out my captions on Avery Labels.

K2, Karakoram Himalayas, Pakistan

By the mid-90s, I had fully embraced autofocus and as that decade came to a close, I was well on my way as a budding pro photographer. Each week, I shipped out pages full of my best slides to clients and prospective clients. My life revolved around my light table and file boxes full of slide pages. I got to know my Fed Ex and UPS delivery guys quite well. We were on a first name basis.

I had also started teaching photography classes. Top pro adventure photographer and National Geographic contributor Keith Ladzinski was one of my students. Imagine that: in a way, I taught the best of the best, or at least made an impact. At the time, my camera arsenal included the N90, N90s, F100 and F5.

In the early 2000s, my skills and reputation had grown considerably, although that didn’t stop the extreme downturn of the Post 9/11 economy. I weathered that big recession and continued on.

In 2003, when my good friend Paul closed his high-end photo lab, I went digital. I bought a Nikon D200 and had to learn an entirely new way of editing, cataloging, and a brand new skill called “processing.” There was a whole new term, called “workflow.” Mine involved Photo Mechanic, Photoshop v.3 and iView Media Pro. Fifteen year later, I’m still using Photo Mechanic and Photoshop, and MediaPro is now included in Capture One Pro.

I wasn’t using film anymore, although I was scanning my best slides to disk and still sending out my old Velvia images to clients. They were still getting used, although as digital cameras got better, those film images just weren’t holding up as well to the new higher resolution sensors.

In March of 2007, I downloaded WordPress to my computer and started this blog. Blogging turned into a pretty big thing for me. Who knew? The article you’re reading right now is the 919th post I’ve written on this site. If you’ve read some or most of them over the years, then I’d like to thank you for your patronage.

In September of 2008, I moved to Alaska and weathered another big recession. I also began my pilots license. Three years later, in the fall of 2011, I bought my first Fujifilm camera and started my amazing journey with the X Series. By then, I’d already bough my little Cessna and began my adventures as a bush pilot and aerial photographer.

Around then, I wrote my first eBook. I have seven now. In 2015, I had my first real book published. My third one will be out this spring.

28 years is a long time. My photography life has spanned my entire existence as an adult, (I was 22 on that fateful day). It has lived through an extensive history of important world events as well as a memorable collection of moments in my own history.

Anyone who knows me will say that I am photography and photography is me. We’re forever intertwined. It’s been such an amazing and inspiring journey so far, one that I never would have foreseen 28 years ago.

Back then, I was just an energetic kid with a new found fascination for this cool, creative craft. Not much has changed. I’m still that kid. I still love it just as much, in fact, way more. I’m still just trying to follow my dream, I just have 28 years of experience and practice under my belt.

What do you think you can accomplish in that kind of time frame? That’s an exciting question, isn’t it?

As I look at my own shadow today, I can only imagine what the next 28 years will bring. I’m looking forward to finding out.

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Posted in My Early Years, Personal and Pro Insight, Uncategorized | Tagged adventure photograper, adventure photography, blogging, freelance photographer, mountains, outdoor photography, photographers, photography | 1 Reply

I Just Bought My First Gitzo Tripod – The GT0545T Traveler

Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog Posted on December 5, 2016 by DanOctober 13, 2017

gitzo0545t

I recently bought my first Gitzo tripod. I always wanted a Gitzo, so without trying to justify my purchase or make up reasons why it was ok for me to drop that much cash on something that wasn’t a camera, a lens, a plane ticket, a bike or a guitar, I just threw down my money and bought one.

I got the Gitzo GT0545T Traveler. It comes in two versions, one with a dedicated QR ball head, and one without a head.

Gitzo has recently paired their popular Traveler Series with the new 82TQD Arca-type ball head, and it’s pretty impressive. A single large knob acts as both a main control and a friction lock, which I really like. A second knob controls panning/rotation of the head, and a third works the QR plate.

 

The new 85TQD heads are designed to next perfectly inside the legs when they fold back. That’s the main feature of the Gitzo Traveler series, the legs fold all the way back on themselves, which allows the tripod to close to a very compact length of only 14.4″, and weigh less than 3 lbs, even with the head.

With its four carbon fiber leg section fully extended and the center column all the way up, the 0545T extends to 52.4. With center column down, it stands at just under 45.”

Considering the fact that I’m not exceedingly tall, and that I’m often using the LCD on my mirrorless cameras to compose and review imagery, this is a perfect height for me. It’s also nice, since keeping the center column down increases stability. In fact, Gitzo even includes a short center column with all their Traveler Tripods. It’s designed for ground-level shooting, but I can see using it quite a bit when traveling.

I had originally intended to get the larger GT1545T model, and in fact I did buy that one, but the next day, I decided to go two sizes down and exchange it for the 0545T. The 1545 is an extremely nice travel tripod, and probably ideal for many photographers, I just liked the idea of going as small and light as possible.

Weight is not a huge concern for me, after all, my Fuji cameras aren’t very heavy, and I figured I’d take full advantage of the superb strength-to-weight ratio that the Gitzo 6x carbon fiber legs offer.

Not that I gave up much- the tripod and head are rock solid and will hold any of my bodies and lenses, even my Fuji 100-400. It’s rated up to 22lbs, so it will hold most DSLR gear as well.

If I regularly used big glass, I might have gone with the “legs only” model and gotten a more substantial head, but again, if I’m going to bring this thing with me, I need it to be as small and light as possible. Plus I love the design of the 85TQD head.

I’ve already used it a handful to times, and I really love how it feels and operates. Anyone who’s ever owned a Gitzo knows that they’re made with the highest quality Italianworkmanship. It’s such a pleasure to carry and use, and I knew it would be. I also like that it has a shoulder strap. It’s actually a pretty handy feature. Sling it on and go.

As with any gear you’ll use on a regular basis, you want something that MAKES you want to use it because it’s so well made, with careful attention to every single detail, and that will operate smoothly, year after year.

That’s why I bought a Gitzo. It wasn’t cheap, but I wan’t going for cheap. I wanted something that would last.

I’ll be writing a more detailed review after I’ve used it for a few months, but for now, just know that I’m in love.


@Danbaileyphoto 🙂 I got the Gitzo traveller. I wish it was a little taller, but it's really light and fits in my suitcase.

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Anne McKinnell

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Posted in Camera Gear, Reviews and Recommendations, Uncategorized | Tagged Gitzo, outdoor photography, photography gear, tripods | 6 Replies

5 Reasons Why I Love the Fujifilm XF100-400mm Lens

Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog Posted on September 23, 2016 by DanDecember 18, 2016

In all my years as a photography, I’ve never owned a lens longer than 200mm. Until now. I rented a 300 f/2.8 for an assignment once and borrowed a 300 f/4 a couple of times, but for my fast and … Continue reading →

Posted in Camera Gear, Reviews and Recommendations, Uncategorized | Tagged camera gear, fujifilm, Fujifilm X-T2, lenses, outdoor photography, photography, photography gear, Reviews and Recommendations, telephoto lenses, XF100-400 lens, zoom lenses | 5 Replies

Modern Cameras are Just Too Damn Complicated!

Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog Posted on March 29, 2016 by DanMarch 29, 2016

I recently taught a beginning photography class with fifteen very enthusiastic participants. Everyone was so excited about the prospect of entering this new realm of visual creativity and learning how to take great photos. There was just one big problem. Noone know … Continue reading →

Posted in Camera Gear, Personal and Pro Insight, Uncategorized | Tagged camera, camera gear, photographers, photography, photography gear, Reviews and Recommendations | 5 Replies

Fuji Releases the X70 Compact Rangefinder Camera

Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog Posted on February 24, 2016 by DanApril 26, 2016

Fujifilm finally released a “little brother” version of the wildly popular and successful X100 camera. Keeping with Fuji’s traditional styling, the new Fuji X70 is an affordable fixed lens compact rangefinder that features the same 16MP X-Trans sensor as the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged camera, camera gear, compact cameras, Fuji X70, fujifilm, mirrorless, photography, photography gear, Reviews and Recommendations | Leave a reply

4 Reasons Why I’m in Love with Photo Mechanic Software

Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog Posted on December 2, 2015 by DanDecember 30, 2016

I’ve been a Photo Mechanic fanatic ever since the day I went digital, which for the record, was April 12, 2006. Over the years, it’s proved itself many times over as an worthy companion and an indispensable partner in my photography … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal and Pro Insight, Reviews and Recommendations, Uncategorized | Tagged digital imaging, Fuji X-T1, fujifilm, Lightroom, photo mechanic, photography, Photoshop, Reviews and Recommendations, software | 2 Replies

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