Photofocus

Copyright Scott Bourne 2011 - All Rights Reserved

See Part I of my Alaska Eagle Trip Diary here:

It took me a full day (13 hours) from Vegas to get to Homer, AK which is the first destination on my Alaska eagle trip.

I flew from Vegas to Seattle, Seattle to Anchorage and Anchorage to Homer. It was a very long day. Some of my gear was shipped ahead and thankfully, it arrived safely. I also shipped two bags via Alaska airlines in the cargo hold. Both arrived intact, on-time and undamaged – except – warning mini rant here – someone stole my allen wrench or caused it to get lost. I had my tools in my checked luggage because the TSA, in their infinite wisdom, have decided that one 4-inch long allen wrench could somehow disable an entire Boeing 737 airplane. The TSA went through the checked bags and either they didn’t zip up the tool compartment – and the wrench came out – or someone “liberated it.” Either way – I was smart enough to mail myself one so no harm no foul.

The second challenge came when I got a good look at the turbo-prop that I was flying from Anchorage to Homer. The overheads are very small on such planes so I was faced with checking my carry-on camera bag or….

I had 2 tickets - this one made out for my camera :)

Yep – I bought a seat for it. Last minute seat for a 40-min flight to Homer on a prop plane – $175. Peace of mind knowing my gear was safe right next to me? Priceless. It’s a great deal of money to be sure, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Better to get here with my gear intact. Below you’ll see my camera bag strapped in per FAA regulations. I didn’t get an extra cookie for the camera bag though!

All Buckled In

We’re expecting snow here, which is great for eagle photography. Our first day is mostly a scouting day. But just in case I had the Nikon D3s with 400 R/2.8, the Canon 1DMK IV with 70-200 F/2.8 and the brand new Canon XF100 video camera, along with a couple of tripods and heads. That’s a light load for this trip and it resulted in my first good eagle picture on this trip. It appears below. Enjoy. More from the Kenai Peninsula soon.

Copyright Scott Bourne 2011 - All Rights Reserved

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