One of the remarkable things about traveling through Alaska is that an extraordinary photograph can appear almost anywhere—even directly outside your stateroom.
I photographed this scene from the balcony of our stateroom aboard the Celebrity Edge while cruising through Alaska’s Inside Passage. One of the remarkable things about traveling through Alaska by ship is that extraordinary landscapes can appear right outside your room.
Looking across the water, I could see layers of dense evergreen forest leading toward the mountains, with a glacier visible in the distance. It was one of those scenes where everything seemed to fall naturally into place: water in the foreground, the dark forest creating the middle layer, and the glacier and rugged mountains completing the photograph.
I photographed this image using my Fujifilm GFX 50S II, a medium-format digital camera capable of capturing an extraordinary amount of detail.
I paired the Fujifilm with my Canon 70–200mm f/2.8 lens, using an adapter that allows me to use Canon lenses on the GFX system. It's an unconventional combination, but one that gives me the image quality of the Fujifilm medium-format sensor along with a lens I've used extensively and know very well.
For a landscape containing this much information, that image quality matters.
Look closely at the photograph and you'll see individual trees throughout the forest, texture in the mountains, detail within the glacier and subtle variations in the water. Those details help communicate the tremendous scale of the landscape.
Capturing the image is only part of my photographic process.
During post-production, I used Nik Collection's Tonal Contrast to bring additional definition into the forest, mountains and glacier. My objective wasn't to make the photograph look artificial. It was to reveal some of the detail and dimensionality that I could see when I was standing there.
There's an important distinction between enhancing a photograph and overwhelming it with processing. I've always believed post-production should serve the image.
I'm based in South Florida, where much of my professional work involves weddings, corporate events, mitzvahs and other special events. But I've never considered myself a photographer only when I'm working for a client.
Travel gives me an opportunity to apply the same skills to completely different subjects.
At a wedding, I may have only seconds to recognize an expression, anticipate a moment and create the photograph. Traveling through Alaska presents a different subject, but the underlying process is surprisingly similar. I still have to recognize the photograph, choose the composition, understand the light and know how to use my equipment to translate what I'm seeing into the finished image.
This photograph wasn't made during a commercial assignment. I was simply standing on our balcony, looking at Alaska passing in front of me.
But that's one of the things I love most about photography.
You never really know where the next great photograph is going to appear.
Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/95EG8TFSECdaZ5jm7.