At Home with Tech

One destination during our Backroads’ vacation was Kenai Fjords National Park where we hiked next to the spectacular Exit Glacier. I used a dependable trick to help me frame my camera shots…

My family and I have returned from our bucket-list vacation to Alaska, and as you might expect, it was an absolutely transformative experience.

First off, let me answer your first question. No… my wife, 13-year-old son and I did not take a cruise. We took a less conventional route and signed up for a really fun Backroads adventure, featuring a healthy dose of hiking, biking and kayaking. We also boarded a small cruising vessel to explore part of Prince William Sound.

Our trip began in Anchorage and across six days, we traversed the rugged terrain with two other families and three Backroads’ leaders.

Our Itinerary
Alaska is a massive state, and we were only able to explore a small sliver… the magical Kenai Peninsula.
Our Backroads’ van transported us to Girdwood, Whittier, Seward and Homer. For context on the distances, our return ride back to Anchorage took around five hours.

We also scheduled a day on the front end and two at the back for our own family time and a high-octane experience that involved strapping ourselves into a tiny Cessna plane for a up close and personal view of several glaciers.

Weather Conditions
The weather during our Backroads’ itinerary was perfect. (We were expecting at least a bit of rain.) The crisp August temperatures ranged from high the 40s in the mornings to the low 60s in the afternoons (colder on top of mountains). Perfect for me!

Yes, it was a rustic trip, but we stayed in nice lodging and ate in great restaurants. (I mostly focused on consuming fresh local salmon and halibut. Yum!)

My Camera Gear for Alaska
There’s a lot to unpack from our amazing experience, but I’ll begin today with sharing a few more photos. Of course, I brought along my camera gear to capture Alaska’s natural beauty, such as this sunset I snapped while we were staying in the Resurrection River Valley.

I was mindful to keep my ‘rig’ light. I had my GoPro HERO11 Black for the wide vista shots and I carried my compact Panasonic Lumix ZS200D, which sports a 15x zoom lens (24-360 mm) when I needed more reach. Both lived in a small fanny pack that was strapped to my waist the entire trip.

I even pulled out my iPhone when I needed to quickly capture a fleeting moment (like a Moose quickly passing by).

Photo Tip: Frame Context into your Shots
My biggest challenge was capturing the scope and scale of everything I saw. One solution I used was to include foreground elements in my scenic shots. This provides context for the background’s enormity. Whenever I spotted people in the distance, I knew those moments would be my best opportunities.

This visual tactic was especially useful when we visited Kenai Fjords National Park on Day 3 and did a hike up the Harding Icefield Trail (3,512-foot elevation) next to Exit Glacier.
Along the way, we spotted another group of hikers who were walking literally on Exit Glacier! Thankfully, this was not part of our Backroads’ route, but it did make for a great photo opportunity!

At the top of our own hike (on solid ground), we looked out over the front part of the spectacular Harding Icefield (over 900 square miles).

Regaining Perspective
Our journey up to this top of the world was both inspiring and humbling, as we are clearly just little specks in this vista of reality. But I’m still honored to be a tiny piece of it all. It’s an important reminder that anyone can benefit from.

I pondered this as I began my descent, and I wondered what revelations the next days would bring.

Our Backroads’ adventure was not yet finished…