Mike

I'm taking my family to Glacier for vaction. I want to photgraph it while there. Any suggestions? Any to avoid or must see.

Dickj

Two suggestions.

1. Use a polarizing filter

2 Use a tripod

I'm only an amateur..any suggestions from a professional photographer?

Bob Brown

What will the tripod do for one's pictures? They are sort of heavy to lug up the trail. I have a small one and was debating about trying to pack it in my suitcase for the flight out.

With as much snow as will be in most of the scenes early this season, light availability will be high, and the shutter speed - aperture ratios should be fine. At shutter speeds above 125th of a second, camera shake is greatly minimized even with a 80 - 200mm lens.

Anybody see an estimate on the opening date for the Sun Road? The last I heard avalanche danger was high and the "Big Drift" had not yet been reached by the snow plows. Piles of snow 20 feet deep were a problem with late snows causing replowing of already cleared stretches.

Dick

Bob,

I probably should have clarified the "need" for a tripod.

A lot depends on what you are going to do with the photo. If yo are just going to put small pic in an album, the tripod won't be of much benefit.

If you want to blow up the pic and frame it a tripod will:

1. Eliminate any movement in the camera (using a shutter release).

2.More importantly, a tripod will allow you to frame the photo before actually taking the picture. That will allow you the opprotunity to take the "perfect" pic( exact vertical/horisontal alignment, eliminate any distractions in the photo, etc)

Dick

My brother-in-law is a professional photographer, I'm a reasonably proficient amateur, and we've discussed this sort of thing several times. In his opinion, the single best thing an amateur can do to improve their "snapshots" (he considers just about any photo that doesn't take hours of setup time a "snapshot"), once the basics of framing and exposure are covered, is to minimize camera motion, regardless of shutter speed or lens focal length. There's a rule of thumb that you should be able to hand-hold a shutter speed that's at least the reciprocal of the focal length (i.e., you can hand-hold a 60 mm lens at 1/60th sec. or higher, etc. - obviously I'm talking about 35mm format here), but he says it takes a very, very steady hand and a lot of concentration to achieve that. Indeed, tripods are a bit much for most of us on a trip - his solution is a unipod, a single "leg" that is threaded on the top like a tripod and telescopes into something easily portable. Doubles as a hiking staff, too. As the saying goes, he won't leave home without it.

Mike, enjoy Glacier - I've been there a couple times and loved it. If you have the time and inclination take the relatively short hike up to Avalanche Lake - it's really magnificent.

Dick

It may be obvious, but in case not . . . we're different "Dicks", though it appears we share a lot of the same opinions on this issue.

Dick2

Dick,
I, also, got my advice from a very serious professional.

Although, I've had good luck without a trip...the photos that I frame are usually taken with a tripod.

I have a collapsable walking stick that also has a camera mount. I find it to be a little stronger tha n using a tripod as a walking stick.

dan woodlief

Haven't been to Glacier, but can give a few general tips. A warming filter would be useful at higher altitudes to cut out some of the blue light. You may not need a tripod, but there are good reasons to have one for nature photography if you want to do much more than just capture the experience a little. Landscape photos tend to look best with as much depth of field as possible, so you will generally want to shoot at f/13 or f/16 and up. If you are using a low speed film (say 100), on bright days this may not be hard to achieve. If you want to use Velvia slide film (50 ISO), the landscape choice for many people, the tripod may be more important. Also, if you are going to photograph in thick forests, want to be able to shoot well at sunrise or sunset, or blur water (waterfall, for example), the tripod is extremely important and essential for some cases. You may not even use it, but I would take one along just in case if you have room for it. I never leave one behind on car trips even if I never pull it out of the trunk. Another tip is to check out more opinions on www.photo.net. There are many nature photographers there, and you will find several posts on Glacier in the archives.

Stella

I went to Glacier about 2 years ago, on the 4th of July, and yes there is still snow around. I have a picture of my family standing in front of what seems like a 15 foot snow wall on the Going to the Sun Road. I took way too many pictures, but the views and scenery(sp) are incredible! I've got to tell you that for the majority of the pictures I used disposable cameras. Especially for the panoramic shots. The panoramic disposables worked great! Really! I got some wonderful shots that may be hard to get with other cameras. I also used a Nikon 400, with a telephoto at times. But I've got to say that the disposables work just as well, and I really did get shots that are suitable for framing. Don't overthink the picture taking. With the beautiful mountains and waterfalls, and flora and fauna in Glacier, the "pictures take themselves". Have fun (If you haven't gone yet). If you have, post here and let us know how the trip went.

Bob Brown

I will take along my little tripod and start hunting for rocks. Perhaps looking long and deliberately before I squeeze the trigger will help me get better pictures. It is not heavy, really. It is worth a try.

Dick2

Stella,

If you are happy with the pictures you get from your disposable camera..that's great. A tripod would be a waste for you.

Some of us are more critical of our photographs and try to achieve a higher standard when taking photos. For us, a tripod is a definite plus.

It's like wine, if you can't taste the difference don't spend more for wine. If disposables "work just as well" for you ..then stick with what you are doing.

Stella

Thanks, Dick.