I made these fourteen photographs between June 16 and June 21, 2024, traveling from Vancouver into Alaska’s Inside Passage. The camera metadata keeps the dates, lenses, and settings precise, while the photographs follow changing weather, quiet water, coastal mountains, and bald eagles.
All fourteen photographs are available as wall art in my MarkBartaPhotography Etsy shop. Click any image or its caption button to see the matching photograph on Etsy.
Vancouver, June 16
I made the first six photographs around Vancouver Harbour. Three floatplanes crossed my view within nineteen minutes, each against a different layer of weather. With the 200–600mm lens, I kept the planes small within the sky and hills instead of making tight aviation close-ups.
Then I shifted from the aircraft to the weather around them. At 600mm, mist breaks the forested hillside into soft horizontal layers. At 200mm, the view reverses: Vancouver becomes a narrow strip beneath a much larger storm front.
The last recognizable landmark that day was Point Atkinson Lighthouse at the entrance to Burrard Inlet. At 600mm, I isolated the tower from the surrounding coast. Its red lantern is the one bright color against the rock and trees.
Rain in the Inside Passage, June 17
The next morning, I photographed a low rocky island in heavy rain. The file does not record the exact island, so I have left it unnamed. ISO 3200 preserves the dim scene, while the rain softens the far shoreline and keeps the rock, trees, and water close in tone.
Ward Lake and an eagle, June 18
At Ward Lake near Ketchikan, I switched from long telephoto views to 24mm landscapes. I made these two photographs six minutes apart. The first stacks the shore, trees, and reflection vertically, while the second opens into a wide band of mirrored forest.
Later that day, I brought back the 200–600mm lens for an immature bald eagle passing overhead. Its mottled brown-and-white plumage separates it from the mature birds I photographed the following evening. A 1/1600-second shutter keeps the long flight feathers sharp against the open sky.
Mountains and bald eagles, June 19
The following morning stayed overcast. A broad coastal peak fills the 600mm frame, with snow marking its upper slopes and clouds crossing the ridgeline. The file does not record the mountain’s exact name, so I titled the photograph only for what I can identify with confidence.
That evening, I made two very different photographs of a mature bald eagle within eight seconds. The first isolates the eye, hooked bill, and white head. For the second, I turned the camera vertically and stepped back enough to include the weathered perch and the bird’s full stance.
One last mountain, June 21
I made the final photograph two mornings later in Glacier Bay. A dark peak rises through the remaining snow, with clouds moving across its upper edge. At 422mm, I left enough sky around the ridge to hold onto its steep scale.
Two ways of looking
I used two very different ways of looking during this trip. The 24mm Ward Lake views open into water and reflection, while the longer lenses isolate aircraft, wildlife, and pieces of distant landscape. Weather connects both approaches by changing what stays visible and what disappears. These fourteen photographs preserve the route from Vancouver Harbour to Glacier Bay without pretending I can name every shoreline and mountain along the way.