Last Saturday was much like the previous week or so. Anchorage was cloaked in a low layer of fog that blocked out the sun that had so shortly before shone so brightly in a warm blaze of an Indian summer that had been a welcome relief from a long, wet summer season. I had repeatedly heard that the one could escape the grips of this dense fog by going up into the mountains, breaking through the fog to the warmth of the sun, or by heading north towards the Matanuska Valley, which had been spared the grey days of late… I knew that the parking lots for the upper trailheads near Anchorage would be full of other folks similarly seeking the golden sun, so I decide to head north, thinking that I could find my own escape from the dull grey days of September…
Thunderbird Falls was the destination. About 25 miles northeast of Anchorage, the trail to the falls is an easy one mile, one-way hike, but considering that I had a nine year old with me I figured that the length would be perfect, and – of course – I brought my camera along.
As we drove to our destination the fog did not lift. In fact, it got thicker. Gloomier. Colder. When we arrived at the parking lot the fog hung thick, and did not abate during the two plus hours we were on the trail. However, it wasn’t raining, there weren’t too many people on the trail, and the water level in Thunderbird Creek was relatively low so we were able to get pretty close to the falls. The wet weather had yielded an explosion of different mushrooms and fungus, which provided the two of us with a constant source of “cool, look at those conversations.” Despite the dull, grey skies, it was definitely worth the drive.
In terms of photography, it was another chance to get out, experiment, and fire off a few frames. I haven’t had much experience working on a foggy, damp day, so I took the opportunity to do so. Also, I left my trusty Nikon 55-200 VR in the car. I’ve found that 99% of the time I use this lens. Although it’s doesn’t have as wide a range as the Nikon 18-200 (or the new 28-300), it has quite a bit of versatility, which is why I love it. Since I don’t have a wide angle lens (yet!), I find myself shooting quite a bit of my landscape work at 200mm, trying to get an interesting slice of a larger whole… This day I set forth with the 18-55 kit lens that came with my Nikon. I was determined to get to “know” this lens better…
So, here are four shots from that outing.
No real winners, but they are somewhat representative of what how I was trying to familiarize myself with this lens’ capabilities. Two things that I like about this lens are its ability to get fairly “wide” and its ability to get pretty close to a subject. No true macro capability, but some nice close-up possibilities. What did I learn that day? That I need to be aware that I have a tendency to severely underexpose images on an overcast day, that I need to work more on grasping what is a good out-of-focus background, and that I need more practice, practice, practice…
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