Visiting Alaska has been my dream since I was a kid. To some people living on the west coast, this may not seem like a big deal, but to someone born and raised in Kentucky, this seemed out of reach—yet little did I know I would end up on assignment there this past year, working on not only photographing the landscape, but capturing it from above, through aerial photography.
While there, we flew over both the Alaskan Range and the Chugach Range, seeing landmarks like Denali, the Knik Glacier, Mt. Russel, and more. Here’s how we were able to photograph America’s last frontier from the air, with tips and tricks for your next aerial photography adventure.
Lens Choice
For the flight in the Chugach range, we flew in a Robinson 44 Helicopter, which is known for having a massive front window, offering an unfiltered view of Alaska from above. For our flight in the Alaskan range, we knew we would be flying in a Beaver bush plane. With this in mind, I made sure to have my Olympus M.Zuiko 7-14mm 2.8 Pro Lens on the Olympus EM-1 Mark III. I knew I wanted wide-angle shots which featured both the inside of the helicopter as well as a great view of the Knik Glacier, Denali, or any other landmark we would see along the way.
For my other setup, I used the EM-5 Mark III along with the M.Zuiko 12-40mm F/2.8 Pro. I needed a versatile kit, something wide enough to capture the inside of the helicopter, while also allowing me to quickly zoom in on certain details like the tip of a peak, ice caves, and even some wildlife. These setups worked perfectly for each of our shoots.
The Chugach Range (Helicopter)
Our first stop would take us to Alaska Helicopter Tours, located in the Chugach mountains. Located about an hour from Anchorage, the Chugach range is full of stunning views from both land and air. The range is host to 12 massive peaks and dozens of glaciers including the famous Knik Glacier. Alaska Helicopters was accommodated all of our needs, including landing on top of the Knik Glacier. This gave us a chance to throw a drone up for an even deeper perspective of this amazing range.
Lucky for us, the helipad is a quick 10-minute flight to the glacier. We saw at least 10 moose before even reaching the toe of the glacier. If you haven’t experienced the view of a glacier before, your first time is truly magical. It’s hard to explain the vastness of these spectacles; you just have to see it in person—especially from the air to get any sense of scale.
Our first stop was at this massive blue wall of ice. When you land on or near a glacier, you don’t normally stick around for long. Glaciers are constantly shifting and moving forward so they can be pretty unpredictable. This blue wall could theoretically collapse at any given moment. But we made sure to take a moment to get a sort of “James Bond” photograph of the helicopter flying just behind me, before beginning our aerial shoot.
At any given point, we could be flying anywhere from 800 to 20 feet above the glacier. Helicopters allow us to quickly shift direction for unique perspectives. I was able to keep my shutter speed around 1/500th of a second without having to worry about motion blur. I wanted to raise my aperture just enough to capture the inside of the helicopter without it being blurry.
The great thing about helicopters is that they can land just about anywhere. So if your pilot allows it, take full advantage of more perspectives from the ground. We were able to land on the glacier, on a frozen lake, and even right below the toe of a glacier.
The Alaskan Range (Bush Plane)
Our flight later that week was originally supposed to be over Denali. Our goal was to capture a red Cessna which would contrast well with the massive mountain behind it. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans for us. We have to revert to plan B and photograph in the lower Alaskan range. This wasn’t in our original plan, but the change really didn’t matter. The views were incredible.
Aerial photography in Alaska is much different when experienced from a plane versus a helicopter. We struggled more with reflections getting in our way, our field of view was much smaller without the large helicopter window, and using another plane as the subject of our assignment proved to be challenging. Lucky for us, our pilots were trained to fly in formation and were able to get within 100 feet of one another to help us get the placement just right.
Like the helicopter, you need to do a quick wipe down of every window before the flight. If you are shooting while the sun is out, it may actually be a good idea to black out the windows you know you won’t be shooting through (of course, check with the pilot before doing so). This will block any extra light from coming in and causing a sharp reflection in your window.
Another tip for aerial photography in Alaska? When photographing from an airplane, never use your legs or parts of the airplane to stabilize the camera. The plane is constantly vibrating and your picture will prove difficult to get sharp. I recommend using nothing but your arms to balance the weight of the camera.
Make sure to keep your aperture wide open. Though your subject may be far from you, your best bet at getting the sharpest image is to keep a shallow depth of field. This will also allow you to keep your shutter speed faster which is more important in the end.
I attempted to use a longer focal length during the plane ride, but once I reached about 70mm, the movement of my hands became too much, and my photos were looking soft. You have to account for this if you don’t have enough light. I maxed my shutter speed at 1/2000th of a second in an effort to keep my ISO as low as possible. I wouldn’t recommend going any lower than 1/1000th of a second, unless you’re in a helicopter.
Drones
Before you can ever fly a drone, especially in Alaska, you must always confirm that it is legal in your specific location. Drone safety and law is often overlooked by pilots these days but it couldn’t be more important to make sure you follow each FAA regulation before you work to get a good composition.
Drones are amazing tools and I love the unique perspectives they can give us, especially over a glacier. The textures you can get while looking straight down one is incredible. They’re also good at stabilizing their own movement so you can tend to slow down your shutter speed without having to worry about the composition coming out sharp. Once you have your settings right, just experiment with the drone. Look for perspectives that a helicopter or airplane simply can’t give you. Oftentimes I won’t throw my drone up unless I know it will give me a different perspective, which on a glacier, it certainly will.
I used a DJI Mavic Pro which worked perfectly for this project. Our helicopter pilot informed us that using a drone any smaller than this often leads to losing the drone. Glaciers create large amounts of crazy and unpredictable wind patterns that will sweep your drone away in seconds. If you lose a drone on a glacier, there’s no finding it. This also pollutes the area with human waste. So if you plan on using a drone near a glacier, make sure it is strong and durable and can maintain flight during moderate winds. Leave no trace!
Final Thoughts on Aerial Photography in Alaska
Aerial photography has always been one of my favorite ways to photograph, but Alaska is a whole new level of intensity. Then again, aerial photography always takes my breath away, no matter my expectations—especially in Alaska.
Feature image by Tyler Glass
