My date slot for McNeil.

I will be at McNeil June-19 thru June-22, so if you are going at that time frame drop me a line so we can get to know each other and maybe you might want to join Kevin, Lucus, and I photographing after McNeil.  I would be intrested to know how many people that go to McNeil this year have found my Blog.  If you are going to McNeil and found my blog, just go to the discussions section and just ay I found it!  That would be cool!  Thanks,

Mark.

Equipment I will take as of right now.

Well, let's see what's in the camera bag for McNeil for this trip.  I know for sure I will be taking my Canon 1Ds with 4 to 6 extra batteries.  I can shoot most of the day on one battery, but oh how I remember my finger hurting from taking so many images the last time.  As far as I know there is no way to do any charging of batteries, so I'll just have to bring a bunch.  The back-up camera for the trip as of right now will be my Canon 10D.  While the 20D and the 30D have replaced the camera in a few short years, it is still a good camera and I have some very large images printed from this camera. 16x20's are not a problem and with a properly exposed image, 20x30's are possible.

It is a long walk to the viewing areas so I will need to not over pack.  It looks like I will be buying a 300 2.8 for my Canon cameras.  I shot Nikon the last time I was there and I had a 300 2.8 lens there.  It worked out great because the light was always changing and a few times I had to go to 2.8 to get a few images.  But now with digital, I can change my ISO and don't worry too much about the loss of image quality for the most part.

Lenses I am not too sure about, but will just have to see how things fit.  If the bears are close, the 70-200 2.8L lens would be idea for that situation.  I can already see my camera pack getting heavier by the minute! I'll post some more stuff as I get a grip on what I am going to take.

-mark 

Time to start the planning!

Well, it’s time to start all the planning for the trip to McNeil. Since I have been there once before, it will be a little bit simpler to plan. The first time we went into it blind and decided to dedicate a web page for McNeil visitors which eventually developed into this Blog. The first thing on the “to get list” will be hip waders. It is very wet at McNeil and your trek to the viewing platforms at low tide, will take you across at least knee deep mud and water. You have to be prepared when you go to McNeil because there is no place to get anything. If you did not bring it…too bad!

I have been at Cabelas web site and have a good idea of the hip waders I will get. Last time I got the traditional rubber ones and they were heavy and hot. I think I will go for a lighter weight nylon or Gore-Tex fabric with lug sole boots built in. I should make that decision in a day or too and I’ll post that info here on the Blog.

The other thing I have to consider is to buy a 300mm 2.8 lens, the 400mm 2.8 or the 500mm 4.0 lens. I don’t really care for the up close in your face bear shots, I like the environmental shots with the bears in their environment. If one comes close by that’s fine, but I like the bears in a landscape setting. To each his own! I’ll post some more info later tonight.

-mark

I won the lottery!

That's right!  I am going to McNeil for a second time!  I am so excited about the news!  You can expect a lot of activity here at the blog as I plan my trip as well as expect a new journal about the trip.  I won't be able to sleep for days I am so excited.  I'll keep you posted, I have to go tell all my friends!

-mark