Photolady2014 Loc: Southwest Colorado

Hello, I very much want to go to Alaska this summer/early fall. I really want to go take photos of bears. I have googled it and there are quite a few different bear tours to choose from. I don't know if I should spend the $'s and do a bear camp which is rather pricy for overnight. Where is the best area to go. Seems the Brooks Lodge area is where the photos of fish jumping into the bears mouth are often taken. I could live with a photo like that! It however can be crowded I understand and July is the time for that area. (I'm thinking I would like to go late August after kids go back to school and the bugs are on the decline)
I also want to get other wildlife, moose, bald eagles etc. I also want fantastic landscape opportunities! Yes I want it all.
The state is rather large... I would love any input people have for what area or areas to go to for bears scenery, bears, wildlife, and RV or hotel, are any of the parks lodges worth the money? We do not need fancy places as I hope to only sleep there before the next day of photo taking. With that said, if there is a specific lodge in a park that allows me to get extra special photos or access I'm willing to pay more, otherwise clean is all I care about!
We will have about 10-12 days to travel around.
I really appreciate any help, it is a bit overwhelming trying to decide on what & where!
Thanks Beth
Oh has anyone done the polar bear trip? It is a one day flight from what I understand and about $3,000 for two!
Feel free to tell me anything I did not ask about too!

MtnMan Loc: ID

My best success has been driving the Alaska highway early spring. They come out to eat the dandelions.

Although famous for it's landscapes Denali National Park is not a great place for animal photography. While you will see plenty of animals they are mostly at a distance from the bus.

We considered going to the reserve near Wrangell when we were there last September. But we were late for the Salmon run so passed it up.

Looking for other inputs.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

JMHO: You need more days to accomplish what you list out. I would also suggest some study of the native peoples of Alaska before you go. There are a few posters on here who live there and can advise much better than those of us who visited for a week or two.

AK Grandpa Loc: Anchorage, AK

Unfortunately, most of the salmon runs have peter'd out by late August, and that is what attracts the bears and eagles . . . So finding them is a little tougher. The moose are starting the rut, so they may be a little easier to spot. The scenery is spectacular because fall colors will be starting. I've never failed to spot bears, cariboo, wolves, moose, fox, and other animals when doing a Denali bus tour. Sometimes they are right on the road, and other times at a distance. IMHO, mid to late July is better for animals and late August is better for scenery. Having said all that, I've learned that you get what you pay for, so finding a guided photo trip is probably your best bet for animals at that time of year. The boat cruises, train trips and fly in trips are pretty good also. I live here in Anchorage and am too cheap to pay the big bucks so most of my experience is from fishing, hunting, and self guided road trips. . .

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

I lived in Alaska and taught photography at the university. 10 days is not enough time unless you have enough money to hire a guide and an airplane. Brooks lodge is your best bet for Grizzly Bears. Mid-late July and early August for bears. As for Moose and other animals Denali Park Bus tour in Late August through September is best. September the caribou herds are on the move, colors in the Alaska range and north are great. Homer Spit is a great place to see Bald Eagles, feasting on fish from the seafood plant. Haines is the place to see hundreds of Bald Eagles gathered in one place after after September when the snows arrive. Kenai Fejords is great for Puffins and seals/sea lions, anytime. I lived in Alaska for 10 years and never saw Polar Bears in person, not even while flying for the Ididarod AirForce. I don't recommend looking for them without a guide. Both Gizzly and Polar Bears are VERY dangerous. I would recommend no less than a 500MM lens or longer fast lens. The longer the better, the faster the better. Whales are seen best via the Alaska State Ferry or smaller tour boats. Alaska is a BIG place. It is roughly the size of the lower 48 states east of the Mississippi river. Just think about touring that much land in only 10 days. There is barely 10,000 miles of roads in all of Alaska. Everywhere is accessible via bush plane. Very little via auto. Don't forget bad weather. Do your homework Plan Plan, and have Plan B then Plan C. Expect rain every day in the south east alaska. After September 1st, expect snow in Denali and north of the Alaska Range. Good Luck and enjoy your trip

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Agree with ORPilot.... I was in SE Alaska in September. It rained everyday but I still got out and kayaked and bushwhacked in the rain. Yes, I took my camera. Gotta be prepared and have a spirit of adventure and a bit of grit. Had a great time and saw something like 80 whales. If you go prepared, with the right expectations and attitude you will have a great time. I did.

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

You have to time the bear photos with the salmon run, so early July is it. You may be too late to get reservations! I went with a company out of Barrow that offers a one-day float-plane trip to a river on the south side of Katmai NP. It was spectacular - no salmon jumping at water falls, but at one point you could count 38 bears (some in the distance). We sat on the bank of the river and watched/photographed a mother with her cubs about 20 yards in front of us for over an hour. It was pretty awesome. If I was not on a family trip with others who did not want to fly in a small plane I would have done the 2-day trip to the lodge. (Honestly, I am glad the wife and kids had no interest, because I could not have afforded for all of us to go!). Maybe I was just lucky, but I did not have a problem with mosquitoes. It was cool and drizzly when I went, so I was pretty much covered up.

fourg1b2006 Loc: Long Island New York

That's a trip i would love to do also.... I always hear Alaska calling for me (can anybody else hear it lol)

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Doing Alaska, unfortunately, isn't something you can do on a tight budget. It's expensive. Anything you do that involves flying out to a remote location will cost and arm and a leg. Guided tours are costly. Alaska is so big, and the things most people want to see are so spread out that it is just expensive, and time consuming, as well. Our road system is limited, as is what you can see from the road. That being said, and in no means meant to scare anyone off, I have to say that it can be done--just not all in one trip probably unless your resources are unlimited.

Denali is a great place to see animals, if they are out on or near the road, and the park begins shutting down in September because tourist season is over. For scenery, it's hard to beat the Denali Hwy. It's 140 miles of mostly unpaved road, but the scenery is hard to beat. The drive from Glennallen to Valdez is amazing, and if it's been raining, Bridal Veil Falls, which is right next to the highway, is a must to stop and see and photograph. But bring a very wideangle lens for it. Also, if bears and eagles are on your list, Valdez is a good place to go. The spit at Homer is also great for eagles. The idea of polar bears is fun, but you won't find them south of the Arctic coast. If you can afford to fly to Barrow, you might see polar bears. For brown bears and salmon, one of the best places to go is the McNeil River in Katmai Nat'l Monument, but it's expensive. And just to so you are aware, by August and September, the salmon runs are pretty much over. July is best for that.

I know this sounds discouraging, but I think folks need to know that coming up to Alaska is an expensive proposition, so be prepared to fund the trip. It's worth it, though. I live up here and can't afford a lot of the stuff that lures photographers, unfortunately. However, if you fly up and rent a car or SUV, you can drive to some amazing places. McCarthy and Kennicot mine comes to mind. The mine has long since ceased operations and is abandoned, but is a big tourist draw, and the drive into McCarthy is gorgeous. If you are going to Valdez, it's just an overnight side trip.

If you decide you want to include SE Alaska, a good way to do it is to put your car on the Alaska Ferry, either at Bellingham, Wa, or Prince Rupert, BC, Canada and go up the Inside Passage. You have the option of staying on the ferry, or getting off to tour any of the towns the ferry stops at and getting on the next ferry north. You can get off at either Haines or Skagway and drive back up into Alaska, then finish your trip by driving back on the Alaska Hwy. Of course, all of that will take more than 10 days, so you will have to limit yourself to what you can do in that amount of time. The good thing is, you find things you won't get to do, so you can come back and get what you missed. And by the way, Stewart's Photo in Anchorage is a very good camera shop, should you need to visit one. They have everything you might need.

richwhip

Talk to John Rogers http://www.katmaibears.com/waters.htm

dnay1

My wife and I just spent three months last summer traveling the Yukon and Alaska in our RV. Scenery is spectacular, photo opts for black bears was almost a daily occurrence (but you need to be ready with the shutter), grizzly bears were more difficult. Not wanting to spend additional cash on tours we had great success at a bear viewing walkway in Hyder, AK. $12 got me a all day pass for the walkway and in two days I brought home several hundred photos (not a hundred bears) just photos of a few grizzly bears feeding on the salmon. It was very entertaining. They did tell us at the gate that it's not an everyday event, we just happened to be there when they were hungry.

We spent 3 days camping on the Spit in Homer and Wingpilot is correct, it was a great place for eagle photography.

wingclui44 Loc: CT USA

Alaska is a dream for every body's wish to visit. I had made two cruse ship tours in 2014 &2015. one was mainly on sea and the other was on land, both were about 10 to 12 days. Making the story shorter, my first one was a disappointment because of raining most of the time. I still enjoyed it and bringing home some images of Humback, Orca, Harbor Seal, dolphins plus those stunning scenery landscape along the inside path; the glaciers...etc. Remember bring you rain gear for yourself & your camera.
The second one was a nice one on land from Yukon Canada all the way to Anchorage, I saw many wild life animals, like the Grizzly Bear, Moose, Carlibou, Bold eagle..in the Denali Park on the bus tour. You need a long lens like 400mm and up. This round trip was all organized by the tour company (Holland America).
Joining tour is the cheapest way than going on my own and I don',t need to do all those planning. Both of my trip were in late July. The park ranger told us, the fall color will appear at late August, but the Park may not open for public if the snow is starting to fall at that time. This situation should be considered before make up the schedule. Good Luck!

farsidefan1

I've been up there 17 times fishing and twice sight seeing. The fishing trips were the last week of August and first week of September (I enjoy fishing for the silvers (coho). All but one the fishing trips were along the Kenai peninsula. The Russian River just above the confluence with the Kenai River is often over run with Brown bears (Grizzly). You will occasionally see them along the Kenai but the Russian is shallow and where they can feast on the Silvers.There is a path along there but it is well posted as being very dangerous due to the bears. Darwin waits for the unwary.

I stayed in a fishing lodge in the Icy Straights (Doc Warner's) where they let you fish using their boats (inside straight is usually very calm water). I saw dozens of whales, some breaching within 30 feet. Yes we fired up the engine and moved off a bit. We knew it was going to come up by the bubble ring and it was a fantastic sight. We saw a couple of bear (black) and one guy bought a permit and shot one from his boat as it foraged along the shore but would say bear are not a common sight there. Again though, if you are down south (Camp is out of Juneau) have good rain gear, not the cheap stuff. Have weather proof gear or some serious protection for it.

Best time to get the Northern Lights is October or March. I chose March. Flew into Fairbanks, hired a native who had a lodge north of town and had a great time. During the day I toured around the University, the pipeline, North Pole (small city east of Fairbanks) but found very little wildlife. I've read that if you satay 3 nights in Fairbanks you have an 80% chance to see the Northern Lights. I stayed 5 and got shots the first two, then a storm closed it out.

Took the wife up to see Denali . That was late July. Naturally it rained daily. Tough to get good photos through windows being pounded by rain. And they keep you in the bus when a bear is nearby (not a bad idea). You can however drive quite a way into the park on your own and then you can stop and shoot anytime.

Cameralark Loc: Torrington, CT

I went to Katmai Wilderness Lodge in Late August 2016. I got it all: bears, bald eagles, whales, sea otters, eagles with fish in talons, etc.
Plus, the food is delicious. You must take a float plane from Kodiak to get there. Perhaps a one week minimum, but a wonderful experience.Photos mostly from Katmai, balance Denali.
http://carlmeisel.smugmug.com/Wildlife/Alaska-2015

Photolady2014 Loc: Southwest Colorado

Thanks for all the input so far! It is all helping!