Alaskan Summer - Cinematic Short Film

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In July of 2022, my wife Tiana and I visited Alaska for the first time together, and what we saw on a daily basis made us question why we would ever go home.
This state is the largest by far, three times the size of the next biggest state, Texas, and home to well over 100,000 glaciers.
Over the course of 9 days, we road tripped in a loop from Anchorage to Valdez, completing the trip by taking the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry from Valdez back to Anchorage.
Many people want to see Alaska, but just like us, get overwhelmed at where to start and what to see, and end up never visiting.
It's true, to see all of Alaska would take several lifetimes, but that doesn't mean you should refrain from visiting; all it means is you need the help of a local to know where to start. Thankfully, we had the help of the tourism board, Travel Alaska, who designed the majority of our itinerary. It looked like this:
Day 1) Arrive in Anchorage, pick up rental car, check into the hotel, go out for dinner, then settle in the evening.
Day 2) Drive from Anchorage to Knik River Lodge, visiting waterfalls and lakes along the way.
Day 3) Wake up at Knik River Lodge, and hop on board a helicopter tour to the Knik Glacier with Alaska Heli Tours. Have dinner at the lodge (Tiana recommends the prawn risotto), then crash early after a day filled with adventure.
Day 4) Drive from Knik River Lodge to Chitina and hop on a small plane to McCarthy. Arrive in McCarthy and check in to the hotel, Ma Johnson's, which has been restored to look exactly as it did 100 years ago was it was first built. There are a few options for dinner in town, but we just kept going to the one we liked the most which is called The Potato.
You can drive the dirt road from Chitina to McCarthy, but it is hard on vehicles so the rental car companies typically don't allow it. Taking a small plane is very affordable and far less hassle, plus you get to see the amazing mountains of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park on the way in.
McCarthy mostly shut downs in the winter, operating as a seasonal town. This, and other reasons (read: harsh winters) make McCarthy very much a summer destination.
Day 5) Wake up at Ma Johnson's, and catch the shuttle to Kennicott. We spent the day exploring the historic Kennicott Mine, as well as going out with a guide onto the Root Glacier. We had pre-ordered lunch from Kennicott Glacier Lodge which we picked up upon arriving in Kennicott because we didn't know what else the town would offer for food options. In hindsight, I would pre-order lunch from KGL again, since it was so quick and easy, as well as delicious. After our day of exploring, we caught the shuttle back to McCarthy, grabbed some dinner at The Potato and settled in for the evening.
Day 6) Caught the airport shuttle at 8:30am, and the 9AM flight back from McCarthy to Chitina. Drove from Chitina to Valdez making endless scenic stops along the way to hike, see lakes, rivers and waterfalls. Checked into the hotel in Valdez, then walked the 5 minutes to the waterfront for dinner.
Day 7) Spent the day on a cruise with Stan Stephens Glacier and Wildlife Cruises. I took more photos and videos on this one cruise than the previous 6 days of the trip combined. We saw otters, seals, ten of thousands of sea lions, eagles and many other forms of wildlife, and this was just on the way to see the Columbia Glacier, which is one of the few tidal glaciers in the world (meaning it reaches the ocean directly).
Day 8) Took the ferry from Valdez to Anchorage and saw the sights along the way. This is the most scenic ferry either Tiana or I have been on in our lives.
Day 9) Woke up in Anchorage, checked out of the hotel, returned the rental car, and began the journey home. The flight home is easy; a quick 3hr direct flight back to YVR (Vancouver).
Nine days in Alaska was nothing short of amazing. It could have been much longer, and we hope to return again for longer in the future.
Huge thank you to Travel Alaska for bringing us out!
The gear I used to shoot this:
Canon R6
Canon 24-70mm F2.8 RF-Mount
Canon RF-EF Mount Adapter
Canon 16-35mm F4 EF-Mount
Canon 70-200mm F2.8 Mark 2 EF-Mount
Sigma 24mm F1.4 Art EF-Mount
Lexar 256gb 2000x SD Card
Lexar 128gb 2000x SD Card
Lexar 128gb 1667x SD Card x 3
DJI Mavic Air 2S
Sandisk Extreme 128gb Micro SD Card
Sandisk 2TB SSD
Lens Filters:
Hoya CirPL 82mm
Hoya CirPL 77mm
Tiffen Black ProMist 1/4 82mm
Shot in:
CLog (Canon R6) at 4k resolution and 60 frames per second
DLog (DJI Air 2S) at 4k resolution and 30 frames per second
Team:
Sequencing - Cole Lundberg
Colour - Ben Prescott
Cinematography - Ben Prescott and Tiana Prescott
Thanks for watching :)

[@rileyjanzen2814]

Unreal!! Definitely adding this to my bucket list!

[@itsbigben]

You deserve it broski 🤝🏼

[@justis.cooper]

Hell yeah man - stunning shots. Summertime looks incredible up there!

[@MattPeterss]

My all time favourite chord progression, how did you know?!?

[@sagarroy5767]

❤❤❤

[@raziyabhanu858]

🎉😢🎉😂🎉❤🎉😊😮😅😮😮