The great news was I was heading to the McNeil river to photograph Alaska'n Brown Bears, the bad news was what in the heck to I take. After nearly driving my wife (Becky) and myself crazy, I made the following decisions on photo equipment to take to McNeil.

Cameras were not a problem to figure out. It was just which ones were best suited for Alaska. I took the following cameras:

(Two) Nikon F4s bodies - I have used the F4 for several years and love this camera. Some have ditched their F4's for the newer F5, or even more advanced lower priced cameras such as the N90s. Although the autofocus technology is outdated on the F4, I mostly use manual focus and it is not a factor to me. These bodies are heavy, but are tough and can handle lots of abuse. When you are 150 miles from civilization, you have to have dependable equipment!

(One) N-90 body - Yes, sometimes it pays to have the fast autofocus capabilities of the N-90. I mostly used this camera as a back up if one of my F4's failed. I also had it loaded with film to use incase I did not have time to reload quickly enough. I typically use the N-90 with my 105 macro lens to utilize the "D" focus technology.

(One) Olympus Stylus Zoom - A point and shoot camera is great to have around your neck for those shots that happen to quickly. I had it loaded with print film and used it to document my trip to Alaska. It was kind of a visual diary of the trip. My friends would rather look at my snap shots than sit through a slide show. Also, if you take a dunk in the creek or something; the point and shoot costs less to replace than your $1400 Nikon F4.

(One) Yashica Twin Lens Camera - I took this along just in case the weather was nice and I had a chance to do some scenic shots. I love the big 6x6cm negative that the twin lens produces.

This was where I almost pulled out all my hair figuring out what to take. Here is what I took, but check out the "tips" page for what I should have left home.

Nikkor 300 2.8 EDIF - I bought this lens specifically for this trip. I debated over whether I needed a 300 mm or a 500 mm for the trip. To make a long story short, I took the right lens for the trip. The 300 mm lens was the lens I used most at McNeil. About half the time I used a TC-14B with it. That made a 420 mm f/4 out of the 300 2.8 lens. You could get by with a Nikkor 300 f/4 EDIF AF if you had good light and bring some Kodak E200 film.

Nikkor 80-210 AF f/4-5.6 - I like using this lens for landscapes or when I need to carry just one lens so I won't miss any close up action. This lens was used often while in Denali National Park. I don't recall using it at McNeil.

Nikkor 35-70 AF - This is always a handy lens to have. It is almost always on one of my camera bodies while I am on a photo shoot. Great for scenics, landscapes, portraits, and action shots. I always have this lens in my camera bag.

Nikkor 105 macro - This is one fine lens! A must for macro work and great for portraits, this lens really performs.

Tokina 20-35 AF f/4 -5.6 - This is one of my favorite lenses for landscapes. This lens can be found mail order for around $235 and is a fine lens.

Tripod - Bogen 3021 with Arcca Swiss studio ball head.

Filters - Polarizer, split ND filters, Tiffen enhancing filter.

Beanbag and a rain cover for my camera and lenses.

LowePro Pro Trekker - All this stuff fit in my Lowe ProTrekker backpack. Did I mention it was heavy?

Fuji Provia - 40 rolls

Fuji Velvia - 20 rolls

Kodak E20 - 20 rolls

Kodak Gold - 8 rolls

Kodak Pro 100 - 10 rolls

I can't stress enough that you can't have too much film. This was enough for McNeil, but if I would have had good weather in Denali I would have ran out of film. It rained on us the whole time at Denali and I only shot 4 rolls while in the park.

If you have an questions please e-mail me at Mark Hardgrave

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