An Alaskan Adventure with Casio Exilim EX-Z1050 and Samsung NV9
January 2, 2009
The street was deserted. The air was enrobed in a sublime silence that was interrupted only by a twitter or two of a faraway bird. At the far end of the street was an elegant little cottage, that seemed to have been taken out of a fairy-tale. A man was poised a few feet from it, shooting it with a sleek digital camera. He was so engrossed that he didn’t notice the darkening of the clouds overhead. ‘Adrian! come inside or you’ll be drenched before you know it!’ called a voice from the cottage.
It was then that Adrian realised where he was. For, this cottage in the outskirts of Anchorage, Alaska was so spell-binding that he spent nearly an hour photographing it with his brand new Samsung NV9 Digital Camera. A sudden drizzle started unannounced and Adrian ran inside. The Lonely Lark Bed-and-Breakfast was indeed lonely, for it was far away from the vibrant city of Anchorage. ‘Rain is our accomplice’ said Mrs. Imelda, the caretaker. Adrian smiled in response and sat down for tea in the picturesque balcony. Mrs. Imelda joined him with her cup of black coffee.
She chatted on and Adrian found himself warming up to the friendly nature of Americans. They spoke about everything from peanut butter-jelly-sandwich to the world economy. There was not a single lull in the conversation and Adrian enjoyed the company of this white-haired, plump, chirpy American. When he told her that he had a passion for photography, she was eager to know what camera he was using. ‘I have two beauties with me Mrs. Imelda’ began Adrian. ‘Samsung NV9 and Casio Exilim EX-Z1050 Digital Camera. The NV9 is of 10.2 megapixels with a 3.6X Schneider Kreuznac lens, face, smile, and blink detection.’
He showed her the stylish camera and added ‘I actually fell for the looks, as you can see’.
Mrs. Imelda surveyed the camera and said ‘I see what you mean’
‘And the EX-Z1050 is of 10 megapixels with a 3x optical zoom lens. It’s pocket sized and is a little plain when it comes to looks’ .
Eager to start off his jaunt, Adrian took leave of Mrs. Imelda and dressed to visit the first place in the itinerary, The Anchorage Museum of History and Art. He hitched a ride to downtown Anchorage and was quite keen to visit the museum for it was ranked among Alaska’s top ten visitor attractions. It was an informative and enjoyable walk through the history of Alaska and Adrian admired the paintings of the Alaskan scenery and walrus ivory. With the EX-Z1050 he took some appealing shots that gave him a taste of the anthropology of the state. It came with two shooting modes: Program AE and Best Shot.
The Best Shot mode had a whooping 38 options to choose from and Adrian was confused, which one to choose from the menu and finally settled for the portrait mode. He enjoyed the docent tour with a group of American tourists, who were a friendly as well as a cheerful lot. He took some memorable pictures with them using the NV9. The various features of Samsung’s Perfect Portrait System was a surprise package.
Features such as “Face Detection“, which locates the subject’s face within the frame and automatically adjusts autofocus and auto exposure to ensure better composition enabled him to take some fine shots. The tour was more enjoyable with his new American friends and together, they formed a garrulous gang. They lunched together at the Marx Brothers Cafe, located in the Museum’s atrium.
In all his tours around the world, Adrian had never had such a delightful meal. The food was delicious and he tasted almost everything on the menu -Style King Crab Cake, Melitzano Salata, Seared Alaskan Silver Salmon and the most expensive dish, Broiled King Crab Legs. But it was not just the food that made the meal enjoyable. It was the company. His new friends Mark, Ben and ‘Mean’ Matt were so loquacious that the entire restaurant reverberated with their laughter. Adrian was clicking away his NV9, as he wanted to record every moment of this convivial meet. The “Blink Detection Mode” of the NV9 was of good use now as in this mode, the camera took a series of shots when closed eyes were detected, ensuring that his friends were captured with their eyes open, even in the midst of intermittent guffaws.
They parted without the trivial exchange of phone numbers, but Adrian was satisfied just the same, for his friends were right there, inside the memory card of his NV9. He then took a shuttle to the The Ulu Factory and shopped for some Ulu knives for his colleagues. He then rented a Ford and drove north to Thunderbird Falls. He now took out his EX-Z1050 and shot pictures along the way and this time used the Program AE mode that provided fast, automatic shooting for any situation.
It was Adrian’s thirst for nature that led him to the Thunderbird Falls. The one mile hike was easy for Adrian’s legs that were now well accustomed to hikes in the wilderness. The walk along the wooded trail was a magical experience and the nearly florescent Devils’ Club leaves along the path added to the charm. Using the 5x optical zoom of the NV9, Adrian captured the fractal patterns of the oak ferns. He then decided to experiment his EX-Z1050’s 3x optical zoom lens which has a focal range of 38-114mm and shot the star flowers strewn along the way.
The results were mixed, as the lens took some sharp pictures but Adrian felt they could have been a little brighter. As Adrian walked closer and closer to the falls, his ears pierced the air to pick the thundering of the Thunderbird falls. But there was none. An eerie silence was all that greeted him and Adrian felt a bit queasy. Was he lost? He felt unsure of the path he was taking. But he hid behind his camera.
Using the Auto Contrast Balance of the Samsung NV9 that corrected shadows, Adrian shot the Birch canopy. When he viewed the shot in the 2.7in TFT LCD, he realised that this feature was perfect for this time of the day. It was indeed a spell-binding shot. He walked on admiring the Mini-Dashboard status gauges of the NV9. It gave easy access to information about the camera’s battery and memory status.
A tiny creek flowed by the trail noiselessly and Adrian wondered again if he was on the right track for he had heard that one can hear the Thunderbird falls several yards away. But a few feet into the trail, he felt reassured for there, in front of him was the fall. But it was imprisoned by the ruthless cold. Frozen to a ghostly aqua-blue hue, it presented an enthralling sight. Adrian went berserk with both his cameras. The EX-Z1050 captured the magical glow quite well and the Soft Flash mode added a dash of control when he shot the frozen mass up close. He also found the continuous shooting mode of up to seven frames a second quite comfortable. The temperature was getting colder every minute and Adrian rushed to his car. He had plans for fishing the next day and wanted to get a good night’s rest before the venture.
As he drove to the cottage, Adrian was admiring the dark Alaskan sky. After a heavenly sleep in the warm cottage, he was up before sun, all dressed up for fishing. Adrian drove south towards Kenai river, the most famous sport fishing destination in Alaska. When he walked towards Drifters Lodge, the sight that he was the first to come that morning gave him thrills. He also remembered his dad’s advice to him when they went fishing when he was young: ‘Be the first to come or don’t come at all!’
Adrian mused that the same rule applied to photograph a landscape in its most immaculate sense. The Kenai river looked enchanting at this time of the day when it was untouched by the rays of the sun. All plans of fishing for king salmon and rainbow trout left him and Adrian was at once busy with his cameras. He first shot the panorama using the ‘Landscape’ mode of the NV9. It was indeed quite impressive when he viewed the shot in the LCD. He also experimented with the EX-Z1050’s presets such as tungsten, daylight, fluorescent and cloudy. He also found that the EX-Z1050 had good colour balance.
When the photographer in Adrian took the reigns there was no stopping him. It was only long after the arrival of several fisher-men that he realised that he had some fishing to attend to! He hurried to the Drifters Lodge for he had booked for a professional fishing guide. He was just in time as a group of tourists were just leaving for a half-a-day fishing trip to the upper Kenai river as this was the best section of the river for beginners. Adrian now made use of the MJPEG Movie recording of his NV9. It allowed him to edit and zoom during the filming and he enjoyed this feature of the NV9.
The fishing trip along the Kenai river with their guide Quint was one of the most amazing experiences in his life ever. Quint was an expert in shark-fishing and was a huge fan of the famous Frank ‘Quint’ Mundus. He also enjoyed fly fishing and that was why he was working in Anchorage. Their party was lucky, thanks to Quint, for they caught a king-sized halibut. Adrian shot all the action with his EX-Z1050 that came with motion analysis technology. It enabled to keep the moving subjects within the frame and sharply focused. The resulting pictures were amazing; all the action was frozen to perfection.
Right after yet another scrumptious meal Adrian drove back to Anchorage for the last activity in his itinerary, for which he was looking forward to. Dusk hung around longer than usual and the entire city seemed to be bathed in a heavenly glow. Adrian disembarked from his Ford and entered the Ruth Arcand Park. He walked inside wondering if such things existed. In answer to all his doubts, there stood the authentic horse-drawn sleigh in front of him. The driver welcomed him with a smile and Adrian embarked upon the one hour sleigh ride. As the sleigh glided over the frozen path, it began to snow. The snow, the sleigh, the slow, rocking movement together cast a spell on Adrian that he wondered if Santa would drop in, asking for a lift to fly around the world! He kept his EX-Z1050 and NV9 at the ready, for who knows, the white-bearded man might actually decide to come!
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