Captain Landry was hard at work this past summer guiding flying and filming at Angler's Alibi. There really is some unique footage here, showcasing the incredible salmon runs and wildlife on the Alagnak River.

On a side note: For all those aspiring drone pilots, let's be respectful with these flying/photography tools so that we can continue to use them.

I think taking on full manual control of a camera is a goal for any aspiring photographer looking to improve their skills. While it is very intimidating at first, learning manual control can be taken one step at a time through the use and understanding of the camera’s preset priority modes. In the last “Behind the Lens” article we discussed choosing the proper lens for your fishing photography. Building on that, I will briefly discuss using priority modes in preparation for takingon full manual control of your cameras settings.

Shutter Priority -

Outside of full manual control, using your cameras shutter priority mode (“S” on Canon or “Tv” on Nikon) is the best way to learn how to control the amount of movement and/or blur produced in your final image. Here, your camera allows you to choose the desired shutter speed, while it takes control of the remaining ISO and aperture settings. When trying to capture fly line in flight, or a fish doing mid-air cartwheels, you will find that cranking up the shutter to the maximum possible speed is necessary to get a sharp, clean image. While this is not exactly rocket science, it is necessary to understand completely. I can hold my camera steady at a shutter speed of 1/60^th or faster by hand, but if I need to shoot any slower, a camera support is necessary to avoid blur in the final image.

The downside to using the shutter priority mode lies in the photographers inability to set the desired depth of field. Keeping this limiting factor in mind, I always enjoyed experimenting with the shutter speeds when trying to capture a fly line in flight. I would start at a low shutter speed, and continuously analyze how “frozen” the line and angler were as the speed was ramped up. Over time I realized that sometimes a little blur is a good thing, giving the image a sense of movement and action that a completely still frame does not have.

Aperature Prority

In Aperture mode (“A” on Canon and “Tv” on Nikon,) the photographer chooses the desired depth of field and allows the camera sensor to dictate the shutter speed and ISO. This allows more control over what I refer to as the “focus” of the image. More simply put, as the F-stop value is increased, more of the frame comes into focus.

I believe that understanding how to control the depth of field is a place where one can grow the most as a photographer. Aperture priority was hands down my favorite mode when I was learning how my camera settings worked together. While shutter speeds are fairly straight forward, controlling what’s in focus and the general feel of the image is really up to the personal styling of the photographer.

Taking on Manual Mode.

Using the lessons learned from shooting in the cameras priority modes, I began to understand the aperture and shutter settings necessary to achieve my desired effects. The final part of the equation lies in adjusting the ISO value accordingly, which allows for the proper exposure. If the image is too bright, the ISO value needs to be lowered, and if the image is too dark, the value needs to be increased.

Ultimately, the difference in ISO values can be seen in how pixelated an image will be when blown up into a larger size. The lower the ISO number, the clearer the image will be. Most newer DSLR cameras, and even most point and shoot models, use some truly amazing technology providing for some great quality images even when using higher than normal ISO settings.

Learning manual mode will take a bit of time, but is hands down the best thing you can do to improve your photo skills. I feel that working up to full manual control in this manner is the easiest way to comprehend how shutter speed, aperture, and ISO work together. Fortunately, this is best done through experimentation and practice, so get out on the water and snap away. I bet you will be delightfully surprised with your results.

After a devastating fire consumed Intricate Bay Lodge a year ago, the eight owners decided to lick their wounds and go for the impossible: design, fabricate, ship and build a new replacement in a single year.

"We knew rebuilding off the grid in just one year would be a huge challenge, especially in this remote part of Alaska, but we were lucky enough to find a great collaborator who could fulfill our wish list", said Brian Harry, owner and manager of Intricate Bay Lodge.

The reincarnated lodge, erected on the same location, incorporates dozens of improvements suggested through the accumulated knowledge of many fishing expeditions. Guests will have spectacular views of Lake Iliamna, short boat or float plane rides to Alaska's unparalleled fishing, meals from the new gourmet kitchen, and a new hot tub to relax muscles worn from handling large fish.

"Since this is a small-scale, remote, off-the-grid, commercial fly fishing lodge in Alaska, every design choice was critical – driving cost, functionality and the business model itself," explains Harry.

"We are very grateful to the community for their help and support throughout this process. We're updating our IntricateBayLodge.com site, and are once again booking reservations. The lodge will operate for years and years to come, giving hundreds of people a dream-vacation experience in a very special place."

Introducing the New Intricate Bay Lodge

{gallery}BlogContent/2015/January/IntricateBayGallery/Gallery{/gallery}

Amenities and Aesthetics
The lodge has 4 comfortably carpeted bedrooms, each with a private bathroom, one queen and one full bed. An additional 5th bedroom with private bath can accommodate extra guests. The hickory hardwood floors and pine walls and ceilings give the lodge a rustic feel. The heated mud room will ensure wadering up will be comfortable and your gear will be dry for your next adventure.

Warm, Cozy, Elegant
New construction brings advances in technology. The lodge was insulated above and beyond any code requirements. The combination of a walk around fire place and forced air will ensure a warm and cozy environment for unwinding after a great day on the water. Sparing no expense in the design, the lodge provides a unique first class experience not normally associated with remote Alaska. Surround sound, wifi, and satellite TV provide modern conveniences and connectivity.

Hot Appetizers and Cold Drinks
Enjoy hot tasty treats and drinks at our custom bar during cocktail hour. Bar includes comfortable chairs, a flat screen TV, darts and views to dream about.

Hot Tub
After a long day on the water, relax and soak up the views, laughter, and fish stories. Our wood fired, jet powered hot tub will enhance your next Alaskan Adventure. Wading rivers, casting your fly rod and fighting large fish of various species can tire those muscles. Take a dip and rejuvenate your body preparing for the next day.

Trip Packages

How do you like to recreate in Alaska? These guys are taking speed flying to another level in Alaska's Tordrillo Mountains. AK is a wonderland for adventure!

Tordrillo Mountain Lodge supported this film shoot with Red Bull Media House. 

From the Filmmaker:

So this is what I did over this past winter when I was not making people coffee.

It's all time-lapse footage shot in and around Anchorage, Alaska, with the emphasis on the nature around the city rather then on the people and buildings. This is a collection of the nicer stuff I shot of the northern lights, stars, sunset, and the tide. All of this was shot between October 2011 and April 2012.

Simply put, a father and son's journey into becoming fly fishermen. Beautifully done, and what a fantastic way to spend time together. Makes me yearn for my youth again.

When you teach a kid how to fish, you inherently teach them respect for our fisheries and natural world. Alaska is a great place to start.

Recently, I have had a few people ask me about lens selection in regard to fishing photography. More precisely, "What is the best lens I can get for the majority of my fishing situations?" While I wish it were a simpler question to answer, the fact is, each lens type has its own pros and cons. Every individual lens captures emotions differently, almost as if they have their own unique "personality." Here's my rundown:

Wide-Angle - The Hank Patterson of Lenses

I think we all have that fishing buddy who always brings the party. They always bring the beer, and are fun as hell regardless of the fishing conditions. They often get worked up over every fish, and are relentless in hassling you after you farm a monster. Simply put, a wide-angle lens is more or less the "Hank Patterson" of camera gear.

I find that images taken with a wide-angle lens have their own special kind of excitement to them. This lens style has a tendency to separate a subject from its background by maximizing the foreground and minimizing the size of the background. This will in turn add a lot of depth to your imagery. I find I most commonly use my wide-angle lens for grip and grin, close up action, and just all around energetic fishing situations.

While this style lens has provided me with a lot of great images, it also comes with it's own set of disadvantages. Unless you are shooting landscape images, where you are trying to shoot an entire scene, capturing your subject full frame requires the camera to be tight to the subject. Mountain ranges, trees, and other parts of your background tend to shrink in comparison to your subject. So if you are looking at capturing the details of the background, you may need to go with a longer style lens. When used properly though, a wide-angle lens can be one of your favorites, and is a must have in any photographers arsenal.

My personal favorite is the Cannon 20mm F/2.8 Ultrawide. It provides crisp, energetic images with minimal distortion, and won't completely break your bank at about $539.

Midrange - The "Decent at everything" guy.

I would put a midrange lens in the same category as another fishing buddy we all know. This angler knows a decent amount about every technique. Their fly boxes tend to be perfectly organized, their gear is in tip top shape, they fish with custom tied leaders, and really tend to focus on the details. A good midrange lens is very similar in its versatility and quality.

A staple if you are looking to highlight beauty and intricacies, a good mid-range lens, especially those with a low F-stop value, can create a variety of stunning images. As a bonus, the low F-stop value helps this lens in low light situations and allows for a very shallow depth of field. General portraits and detail-oriented images are my primary uses for this type of glass.

A good quality mid range lens has few downfalls. While it may not provide quite as much energy as a wide angle, is will fit the bill for most of your fishing photography.

Generally, I like my mid range lens to have as low of a f stop value as possible. My personal favorite is the Canon 50mm F/1.4. The nifty fifty as they call it will give you great image quality, and at around $399 is comparatively affordable.

Telephoto - The "Just happy to be out" guy

Telephoto lenses really can set the scene and give perspective to an image. Similar to that angler that is just happy to be out, they tend to sit way back and take it all in.

With a telephoto lens, the subject and its background will be brought together, giving your images a true sense of scale. As you can see above, the anglers and the background work hand in hand, allowing the viewer to feel the true scope of the canopy. A telephoto lens capable of zoom will allow you to jump in close and grab a tighter view when out at a distance. These situations comprise my primary uses of telephotos glass.

On the downside, a telephoto lens usually has a larger minimum focus distance, requiring you to be further away from your subject when shooting. This specifically comes into play when shooting in tight quarters, such as fishing out of a boat.

When out in the field I carry the Cannon EF 70-200mm F/2.8 lens. While this is my most expensive piece of glass, it offers a variety of options when it comes to shot selection. At about $1500, this one lens will definitely dent the pocketbook a bit, but as with all gear, you really do get what you pay for.

While owning multiple lenses can step your photography game up to the next level, only owning one should by no means be a limiting factor. Learn, play with, and explore your lens's strengths. Your images will become more compelling, and you will find yourself looking at your days on the water in a whole new perspective.

Lee Kuepper is professional guide now calling the Kenai River home. He is a co-owner of Alaska's Angling Addiction, chasing the Kenai's monster kings and fabled trout on a regular basis. He is also a member of Loop USA's prostaff and a Certified Fly Casting Instructor through the FFF.

A new film from the Kokkaffe Media team. A portion of the film explores the Kanektok in Western Alaska. Looks great!

From the Filmmaker:

THOSE MOMENTS is a feature film for the 2015 fly fishing festival cycle, following fly fishing guides on their day off. We start in Alaska with Hawkeye and Zac searching for giant, flesh-eating rainbows on the Kanektok River, then join Torrie and Josie on Andros, Bahamas, for some mellow bonefishing and finish in British Columbia, where Scott and Kara swing for steel on the Dean River.

There is no denying that Bristol Bay is known as one of the best regions in Alaska for the die hard trout angler. The Nushagak, Togiak, Kvichak, and Naknek are a few of the big rivers in Bristol Bay which support some of the largest naturally reproducing salmon runs in the world. These massive riverine ecosystems, rich in salmon, also produce giant rainbow trout. Prime time trout weeks get filled fast here with the best lodges in the region and with good reason. The clear waters, pristine habitat, and monster trout, make it a world-class angling destination.

One common question that visiting anglers all seem to ask is "what flies should I bring with me?" While most lodges provide you with all the necessary equipment, catching big trout with your own flies has a special feeling to it. So, without further delay, here is a list of my top 5 flies to bring along for the giant red-sides of Bristol Bay.

Dolly Llama
The Dolly Llama dominates most Alaska trout boxes, and for good reason. The combination of bulk, movement, and all around fishiness make it a trout catching machine. According to guide Tyler Nonn (www.tidewatercharters.com), during the early season on the Kvichak, fly boxes are stocked with large leeches in purple or black/white color variations. Leech patterns like the Dolly Llama are a Bristol Bay standard and account for some donkey sized trout every year.

Dirty Flesh
The springtime thaw accounts for a special kind of "hatch" each year. The frozen river banks give way to spring, and the salmon graveyards begin to thaw, washing the carcasses back into the river. The trout know this and have a special place in their hearts for the early season protein. While it may not seem like it, a dirty, off-white colored flesh fly is always a good choice early on in the year

10mm bead
Yes, I said it. Condemn me as a cheater all you want, there is no doubt that beads are one of the most productive and therefor controversial patterns on the planet. While some "purists" prefer to not use them, there is no doubt that the little plastic ball is an Alaska staple. A varied range of colors and sizes are necessary to properly match all the egg variations in the river. If you were to only grab one size though, it would probably be the 10mm version. Carrying an array of colors, from milkier pinks to fresh red, will keep you in the fish for the majority of the season.

Articulated Fresh Flesh
You can smell it in the late summer and fall. The salmon that were once charging upriver in masses are now looking like extras for AMC's "Walking Dead." While it may not seem very appealing to you or me, trout are addicted to salmon flesh. It is more or less the crack cocaine of the underwater world and often times the bigger the fly the better. Remember, the size of some of these trout can be incredible. Like, "deep throat a softball" big. Articulated flesh in particular is one my favorites. Carry it in a few variations of pink, orange and white and you'll be set.

Morrish Sculpin
Similar to the Dolly Llama, the Morrish sculpin is another Alaska staple. Regardless of the time of year, sculpin will scurry along the riverbed feeding and running from hungry trout. Sculpin feed on many of the same things trout do, so be sure to throw them in places you would find food. Even around actively spawning salmon, where trout generally will focus on eggs, sculpin patterns will shine. Depending on the time of year, they will wear a variety of colors. Keeping with the naturals, like black, brown and olive in a 3-inch size is a safe bet.

Check out the top Bristol Bay Fishing Lodges

Angler's Alibi gives you a glimpse of their slice of fishing paradise on the Alagnak River. This is nice video that shows many aspects of their program and the experience in Bristol Bay.

From the Filmmaker:

In South Western Alaska, just west of where the Aleutian Island chain meets the main land, exists a place where man remains a visitor. A place where the moon and the tide keep the pace for the harmonic rhythms of the natural world. Here everything still lives and dies by this rhythmic dance. In one of the last places truly untouched by man kind's negative influences the natural world still reigns supreme.

Here salmon return in numbers not seen anywhere else on earth. Here bears and eagles are more likely to be seen than another group of people. Here an ecosystem exists supporting life so vibrant and so plentiful it has to be seen to be believed. Here salmon return in numbers not seen anywhere else on earth. Here bears and eagles are more likely to be seen than another group of people. Here an ecosystem exists supporting life so vibrant and so plentiful it has to be seen to be believed.
It is here that an adventurous few have created a stronghold deep in the wilderness where we can safely visit this wild place.

Visiting Angler's Alibi for the first time changes one's life. To be at a fish camp where the fishery is so untouched and authentic is nothing less than an inspiring experience, sure to ignite passion in us all while reinvigorating one's love for the natural world. Recharging your soul with every cast, Angler's Alibi is a destination that has to be seen to be believed.

BTW: Big Ups to Reckless Kelly and their Beautiful song "Wicked Twisted Road"