Monday, January 19, 2009

Fairbanks celebrates Alaska's 50th Satehood Anniversary

Fireworks celebration of Alaska's statehood, Fairbanks, Alaska

Canon 5d Mark II, 24-80mm f2.8L, 1.6sec @ f2.8, ISO 200

Fairbanks has been washed in warm temperatures recently, reaching 50 degrees above zero. This followed nearly two weeks of cold temperatures reaching minus 40 degrees and colder! Due to the cold temperatures the fireworks celebration for Alaska's 5oth year anniversary of statehood was postponed until last Saturday. Conveniently, it was about 30 degrees, a very balmy temperature for the event. I grabbed a few token shots with my Canon 5D Mark II, just to experiment a bit with the new camera, and, I took a few video clips, one of which is posted below.

I picked up a 5D Mark 2 to test it out as a lightweight camera for international travel, and potentially as a good landscape camera. I doubt it will replace my 1D series camera's completely, but a little experimenting in the near future will give a good idea of its performance in the field, specifically for the kind of shooting I do. This point is critical, since the subjects and style of shooting become a big factor in the final choice of a camera. The wonder camera is still elusive. But, I do like the light weight bonus of the 5D Mark II. I just wonder how it will do when I eventually drop it during some crazy escapade!


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pretty photos. So I guess no-one was around who wanted to become independent again!

Patrick said...

Annie,
There are certainly some in the area, but they may have boycotted the event indeed.