Chasing Glaciers and Grizzlies: My Wildlife Photography Dream

I've been photographing wildlife for fifteen years, but I'd never felt this nervous stepping aboard a ship. The Carnival Magic was massive—like, impossibly massive—and as I wheeled my luggage past the RedFrog Pub and the poolside buffet, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was somehow cheating. Real adventurers don't photograph bears from a luxury cruise ship, do they? They trek through wilderness, suffer through mosquito-infested nights, survive on energy bars and determination. Yet here I was, with my Canon R5 and a seven-day Alaska itinerary, ready to prove myself wrong. The first thing I did was familiarize myself with the ship. I'm not one of those photographers who just stays in their cabin, and the Magic offered way more than I expected. I spent the first evening after we left Seattle mapping out the best shooting spots on the upper decks. The Lido Deck had some decent angles, but the bridge area on the bow gave me an unobstructed view of the open water. I made a mental note to get up there before sunrise in the Inside Passage—wildlife photographers know that golden hour is everything, and boat movement is minimal at that time of day. My cabin steward, Marcus, caught me at…