In this outdoor photography vlog, Angie Birmingham (and her crew) travel to Nome, Alaska to shoot wildlife, primarily muskox, as well as Arctic terns and landscape features like an abandoned dredge and a train wreck. The video centers on a side‑by‑side comparison of two camera systems: the Sony RX10 Mark V (a fixed‑lens bridge camera) and the Sony a6700 paired with Sigma 16‑35mm f/2.8 and Sigma/Tamron 60‑600mm (or 50‑400mm) lenses on a crop‑sensor body. Throughout the field shoot, the presenters discuss and demonstrate specific exposure settings—aperture, shutter speed, ISO—for various subjects and lighting conditions, explaining why certain choices are made (e.g., f/4 at 600 mm for a close‑up muskox, f/16 for a train scene, high ISO for low light). They also share compositional tips, such as tight headshots versus wide landscape frames, and the importance of showing the animal’s environment. After reviewing footage, the host decides to return the RX10 Mark V in favor of the interchangeable‑lens a6700, citing flexibility and better performance in the harsh Arctic light. The vlog blends technical gear talk with on‑location storytelling, offering practical advice for wildlife photographers traveling to remote, cold environments.
Chapters
What's that?
Did you say you want to go to Nome, Alaska, where the muskox roam wild? Well, I know I'm ready to go. I'm ready to escape this South Texas heat. And with me, I'm gonna take the RX10 Mark V and the Sony a6700 with the Sigma 16-35mm f/2.8. 600 lens, and on this crop body sensor, that is 90 to 900mm. So we can really reach out and touch those muskox. But this camera, the RX10, at 600mm, you're at f/4. At 900mm on this one, you're at f/6.3. So So if the lighting is bad, we're gonna have some high ISO to contend with. So let's take a look at what I get. We are at the Train to Nowhere.
f/16, probably shutter speed down around 1/30th of a second, and we'll let ISO do its thing. So this right here is the best composition I can find here at the train. If you notice, the train starts in the right-hand corner and it progressively works its way through the frame and out into the distance.
My favorite spots here in Nome. It is the abandoned dredge. We get nice reflections in the water. I'm going to put the shutter down to 1/125th of a second, ISO hopefully 100, and f-stop Somewhere around f/16. All right, let's take a look at it. Here at the harbor in Nome, came up on some Arctic terns, and I'm gonna photograph him at kind of a low shutter speed for a bird, at 1/1250 shutter speed. Of course, f/4. It's gonna be 600mm. And ISO, well, we'll see what ISO does, but, uh, I think it'll turn out pretty good. He's pretty darn close.
All right.
So we found some muskox that are hanging out real close, and I've got the Sony RX10 right here, and since the background is so crappy We're gonna do some tight headshots. So for this, I'm gonna be at f/4, of course, wide open, and my shutter, I'm gonna put it at 1/500 because they're just kind of laying around munching on grass, and there's a couple standing up. But the ISO, it'll probably be somewhere around maybe 1,000, 2,000.
Something like that.
So let's see what we get.
What's that?
I hear you want to go to Nome, Alaska where the muskox roam wild. And I've got the a6700 paired with the Sigma 60-600.
Here we are in the Alaska tundra. We found a muskox, a young bull, and my settings are— I'm at 1/1000 shutter speed at f/6.3 because that's wide open, and I'm at 3200 ISO. Let's see how this turns out. On a rock cliff, and she's over there Rubbing her little booty on the rocks. I'm at 1/1000 shutter speed. Now she goes back to rubbing her butt. f/6.3, and we'll let the ISO be where the ISO is gonna be. Let's get some photos of her.
Here I am on the tundra. I got a family of muskox in front of me. Looks like maybe 2, 4, 6, 8, maybe 10, 11 of them. And when you're photographing muskox, make sure you zoom in and get some nice tight stuff, but zoom out, get a landscape with them in it, show where they live, show their zip code. So I'm going to shoot them at 600mm. And then I'm gonna back off and probably shoot them at 100mm to get that skyline that they're on. So this is what I came up with.
So we hiked up this hill to find a group of muskox, and then it started to rain on us, but we had this incredible view. And I shot a couple muskox on the a6700 with the Sigma 60-600. I think they turned out pretty good. Let's take a look.
So same camera, same muskox, but you ask, why are you going to return the RX10 Mark V? Okay, so now the verdict, that the RX10 is gonna have to go back to B&H Photo. The reason being is that I had sold my RX10 Mark IV back when they were saying that it was discontinued and they were no longer going to be doing any more, any new versions of it. So I had sold it And I bought the Sony a6700, but I bought the Tamron 50-400 lens to go on it as my grab-and-go camera, the one that I could take out on the kayaks, that can be tossed in the back of the truck. And it's just a real rugged little camera, and it's great. And for this video, I put the 60-600 600 on it, and it works phenomenal. And if you want to see other videos about the a6700, check out this playlist here. And if you want to see videos about the RX10 Mark V, check out this playlist right here. And that's why the RX10 Mark V is going back, is that it just doesn't have a place in my camera bag, unfortunately, and you can only carry so much on a trip, and I'd rather take a camera with the interchangeable lens at this point in my life. So I am opting to keep the a6700 and send back the RX10, and not because image quality— the image quality on this is, for a 1-inch sensor, it is fabulous. All the photos and all of the excursions that I've taken during this video? Well, I shared it with a group of photographers that we take with us every year to Nome, Alaska, and I would love it if you join me next year. The link is below for Nome, Alaska, but we also have lots of other workshops and private mentoring and private classes if you live in the South Texas area. So if you have a clicking problem, you belong here and over at my school group. All the links are below. Don't forget to like and subscribe and ring my bell so you get notified the next time I post a video. Don't forget, keep on clicking.
