Pink winter light and the Trans Alaska Oil Pipeline, Arctic, Alaska. Canon 1Ds Mark III 100-400mm f/5.6L (100mm) 1/4 sec. @ f/16, ISO 200
I took this photo on Sunday afternoon at 3:16pm, and it reveals the very last hint of light falling on the mountains about 50 miles north of the Arctic Circle. The sun will be gone in a day or so and won’t appear again until sometime in later January. The colors in the sky at this time of year are of that “classic” arctic color palette: pastel pinks, blues, and light yellows. In spite of the lack of direct light, there is some magical colors and gentle quality to what light does exist. It is however, a very narrow window of photography. I’ve taken pictures at this location many times, but not with this soft light and the spruce trees decorated with snow. It was -20 below zero. To get some altitude over the trees, I placed my camera on a bean bag on the car’s roof and shot a slow exposure from the sunroof. It is important to roll down the car windows for a minute or so and let the warm air blow out so there is no heat shimmer that leaks up in front of the camera lens. See more pictures of the Trans Alaska Oil Pipeline.
