UPDATE: Images from this entire shoot are now on my website: Arrigetch Peaks photos. When it comes to words, Alaska gets slammed with superlatives. This is true probably because it is a big space with big views, and it’s tough to translate into little black letters. So when I attempt to summarize my recent backpacking trip…
The town of Kodiak, situated on Kodiak Island’s east side is flanked by a large hill that rises quickly behind the small community. Along this hillside grows some very happy wildflowers that pop in color on a sunny summer morning. This view looks southward from the town at the convoluted shores of the expansive island,…
Looking across St. Herman’s harbor to Pillar mountain reveals three prominent wind mills that whirl away under Kodiak’s often breezy weather. The wind mills contribute to Kodiak’s energy needs, largely supplied by hydro power. The lush green hillsides are ubiquitous on the island, nicknamed the Emerald Ilse for a good reason. Commercial fishing is still…
During this week I’ll be backpacking and camping in the Gates of the Arctic National Park in Alaska’s remote arctic region. It’s a big area and more specifically I’ll be in the Arrigetch peaks, a dramatic conglomeration of granite spires which are breathtaking to say the least. Packing for a trip that requires me to…
Late in the evening in early July, I was perched on the coastal shores of Kodiak Island, along Fort Ambercrombie park. The sun poured in from the west throwing a golden glow on the rocky cliffs at 10:40pm. Kodiak is known for its ever changing island weather, and I enjoyed a mix of sun and…
Male Walrus, Svalbard During my recent visit to Svalbard, on the Polar Pioneer icebreaker with Cheeseman’s Ecology Safaris, I logged some amazing lifetime wildlife encounters that will last as unforgettable experiences. One of them was some interaction with a curious group of male walrus that swam over to our small group along the shoreline. They…
I photographed this Atlantic puffin along the shores of the Island of Spitzbergen in Svalbard, on a sunny, calm evening. I’m familiar with the horned and tufted puffin that inhabit Alaska, but this was my first sighting of the Atlantic puffin. They are bright and colorful like the other gregarious puffins. As is often the…
This male polar bear had been swimming from island to island in a glacier fjord along the northern coast of Spitsbergen, in the Svalbard archipelago. I shot this frame just as the bear was about to swim to another nearby island. I took a lot of pictures of this animal, in many different situations, but…
Perfectly calm weather and overcast skies created conditions ideal for capturing reflections of floating icebergs in a glacial fjord on the northern coast of Spitsbergen, the main, and largest island of the Svalbard archipelago. This particular capture was actually a drive by shooting, which is why I had the shutter speed up to 1/160. Landscape…
The polar bear ranks up there as one of the most intriguing and amazing animals. To watch it move and live in its extreme environment is an experience I wish all people could have. This particular polar bear approached our ice breaker ship while we paused for a moment in the sea ice. The snow…