Glaciers, mountains and all things nature
Near the confluence of the Nigu and Etivluk river, is Puvakrat mountain, a notable ridge with a rocky spine, great for hiking and splendid views. We began a day hike in rainy and cloudy conditions, but mixed blue skies and dramatic clouds and light spilled across the grand vista as evening progressed. The sky in…
Although some revel in the constant daylight of Alaska’s summers, it can be exhausting from a photographer’s point of view. Golden hour peaks at some pretty severe hours, and I’ve never been too successful at midday naps. The end result is just a loss of sleep. The light however, is magnificent. After a long day…
I’ve posted a number of photos from a recent river trip on the Nigu, which flows north out of the Brooks range mountains in Alaska’s arctic. On the first few days, there was a cruddy haze looming in the area, and I later heard reports that it was residual forest fire pollution from Russia. The…
If you are not familiar with a tussock, this is probably a good thing. Especially in the context of hiking. However, if you plan to travel across the tundra in Alaska’s arctic, you will indeed become quickly familiar with the term. A tussock is a large knob of soil with tufts of grass or sedges…
If there is one splash of color that marks the advance of spring in the arctic, it is the lousewort, a dapple of plant color that appears across the tundra before the blast of green unfolds. As one moves farther north in Alaska’s arctic, things get flatter and flatter, which introduces some composition challenges. I…
Landscape photography in Alaska poses some interesting “angle of light” dynamics. Because the location of the setting sun is continually changing, seeking a photographic angle perpendicular to the sun becomes restrictive to a certain orientation, and time of year. For example, midnight golden light in the arctic shines out of the north, rather than the…
I spent 10 days on a river trip in Alaska’s arctic, beginning on the Nigu river, which means “rainbow” in Inupiaq. The Nigu flows north out of the Brooks Range, with its headwaters located in the Gates of the Arctic National Park. It then flows through the National Petroleum Reserve, where it joins the Etivluk…
The Columbia glacier in Prince William Sound has been receeding rapidly for many years, and all the chunks of ice in this photo are trapped in a tidal lake by an old glacial morraine. Its truly a wild place to explore and walk around. I took this picutre after climbing on top of another large…
Harlequin ducks inhabit Prince William sound in large numbers, often in flocks exceeding a hundred birds. Since the Exxon Oil spill of 1989, studies have sought to determine the long term damage of oil contaminants to this species. They are know to return to the same feeding grounds each year, thus increasing their risk should…
While flying over the Copper River Delta in south central, Alaska, I grabbed a few frames of Harbor seals hauled out on a sand shoal along the river delta. They were pretty densely packed together and I was curious as to how many were present in the picture. Field biologists have methods for counting and…