Happy Holidays
Happy Holidays to you all and thanks for another year of expressing interest in my photography.
DetailsGray glaicer, Torres del Paine National Park
For an Alaskan, glaciers are not a new sight. But even so, they are always impressive, forceful features that make and mark the geological landscape. The Gray glacier is one of the easily accessible glaciers in the park, and I took a short boat ride past it’s face after a 10 mile hike up along…
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The Towers (los torres), Torres del Paine National Park, Chile
The towers (los torres) are one of the most popular hikes and sights in the Torres del Paine National Park. It is about a 12 mile round trip, with some notable vertical gain on the final ascent to the towers. I would have preferred to be there at sunrise, but that was not an option…
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Firebush and Grande Paine
The brilliant red blossoms of the firebush decorate much of the landscape around the lakes and hillsides in Torres del Paine National Park, Chile. Such a color is often a signpost of autumn in Alaska, but here it is prevalent just a few weeks prior to their summer solstice. What is also prevalent at this…
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Torres del Paine National Park, Chile
Amongst the “blow your mind” views on this planet, this for sure is one of them. I’ve seem pictures from the Torres del Paine National Park in Chile for many years, but while they are luring, there is no substitute for being someplace, in person, connected to the broader sphere of senses that create real…
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Trekking at Altitude – Cerro Toco, Chile
Trekking in Chile’s Atacama region was my first encounter with exertion at high altitude, and experiencing the body expressing its great hunger for oxygen. Surrounding Atacama, are a number of volcanoes that can be pretty easily climbed, provided you have sufficient time to acclimate to the altitude. After a few days of altitude acclimation, a…
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2012 Calendar Sale – and thank you
A few months ago I posted some cover options for my 2013 Wall Calendar, and many of you offered helpful comments and suggestions on design and layout. To say thank you, I’m offering a 20% savings on the 2012 Profiles in Nature wall calendar if purchased by December 16, 2011. Orders can be placed through…
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Horse riding, Atacama Desert
The Atacama Desert is a region in northern Chile touted as the driest, (or second driest-next to Antarctica) place in the world. It’s unique topography of volcanoes, salt plains and wind eroded geology makes it an interesting landscape. It is however a place where few clouds appear, and the sun is a predictable presence on…
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Flamingos over the Atacama desert
I’m back in the blustery snowy landscape of Fairbanks, following a few weeks in the springtime southern hemisphere of Chile, South America. That is one long, slender country, and I enjoyed the divergent environments of the consistently clear and dry northern desert to the dynamically changing slopes of the Torres del Paine National Park of…
DetailsOff to South America
I’m venturing to South America to explore and photograph some of the world’s natural wonders, so the blog updates will be on hiatus for a bit. Upon my return, I’ll have some visual goods to share. This previous week in Fairbanks has been -40 degrees, so my southern travels are well timed indeed. Enjoy the…
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Brown bear shake
With high water in the rivers in Katmai this year, brown bears did a lot of swimming and snorkeling for fish. This resulted in a lot of shaking off the water once emerging from dives. Backlighting offers some interesting contrast in these situations. This shows what a shutter speed of 1/800 does for that kind…
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Bush plane in Alaska
If you have traveled at all in Alaska, it is likely you have been in a bush plane to access many of the remote regions throughout the state. Whether it is a plane on floats or tundra tires, they are critical for getting to many great photo destinations. I have photographed extensively from the air…
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Kejulik mountains, Katmai National Park
On a morning walk in Katmai last fall the clouds were rolling, growing and dissipating quickly over the Kejulik mountains in Katmai National Park. While I don’ t normally use the 1D Mark IV for landscapes, I wanted the focal magnification factor that the 1.3x offered, turning my 500 into a 700 mm. It was…
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The value of a good view
The very narrow window of time between my last two trips did not afford the chance to share many pictures from my trip to Katmai. I’ve had a moment to look at a few that I’ll share in the next few posts just to give a little break from snow and polar bear bears. This…
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Polar bear blend
As a 700mm equivalent lens on the 1D Mark IV, I was a little tight for these bears with the 500mm, but I needed the frame rate of that camera to capture the sequential action. In order to increase resolution on this image, I merged a handful of photos that I took just seconds apart.…
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Mother polar bear and cub
Mother polar bears with cubs present some of the best photography scenarios largely due to the playful personalities of the young cubs. Born in January, these little cubs grow quite quickly and spend the time before heading out on the ice pack developing in ways that will help in their survival. On average, female polar…
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Arctic Alaska photo tour report
I just returned from 3 weeks of guiding two trips in Alaska’s Arctic and they were as unique and productive as usual. I know that some who follow this blog have a future interest in joining the Alaska Arctic Photo Tour that I co-guide with Hugh Rose. For that reason, I thought I’d share a…
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Polar bear reflection
A calm day this time of year along Alaska’s typically windy arctic coast is a treat. Such was the case yesterday, at least for a short while. During a photo session with the polar bears, one walked over to the edge of the water and lowered its face to reveal a beautiful reflection. I happened…
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Caribou in the Brooks Range
The nomadic caribou of Alaska’s arctic roam widely across the northern regions of the Brooks Range mountains. Several thousands were visible along the snowy tundra near the Philip Smith mountains, and I experimented with various focal lengths. They were quite far off but the herd shows their dispersion well. At least two in one group…
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Snowy owl in flight
I’ve had few chances to get a good photo of a snowly owl in flight, over the snowy tundra of Alaska’s north slope. On my last trip there many were spotted but this is the only one that I had a chance to photograph, and that was a long reach. I used my 500 with…
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Polar bears – Pushing exposure limits
I just returned from co-guiding a photo tour to Alaska’s arctic, and getting ready to return for trip two. We had excellent polar bear photography with favorable conditions including some unusually calm weather. The light however, was in general pretty dark and gray, which is typical for coastal arctic Alaska weather this time of year.…
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Red fox
The tundra of Alaska’s arctic coast is hunted frequently by birds and fox, in particular, looking for rodents. I watched this red fox (in an cross fox color phase-its actually the same species just a variation in color), catch a number of rodents in a very short time. The fresh fallen snow is a contrasting…
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Curious polar bear
This curious polar bear stood up on his hind feet to get a better look across an inlet in the Beaufort Sea. During our current photo tour, we have had a mix of weather, including snow, clouds and sun. Some fantastic experiences watching and photographing the bears have been very enjoyable.
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From brown bears to polar bears
I just returned from a trip to photograph the brown bears in Katmai National Park and a rapid change of gears has me headed for Arctic Alaska, in pursuit of polar bears, aurora borealis and Arctic wildlife. I’m co-guiding a group of photographers, who are very excited for what lies ahead in the next 10…
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Brown bear cubs
I took this image a few years ago in Katmai National Park, and it gets some attention for the cute factor I’m sure. These little brown bear cubs of the year were playful and fun to watch, as is often the case with very young bears. I also find the image interesting technically because it…
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