As I’m immersed in the rather daunting task of culling, re-editing, re-processing, dust-stamping, keyword fixing–and on and on–of my entire Alaska archives of 40,000 image files, two 30 inch monitors come in handy. Mouse click reduction is one end goal, and screen real estate can limit those clicks especially in the specific task of scanning…
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I’ve been using the Gitzo GT0541 in conjunction with the Really Right Stuff BH-25Pro Ulralight ballhead as a backpacking setup for a few years now. I’ve grown to really like it and find it sufficient and extremely light-weight for those day trip excursions that require a streamlined, but functional tripod. Every pound seems to count,…
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I made a post on this shoot of Mt. Redoubt volcano a while back, but found this image while going through my archives. I particularly liked the foreground island of sand, and the creamy texture of the water created by a long exposure. The sunset was long and slow and I photographed for a number…
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My employee and I are currently undertaking the colossal task of sifting through 40,000 images, removing those which are no longer relevant in the stock photo market, doing QC on keywords, upgrading all digital files to the latest LR3 processing algorithms, and cleaning the hideous dust demons. Did I already say this is a colossal…
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“There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds.” G. K. Chesterton My growing affinity for something as intangible and transient as clouds is the result of years of treading the land and looking up. The magic and art of the sky is ever changing, fleeting, ominous, lovely and at times simply…
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This morning it was minus 17 degrees in the town of Fairbanks, and 10 degrees above zero at my office, just outside of town, up in the hills. That’s 27 degrees warmer, quite a difference. Do I live in Fairbanks? Sort of…. While winter is in full gear here in the interior, my mind occassionally…
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Last year at this time I was sailing the southern ocean in retrofitted icebreaker, headed for Antarctica and its exotic sights and sounds with a group of 100 or so intrepid travelers. It seems fitting to revisit that folder of images and share a picture of a penguin, as they are for some reason, a…
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Yesterday morning when I stepped outside about 5:45am, I looked up in the sky-which is always the first thing I do during Alaska’s dark winter mornings–and saw the aurora borealis overhead. So I ran back in my house and quickly grabbed a camera for a token shot. It is really difficult to measure the value…
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The travel writer Paul Theraux wrote in his book “Dark Star Safari: “You go away for a long time and return a different person–you never come all the way back.” I find this short sentence to embody much truth. And one of the great benefits of traveling is getting out of your circle which allows…
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There is no lack of top five, top ten, top whatever lists…these days. When making any list or selection, the process is influenced by many factors. I’ve picked a few images, 100 to be exact that were notable to me in some way during the past year. In retrospect, my photography seemed minimized in diversity…
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Happy Holidays to you.
If you have been tuned into Alaska news, you might have heard that: “Alaska officials filed notice Tuesday that the state would sue the federal government over a decision to designate a swath of the Arctic as critical habitat for polar bears faced with the effects of climate change.” Read more: I’m not making this…
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It’s hard to get too much of polar bears, they are among the most fascinating animals to watch and photograph. This picture seems appropriate for a winter day boasting temperatures in the sub -30 degrees in Fairbanks. I really liked the falling snow on this October day along Alaska’s arctic coast. The temperature then was…
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Along the Dalton Highway, there are many names given for features of the road itself, or geographic references along the way. One is called Gobbler’s Knob, which is just south of Coldfoot and it offers a spectacular view of the foothills of the Brooks Range mountains to the north. I took this frame from that…
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On a summer photo trip in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, I photographed this marmot basking in the midnight sun at 1:00am. I was aware of a different species of marmot in the north but not sure about this one and in my haste to get it online with the rest of the images from that…
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This was the view from my office a few days ago. Some recent winds in the hills surrounding Fairbanks has shaken all the snow off the slender branches of the deciduous trees. The birch tree seeds and some errant dried leaves lay on the snowy surface and a fresh snowfall is needed to restore the…
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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…
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I’ve been aware of the popular TV series “Ice Road Truckers” for a while, but since I don’t own a TV, I’ve never seen the show. I learned about it during my recent photo tours when traveling the Dalton Highway with fans of the show. The Dalton Highway, in general is in pretty good traveling…
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ATT 2011 Calendar For 25 years AT&T has had a tradition of publishing a calendar that is distributed freely (and download-able as a screen saver–I’ll share that link when it is available). I’ve had my work selected for some of those calendars, and this year, they took a slightly different angle by selecting a wildlife…
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I just took this photo of a beautiful sunrise over the Alaska Range, from my house in Fairbanks. Actually, I was in my house when I took it. Another reason why I like winter so much. It was minus 7 degrees at my house and a little colder in downtown Fairbanks. Sunrises this time of…
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The demands of traveling, taking photos, processing them, and presenting them to the public is a process that requires many steps. Having recently finalized some time-sensitive printing project deadlines, I’m just now starting to take a more in-depth look at images from my October arctic photo tours. There were some shining moments in there for…
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One element of winter that I really enjoy in Fairbanks, Alaska is the frosted trees of the boreal forest that surrounds my home and office. Depending on temperatures and humidity, the frost can form in large clusters, and mix that with a little light and color and you have a very beautiful scene. This week…
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Finger mountain, on the Dalton Highway is a notoriously windy place. It is more of a broad hill with an expansive view than any sort of real mountain. Granite protrusions dot the landscape and make for some interesting features. I grabbed this photo on a very quick stop during one of my arctic photo tours,…
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Eagle Trail Fire Early this summer, as Alaska was transitioning into warmer weather, the dry conditions gave way to many forest fires across the state. You may have remembered the entry I made on the Eagle Trail forest fire. Since smoke is not a friend to a landscape photographer (in general) I decided to go…
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