I’ve been photographing the World Ice Sculpting Championships in Fairbanks for 15 years. Throughout this time, many amazing sculptures have been created by artists from all over the world. One in particular stands out to me, and the numerous fist place medals to his name attest to his talents. Fairbanks sculptor Vladimir Zhikhartsev, originally from…
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The Multi-block ice sculpting event is in full swing, and will end on Friday, March, 6. During a few visits, I’ve attempted to capture some portraits of the sculptors at work. While it is not challenging to grab a few token shots, it is difficult to create light, spontaneously, as the sculptors are working. Medium…
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Single block ice sculptures at the World Ice Art Championships, Fairbanks, Alaska. Single block ice sculptures at the World Ice Art Championships, Fairbanks, Alaska. These are comparison shots of the same ice sculpture. The first frame shows the work in progress and the second frame shows the detail enhanced when lit at night with colored…
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Mongolian sculptors Rashaanjav Tuvshintur and Tserendash Batmunkh created an abstract single block sculpture titled “Evolution” for the 2009 World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska. With the single block competition complete, the Multi-block competition begins March 1 and concludes on March 6, 2009. Four person teams will carve and sculpt massive ice sculptures to be…
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I left the world of direct, on-camera flash some years ago, and its a needed step to take for creative and interesting lighting of subjects. In the past, I’ve used Canon’s ST-E2 Infrared Transmitter (Or a Canon 580 serves the same function when set as master), which would trigger off camera flashes through a infrared…
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I know this is a blog about Alaska Photography, but I returned from a trip to Belize and Mexico and thought it worthy of display. I scaled back on camera gear since it was not really a work trip, but I did experiment with the Canon 5d Mark II with an underwater housing. Specifically, the…
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close up of snow flakes in Delta Junction, Alaska Macro photography offers a view of the natural world not always seen. Fine details and intricate patters emerge, solid colors reveal they are made up of several colors mixed together, and distractions of the “big picture” vanish. Close up of flower blossom, 100mm canon macro There…
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Fireworks celebration of Alaska’s statehood, Fairbanks, Alaska Canon 5d Mark II, 24-80mm f2.8L, 1.6sec @ f2.8, ISO 200 Fairbanks has been washed in warm temperatures recently, reaching 50 degrees above zero. This followed nearly two weeks of cold temperatures reaching minus 40 degrees and colder! Due to the cold temperatures, the fireworks celebration for Alaska’s…
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Where is your favorite place to photograph? I’m often asked this question, but find it very difficult to answer. Part of Alaska’s lure and fascination to me is found in its tremendous diversity of environment. Sampling from one makes the other’s uniqueness more prominent. I like winter because of summer and I like summer in…
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As part of the Northern Alaska Environmental Center’s “Northern Voices”, I’ll be giving a presentation at the Noel Wein library in Fairbanks on Thursday, January 8 at 7:00PM. It’s titled “Visual Notes from Alaska’s Landscape”. If you are brave enough to buffet yourself against the minus 40-50 degree temperatures we have been having across interior…
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We have added a few new polar bear photos to the website from a trip in October to Alaska’s arctic coast of the Beaufort Sea. Additionally, we made a polar bear gallery to supplement our polar bear information page.
I’ve been developing a new page on my website titled “alaska photo galleries” and a section includes some flash galleries which include 100 favorites of 2008. In addition, there are favorites form previous years as well. Looking back on a year’s worth of travels and images provokes lots of memories and grand sights from across…
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I’ve gathered 100 photos from 2008, in some way, they marked a memorable moment while out in the field photographing.
I’ve always contended that one can find interesting subjects to photograph in their own back yard. Of course, this does depend on where your backyard is located, but in general, this is very true. I recently sold photographs to a company for their corporate calendar, and when reviewing the printed version, I realized that out…
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A slow sunrise from the office of AlaskaPhotoGraphics, Fairbanks, Alaska 10:00 am This is the view from the window at AlaskaPhotographics on a wintry morning in Fairbanks. The sun is slow to appear this time of year, with winter solstice just a little over a week away. Sunrises are long and beautiful over the Alaska…
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Sled dog, North Pole, AlaskaCanon 1Ds Mark III, 70-200mm f/2.8L IS, (170mm) 1/320 @ f4.5, ISO 800 Last weekend the Interior Freight Dog Association had a preliminary practice for the upcoming weight pull competition to be held in North Pole on Saturday December 20th. Dogs in three different weight classes pull a sled loaded with…
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I doubt that any other state has as many calendars available to choose from as Alaska. Some are given away free by companies, and many are available statewide at retail locations. I joined the ranks of calendar producers in 2004 with the Fairbanks and Interior Alaska Calendar, sampling the natural beauty of Alaska’s interior. That…
DetailsResults from the Alaska Natural Wonders Votes #1 Mount McKinley #2 Northern Lights #3 Midnight Sun #4 Calving Glacier #5 Yukon River #6 Salmon Migration #7 A tie between: Polar bear swimming Volcano eruption Brooks falls bears Arctic Caribou Migration Tundra and permafrost Super cold
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This selection completes my top 7 picks for Alaska’s Natural Wonders. The survey on the right shows the general results from those who chimed in. Brown bear fishing for salmon at Brooks falls, Katmai National Park, Alaska. Selecting any “top” subjects in a list is never simple nor authoritative, particularly with a subjective category like…
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Place your vote (right) for the top 7 Alaska Natural Wonders. This is my sixth pick out of seven, more to follow. The 2,300 mile Yukon River, interior, Alaska The mighty Yukon River with with its headwaters in British Columbia, Canada is 2,300 miles long. It transects interior Alaska and has been the subject of…
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Place your vote (right) for the top 7 Alaska Natural Wonders. This is my fifth pick out of seven, more to follow. Mt. Augustine, volcanic island off the coast of the Alaska Peninsula. Incandescence lava flows on the North and North east flank. Alaska contains over 130 volcanoes and is home to over three-quarters of…
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Place your vote (right) for the top 7 Alaska Natural Wonders. This is my fourth pick out of seven, more to follow. Copper River Red Salmon (Sockeye) Alaska has five species of Salmon, and they all are harvested for commercial, personal, or subsistence use. The King and the Red salmon however, are the most favored…
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Place your vote (right) for the top 7 Alaska Natural Wonders. This is my third pick out of seven, more to follow. North face of Mt. McKinley (Denali), and Wonder lake, Denali National Park, Alaska. North America’s highest peak is Mount McKinley (20,320+ ft), situated in the Alaska range which arcs across Alaska’s interior. The…
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Place your vote (right) for the top 7 Alaska Natural Wonders. This is my second pick out of 7, more to follow. Meares glacier, Prince William Sound The ancient mass of a glacier, particularly a tidewater glacier, that crashes into the sea is both a visual and audio phenomenon. Those who have witnessed it, won’t…
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Place your vote (right) for the top 7 Alaska Natural Wonders. This is my first pick out of 7, more to follow. Northern Lights over the Brooks range, Alaska. Even though I’ve seen and photographed the northern lights many, many times, they never cease to amaze me. It is one subject listed under the 7…
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