On a late evening (10:00pm) while traveling through the shadowed cliffs of Polychrome Pass in Denali National park, I came upon this grizzly bear transecting the steep slopes. After watching it for about 5 minutes and seeing that it wanted to cross the road, I pulled over and opened the sun roof on my car…
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Miles lake sonar station located along the Copper River near the historic Million Dollar Bridge. Submersed sonar transmits visual data to computer terminals enabling technicians to count fish passing by.The commercial fisheries management procedure is a complicated one. Mainly because there are so many factors that can influence the health of a salmon run in…
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Bow picker Gill net fishing on the Copper River Delta As part of an ongoing assignment (see part one and part two) covering the copper river red salmon, I traveled to Cordova, Alaska to join a commercial fishermen during the current, once a week 12 hour period for the Copper River gillnet fishery. The great…
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Male Harlequin duck resting on rocks, headwaters of the Gulkana river, interior, Alaska.Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f4L w/1.4x, 1/2 sec @f45, ISO 100 Harlequin duck males are colorful birds with distinct markings. They favor fast moving water for feeding and can often be found resting on rocks along stream shores. They are attentive birds…
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American Dipper fishing underwater – not quite sharp This is a story of attempt, not of success; of progress but not achievement–as I would prefer. On a previous blog I showed a few pictures of an aquatic passerine called the American Dipper, a very fascinating bird that hunts for bugs, grubs and fish underwater. I…
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Nowadays, digital composites are everywhere. While editorial images should be honest and unmodified, there seems to be no limit with advertising and promotional works. We received a recent example of this when we got our copy of a Russian calendar featuring some of our polar bear photos. Our photo as it appears in a Russian…
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Young bull moose along the Alaska Highway Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f4L, 1/125 sec @ f6.3, ISO 640 On a trip into the Alaska range, about 150 miles from Fairbanks, I saw more than 10 moose feeding along the roadside about 9-10:30pm or so. Interestingly, they were predominantly young bulls. Those that travel the…
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Dramatic clouds reflect in tundra pond, interior, AlaskaCanon 1Ds mark III, 16-35mm f2.8L, 1/15 sec @ f14, ISO 100 Clouds move with an inspiration singular to their great immensity and shape. Not only do they cast their color catching shapes across the sky in dramatic form, but they repeat themselves in the landscape on ponds,…
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Heading for the Ocean Sockeye salmon smolt head for the salt water after feeding and growing in Summit lake for one year.This is part two of a lengthy photo series I’ll be doing through the summer and autumn, focusing on the Gulkana hatchery and its role in enhancing the Copper river Sockeye salmon that migrate…
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American Dipper hunts for small insects in fast moving water. Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f4L IS w/1.4x (700mm) 1/400 sec @ f8, ISO 400 Closeup crop almost reveals the eye of the bird. The American Dipper is an aquatic passerine. What is that? For those who don’t know, the order of Passeriformes are more…
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Pilot Doug Glenn drops a load of salmon fry into Crosswinds lake from his crop duster airplane. About 10 million fry in total get dumped in the lake over a two day period. Mount Drum, of the Wrangell mountains in the distance. My first encounter with the Copper River and fish was in 1982 when…
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Great Gray owl in Black spruce trees.Canon 1ds Mark III, 500mm f4L IS with 1.4x converter, 1/500 @ f6.3, 400 ISO It finally happened. While driving along the Richardson highway after a photo assignment, I glanced to my right and saw this owl perched along the roadside spruce trees. It was hunting for voles in…
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One advantage of shooting digitally is the higher dynamic range compared to slide film. This allows greater shadow and highlight detail, bringing photography one step closer to what the eye is capable of seeing. Sometimes, however, it’s still not enough. When this is the case, one option is to create an HDR, or High Dynamic…
DetailsNature photography as a profession may be described by all of the above. My friends have told me that my job is one big vacation, and I’ve quit trying to persuade them otherwise. The benefits of the self-employed life are many and they come with the intrinsic cons as well. For a nature photographer the…
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Northern Shoveler on small tundra pond, Fairbanks, Alaska.Canon 1Ds Mark III, 400mm f5.6L, cropped There is a small pond alongside the road that I pass on my way to downtown Fairbanks. It is an interesting little index of the season. This time of year, many migrating waterfowl show up for an overnight or two before…
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One troy ounce of gold was part of the entrance fee for the All Alaska Sweepstakes dog mushing race held in Nome, Alaska. The photo was taken for an article published in Mushing Magazine. Canon 1ds Mark III, 100mm macro f2.8 flat field lens, 1/30 sec @ f8, flash lit with 580EX and soft box.…
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Springtime!Canon 1Ds Mark III, 100mm macro, 50mm extension tubes, 1/13 sec @ f11, ISO 400 Alaskan’s are anxiously awaiting the real immersion of summer, and it is very near in Fairbanks. Birds are abundant and their morning songs resonate in the boreal forest. This weekend, while walking through the forest I noticed this insect, some…
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The mountain hut flanked by Mount Dickey. The Mountain House:Few are the people that have not seen pictures or heard of the Don Sheldon Mountain House. Situated in the splendor of the Alaska Mountain range, perched on a rock outcrop in the middle of glacier at 6,000 ft, it commands superlative stretching views in every…
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Don Sheldon Mountain House, Alaska Range Canon 1Ds Mark III, 24-105mm f4L, Panorama stitch of three photos Don Sheldon Mountain House, Alaska Range Canon 1Ds Mark III, 24-105mm f4L, 13 sec. @ f/6.3, ISO 800 I just returned from a little photo adventure at the Don Sheldon Mountain House in the Alaska Range. Accesses to…
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Aurora borealis over the Brooks range, arctic Alaska. April 2008 Northern lights over mount Dillon, Brooks range, Alaska. April 2008 I recently returned from the Brooks range where I ventured yet again for some photography of the northern lights. Amidst some very snowy weather, I was fortunate to eek out proper timing that delivered some…
DetailsOn Thursday, April 17th, @ 7:00pm, I’ll be giving a presentation on Nature Photography in the Digital Age as part of the “Explore Alaska Lecture Series”, sponsored by the Fairbanks branch of the Alaska Public Lands Information Center, located on the corner of 3rd and Cushman Street. I’ll be addressing some basic issues including: Why…
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I have long looked for a scene that embodied the mystery of the aurora in conjunction with the simplicity of wilderness living. This cabin, under a sky of wheeling and whirling color, needs little commentary. I accessed this location with a friend, and we both drove snow machines. While offloading my machine from the trailer,…
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Musher Lance Mackey’s lead dog Zoro was injured during the final 20 miles of the All Alaska Sweepstakes race in March of 2008. Zoro, who led Mackey to two Iditarod finishes, was in the sled resting from a sore shoulder when a snow machine rammed into the back of the sled just outside Nome. Lance…
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During the recent All Alaska Sweepstakes dog mushing race in Nome, Alaska, I took a few portraits that seemed good candidates for a sepia conversion. Not all images work for this color pallete, but I like the sense of time and history invoked by these few. Both Photoshop and Lightroom come with standard conversion parameters…
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When printing from a digital source, sharpening is required for the most pleasing output. The technique we use may be familiar to anyone who uses Photoshop, but the degree to which we sharpen is often surprising. What you see on the screen is not what you see in printed media. This is the original file,…
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