Hey Folks,
From a fall Photo Tour early September, we actually headed back out the night the trip ended, because we heard there was a big aurora borealis show forecast. Not far from the Matanuska Glacier we caught up with the northern lights. Always a treat to see.
Cheers
Carl
Hey Folks,
Heading off for 2 weeks in Katmai National Park for the grizzly bear fall photo tour. Hopefully we’ll run into these 4 youngsters again, though it’d be most surprising if all 4 cubs made it through last winter; I sure hope so, but the ways of the wild aren’t always aligned with our hopes. Their mom turned herself inside out last fall feeding these hungry bear cubs, so we’ll see how things went for them.
See you folks back in October.
Cheers
Carl
Hey Folks,
Image of the month for September, 2011; Caliban, or Calaban, in the Arrigetch Peaks, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. A gorgeous fall morning and a near perfect reflection. We had a great trip up north to the Gates of the Arctic National Park; the Arrigetch Peaks were every bit as impressive as I’d heard they are.
We’ll definitely back for a hike and photo tour to this area soon!
Cheers
Carl
Hey Folks,
Here’s a quick snapshot from the recent trip we did to Skolai Pass; Justin hiking on the Russell Glacier on a gorgeous afternoon in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. This was actually the first time I’ve ventured out on to this particular glacier; good times indeed.
An hour or so later, we saw a wolf heading up the valley. That’s a great day!
Cheers
Carl
Hey Folks,
Here’s another waterfall photo from a trip I took to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve early this summer. This is a waterfall I’ve flown over many times, along the Nizina River, but never had the opportunity to shoot it. This summer we took a trip to the Nizina Glacier and hiked around the area a bit, shooting a few waterfalls, flowers, the glacier and surrounding landscape. Overall, a productive and fun trip and a fantastic place to visit.
Cheers
Carl
Hey Folks
Roane Waterfall in the Skolai Pass/Chitistone Pass area, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park; an awesome foreground subject for a sunset photo (it also makes a great foreground at sunrise).
We just had 2 fantastic trips to the Skolai – Wolverine area, and got some great photos, etc. Highlight for me was seeing my first wolf in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park; something I’ve been hoping for now for years. Seeing it in a place such as this only made the experience that much greater for me. We watched him for 5 minutes or more.
A great summer so far; here’s to good weather for the rest of it.
Cheers
Carl
Hey Folks,
I just had the good fortune to spend a week with a fellow whose company I enjoy very much, Bob S, from California. Bob’s been out on 4 trips with me now, 2 photo tours to Skolai Pass, 2 weeks in Katmai photographing grizzly bears and now a trip to Wolverine and the Nizina Glacier in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Thanks Bob for your fantastic company!
The first trip Bob made with me was on what became a somewhat infamous Skolai Pass Photo Tour, where we basically hunkered down under a tarp for the bulk of the week avoiding the sleet and wind and rain that hammered Alaska most of that summer. Yikes!
So I was more than amazed when Bob contacted me about a redo the following year. A hardy soul indeed, so we ventured back to Skolai Pass, where we had a grand time, some great light, and a memorable morning photographing a friendly grizzly bear in the mountains. Good times. The following year Bob comes back again, for 2 weeks in Katmai photographing the great coastal brown bears. We had a fantastic time, and some great photography opportunities.
This year we did a mixed trip, some time down “low” in the valley floor, hiking and photographing the Nizina Glacier and surrounding area, and then made our way up to Wolverine, a high alpine ridge above the Chitistone Valley, where we walked and talked and took pictures in the mountains. Good stuff.
Next year Bob aims to go to Africa for a photo tour, so anyone with any recommendations for a great trip to shoot wildlife in Africa, please get in contact.
Cheers
Carl
Hey Folks,
Here’s a moose cow and her twin calves we saw just off the McCarthy Rd recently. That’s the 2nd cow and twin calves I’ve seen this summer inside the park. Few critters are cuter than moose calves. I’d like to have got a little closer and made some better images, but hell hath no fury like a mother moose protecting her calves; caution keeps my distance.
Cheers
Carl
Hey Folks,
Image of the Month for July 2011: from a photo trip in June. This scene from Wolverine, looking across the Chitistone Valley toward the University Range. The alpine flowers up there were gorgeous this last week, earlier than I expected them to be, but I was glad to be surprised.
This is part of the view we had right from camp.
Cheers
Carl
Hey Folks,
Image of the Month for June, 2011. Mount Blackburn, in all the glory of a clear winter morning.
This is another of those photos I really wanted to shoot for along time. As grand a scene as Mount Blackburn is in the summertime, from Kennicott or McCarthy, it doesn’t get that really great alpenglow like this, because the sun rises and sets so far to the north during those months.
For years I thought about making the effort to shoot Mount Blackburn in the winter in rich warm light. Finally making the photo was a nice treat.
Cheers
Carl
