Hey Folks,
Been a while since I posted a polar bear photo. I can’t wait to get back to the arctic this fall and see these amazing animals.
This image is one of my favorite polar bears I’ve taken so far. Hope you like it.
And, if you’re looking for a great polar bear photo tour, I’m filling up for 2016, so you might want to touch base and get your name in before this one is full.
Cheers
Carl
Hey Folks,
Anyone else read A Walk in the Woods?
As far as backpacking movies, this looks like it’ll be fun. The trailer is cool. Nick Nolte as awesome as ever.
I loved Bill Bryson’s book when it came out all those years ago, and am looking forward to seeing the movie.
Cheers
Carl
Hey Folks,
As the northern lights season, or aurora borealis season, starts to wind down for those of us here in Alaska, it’s often harder and harder to be motivated to get out yet again and spend the night hoping for some nice displays. Last night I saw the data online looking promising for the northern lights, and the skies here started to clear up a bit, I thought I’d keep an eye skyward.
So after movie-time finished, I checked outside and sure enough, the northern lights were kicking overhead. I grabbed my camera gear, threw on some pants, and headed out.
This shot above is a photo of the aurora borealis corona. I’ve often been asked what the corona is, and why it’s called the corona. No, its not enough the famous song, Muy muy muy muy, Corona, by English punk band The Knack.
I’ll tell you a little known secret. The activity or display we call a “corona” is named for a very simple reason; Continue reading…
Hey Folks,
Here’s the image for this month, from a crazy month chasing the aurora around Alaska. We had some phenomenal nights this year, absolutely incredible auroras. Great group of folks for the trip, we all made some nice images, and had a bunch of fun.
Cheers
Carl
Hey Folks,
In case you’re thinking otherwise, the Coastal Wildlife and Brown Bear photo tour is NOT all about the bears. Well, it’s definitely mostly about the bears. But we’ll also dedicate a good chunk of time to looking around for, and photographing, some other creatures as well. One of the primary ones we’ll see will be Harbor Seals. And, short of donning your scuba gear and swimming with the pinnipeds, there’s not many better opportunities than this one for some really, really cool Harbor seal images.
If you’re a subscriber to the newsletter, check out the trip special in the latest newsletter I just sent out. A pretty sweet deal for this trip, with limited space available.
If you’re not a subscriber to the newsletter, you probably should be. It’s legendary! Fill in the details in the form on the sidebar of the blog post, and you’re good to go.
And if you’re thinking about what photo tour you might want to take this summer, look no further. This Alaska Coastal Wildlife and Brown Bear Photo Tour is the ticket.
Cheers
Carl
Hey Folks,
International Polar Bear Day is right around the corner; Feb 27th. So I’ll make this Polar Bear Week. I’ll try to post a picture a day of these ridiculously awesome animals. Starting with this one. Tweet it with #polarbear
This curious young cub approached our group, and by carefully positioning where we were set up, we got nice clean backgrounds, a great low perspective to shoot from, and some really nice images.
This one is one of my new favorite polar bear images. You can see a collection of my polar bear photos on my stock site, Skolai Images. For info and a look at the polar bear photo tour I run, click here.
Cheers
Carl
Hey Folks
How glassy is “glassy”? Here’s a short clip I put together of clips I made playing with a new GoPro last summer. It’s so different to shooting with a regular camera or video camera, there’s a lot to learn. But kinda fun, all the same.
Icy Bay isn’t always this glassy, but it’s unusual either. And it’s an absolutely amazing experience to go out on the water, among these countless icebergs, and just drift along on a kayak, or paddle gently up the fjords. Really, really great fun.
The tune I used here is “Dear Ellen”, by Shane Theriot, from his album, “Highway 90”. I met Shane years ago, when I was in college studying guitar. Shane was teaching there at the ripe young age of 21. He’s awesome. He left the school shortly after my studies ended, and has been playing and writing and producing music since then. He’s currently the guitar player for Hall & Oates, and just last week won a Grammy award. How awesome is that! If you’re interested, you can buy Highway 90 on iTunes. Continue reading…
Hey Folks
Here are few images from our sea kayaking trip to Icy Bay last summer. Awesome conditions, we had a blast. Icy Bay is one of the coolest areas for sea kayaking in Alaska; great camping, great beach hiking, spectacular scenery and absolutely unparalleled sea kayaking and paddling. Icebergs, glaciers, seals, dolphins, brown bears, bald eagles, falcon, murres and murrelets, and Mt. St. Elias towering above everything. It’s pretty tough to beat.
Hope you enjoy the photos below. I’ll try to get some video of the kayaking online soon; nothing quite like paddling through all those icebergs across that glassy water!!
Continue reading…
Hey Folks,
Here’s an image from the Arrigetch Peaks, in Alaska’s far north, the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. It’s quite a hike up to the area, but the area is a stunning locale for photography. And climbing. It may well be one of the most popular climbing areas in the state not road-accessible.
The main hiking in Arrigetch Peaks consists of 3 drainages in the upper alpine area, The Maidens, Aquarius, and the Arrigetch Creek drainage, home to peaks with cool quirky names, like Ariel, Xanadu and Caliban.
This one I converted to black and white. I liked the play of shadow and light on the mountains.
Black and white photography is, generally, a more challenging genre I feel, and one I wish I were better at. It’s fun playing with tones and contrast on the computer sometimes, though I admit photoshopping is not one of my favorite pastimes. But with black and white images, the creative element seems a little more playful to me than it does with color photography.
I hope to get back up to Arrigetch Peaks this coming summer and spend some more time here. Fascinating place. Anyone wanna come?
Cheers
Carl
Hey Folks
Welcome to Feb, 2015! Here’s a grizzly bear, or brown bear, image from our Grizzlies in the Fall photo tour. I know it’s not really grizzly bear season right now, they’re hunkered down for the winter, but I haven’t been shooting much around Alaska lately as I’ve been gone a while. It’s great to be back!
Summer will be here before you know it, and this year I’ve a number of trips I’m looking forward to. Stay tuned for some fun stuff!
Click here for info about this photo tour.
Cheers
Carl
