Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 9:08am
My last post about the Brooks range reflected the common frustration of photographing in Alaska’s interior with summer forest fires. In early June, I had the chance to fly across the Brooks range through the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge doing some aerial photography. This was before the smoke and fire season build up in the...
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Categories: Aerials, Arctic, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Landscapes, Mountains, Public Lands | Tags: Aerials, alaska, arctic national wildlife refuge, brooks range mountains, Landscapes, Mountains
Monday, July 27, 2009 at 12:31pm
At the time I’m writing this, there are 69 forest fires burning in Alaska. They dominate Alaska’s interior region, where a hot and dry climate creates the setting for ignition by lightning. So far, approximately 1.5 million acres of land has burned this year. Not as bad as the 7 million acres burned in 2004,...
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Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 12:12pm
For the coastal brown bears of Katmai national park, salmon is a vital part of their diet. How they capture these fish varies: some catch them with their mouth as the fish jump the falls, as noted in the previous blog photo; some steal fish that other bears catch; some sit nearly submerged in the...
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Saturday, July 18, 2009 at 11:35pm
I recently spent a few days at Katmai National Park photographing the famous congregation of brown bears that fish vigoruously during the summer months, storing up the nourishment to get them through a long winter hibernation. The National Park is large, and the region I visited is more specifically know as Brooks falls, or Brooks...
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Wednesday, July 15, 2009 at 4:00am
Near the confluence of the Nigu and Etivluk river, is Puvakrat mountain, a notable ridge with a rocky spine, great for hiking and splendid views. We began a day hike in rainy and cloudy conditions, but mixed blue skies and dramatic clouds and light spilled across the grand vista as evening progressed. The sky in...
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Monday, July 13, 2009 at 4:00am
On our 10 day river trip along the Nigu and Etivluk, we saw two grizzly bears, both of which upon noticing us, took off across the tundra. This is the kind of reaction one likes to see when encountering a bear in the wild. Well, sort of. Photographing bears in the arctic is quite unlike...
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Friday, July 10, 2009 at 4:00am
This little Red-necked phalarope, with its elegant presence, is the only shorebird that swims on the water. There were many nesting pairs along the same lake that the pair of Pacific loons were on. I usually see this bird in south central Alaska during the spring migration, and often see them in large flocks. So...
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Tuesday, July 7, 2009 at 12:05pm
Is there ever really enough time? To get the right shot, to get the right light, heck, for life in general. So much to see and so much to do. In this particular instance, our two canoes were all packed up and it was time to hit the river for a day of paddling, with...
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Monday, July 6, 2009 at 4:00am
Although some revel in the constant daylight of Alaska’s summers, it can be exhausting from a photographer’s point of view. Golden hour peaks at some pretty severe hours, and I’ve never been too successful at midday naps. The end result is just a loss of sleep. The light however, is magnificent. After a long day...
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Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 4:00am
I’ve posted a number of photos from a recent river trip on the Nigu, which flows north out of the Brooks range mountains in Alaska’s arctic. On the first few days, there was a cruddy haze looming in the area, and I later heard reports that it was residual forest fire pollution from Russia. The...
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