Photographer Patrick J Endres

Alaska has been my home for nearly 30 years, and its epic landscape continues to lure me, both personally, and professionally as a freelance stock and assignment photographer.

I grew up in a small town in southern Wisconsin, surrounded by the rolling hills of green farmland and hardwood forests. Adolescent curiosities and dreams of the future turned my vision north, and at age eighteen I ventured to Alaska—that seemingly mythical realm of adventure and land of extremes. I am not unlike many northern sojourners, lured to Alaska for reasons of intrigue and fascination, and compelled to remain by its giant space and rugged wilderness. Adventure is the seed of discovery, and Alaska is a place fertile and rich with opportunities for both.

Alaska’s natural world serves as a gateway into ubiquitous photographic material, from which I have sampled abundantly, but it is the layers and depth of its landscapes that now lure me most. While style is often found in the rear view mirror, I know that my long-time fascination with color and light, two fundamental aspects of painting and photography, weave their way into what may be descriptive of my work. I’m constantly intrigued by the influence of one upon the other.

My professional career is best summarized by nearly 30,000 images that span the last 17 years. These images are marketed through my business stock photography website www.alaskaphotographics.com and they represent isolated moments in a fluid journey across Alaska’s vibrant landscape. Some are the result of serendipity, some of extensive planning and scouting, but all tell a small part of larger story. The process of their creation has been a voiceless, but not silent teacher, and I as the student am perpetually exhorted that the gift of seeing requires more than the eyes that see.

I’ll be sharing some visual goods and comments about my ventures here so stop back often and let this be your virtual Alaska.

Thanks for visiting,
Contacts

AlaskaPhotoGraphics
2923 Moose Mountain Road
Fairbanks, Alaska 99709
907.750.4065

Business office hours: 8am to 5pm Alaska Time (4 hours behind NY)

Monday, March 15, 2010

Aurora activity unfolding

7 comments

March and October rank highest for geomagnetic activity

Today on www.spaceweather.com there is a link to an interesting graph denoting the geomagnetic activity on a monthly basis.

Spaceweather says: “Statistically speaking, March is the most geomagnetically active month of the year; October is a close second. Although the reasons why are not fully understood, there is no doubt that equinoxes favor auroras.”

The activity on the sun has been in a pretty low state recently, but things are getting more active. A CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) may produce some good auroral viewing if a few variables line up. Be on the alert on March 16-17

This is also a good time to mention an article I wrote on how to photograph the aurora borealis with a digital camera. And, its a good time for me to review that article as well. Its amazing how easy it is to forget something on a dark night. Especially remember to take your filter off (if you have one on the lens), and do a focus accuracy check, either using the stars or some other bright solar object. These two are among my most popular mistakes. The latter in particular with Canon’s finicky focusing 24mm f/1.4L.

If any Nikon users have the new 24 f/1.4, I would be very keen to hear some feedback on its performance specifically with aurora or astrophotography.

People often ask when is the best time to view the aurora, and the chart shown here shows geomagnetic activity. However, the factor of weather will play a role as well. It would be interesting to see a chart that showed which months had the most clear nights, per a specific location. The arctic photo tour that Hugh Rose and I guide in October has yielded aurora photography every year for the past 8 or so, although some years are better than others. Still, working around cloudy skies and hunting for holes is not a small task.

My advice if you want to catch some possible action on March 16-17 is to plan on spending a 4 hour block of time outside, with camera ready. Statistics say that in general, from 10:00pm to 2:00am nets the best results, but in reality, you just have to be there and be ready!

I have not touched my camera since shoulder surgery, which was four weeks ago, and I just might give it a try during this potential aurora show.

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by Patrick Endres

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Patrick - Chris,
Yes, the Iditarod takes place in March. Photographing any moving subject and the aurora is nearly impossible at this point, but may not be far off in the future. We are looking forward to more aurora activity!

Chris - Hello from South Africa!

I am very impressed with your blog

Have you ever photographed the Iditarod race and auroras at the same time? I’m sure that’s not an easy task, and I haven’t had time to look through your full list of photos. I hear (whether accurately or not I am unsure) that the Iditarod happens in March? I am a regular space weather watcher and there have been great auroral displays this year from what I can see

Regards
Chris.

Patrick - Eli, lots of new stuff will unfold in the next few days. new blog software has some nifty features that I’ve long wanted. Stay tuned.

Patrick - Hi Ronn,
Thanks for your generous comments. And sure, please cross link if you wish. Will you be chasing the aurora this equinox season?

Ronn - Thanks for Sharing Patrick. You photos humble me! Great work! This is great info and I really like your blog on photographing them. I just did one a while ago but not nearly as thorough. Mind if I link over to yours?

Eli Mitchell - Hey! It does smilies now too.

Eli Mitchell - It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a decent display. Hopefully we will get some moderate activity in the near future. BTW, I like the blog updates. The expandable Twitter bar is pretty cool. What I like most is that you can now highlight text. It’s especially nifty when posting comments