Mt Sukakpak is a notable mountain in the Brooks range, with a prominent set of peaks that change drastically based on the angle of view. It’s always amazing in nature photography, to observe the changes in light and color from day to day, at the same location. Last October, I took these pictures less than 24 hours apart.

The views of los cuernos, or “the horns” in the Torres del Paine National Park in Chile are astonishing. This picture was taken just a short walk from my hotel, along the Pehoe lake, which is a beautiful aqua blue color (not so evident from the angle of this picture), but often in raging white-cap waves due to the high springtime winds. Finding perspective and compositional lines are often the most challenging part in good landscape photography, presuming you have a good subject to start with. Whenever possible, a colorful foreground element can help considerably. In this case, some spring blooming wild pea served as a spark of color which helps this scene. It was very windy, and for reasons lacking a good excuse, I was without my tripod. So, I stabilized the best I could and shot this hand held at 1/20th of a second., at f/18. The foreground is a little soft, but the color is still engaging. What a gorgeous place.

The towers (los torres) are one of the most popular hikes and sights in the Torres del Paine National Park. It is about a 12 mile round trip, with some notable vertical gain on the final ascent to the towers. I would have preferred to be there at sunrise, but that was not an option that day, so I photographed the scene in mid day, under overcast lighting. I was at least fortunate enough to see the towers, since clouds are common in the mountain summits. With the absence of strong color drama, I was curious how the contrast would render in black in white. It’s not bad actually, considering a mid-day time frame. And, regardless of the light and color, it was a really fun and memorable hike to a very magnificent, other worldly, view!

The Towers (Los Torres), Torres del Paine National Park, Chile. Canon 5D Mark II, 16-35mm f/2.8L, 1/80 sec @ f/16, ISO 100

Black and white conversion. The Towers (Los Torres), Torres del Paine National Park, Chile. Canon 5D Mark II, 16-35mm f/2.8L, 1/80 sec @ f/16, ISO 100

The brilliant red blossoms of the firebush decorate much of the landscape around the lakes and hillsides in Torres del Paine National Park, Chile. Such a color is often a signpost of autumn in Alaska, but here it is prevalent just a few weeks prior to their summer solstice. What is also prevalent at this time of year are intense winds, which are evidenced by the blur in the red blossoms. And I mean wind! Sometimes its hard to stand up, let alone take a picture. On this particular morning, the summit of the distant mountain named Grande Paine is cloaked in clouds, which was a common fare for this peak, although the clouds were continually moving.

While the dynamic range was considerable in this frame, it is a single exposure with some basic graduated ND filter and brush applications in Lightroom.

Firebush and Grande Paine, Torres del Paine National Park, Chile. Canon 5D Mark II, 24-105mm f/4L IS (32mm), 1/5 sec @ f/14, ISO 100

Amongst the “blow your mind” views on this planet, this for sure is one of them. I’ve seem pictures from the Torres del Paine National Park in Chile for many years, but while they are luring, there is no substitute for being someplace, in person, connected to the broader sphere of senses that create real experience. This particular view reveals the Horns of Paine, or the Cuernos del Paine, in Spanish. Sunrise at this time of year in the southern hemisphere is about 5:30am, and the clouds that move across this mountain landscape create one of the most dynamically changing views I’ve ever witnessed. It many ways, it is like a theater, and I found myself just staring for long periods as the great spring winds blew cloud formations into continually changing shapes. The “Towers” which the park is named after, are hidden in the distant clouds behind the massif.

The park is located in the southernmost reaches of Chile, which is one long and slender country. For context, upon arriving to Santiago (about in the middle of the country), one takes another plane ride which is about equal to flying from Fairbanks, Alaska to Seattle, then getting in a vehicle and driving across the state of Washington to get to the remote park. So, a journey it is indeed, but one that will deliver appropriate rewards. Stay tuned for more views of the park.

Sunrise of "The Horns" Torres del Paine National Park, Chile. Canon 5D Mark II, 24-105mm f/4L IS, (84mm), 1/125 sec @ f/4.5, ISO 200

Kejulik mountains, Katmai National Park, Alaska. Canon 1D Mark IV, 500mm f/4L IS, 1/400 sec @ f/5, ISO 200

On a morning walk in Katmai last fall the clouds were rolling, growing and dissipating quickly over the Kejulik mountains in Katmai National Park. While I don’ t normally use the 1D Mark IV for landscapes, I wanted the focal magnification factor that the 1.3x offered, turning my 500 into a 700 mm. It was happening fast so I grabbed a few frames of the clouds behind the jagged ridge of Mt Katonlinat. The photo was taken about 10:00 am. In a few minutes, the clouds were gone and without that white background to outline the ridge, the rock definition became difficult to see from such a distance. Clouds–when you see them making an interesting scene–shoot quickly.

Katolinat mountain enshrouded by clouds, Naknek lake, Katmai National Park, Alaska. Canon 1Ds Mark III, 100-400mm f/5.6L IS (180mm), 1/80 sec @ 7.1, ISO 200

The very narrow window of time between my last two trips did not afford the chance to share many pictures from my trip to Katmai. I’ve had a moment to look at a few that I’ll share in the next few posts just to give a little break from snow and polar bear bears.

This image epitomizes to me why I like being in nature. One dramatic view can fill the soul with immeasurable pleasure. It is this particular scene alone that is enough to lure me back to Katmai National Park. Take water, mountains, clouds, color and throw in some drama and the scene is alive with emotion. Alaska is so loaded with scenes like this that I’d feel slightly lost not being able to partake of their beauty. They certainly are not all tied to sunrise and sunset, but many of them are. It is a reward for the early riser. In this picture, a little bit of steam rises from the lake as the cool air and warmer water makes that mystic moment common to an autumn morning.

After many years of photographing in Denali National Park, I can tell you that it is not everyday that a bull moose walks in front of Mt McKinley, on a clear day, when you are situated in an opportunity to photograph it. As a matter of fact, probably only a handful of times in my career. In late August I had an amazing opportunity, which was largely serendipitous, a little bit lucky, and a tiny bit of persistence. The bull moose had wandered into the shadowed alders to browse, while a group of us photographers waited around for it to make a possible reappearance.

Meanwhile, I wandered off to photograph Denali reflecting in some small tundra ponds in the area, as the morning light was fading and beginning to get bright. After meandering back from one pond to this one, the bull moose had moved out of the shadows and apperaed to be going in the opposite direction. I waited by the pond in hopes that it changed its mind, which it did, and traversed right across the tundra in front of Denali. In retrospect, a photographer replays this event over and over, considering all the ways the scene could have been shot. I was still a bit in landscape mode, and I was preferring to get a shot of the moose centextually placed by the colorful tundra pond. But the shooting window is very narrow and you only have a few frames to compose. I picked off a couple that I like, but when comparing with my colleague’s photos, who was not as near to the water as I was, I liked his vantage point better. Oh well, its hard to complain about this kind of opportunity, and I’m pleased that these few pictures are sharp and clean. Thank you moose and mountain.

I used a polarizer to limit some of the reflection on the tundra vegetation. This worked due to the perpendicular angle of the sun to the scene. The filter robs over a stop of light, so I bumped up the ISO to 400, and used an f/stop of 9 to get some depth of field. An f/stop of 13 would have been nice, but while the mountain is not super sharp in the picture, it is pretty distinguishable. I shot in manual mode and maximized exposure for the shadows, knowing that the dark moose would need some fill light, and I wanted that capability without introducing too much noise.

Bull moose reflection in a small kettle pond with the summit of Mt McKinley in the distance, Denali National Park, Alaska. Canon 5D Mark II, 24-105mm (105mm) 1/160 sec @ f/9, ISO 400, w/polarizer

Bull moose walks across the autumn colored tundra by a small kettle pond with the summit of Mt McKinley in the distance, Denali National Park, Alaska. Canon 5D Mark II, 24-105mm (40mm) 1/160 sec @ f/9, ISO 400, w/polarizer

Some open skies let the sun shine into the western region of Denali Park last week and I was able to capture a few images of that magic mountain known as Denali, although officially named Mt McKinley. It’s face is under constant changing light and for this reason, it never seems to get old. Pure clear skies do present a problem in that they lack interest. In such cases, I try to fill the frame of the image with as much foreground detail as possible, and limit the amount of plain sky. Below are a few scenes of the mountain from different times of day, and different locations. The late evening and morning light was elusive due to horizon cloud cover.

Mt McKinley reflects in a small kettle pond in the autumn tundra, cotton grass grows on the edge of the pond, Denali National Park, Alaska. Canon 5 D Mark II, 24-105mm (47mm), 1/30 sec @ f/14, ISO 200

Mt McKinley reflects in a small tundra pond with lily pads, sunset in Denali National Park, Alaska. Canon 5 D Mark II, 24-105mm (70mm), 1/8 sec @ f/16, ISO 100

Mt McKinley, Mt Foraker visible along the Alaska range with the McKinley river bar in the foreground. Autumn tundra blazes in late August, Denali National Park, Alaska. Canon 5 D Mark II, 24-105mm (24mm), 1/5 sec @ f/16, ISO 100

UPDATE: Images from this entire shoot are now on my website: Arrigetch Peaks photos.

I chose a handful of landscape photos for this gallery, from my recent backpacking trip into the Arrigetch Peaks. The dramatic granite spires are situated in the Gates of the Arctic National Park in Alaska’s Brooks range mountains. All but two of these images are single exposures, processed in Lightroom. The dynamic range capability within one RAW file, when properly exposed for the scene, is remarkable.