During this week I’ll be backpacking and camping in the Gates of the Arctic National Park in Alaska’s remote arctic region. It’s a big area and more specifically I’ll be in the Arrigetch peaks, a dramatic conglomeration of granite spires which are breathtaking to say the least. Packing for a trip that requires me to carry everything for miles on a backpack, including camera gear, mountain clothing and food (in a big bear proof canister required by the Park Service), is not a small task. Time will tell how it all works out. I’m excited to see that place from the ground as I’ve only flown over it in the past. Here is a shot I took a few years ago from my friends plane. I’ll share some imagery upon my return.

Aerial of the Arrigetch Peaks, rugged granite spires in the central Brooks Range of arctic Alaska, Gates of the Arctic National Park. The name means 'fingers of the outstreched hand' in the Inupiat language.

Male Walrus, Svalbard

Male walrus, Svalbard. Canon 5D Mark II, 24-105mm f/4L IS (105) 1/400 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 400.

During my recent visit to Svalbard, on the Polar Pioneer icebreaker with Cheeseman’s Ecology Safaris, I logged some amazing lifetime wildlife encounters that will last as unforgettable experiences. One of them was some interaction with a curious group of male walrus that swam over to our small group along the shoreline. They have an intrinsic curiosity and swam up to check us out along the beach.

After about an hour of viewing their gentle, curious and inquisitive behavior, I decided to wade out a bit in the water and get a more intimate, water-level photographic view. The walrus are rather large animals, and while their tusks can invoke a notable wound, they displayed not the slightest sign or intent of aggression. We spent a few hours with a large group that mostly laid in a pile on the gravel beach, save for a few of the curious young males that frolicked in the water nearby.

The two photos give a good perspective of the view behind the camera. Thanks to Henrik Lovendahl for sharing the photo of me in the water.

Sitka black-tailed deer, Kodiak Island, Alaska. Canon 1D Mark IV, 500mm f/4L IS, 1/100 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 800

The Sitka black-tailed deer populate the southern island shores of Alaska, and have not survived to any degree on the mainland. This Sitka black-tailed deer paused while feeding in the early morning just long enough for me to grab a few shots. The light was quite low as evidenced by the ISO and exposure, but fortunately the IS lens and a stable platform made for a few sharp frames. I always have my long lens loaded on a camera and with reasonably fast reach since opportunities like this can be fleeting. While serendipity is not what I bank on for wildlife photography, it pays to be ready because in due time, opportunities like this will unfold.

I dug these few paragraphs out of the drafts folder, having started writing it sometime around the start of the new year. That’s near the time the great task of reprocessing and re-editing my entire stock files began. It is a grinding process with burnout on the near border, but great strides have been made. My new website should be coming to the surface to breath soon.

Looking forward holds as much value as looking backwards and both will contribute their respective positive or negative influence based on ones personality and experience. A retrospective glance that looks back on a year, or even a decade worth of images provokes some transporting  thoughts, and puts a span of time in a visual and chronological context.

Days and weeks, excursions and adventures get layered upon each other in the course of Alaska’s robust and energetic seasons. A slow motion review in the form of pictures unfolds pleasantly when reviewing these captured moments, and their individual voice tells of time, temperature, wind, emotion, sound and the rugged context of both journey and discovery.

After nearly 20 years of locking moments in a single frame, I see and find the gift that photography sends back to me.  The picture opens up that world archived in time, one more time, to think upon and re experience. This to me is the “gift back” that photography offers.

Aerial of the Phillip Smith mountains of the Brooks range, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. Canon 5 D Mark II, 100-400mm f/5.6L IS, 1/2000 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400

I’m curious, does anyone else out there have more than 24 USB cables in their drawer? I hope not.

The time has come for a thorough overhaul of my computer parts drawer. It is both a disgusting and delightful process–to thin down to the essential and needed items–the disgusting part being how soon our world of electronics becomes either unuseful or obsolete, and thereby ends up in a landfill. In this rat’s nest of “stuff”, amongst a variety of miscellaneous items are:

• 24 USB cables with 6 extensions
• 13 firewire including two very long cables
• 9 standard power supply cables

I’ll be listing the lot on ebay for geeky parts collector/reseller with hopes that someone can put it to use.

My office continues to receive an overhaul as I move more towards a more minimalist center.

Sharp-tailed grouse, Fairbanks, Alaska. Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f/4L IS, 1/320 sec. @ f/4, ISO 800 (This frame is cropped to show better detail of the bird)

A few days ago when I left my home for a trail run through the boreal forest, I saw a grouse in my front yard. But not the usual grouse, i.e. spruce or the roughed grouse, both commonly observed. But this one looked a little different. It was a sharp-tailed grouse, which has been seen in the Fairbanks area by friends, but this is my first sighting in 30 years of living in Alaska. And I’ve now photographed all three grouse in the boreal forest directly surrounding my home. I like having neighbors like this, along with moose, fox, hares, ptarmigan, black bears and lynx, although the latter I’ve seen only in a fleeting glance and did not have a photographic opportunity. Below are photos of the other two grouse species taken near my home.

Ruffed grouse feeds in Quaking aspen tree, Fairbanks, Alaska

Male spruce grouse in boreal forest, Fairbanks, Alaska

Current forest fire map depicting 68 fires burning as of 5-28-2010.

Fairbanks and interior Alaska has enjoyed an incredible warm and wonderful spring, on the heels of a very dry winter. The unfortunate payback for this is a tinder box landscape and I’m sorry to say that forest fires are dotting much of the interior. I’m just hoping for some rains in the near future, to give some relief from smoke and haze. Last year, the smoke interrupted many of my planned photo projects, and that is not only frustrating, but rather costly as well. If you are considering a photographic venture in Alaska’s interior, you may want to check the BLM fire map and associated reports on their website. It’s time for a rain dance!