Pic of the Day

Toklat River, Alaska

     I shot this image 34 years ago when I made my first tirp to Alaska.  I must say that, that first trip was my favorite.  My wife and I drove from Berrien Springs, Michigan; it was a round trip of over 13,000 miles.  We were young and everything was new and exciting.  If my memory serves me right, I shot this image of the Toklat River from (near) Polychrome Pass in Denali National Park.  The mountains in the background are part of the Alaska Range.
     I printed this image today as a demo for my Fundamentals of Photography class.  Because of the extended tonal range between the sky and the landscape, this image required lots of dodging and burning to properly print.  This is the first time I have printed from this negative, and I am quite pleased with the results.  In this age of digital imaging, I still love working in the darkroom and watching the silver image form on the photographic paper.  It truly is "writing with light."

Mamyia 645 1000s, 110mm lens, Exposure Unknown, Verichrome Pan Film

Pic of the Day

     Horned Puffin – Saint Paul Island; Pribilof Islands, Alaska:  With millions of seabirds nesting on the cliffs of Saint Paul Island, finding an interesting and unconventional pose can be difficult as most species of seabirds typically perch the sameway.  After days of shooting the standard seabird photos, I spent many hours walking the cliffs looking for something unique.

     While shooting along Ridge Wall, on the southwest shore of the island, I found this horned puffin tucked away in a hidden nook.  To access the puffin I had to slide down a wet and slippery grassy slope, then climb a few feet down to a narrow ledge.  In after thought, it was a risky move just for a photograph.  I not only got myself to the ledge, but a camera backpack and tripod as well.   Had I slipped, or the ledge given way I would a fallen eighty feet or more to a boulder strewn shoreline.  Since I was on my own, it would have been days before anyone would have noticed I was missing. 

     The ledge on which I stood was only thirteen or fourteen inches wide, barley enough room for me to stand.  Once on the ledge I barely had room for the tripod.  I actually placed two legs of the tripod on the ledge about ten inches apart, while the third extended to rest on a rock protruding from the wall of the cliff.

     Puffins, auklets and murres were all about me.  As I stood shooting the puffin, parakeet auklets landed on shallow ledges only inches below my feet, they seemed to have no fear of me.  After I was home and had the developed slides in my hand I was very happy I had made the effort.  This image was unique among my seabird photographs; the puffin seemed to be in meditative repose.  I did find that unconventional pose after all.  I spent more than an hour on the ledge that day, and returned three more times during my two-week stay.  The little niche I had found provided one of my favorite images from the pribilofs, and most definitely, one of my most unique experiences.

Nikon F5, Nikkor 500mm f4, Fujichrome Provia 100

Pic of the Day

     Alaska Range from Denali Highway, Alaska:  The abundance of wildlife, snowcapped mountains and shoreline as always made Alaska one of my favorite shooting destinations.  This photo of the Alaska Range was taken on my favorite stretch of road.  The Denali Highway connects Cantwell (which is just south of Denali National Park), and Paxson Junction on the Richardson Highway.  The 150+ mile road crosses tundra and taiga, follows riverbeds and crosses mountain passes revealing the stunning beauty of wild Alaska.  From various points on the highway great views of Denali itself is possible.  Denali, the tallest mountain in North America is the second highest peak in the world.  The highway also provides great views of numerous glaciers.  On my first trip across the Denali Highway I only saw two other vehicles.  However the road is highly traveled today, but is still a great way to see the great Alaskan wilderness. 

Nikon F3,  Lens Unknown, Approx. 80mm, Kodachrome 64

Pic of the Day

  Denali from Reflection Pond – Denali National Park Alaska:  Denali, “The High One”, is one of the most photographed mountains in the world, and I was in Denali National Park just for that purpose.  Denali is the second tallest mountain on the planet.  At a towering height of 20,320 feet  the mountain creates its on weather, keeping it totally obscured in clouds most of the time.  

    I made my first trip to Alaska in 1981.  After driving some 6000 miles across the United States, Canada and half of Alaska I arrived at Denali National Park eager to see and photograph the iconic landmark.  The day my wife and I arrived at the park the sky was overcast, and my dreams of seeing "The High One" seemed problematic.  After picking-up my photographers permit we drove west to wonder lake which was an arduous ten hour drive.  Heavy cloud cover and a drizzling rain dominated the day, and when we arrived at Wonder Lake no end seemed in sight.
    That night my wife and I camped at wonder lake, and around 2:00A.M.,  the clouds that hid the Alaska range began to break up revealing snippets of the mountains.  As the tops of the mountain range began to peak through the clouds we kept asking each other, “is that Denali?  No that one is higher, that must be it.”  Then the clouds began to dissipate and the entire range was visible.  Only then did we see Denali, it must have been three or four times taller than the surrounding mountains of the Alaska range.  We both stood in awe of "The High One.”

   I have returned to Denali National Park many times since that first trip and have photographed Denali over and over.  Every time I see the mountain it is different and always exciting to photograph.  This image was taken from reflection pond just East of Wonder Lake.  Surprisingly, Reflection Pond is only thirty to forty feet across, but in the early morning calm it provides a mirrored image reflection of North America’s tallest mountain.

Nikon F-5, Lens Unknown, Fujichrome 100

Pic of the Day

   Bridal Veil Falls -- Valdez, Alaska:  I have made the trip from Glennallen to Valdez numerous times since my first trip to Alaska in 1981, and have found it to be one of the most scenic drives in the state.  The distant Wrangell Mountains to the east provide a stunning backdrop as the Richardson Highway traverses glacial rivers and hilly taiga.  One of my favorite stops along the highway is about fifteen miles out of Valdez where the Richardson Highway passes through Keystone Canyon; a deep cut that passes between mountain walls that reach skyward to four hundred feet.  Along this stretch of highway is Bridal Veil Falls, a waterfall fed by the melt waters of the massive Workman’s Glacier.
     This image of the falls was taken a little after the noon hour when light from a cloudless day flooded into the canyon.   The lighting was bright and contrasty, the worst light imaginable for photography. A full-length shot of the falls was out of the question due to the poor light quality.   However, as I looked at the falls I noticed that the base of the falls were in the shadows.  The light was soft and cool, creating a wide range of blue tones as the water cascaded over the boulders at the base of the waterfall.   Using a medium telephoto lens I composed the image and shot a series of exposures from an eighth of a second, too more than a second long. 

     This image is one of my favorites from the shoot.  The dark blules to whitish blues create a monotone that is usually only found in black and white photography, rarely in color; while the dancing water seems to make the rocks glow.  All the elements came together to give the image an ethereal quality.  A quality that is not always easy to achieve. 

Nikon F3, Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 (?), Kodachrome 64