I have 2 images in the summer issue of Nature’s Best as part of their inaugural Ocean Views competition. They are also on display at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC through December. This image of a spectacular early morning rainbow was taken on a sea kayaking trip on the remote north shore of Molokai and is one of my best selling Hawaii images. Please visit more of my images from Molokai.
I submitted several of my landscape and wildlife images from the marine environment this past January to Nature’s Best for consideration in their inaugural Ocean Views competition. This image of glacial ice in Johns Hopkins Inlet at sunrise was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Landscape category and is currently on display at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC through December. Please take a look at more of my images from Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska.
I recently got my 2008 entry returned to me. I again did not have any of my wildlife or landscape images make it into the competition, however, I did have 8 out of my 12 images that I submitted make it to the Semi-Final round of judging, including this image of the spectacular Cuernos at sunrise from the shores of Lago Pegoe in Torres del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia. Please visit more of my images from Torres del Paine National Park.
I visited Tracy Arm for the first time in 2007. I had wanted to try and photograph the harbor seals and their babies on the ice flows, but was not successful. I knew that I would have to come back and spend more time, as well as figure out how to get closer without spooking them. I thought about it all winter and new that I was going to have to conceal my red inflatable in order to use it as a blind. I bought a couple of white shower curtains that I cut in half and used to cover my boat’s tubes. The other thing I did was I let the wind blow me in the right direction while laying down on my boat’s floorboards. My plan worked exceptionally well this time and I was able to capture some very beautiful portraits of the harbor seals without disturbing them. Please visit more of my Harbor Seal Photography.
This mother harbor seal was very tolerant of my somewhat concealed presence. I must have looked very funny and out of place. I was a big white thing floating by like any other iceberg, but with my big lens held up to my face. This mom kept glancing in my direction, but couldn’t figure out what I was, and not feeling threatened, she went back to resting with her newborn baby. Note the umbilical cord on the baby’s stomache. Please visit more of my Harbor Seal Photography.
This is one of the most relaxed images of a mother harbor seal that I photographed. She could tell that something was unusual about the iceberg that I was appearing to be as I floated by her, but again, she was relaxed the whole time and went back to resting with her newborn. Please visit more of my Harbor Seal Photography.
I find Southeast Alaska to be incredibly frustrating for landscape photography. I like sunrise/sunset images, and you basically do not get any up there. I find it very hard to photographically convey the heavy overcast rainy days that are so common. However, I feel like I have done a good job with this image. I visited Fords Terror 3 different days and finally got the right conditions of a lot of clouds and rain. I used my inflatable to cover the 25 miles from where my boat was anchored to Fords Terror. I wore every layer of clothes that I own, and used my new secret weapon for Southeast, plastic rain gear. Forget wearing Gore-tex up there. Fords Terror is one of my favorite places that I have visited in Southeast. The cliffs surrounding it and waterfalls everywhere you look is just spectacular scenery. Please visit more of my Southeast Alaska Photography.
Eagles are surprisingly difficult to get close to in the wild. Sure, I have been only a few feet away from them on a boat dock while someone was cutting up a salmon, but to get close to them in a more natural setting is very difficult. They spook very easy, and when I am on the water, they can see me coming from a long way away. These 2 posed long enough for me to get a few shots with the nice blurred mountain background before they too took flight. Please visit more of my Bald Eagle Photography.
I’m still editing my images from this winter and thought that this was a pretty unusual image. When I encountered this group of whales, I noticed after a while that the calf was taking a break and was nursing! It was pretty amazing to witness and photograph. Please visit more of my Humpback Whale Photography.
Back in February, I noticed this little pelagic turtle floating in the deep blue many miles off shore of the Big Island. The seas were calm and there weren’t any bigger critters around, so I decided to jump in and take this little guys picture. It was not very big and had probably not seen land for a long time, so it immediately took an interest in the boat and anyone who jumped in the water. This turtle even climbed on top of my camera housing while I was swimming next to it! All the fun ended when an enormous Galapagos shark that was bigger than myself came rocketing out of the deep to check me out. I did not see it until it was upon me. Fortunately, it just came at me and turned very abruptly at the last second. My boat captain heard me screaming and quickly came over to pick me up. I did not get back in the water that afternoon, but I did the next day and the rest of the trip. Sorry, I did not get any images of the shark! Please visit more of my Sea Turtle Photography.
