Category: Alaska

Tracy Arm Harbor Seal 28

My Top 10 Favorite Photos of 2008, #7

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I first visited Tracy Arm Fjord in Southeast Alaska during the summer of 2007 with my friend and fellow photographer Florian Schulz and his wife Emil. We tried to photograph harbor seals and their pups resting on the floating icebergs without success. The seals would not let us get close to them since they were easily startled and saw us coming from far away in my bright red inflatable. All last winter I thought about how to photograph them and came up with the idea to cover my pontoons with white shower curtains to disguise my boat as an iceberg. In June, I returned to try my new plan and was successful! I initially tried to cover the entire boat and hide underneath the blind I created, but this did not seem to work, so I eventually only covered the pontoons, got down low in the boat, and slowly drifted towards the seals. My goal was to not disturb them in anyway, and most of the time I successfully drifted past sleeping seals that occasionally looked up. Most of the images I’ve seen of harbor seals on icebergs are taken from long distances from high angles on large tour boats. What I like most about the images I created was that I was down so close to the water. It makes me feel more like I am part of their world. I also really like the nice blue background of this image. I used my Canon 5D, 400 mm f4 DO IS lens, 1.4X tele-converter at f5.6 and 1/400 second.

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Fern Harbor Sea Otter 14

My Top 10 Favorite Photos of 2008, #8

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I got rained on almost continuously for 15 days in July while waiting for a favorable weather window to make the dangerous run from Elfin Cove up the outer coast of Glacier Bay National Park to Lituya Bay. I never got the chance. The reality of motoring around in the North Pacific in 15’+ seas just did not interest me. While passing away the time, I got to spend a few days in one of my favorite locations, Taylor Bay near Cape Spencer. It is an area of unimaginable beauty and pure wilderness. Rugged sea stacks on the coast meet glaciers that come down to the sea surrounded by 12,000′ mountains. Unfortunately, the weather made it impossible to shoot any spectacular landscape scenes, but I did spend a few days photographing the most uninhibited sea otter that I have ever encountered. Usually, sea otters will not let me get within 100 yards of them before they dive down to escape. I have no idea how they were almost exterminated when they used to be hunted. They are just so incredibly shy. This male let me follow him around in the pouring rain in my inflatable. He would swim from one side of the bay to the other all the while diving down and eating everything that he could catch. Sea otters need to eat something like 25% of their body weight every day. Often, he would be visible in the shallow water directly underneath my boat, so I could watch him forage and anticipate where he was going to come back up to the surface to photograph him. This is my favorite image. He captured 2 crabs and brought them back to the surface to eat. I caught this comical expression with his mouth open while eating. This image was created using my Canon 5D, 400mm f4 DO IS lens at f4 and 1/500 second.

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Fords Terror Mist

My Top 10 Favorite Photos of 2008, #9

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2008 was not my most productive year for landscape photography. I spent most of the summer getting rained on in Southeast Alaska. It was not the kind of weather that allowed me to create the spectacular images that I am known for. However, it was still an incredible experience navigating my small boat around in the ocean wilderness and into the fjords that few other photographers are able to visit. I typically move Serenity, my 22′ C-Dory, into a remote location and then spend a week or more using my 12′ inflatable to motor around in search of wildlife and unique landscape scenes to photograph. During a particularly wet solo trip in June into the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness, I visited Fords Terror several different days before I finally got the right amount of bad weather and low hanging clouds to capture the spirit of the place. My image “Fords Terror Mist” was created in the pouring rain using my Pentax 67II camera, 45mm lens, Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer, Gitzo Basalt tripod, Acratech Ultimate ballhead, and Fuji Velvia 50 film at f22 and 8 seconds.

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Humpback Whales Bubble Feeding 59

2008 International Conservation Photography Awards

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One of my most spectacular images of humpback whales bubble-feeding in Southeast Alaska is included in the 2008 International Conservation Photography Awards exhibit at the MOHAI in Seattle, WA. The exhibit has gone by several different names over the years but it’s main sponsor has always been Art Wolfe. I’m friends with Art and talked to him the night of the exhibit about the direction the ICPA was taking in the years ahead. The next competition will not be until 2010, and it will go on display at the Burke Museum at the UW in Seattle. It is getting harder to get an image into the exhibit as the competition is getting much tougher. I still feel proud that I was able to be part of it. Please visit more of my humpback whale photography.

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Fern Harbor Sea Otter 5

Fern Harbor Sea Otter 5

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I spent 2 very wet days following an incredibly friendly sea otter around a bay that I was anchored in on the outer coast of Glacier Bay National Park. I have never had any luck getting within 100 yards of a sea otter, let alone take it’s picture. The moms and babies especially want nothing to do with me. But this little guy was a whole different story. When I first found him, he did not react and swim away, rather he just continued his swimming and feeding routine. I spent about 8 hours 2 days in a row following him around and observing his behavior. He was so incredibly cute and tolerant of my presence. This is one of my favorite images of him scratching his head with the beautiful green forest reflection all around him. Please visit more of my Sea Otter Photography.

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Fern Harbor Sea Otter 14

Fern Harbor Sea Otter 14

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Every time that this sea otter went to the far end of the bay at low tide, he would drop down to the bottom and grab 2 crabs to eat. He must have eaten 20-30 crabs in an hour. It was very cool watching him, and he could have cared less about my inflatable following him around all day. Please visit more of my Sea Otter Photography.

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Fern Harbor Sea Otter 1

Fern Harbor Sea Otter 1

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This is just a nice simple composition with an incredibly cute subject. It was an incredible experience to be able to spend so much time photographing this male sea otter over several rainy days. Please visit more of my Sea Otter Photography.

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Taylor Bay Beach Sunset

Taylor Bay Beach Sunset

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I first visited Taylor Bay near Cape Spencer in May and knew that I had to come back. The Fairweather Mountains and the Brady Glacier are just incredible to look at, if you can see them. I am still trying to figure out how to photograph them if the conditions ever allowed for it. In the meantime, I’ve spent a lot of time exploring the rocky shoreline and moraine flats. This composition came together very quickly for me. It was the only golden sunset light image I got in 15 days of getting rained on in SE Alaska. Please visit more of my Glacier Bay National Park Photography.

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Chichagof Coast Reflection

Chichagof Coast Reflection

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The coastal landscape on Chicagof Island really surprised me. I would have thought that it would have been all tall trees and rainforest, but instead it was all these stunted little trees and bogs. I scouted this location above Mirror Harbor after several days of being boat bound due to a gale in the Gulf of Alaska. I found the landscape reminded me of images I have seen from the Amazon or Coast Rica and not Alaska. This gnarled tree reminded me of a Japanese painting. I think the mountain in the distance must be a volcano. Please visit more of my Southeast Alaska Photography.

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Johns Hopkins Inlet Sunrise 6

2008 Nature’s Best Ocean Views Photography Exhibit

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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.

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