Tag: Landscape

Reflection Lake Wildflowers 1

Reflection Lake Wildflowers 1

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Pictures don’t get any fresher than this! I woke up at 2:30am today and drove down to Mount Rainier National Park to photograph the wildflowers around Reflection Lake at sunrise. I have always wanted to photograph the mountain and reflection in the lake with rosy spireas in bloom, and today I finally timed it right.  I was surprised by how many photographers were there for a Friday. I have gotten spoiled in Alaska not having to shoot around other people. A slight breeze or surfacing fish occasionally disturbed the reflection, so this is as close to perfect as it got.  I am happy with what I created.

For those of you aspiring to photograph wildflowers at Mount Rainier this summer, I did a quick drive up to Paradise before driving back to Seattle, and can confirm that the wildflowers probably need 1-2 more weeks to peak. There are tons of paintbrush and other wildflowers along the side of the road, but the big fields of lupine are only just starting to bloom. I hope to get back down there late next week before I return to Alaska on August 23rd.

North Sawyer Glacier 1

North Sawyer Glacier 1

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I have mixed feelings about photographing tidewater glaciers in Alaska. They are beautiful to visit, but I also know they will never be in the same position in my lifetime because of glacial recession due to climate change. During my previous visits to Tracy Arm, it was very difficult and dangerous for me to get close to the North Sawyer Glacier and impossible to approach the South Sawyer Glacier. The lack of floating ice during my recent visit might have been for a variety of reasons, but there is no denying that I would not have been able to stand on this recently exposed granite ledge when it was covered by the glacier a few years ago. After dedicating my last 4 summers to photographing Southeast Alaska, I have adapted my shooting style from always chasing dramatic sunset light to appreciating the subtle colors of the consistent overcast conditions. I was drawn to the red color of this ledge system and the patterns reminded me of Native American rock-art in the Southwest. There was no safe place to land my inflatable, so I had my dad drop me off for a few hours so that I could do my thing. He patiently floated amongst the ice and watched harbor seals until he saw me start waving like a mad-man wanting to get picked up. I wonder what the people on the handful of tour boats thought of the guy in the red jacket and bibs standing on this lonely ledge taking pictures?

Brotherhood Park Fireweed Sunset 1

Brotherhood Park Fireweed Sunset 1

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WOW! What else can I say about my recent 19 day adventure in Southeast Alaska? WOW! There, I said it again. I experienced my usual ups-and-downs, but overall the trip was incredibly productive. Humpback whales bubble-feeding, tidewater glaciers, harbor seals on ice flows, playful Steller sea lions, fireweed in bloom, and many sunny days in a row. This trip had it all. I am home for barely 3 weeks before returning to Alaska again on August 23 and I am very busy with my family during this time. I am not going to make any progress editing the 6500 images I just created, but will share a few of my new images as time allows.

For those of you unfamiliar with Alaska, this image of the fireweed in bloom at Brotherhood Park in Juneau is one of the most iconic Alaska images. Even though I have regularly visited Juneau the past 4 summers, this photo has eluded me until now.

After cleaning my boat all afternoon on Monday, I decided to try to shoot this scene since the weather was so nice and I was flying standby. The wind was gently rustling the flowers, but I was able to capture a few images without movement by using ISO 400 at 1/10 second. I never would have captured this scene if I was still shooting medium or large format and using Fuji Velvia 50 film at 6+ seconds.

Brennisteinsalda Steam Vents 6

Brennisteinsalda Steam Vents 6

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During my trip to Iceland, I was enthralled by the dramatic landscape of Landmannalaugar and fortunate that the road had just opened a few days before my visit. Because it was considered early in the season, there were very few people around. I camped for 4 days, with the main challenge being that I slept during the day. I always wonder why anyone would visit the Arctic during the summer and sleep rather than stay up all night. Except for my travel buddy, I had Landmannalaugar all to myself each night from 8pm until 5am. This is another one of my favorite images that I created after hiking up to the Brennisteinsalda steam vents and photographing the dramatic light on Blahnukur.

Gesellschaft Deutscher Tierfotografen 2010 Interview

Gesellschaft Deutscher Tierfotografen 2010 Interview

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I was recently interviewed by the Gesellschaft Deutscher Tierfotografen (Society of German Nature Photographers).  Previously interviewed photographers include Andy Rouse, George and Verena Popp, Norbert Rosing, and Kevin Schafer.  My interview is currently featured in their triannual magazine Forum Naturfotografie.  It spans 14 pages and showcases 12 of my favorite photographs.  The double page opener is my image “East Pond Vent 1”, taken in Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii.  You can view the entire article here, however, it is in German.

Jokulsarlon Icebergs Sunrise 5

Jokulsarlon Icebergs Sunrise 5

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My regular readers will have noticed that I am a big fan of shooting wide-angle landscape images and seldom use a telephoto lens other than for wildlife photography. I enjoy discovering patterns in nature with a medium telephoto lens, but I prefer to shoot grand and dramatic scenes. I also think that it is technically more challenging. This iceberg detail and reflection picture from Jokulsarlon is a notable recent exception. The blue color of the ice comes from the density of the ice absorbing all the colors of the spectrum, except blue which is reflected. Photographing blue ice is best in overcast conditions, of which I had plenty.

Jokulsarlon Icebergs Sunrise 2

Jokulsarlon Icebergs Sunrise 2

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During my trip to Iceland, I visited the spectacular Jokulsarlon 5 different nights over 2 weeks hoping to photograph an epic midnight sunset. On the night that I finally created this image, the magic light had threatened to overwhelm the clouds for several hours. I don’t remember how I occupied my time for the next hour, but by 2:45am I was set up and ready to photograph the sunrise light when it briefly radiated underneath the heavy clouds and illuminated the mountains above the iceberg choked lagoon.

Seattle Met June 2010 Hiking Opener

Seattle Met June 2010 Hiking Opener

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My image “Spray Park Wildflowers 1” is featured as the double page opener of the hiking feature in the June 2010 issue of Seattle Met. Spray Park is my favorite alpine location at Mount Rainier National Park and is the closest side of the mountain to my home in Seattle. During the brief summer hiking season, I depart my house in the early afternoon, drive for about 3 hours, and hike the 3 miles up to the wildflower meadows to photograph the sunset. It is both a blessing and a curse if the wind is not blowing, a blessing because the fields of lupine and paintbrush are not blowing around in the wind, but a curse because of  the swarms of blood-thirsty mosquitoes that rival any that I have seen in Alaska or Canada. Spray Park is higher than Paradise on the south side of the mountain, so the wildflowers peak about 1 week later, typically mid-August. Based on the cold summer that we are having, I estimate that the wildflowers are going to be a little late this year, which is similar to the year that I created this image during the last week of August.

Brennisteinsalda Steam Vents 1

Brennisteinsalda Steam Vents 1

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I’ve been editing my images from my trip to Iceland the last few days. My regular readers might recall that I was complaining about the dreary weather the entire trip. Just because the conditions are miserable does not mean that there weren’t any photos to be had. Due to my years of photographing Alaska, I am adept at shooting in cloudy conditions. While the general public is happy with blue skies (as I am about to enjoy myself this afternoon), the light that I need to create dramatic photographs requires being willing to work in less than inspiring conditions. For example, consider this image of the Brennisteinsalda steam vents. I created it at the end of a cloudy day in Landmannalaugar when there was no sunset light. I experimented by taking over 200 images of the steam emanating from the ground in order to capture the steam pattern and dark clouds in this the decisive moment.

Blahnukur Sunset 9

Blahnukur Sunset 9

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As my regular readers will note, I experienced mostly gloomy weather during my trip to Iceland. While the bad weather did nothing to overcome my Seasonal Affective Disorder, it did provide me with some incredible lighting conditions for landscape photography. The highlight of my trip was camping and shooting for 4 days at Landmannalaugar. I was disappointed that the colorful hills were covered in ash from the recent eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, but their was still plenty of spectacular scenery to shoot everywhere I looked. I explored the main hiking trails from the campground and became particularly enchanted with the geothermal steam vents at the base of Brennisteinsalda. I returned to this surreal location 2 nights in a row and was rewarded with this dramatic image when the clouds parted and the sun illuminated the summit of Blahnukur in golden light.