Fall color

  I’m very happy to formally announce the 4th tour of 2011. The “Wild Lands & Wild LIfe: Denali Highway Fall Color Tour”. August 26-September 1, 2011. I’d like to invite you to join me on an epic, small group, wilderness photo tour into the heart of Alaska. The Denali Highway – 135 mile long ‘improved’ road, stretching from Cantwell (near the eastern border of Denali National Park) to Paxson at the east end of the road. From 1957 to 1971, this was the only access to Denali National Park. Since ’71 it has become mostly derelict and poorly maintained. It crosses some of the most dramatic and incredible terrain in the United States. Mountains. Glaciers. Rolling tundra. Taiga forest. Kettle ponds. Raging...

For the past few years, Jim Goldstein has been doing a very fun project to celebrate the efforts of hundreds of photographers over the past 365 days. His “Your Best Photos of 2010″ Project is an amalgamation of a huge variety of photographic and artistic styles, locations, and subjects. It’s always fascinating to see what everyone turns in, and I really enjoy looking back on my years efforts – both successes and failures. I was only able to get to a small fraction of the locations I had hoped to visit, but I’m very happy with this years portfolio. Please let me know which images are your favorites by leaving a comment below! Here’s to this past year, and a New Year ahead! [Show as...

We have been blessed with incredible weather recently. Unseasonable, some might say. Alternating days of brilliant sunshine and deep 24 hour+ fog. The blue skies somewhat limit my options for the dramatic light I search for in my photographs. The dense fog condenses dramatic landscapes into 1 dimensional graphical constructions. Thick spruce trees become  gray & green silhouettes. Mountains become ghosts rising overhead. We’ve also had several perfectly clear night skies, interrupted only by the sublime flickering of the aurora borealis. I haven’t attempted to get out to photograph them yet, but we are very early in the northern lights season. Jena and I have seen them 4 separate nights now, all within the past week and a half. A sure sign that we...

Here’s another quick image from last weeks Denali Highway Fall Color Shoot. We had amazing sunrises almost every morning. I wish we would have returned to the lake from my last post. I imagine the pano I shot from the previous post, reflected in the kettle pond. Would have been even more spectacular. Oh well… next year. Speaking of next year… Keep watching the blog for an announcement regarding TWO fall color tours I’ll be offering back-to-back. If you are looking for an incredible photo AdvenTour in some of the wildest yet accessible lands in all of Alaska, these tours are just what you’ve been waiting for. Stay tuned… Want to be kept up to date about all of my Photo Workshops & AdvenTours, tips & tricks, and news? Only Newslett

I can hear all the Beatles fans now, “That’s SACRILEGE!”, “How DARE you?” It’s ok. I can outrun your wheelchair/walker. I can dodge a cane attack. Bring it! Anyways… here is another photograph from last weeks trek across the Denali Highway. This area is ripe for opportunities, especially if you know where to look and get off the road system. And by road system, I mean the only road. Kettle ponds are born from glaciers, remnants of ancient ice flows long since melted away. They are formed from large chunks of ice that calve from glaciers. The ice becomes buried by glacial sediment from the outwash of silt laden glacial meltwater. When the ice blocks finally melt, they reveal a depression in the ground that collects water. A...

We arrived home recently from my annual Fall Color shoot.  We hit just past peak fall colors, but the weather was spectacular. As were my fellow travelers. This was Jena’s first trip “up north” to Interior Alaska. Also joining us was Scott Slone of Alaska HDTV. Jena and I had planned on spending the full 8 days on the road, but the colors shifted so quickly that we headed home early. We will do local day trips whenever possible though, to find nearby “pockets” of color that have yet to mature. I was very happy to meet with a few family owned lodges that will be hosting my Alaska Photo Tours (AdvenTours) next year, and in the years ahead. Wow… that’s all I can say. I was blown away by their hospitality and comfort in...