Scott Slone – Alaska HDTV

To quote Jodie Foster’s portrayal of Dr. Ellie Arroway in Robert Zemeckis’ “Contact”: No words to describe it. Poetry! They should’ve sent a poet. Alaska has been kind to me. I’ve visited locations most photographers dream of & seen things most will never witness. But Alaska is always full of surprises. I spent the past 4 days at a location that I’ve been dreaming of visiting for several years. St. George Island sits just 45 miles to the east of the Continental Shelf. In this region, everything about the Earth’s crust is precipitous. If you were able to stand atop the ‘cliffs’ above the Continental Shelf, you’d already be in nearly 600 feet of water. But vanishing into the blackness below would...

I am a finally settling back into a ‘normal’ rhythm after returning from my Wild Lands & Wild Life: Cordova Photo Tour, this past Saturday. After over a full week on the road, with many late nights, a few very early rises and a mid-tour hard hitting virus, this tour was a tour de force. And soooooo worth it! The clients had an excellent time. One of the clients even cried. “Wait. I thought you said you had an ‘excellent time’, Dave?” My client (who shall go un-identified) was seated next to me during one of our aerial photography sessions. I turned towards them mid-flight and caught the glint of a tear rolling down their cheek. I asked if everything was ok. The reply was so poignant. “It’s...

I’d like to take a quick moment to congratulate my good friend, and frequent hiking partner (aka – the guy who laughs along with me as I fall and sprain my ankle or bash my shin… hey, I’m a cluts, and it’s funny!), Scott Slone of Alaska HDTV & Perfect Blend Media. You’ve likely read my praises of Scott’s work; he’s easily one of the hardest working, most creative, versatile people I’ve ever met. But he’s also a ‘rock’. He’s the kind of friend that remains solid and sure footed in the toughest of situations, and can be counted on to always give 130%. I’m privileged to call him one of my closest friends. People that see us together often say we could be twin brothers. I keep...

“Entangled”, Chugach National Forest, Alaska. ©2011 Dave Taylor/Sixtyone North (Canon 5D Mk 2, Tokina 16-28/2.8 @ 16mm. 0.5″ @ f/18, ISO 400) I don’t work much in black & white photography. I think I must be the only photographer that skipped past the darkroom and dove directly into chromes. Well, let me make one thing clear – I never ‘skipped’. And no, there was no ‘prancing’, either. It’s always funny, talking with other photographers whose career started before the advent of digital – many of them speak with a great reverence and that certain ‘twinkle’ in their eye(s) when it comes to the time they used to spend in the darkroom. “I really miss the smell”. Of...

This is a quick (very quick – only 3 seconds total) timelapse video of a 13 1/2 minute aurora storm from my first of 2 “Aurora Borealis, Winter Landscapes & Wildlife” photo tours – February 26-March 3 of this year. Winter has left us and we are full into spring mode here, in south central Alaska – but the aurora are still whirling overhead. Tonight, in fact, we are predicted to have a decent showing. Hope to view it from my comfy bed – wish I could make it out tonight to film it, but it just isn’t in the cards. Perhaps this weekend… Stay tuned…   Want to be kept up to date about all of my Photo Workshops & AdvenTours, tips & tricks, and news? Only Newsletter subscribers receive special discounts on Pri

  It’s 2:16 AM. I’ve been working on this update for the whole day. But honestly, that’s pretty quick… not like the old days of coding html and building a site from scratch on Dreamweaver. Luckily, today we have tools that make this ‘work’ so much easier. Tools like WordPress and the very skilled coders behind specialty ‘templates’ like those made by Elegant Themes. I was first introduced to Elegant Themes by my good friend, Scott Slone, of Alaska HDTV and Perfect Blend Media. Scott is far more advanced than I am when it comes to developing a web presence and designing websites. I’ve been meaning to change up my own site for some time – there were a few things that I just didn’t like. It was...