“I’m not going to do that again.”

“I’m going to lose weight.”

“I’m going to stop procrastinating.”

“I’m going to lose weight, but I’m going to start tomorrow.”

I don’t wait until the last minute to make plans or resolutions, your wasting 364 great days to make those during the rest of the year. What I am going to do is look forward, with hope and purpose. 2009 was a great year & 2010 shows a LOT more promise. I’m very excited; new horizons to see, new photos to be made, new possibilities to create, new dreams to fulfill, and new things to fear – then conquer.

It may be winter right now – but I feel a renewed spring in my heart.

Edgar Allen Poe once wrote – “Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night”

So day dream big. Then make those dreams your purpose. Before long, they will be your reality.

You might also notice a new format for the Journal/Blog. I will be posting larger photos in the future, since this is (in simple terms) a photography blog. The new photos will be 900 pixels wide, and the links that were present on the right sidebar of the page will still be accessible at the bottom of every page.

This post is a review of my favorite photos from 2009. This has been a great adventure, from the Kenai Fjords in search of whales and glaciers, to the Prince William Sound & Copper River Delta, then to Katmai for brown bears, and up in the air for 2 aerial photo sessions – 1 over Prince William Sound in a helicopter with the doors off (awesome), and the 2nd flying through the Alaska Range and around Denali. The year was capped off with an epic fall color trip that covered nearly 1,000 miles and roughly the same amount of photos – the vast majority of which were landscapes. 2009 was a great year, and I’d be sorry to see it go – if it weren’t for the new decade looming just days away. And all the promise that it holds.

This collection of photos will be included in Jim Goldstein‘s blog project “Your Best Photos From 2009″. On Tuesday, January 12th – he will publish a post on his blog listing every participating photographer. In 2008, nearly 100 photographers took part in this project.

Now get out and shoot!

Stay tuned…

So here’s the deal. I’ve always wanted to offer high quality prints at a discounted rate. Photography (and art in general) should not be an exclusive club available only to the wealthy art collectors. With that in mind, I’ve decided to offer a monthly print special. 1 image for 1 month. 1 special low price. The images will all be Gallery Wraps – a fine art canvas is wrapped over a wooden frame. Plus 1 more option.

2 sizes to choose from. Why, well – the smaller size is less expensive and will give more people the opportunity to own a beautiful print & the larger print is for those looking for something really special at a reduced rate!

Each print is custom and will be shipped from my professional lab to me first for inspection & approval. Each image is also printed with a digital signature embedded directly into the canvas printing process. No additional framing is needed, as soon as it arrives – you can hang it on your wall. Framing is one of the most expensive steps in displaying artwork, that’s one of the things that makes this Gallery Wrap option so attractive (besides its physical appearance). It’s a finished product.

But remember, once the month is over – so is the discount! The print will go back to its original price point. Normally this special price is only good for 1 month, but since this is the start of this special, I’m giving you a couple extra days before the month of November really starts. You’re welcome

To start things off, I’m offering an image I took this past fall – “Moonrise Over Mount Blackburn”.

Print of the Month - November 2009 "Moonrise Over Blackburn"

Just click on the link over there to the right… yep that’s the one. It says “Print of the Month“. The link will take you to the full deal. Yep, click it now. What are you waiting for? There you g…

Stay tuned!

Click on the photo to be taken to BorrowLenses.com

I have rented specialized photo equipment several times this past year. I started by trying out BorrowLenses.com services. I had every intention of trying a few different companies, but BorrowLenses.com impressed me so much, that I never moved on. I’m hooked, what can I say? If it ain’t broke, why fix it? They have great customer service, very quick delivery, and great prices. The “holy trinity” of good service.

I am very excited to announce that Borrowlenses.com has come on board as an official sponsor for our workshops and tours. Each of our clients will now be able to rent a wide variety of cameras, lenses, tripods/heads, and a bunch of other gear at a discounted rate. Canon, Nikon, Mamiya, Gitzo, Wimberley, and a bunch more! And they offer a lot more than just lenses – cameras, flashes, tripods & heads. You literally can’t get these prices anywhere else. Borrowlenses.com is giving us a great discount, and we’re passing that discount on to all of our clients! We’ll be happy to offer advice on what gear will work best for you. Just another service to help make your trip a huge success. Just let us know what you need, and we’ll arrange everything. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself…

Be sure to click on their banner above and check out their huge variety of quality camera gear!

Without further ado – here’s a digital copy of the poster! If you see one around, drop me a line and let me know what you think!

Click for larger version

]]> http://sixtyonenorth.com/2009/05/posters-being-printed/feed/ 0 http://sixtyonenorth.com/2009/03/website-updates/ http://sixtyonenorth.com/2009/03/website-updates/#comments Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:21:29 +0000 admin http://sixtyonenorth.com/wp/?p=323 Hey everyone -

Lots of new updates here. I’ve switched the site over to my customized WordPress template. (Thanks Graph Paper Press – I love the template!). The new site should appear very streamlined and unified. We began this site in Apple’s iWeb program, fairly easy to work with, although very restrictive in the long run and difficult to update efficiently. Then we moved to Dreamweaver, and Tim did a great job at building a site to showcase our tours. Recently, as my duties had me taking on more of the day to day workings, I decided that I wanted to try incorporating a Journal (now doesn’t that just sound better than a “blog”? A blog sounds like something I tried drinking in the Army, and then subsequently threw up…). That started out as a simple home made template in Dreamweaver, transitioned quickly to a free blogger account, and more recently to a WordPress hosted Journal. Although very easy to manage (and did I mention free?), the WordPress hosted “blogs” (ewww… don’t like that name) are somewhat restrictive for customization. So I finally moved the blo… JOURNAL… directly into our hosting service and purchased a theme package from Graph Paper Press – Modularity & Modfolio. Really well laid out WordPress template, very powerful customization – they’re definitely on to something there. Good customer service to, by the looks of things (always innovating), although I haven’t really had any issues to approach customer service with. Just what I like! So, how do you navigate? Simple, in the upper right menu you’ll see a “Pages” Menu link, click it and choose your destination. See, told you it was simple. Hey, even I could figure it out!
I’ve customized the template a litte, opting for a free Flash gallery generator plug-in for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, named SimpleViewer from Airtight Interactive. The plugin is really easy to implement through Lightroom, fast and effective. A little bit of coding later (and by little, I mean “little”… I hate coding!) and everything looks all happy on my end. Now to see what you think – you’re the ones that really matter.

So, what’s new… dum dum dummmmm. All new Portfolios page. Broken down into 4 categories currently: Adventure, Panoramic Visions, Wild Lands, & Wild Life.  The largest portfolio, by far, is Wild Life. Interesting to me, because I always considered myself a landscape (Wild Lands) photographer first and foremost. But that makes sense, I tend to blast (“make a movie”) when I shoot wildlife because of the action involved. I’m much more deliberate when it comes to landscape work. This year I’ll really be focusing (sorry for the pun…) on more landscape photography work. So, hopefully you’ll see some growth in the Wild Lands Portfolio this year. I’ll also be adding client galleries as they become available. So check out the new Portfolio Page, some of the photos you’ll recognize – some will be completely new!

Also new, Workshops!!! Still finalizing the details – but run on over to the Workshops & Tours Page to wet your appetite. It’s going to be quite a year, and next year’s early proposed schedule is already up as well. Stay tuned, I’m still ironing out the details. The major themes for this year? Affordability, fun, and adventure. One guarantee. I’ll do my best to get you taking better photos & having more fun doing it!

I’ve also been adding Alaskan-based businesses to my “Alaskan Services Links” Page. These are businesses that offer amazing services here in our great state of Alaska. If you are a photographer traveling in Alaska or a local looking for the finest in services, this is your one stop shop. 3 categories – “There & Back Again” (Guides), “Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep” (Lodging), and “Feed Me Seymour, Feed Me” (Food). Simple, and they meet the 4 Rules. Don’t know the 4 Rules? Well, now’s a good time click that link. What? You’re still here? Clickity clickity clickity…

Ok, you’re back. Looking for other ways to follow along? Follow me on twitter! Or add me as a friend on Facebook. I’m always sharing material and they are great ways to meet like-minded people & get some fun networking done. All the kids are doin’ it! I’ll add links to the sidebar too.

Alright, that’s about it for now. Stay tuned, check out the site updates & let me know your thoughts!