Sixtyone North

Come On In, The Ice is Perfect

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:16:17 +0000

Here are a few more images from last Sunday, taken out at Eklutna Lake, between Palmer and Eagle River, Alaska.

: Ice Crystals Detail, Eklutna Lake, Alaska – ©2010 Dave Taylor/Sixtyone North (Canon 24-105 @ 105mm, Canon 5D mk 2, 1/6″ @ f/16, ISO 100)

: “Bald Eagle” Ice Detail, Eklutna Lake, Alaska – ©2010 Dave Taylor/Sixtyone North (Canon 24-105 @ 105mm, Canon 5D mk 2, 1/13″ @ f/14, ISO 50)

: Stacked Methane Bubbles in Ice, Eklutna Lake, Alaska – ©2010 Dave Taylor/Sixtyone North (Canon 24-105 @ 98mm, Canon 5D mk 2, 1/80″ @ f/13, ISO 200)

: Sunrise Over Eklutna Lake, Alaska – ©2010 Dave Taylor/Sixtyone North (Canon 24-105 @ 24mm, Canon 5D mk 2, 1/15″ @ f/18, ISO 100)

Stay tuned…

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Frozen in Time (Part Deux – Eklutna Lake)

admin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 05:15:34 +0000

Ok, this is rather embarrassing. I spent a good hour today at lunch writing today’s post. I’ve been trying out a “desktop Wordpress publishing” program for the last couple of days (Ecto). It was going well. I’m gonna go ahead put a little stress on the word “WAS”…

I wrote a nice little essay on Sunday’s shoot with fellow Alaska-based photog Mark Meyer, from Eagle River. I, of course, extolled his virtues. Quick summary: he’s a great guy, talented and creative photographer, and has a very irrational fear of falling through ice.

sorry Mark…

Anyway, Mark is a great photographer (despite his irrational fear of falling through ice into a frozen lake miles from civilization), and as I’ve said before – it is always beneficial to shoot with other photographers. Especially ones that are more experienced, more talented, and more creative. They push you. Whether that is their intent or not, they push you to take your craft to the next level. And no matter what the skill level of all the participants, everyone wins. So often, photography is a solitary pursuit. The lonesome road of the “starving artist”. This is typically a strategic choice; photographers want that shot that no one else saw, because they were the only one out there. They suffered. Alone. In the cold. Walked up hill to get the shot, both ways. They slept that night in a tent made of cardboard in a pummeling rain and hail storm. The next day, they struggled to push the shutter button with their tongue because they lost 11 digits the night before in the sub-zero temps. Somehow, photography took on a stigma of a solemn pursuit of that mystical “perfect moment” in time, captured on “film”. But over the past several years, I have noticed that the vast majority of my favorite images (and by far the most popular) are ones that I took while in the presence of other photographers. Great photographers that pushed me to my next level.

And the best part?

Experiencing that “perfect moment” with someone else at your side. Someone who is enjoying it just as much as you are.

These. Are. The. Perfect. Moments.

So. Yeah, I had typed up a very nice blog post for today. Pssst… this isn’t it. I finished the post at 1 pm, saved the document in Ecto, closed the program, and shut off my laptop.

Just got home, opened Ecto to upload the post to my site… aaaaaaaaaand it’s not there. The post title is still there, but there is no content. The 1300 hand-picked words? Well, I don’t know where they are. Maybe in the garbage can? Right next to my trial version of Ecto…

A quick reminder. For those of you considering joining us for our photo tour “Alaska’s Southern Coast” in June, seats and time are definitely in short supply. This is a one-of-a-kind “adventour”, custom tailored instruction in some of the most incredible locations on the planet. Still on the fence? Visit the dedicated web page to read all about, check the action-packed itinerary, and take a look at the variety of the kinds of photographs we’ll help you capture. As always, please contact us at any time with questions – we’re happy to help!

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Announcement: Project Black & Blue

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 05:26:26 +0000

The world’s moving so fast, the man who says it can’t be done is interrupted by someone doing it.

- Elbert Hubbard

2010 will be the 6th straight year that I’ve been shooting solely in Alaska. In truth, it feels as if I’ve just arrived. Everything is still new and fresh to me, even though I have experienced it (whatever “it” is) several times now, in most cases. I’ve witnessed glaciers calving, both from a boat and from just across a raging river. I’ve seen humpback whales hurling their 40 ton bodies into the air, then the added blessing of seeing young whales being nurtured by mothers.

I’ve watched pods of orca actively hunting, and sea otters frolicking in water so close that I could literally reach out and touch them (Dave Taylor & Sixtyone North take no responsibility for missing digits and or limbs in this pursuit – darn lawyers…). I’ve been 18 inches from a wild 800 pound brown bear on the Katmai Coast and a few feet from Dall sheep – including large rams, ewes and a very young lamb.

I’ve stood atop glaciers as they shuddered beneath during an “ice quake”, and rappelled deep into crevasses to catch a glimpse of their “inner workings”.

I have witnessed incredible sunrises and sunsets in some of the most remote and beautiful country anywhere on the planet. It has been a brilliant 5 years, the best of my life to be certain. If it were to all end tomorrow I would be happy with my life and the things I had seen. However, I look forward to many more “5 year reflections”. I have taken many photos and will continue to do so (insert omnipresent deity of your choice here) willing.
But what have I given back in return? Sure, I still offer free advice to photographers planning a trip to “America’s Last Frontier”, and I offer instructional photo workshops & tours throughout this great state. But what have I given back to our community, or our environment – from which I’ve taken so much?

A Note on Personal Projects

This text is taken from a slide that I used at my recent “Wild Lands & Wild Life” Presentations in Chicago. It regards my feelings on personal projects. In case there is any question after reading the bullet points – PERSONAL PROJECTS ARE GOOD.

They can give focus
They can reignite your passion for photography
They can be a kick start to your career
They can raise awareness
They can change people’s perceptions
They can start a movement
They can define you as an artist
They can open up other opportunities
They can create a legacy

With that in mind, I set out looking for a project to focus my attention on. Something that I could throw myself at “schedule permitting”. After all, I work 2 full time jobs as it is, so time and scheduling are always a concern. That required it to be reasonably nearby and reasonably accessible. It needed to be grand though, something on a massive scale and capable of filling an extended time frame. I needed to be both intimated and inspired by it at the same time. Why? Because that’s how I work, I like the challenge. I needed to have access to local resources, primarily for logistics. I needed the project to play to my strengths as well as tackle some weaknesses (again, part of the whole “challenge” aspect).

But most importantly, I needed this project to have impact. On a personal level, an environmental level, and hopefully on a world level.

Hey. Go big, or go home. amiright?

It turns out, the answer had been staring me in the face for the past several years. One of my first trips out on the ocean was to photograph gray whales in the Prince William Sound area. Since then I’ve been photographing different sections of the Prince William Sound (PWS). Every minute I spend there is a gift. So much diversity. Both in wildlife and land/seascapes. Even on a cold and rainy day (and I’ve had plenty of those), the views are as if rendered by a painters brush of a land lost in time. It is a staggeringly beautiful region. And it is only a 1 hour drive from Anchorage.

The PWS is a fluid combination of seemingly endless coastline, threaded with thousands of cascading waterfalls. It is rocky shores and calving glaciers, trackless wilderness and snow drenched mountains. There are millions of shore and sea birds that call this area home throughout the year. The protected waters teem with bobbing sea otters, porpoising Steller sea lions, diving seals, hunting orca, and migrating whales. And around every corner is a new island only “recently” resurrected from the last ice age.

But in the early morning of March 24, 1989, that pristine beauty was shattered. The oil tanker Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef just beyond the Valdez Narrows on its way to California, dumping nearly 11 million of its 54.1 million gallons of oil into the eastern Prince William Sound.

The effects on the surrounding wildlife and landscape were nothing short of disastrous. According to scientific reports and first hand witnesses, thousands of animals died immediately. It is estimated that up to 500,000 seabirds, at least 1,000 sea otters, hundreds of harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, and 22 orca were killed.

In the weeks, months and years ahead, over 11,000 Alaskans came together to clean up the spill. But recently, studies have shown that over 26,000 gallons of oil still cover sections of the Prince William Sound coastline. The oil is still being ingested by the smallest of creatures, which in turn are hunted by larger and larger prey – contaminating the entire life cycle of The Sound’s inhabitants.

Project Black & Blue

2014 will be the 25th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. “Project Black & Blue” will span the next five years (2010-2014) and document the current state of The Sound, the cleanup efforts (from the day of the spill through current tactics), the wildlife and landscapes affected, and the people involved. This will be an aerial project. Boat based. Land based. Underwater. The latest tools will be implemented; high resolution digital cameras, shooting both still images and HD video. But rather than working in seclusion and unveiling a finished project in 5 or 6 years, “Project Black & Blue” will be a transparent process. I plan to post updates as the project moves along & yeah, there may be lulls. Get over it, it’s my project. There may be spurts of activity as well – this is a time/funding allowed project. Sooooo… I’m going to conduct it like I pursue all of my passions.

Throw myself into it at 110% and wait for a clerk to hand me a restraining order. Ok, so that never really happened. Really!

There will be interviews, photos, videos, and questions. Every step along the way. And questions I hope you can help answer.

So what are the long term goals for this project? First off, impact. How do I attain that? Using the photos and footage I will capture, in articles, books, internet resources, prints, cards, etc.

Hey. Go big or go home!

But I need your help. Especially you, my fellow Alaskans. Do you know a pilot, or a boat owner/captain, someone who was involved in the original cleanup or subsequent research projects involving the effects of the spill on the environment? Please email me or have them contact me if they might be willing to help in the logistic hurdles this project will have, in spades.

What is Your Project?

So here is my challenge for you. What can you do in your community? What project can you undertake? Big or small. Self indulgent or awareness/movement building. How can your photography make a difference? After all, you’ve been taking pictures for a long time too? Is it time for you to give back? Do you have a project, either a consideration or something that you are actively pursuing? Post it below in the comments & invite everyone along for the ride.

Here are a few more points from my latest presentation, in closing.

Do not wait for opportunities to come along
Create them and maximize their potential
Do not wait for things to fall into place
Put them there
There isn’t anyone who will work as hard as you, for you
If there is, you aren’t pushing yourself hard enough

Go big.

Stay tuned…

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100th Post… “What Lies Beyond”

admin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:50:45 +0000

Finally made it to 100 posts. I’d like to thank the academy and my parents of course. Now where is my Kanye West moment?

I’ve covered a lot of things on this blog/journal and it has been fun to watch it grow and build momentum. I started slowly. The first post was back in February of 2008. It involved the Aurora Borealis and how to photograph it. Didn’t post anything for 4 months… not exactly how I’d recommend that you build a “steady” fan base. I’ve covered bear, moose, eagles, caribou, Dall sheep, whales, glaciers, rain forest, digital darkroom techniques. My move to Alaska and increased focus on my photography has been the greatest “risk” I have ever taken. And by far, the most rewarding.

Although I have greatly increased my post frequency, I don’t typically “schedule” a post for a particular day like some do. I wait until I have content ready. For me, it is more about quality over quantity.

To each their own. Horses for courses.

Yesterday, I made my way “down south” again to the Kenai Peninsula for sunrise photography. Another beautiful drive. Well, the way home it was anyways. Still very dark on the drive down. But the days are definitely getting longer now, the sun is actually rising before 10 AM! So much for my theory about sleeping in and still photographing sunrise… I left my place at 5:45 Am in anticipation for the nearly 3 hour drive. I met a very nice highway flag person, directing traffic through a construction zone just past Moose Pass. We talked for quite some time after I finished shooting. He’s been working the same area since Fall, so it was great hearing him describe how the quality of light and color has changed over the months. He’s seen lots of bald eagles, lynx, and moose in his 1/4 mile. Interesting guy.

Unfortunately, the web cannot adequately display an image in such scale. The shrinking and compressing of such an image (the original, unflattened image was over 2.5 GB!) lessens the impact and introduces “viewing problems”. The right side of the image shows a poor transition from foreground detail to the sky – there is a “halo” like appearance surrounding the trees on the web version. Simply put, it’s not there in the original… it’s all a figment of your imagination:)

The new camera I’ve been using for the past couple weeks (Canon’s 5D mk 2) really produces high quality files… that’s when user error doesn’t generate cr@p of course. As I was piecing this pano together in Photoshop (it’s 16 vertical images, merged into one gigantic pano – 8 for ), I took the time to “look around” in the composition. There’s a TON of detail here. For instance, the partial peak just to the left of the center mountain has a small glacier on it. In the full version of the image, it’s easy to see the pale blue exposed portions, a few crevasses and seracs. Pretty cool, if I do say so myself.

What’s absolutely fascinating to me is “what lies beyond”. While researching this region on Google Earth (what? you don’t have that on your ‘puter? As soon as you are done here, click this link and download the program. Your welcome.) is the vast wilderness just beyond. Google Earth reveals so many photo ops, literally just over ridgelines and rivers, valleys and summits. Pristine lakes. Totally virgin photographic territory… oops, sorry… a little drool problem here. Surprised my laptop isn’t smoking. I may need to invest in flood insurance, but I’m not sure if that comes with a drool clause. Anyways…

Hopefully, the quality has been at least adequate for you, my readers. It is my goal to make sure that it only improves.

So. What does “lie beyond”? Simple, a massive personal project that I will be announcing here shortly. Well, the idea is simple… the actual tackling of said project, not so much.

Stay tuned…

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A Morning in the Front Yard

admin — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 01:09:53 +0000

I used to love sleeping in. I could easily hit the 10:00 mark (or later) when I was younger. But now that I am “older”, I have a hard time making it past 6 or 6:30. Especially now that I live in Alaska. It seems like a sin to sleep in and miss the possibility of an amazing sunrise over the countless mountains. This morning was no different; woke up at 5:30 and sauntered (read: stumbled lazily) out to the living room. Did some image work & keywording for my upcoming submissions to my stock photo site (more on that soon), all while watching Art Wolfe’s Travels to the Edge DVDs. I’m a multi-tasker, what can I say?

At just before 9, I noticed a slight glow on the horizon out my window. Well, that can’t be – the weather idiot said to expect cloudy skies and a good chance of snow on the horizon. And they’ve never been wrong before. I parted the shades and sure enough, just spotty clouds and full view of the mountains.

Time to go.

Less than 5 minutes drive from my home is the Palmer Moose Flats. Moose Flats, you say? The Glenn Highway cuts south through the Moose Flats as it winds towards Anchorage. I have seen many dozens of moose along this stretch in the past, almost entirely during my commute. When I shoot in the area, I never see moose. Is this Murphy Moose’s Law?

The color wasn’t quite as nice as some times in the past, but it’s just nice getting out and breathing in the cold, refreshing morning air. Doesn’t hurt to have a scene like this for a view either.

Ok, so my front yard isn’t the “standard” front yard…

*A quick side note regarding these images – each is a blend of two separate exposures, taken back to back. One exposure was for the foreground and the second exposure is for the sky. The camera can not capture the dynamic range that the human eye can see, so photographers have 3 options: 1 – get only 1/2 the exposure correct and live with the results (either the sky will be too bright or the foreground too dark), 2 – use a special filter called a ND-Grad (it’s darker on the top half to bring down the exposure in the sky), 3 – take 2 shots and blend them in Photoshop (my preferred method). The 3rd method (which is what I used) is more flexible than resorting to using a filter in the field and gives me higher quality than I used to get when using filters. To each their own though, use the tools you have to the best of your abilities.

Stay tuned…

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Alaska’s Southern Coast Tour Filling Fast!

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:30:05 +0000

This is a good time to remind you of my upcoming photo workshop/adventour in June. Seats are limited, but we have a few spots open at this time. Please click HERE to read more about this one of a kind experience. Of course, if you have any questions, please contact me at any time. I look forward to seeing you, on this incredible tour!

Don’t wait, don’t hesitate… the remaining seats will not last much longer.

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Frozen in Time

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 04:07:18 +0000

Here’s a few more images from Sunday – hope you enjoy them!

Stay tuned…

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Ice Ice Baby

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 04:49:10 +0000

I apologize for revisiting “Sir” Vanilla and his seminal “musical” score…

Anyway, less talk and more images. Here are two more images from Sunday’s trip “down south” to the Kenai Peninsula.

Stay tuned…

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“It’s Cold in Them There Hills”

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 07:35:33 +0000

I spent most of today’s daylight hours waiting to join the polar bear club.

Same ol’ routine. Got up early, well… relatively early as compared to the sunrise time. Sunrise today was at 9:57 am at the location I planned to shoot. That’s the great thing about landscape photography in winter – sleep in and still catch sunrise!

I got up at 6:30, showered & (because of mom’s good teachings) put on clean underwear. Don’t be that person. I headed south to the Kenai Peninsula in the dark. Along the Turnagain Arm, several pair of eyes glanced up at me from the road side, 4 Dall sheep not 10 feet off the pavement. But I was on a mission, and it was dark. Very dark. In the summer months, the sun would have been up for over 4 hours by this time. But at this time of year, I had 2 more hours of darkness. Thank you Starbucks…

My original plan was to shoot ice formations on Kenai Lake, just beyond Moose Pass. As I neared the lake though, something peculiar struck me.

There was no ice.

This was going to make walking on the lake very difficult. And wet. And cold. You get the idea.

I was stunned, Kenai Lake is always frozen this time of year. But there she was, waves crossing the surface and lapping along the shore. Stumped, I turned around and headed back towards Moose Pass. Luckily, Trail Lake (which I am guessing is much more shallow than Kenai Lake) had plenty of ice covering it. So I parked and hiked down to the shoreline. Absolutely quiet. No wind. No movement other than a light fog hanging midway up a mountain slope and scattered clouds that were well above the peaks. The ice was thick, as far as I could tell – at least 2 feet thick, if not more.

I started looking for interesting patterns and pressure ridges in the ice. I was about 10 yards beyond the shore line when 3 things happened.

1. The ice lifted, then fell under my feet. The ice didn’t collapse or give way – it just surged. Wow, wasn’t expecting that.

2. The lake itself groaned, breaking the early morning silence. It was a series of odd sounds: deep and resounding “Bewwwwwwww”’s and pops, then cracks and creaks. It’s funny how loud these sounds are when you are standing directly above them when they occur.

3. I realized that mom was definitely right about that whole “clean underwear” rule. She’s a bright woman.

I “casually” moved (read: “ran like hell”) off the ice and back to the safety of the shore. I had only brought the one pair of clean underwear and all. I didn’t want to push my luck.

I spent the rest of the morning photographing fractures in the ice, landscapes, air bubbles trapped in the ice, and pressure ridges at Trail Lake. Beautiful location right off the Seward Highway, couldn’t be easier to get to. But the surroundings are pristine and I had the place to myself the whole time. Next time, I’m going to plan a clockwise circumnavigation of the lake to search for more image options. The area is rich with them & I can’t wait to get back.

On my drive home, I took a short side trip down the Sterling Highway to Cooper Landing and the other end of the Kenai Lake. The vast majority was open water, but I did find a nice patch of ice near Quartz Creek with several options for more photographs.

I had beautiful, soft light the whole day. It would have been nice to have a bit more color in the sky – but it was still an excellent day in the field. And as we all know, even a bad day in the field is better than any good day in the office.

Stay tuned… I’ll post more pics from today’s shoot over the next several days.

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A Word on Customer Service

admin — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 23:20:23 +0000

I’ve been meaning to write this entry for a while. A couple of months ago, I placed another order for specialty business cards with moo.com. I’ve been ordering from Moo for the past year or so. Their website is simple to use, the card options are unique and even offer a 100% recycled paper option. I happen to like their Moo mini cards, again because they are uniquely sized – anything unique is inherently more difficult to lose. That’s a law somewhere, I’m sure.

The really great thing about their standard business cards and their mini cards is that you can have them print 1 or many images in the same order. So your pocket full of cards just became a very convenient portfolio.

The REALLY great thing about Moo, to put it bluntly, is their impeccable customer service. After my latest order, I truly believe that their employees are probably part time contortionists for Cirque du Soleil – because they will bend over backwards to make sure you are happy with your order.

Here’s the general flow of what happened… I placed an order for 400 mini cards. Rather than reordering a copy of my previous batch, I designed new cards with up-to-date images and an updated text for the reverse side. The uploading and ordering process went smoothly and I received my cards quickly like normal. But, I goofed up somewhere along the way. I calibrate my monitor weekly, but my settings were off the week before I did this order. So, when I opened up my order of new cards, the colors were heavily muted and the reverse text/logo side was very faint. Moo had not screwed up, I had. So I sent them an email describing the cards and asked if I might be able to do a reprint. I received an immediate response from one of their customer service reps (David A.) who notified me that he would definitely reorder a reprint batch. I received a second email from him shortly afterward saying that he had looked at the raw files I had uploaded and noticed the colors were off when I uploaded them. Get this, he worked on each of the cards himself in Photoshop. He optimized them for the printers and then placed an order of 400 of his optimized cards and shipped them to me. For free.

By the time he had done this, I had already re-uploaded new images with the correct monitor calibration and placed the order with a code he gave me for the reorder. He said that they were going to let me keep both reorders. For free. He thanked me for my patience and being so pleasant throughout the process.

3 lessons here:

Always verify your monitor calibration before having a print order filled and verify the “Preview” of the product on their site if it is available.
Treat the customer service reps with respect and be pleasant. They have a difficult enough of a job with a-holes yelling at them the rest of the day. Don’t add to their troubles. It is a karma thing, ya know?
Pass along good service to others. It seems that companies now a days are very quick to state that they have excellent customer service. But when you need it, you never seem to find it. By passing your recommendation on, you are supporting a good company.

Customer service is THE ONLY way to keep your customers happy. Make a good product and you will gain customers. Offer excellent customer service and your product will sell itself through word of mouth and your customer base will multiply without you spending an additional dime on advertising. Your BEST advertisement is your customer’s satisfaction. Gain that & you will corner the market.

Moo.com – Two thumbs, WAY UP. After this whole process was complete, I emailed my customer service rep (David A.) and let him know that I would be writing this entry. He is offering 15% off for any new customers to Moo that come through my site. Just use the following code when you place your first order! 2RB2CK

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