Category Archives: Photo Tours

Brown bear photo and place

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A large male adult brown bear, or grizzly bear (Ursus arctos), stands and stares at the camera. Male brown bears may reach weights of over 1200lbs and easily stand 9' tall. Brown bear, Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska.

A large male adult brown bear, or grizzly bear (Ursus arctos), stands and stares at the camera. Male brown bears may reach weights of over 1200lbs and easily stand 9′ tall. Brown bear, Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Please click on the image above to view a larger version of this photo.

Hey Folks,

One of my main goals last year, photographically, was to shoot more ‘bears in the landscape’ style shots; images such as this one were what I was really after. Of course, that doesn’t mean I would pass up an opportunity to fill the frame with a bear like this, either.

This kind of image is all about the bear; power, size and vitality. The bears in the landscape speak a little more about place. Fascinating subject, place.

I just got back from a trip to Denali National Park and Preserve, where I spent some time in a cabin in the woods, by a fire, trying to stay warm. The day we skied in to the park, the temperatures plummeted, from the 0 to – 5 degreeF range to minus 40 and minus 45. The experience of the Alaska backcountry at that kind of temperature is something else.

It was a  cool experience, hanging out with my friend, Erik DeLuca, music composer from Virginia, while he concentrated on doing some soundscape recordings and trying his best to experience a ‘sense of place’ in a landscape like this. We chatted a lot about what that means, what it does for us, and why it might be important. I commandeered Erik’s book, “Place: A Short Introduction“, (author: Tim Cresswell) and read over it during the long dark nights. It’s interesting stuff.  Continue reading →

Creative thinking; it’s not what you th…

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Grizzly bear lying on the ground, rear view, (Ursus arctos), Katmai National Park and Preserve. Alaska.

Grizzly bear lying on the ground, rear view, (Ursus arctos), Katmai National Park and Preserve. Alaska. Please click on the image above to view a larger version of this photo.

Hey Folks,

I generally avoid articles built from numbered lists. The Top 8 anything is generally little more than billboardian nonsense.

That said, I read with some interest 12 things you were not taught in school about creative thinking: I’ll ignore the perfect opportunity to comment about the very clear LACK of creative thinking in the article’s title. For now.

The article is by Michael Michalko, “one of the most highly acclaimed creativity experts in the world and author of the best sellers Thinkertoys (A Handbook of Business Creativity), ThinkPak  (A Brainstorming Card Deck), and Cracking Creativity (The Secrets Of Creative Genius)”  – hhhmmm …. I’m seeing a pattern here.

I think perhaps the biggest ‘myth’ we hold about creative thinking is something that comes from this article and others like it. Continue reading →

Updates; the drudgery at the end of summer

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Borwn bear in the forest, fall colors, searching for salmon in a river. Brown bear (Ursus arctos) Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska.

Borwn bear in the forest, fall colors, searching for salmon in a river. Brown bear (Ursus arctos) Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Please click on the image above to view a larger version of this photo.

Hey Folks

A few quick updates: though nothing is ‘final’ on the interwebs, it seems; the internet goes to infinity, I suppose.

The end of every summer/fall I’m busy with office work, paper work, reports, emails, photo editing, processing, prints, website updates, website tweaks, writing, photo submissions (Oh, how I detest that word “submissions”; yet it’s so wonderfully apt, isn’t it?) and heaven knows what else. It’s not so much fun, but (apparently) it has to be done.

Lately, here’s a few of the projects I’ve been dealing with and fires I’ve put out.  Many more to come.

Alaska Photo Tours

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A brown bear patrols the river's edge at dawn, searching for spawning Sockeye salmon. Brown bear (Ursus arctos), Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska.

A brown bear patrols the river’s edge at dawn, searching for spawning Sockeye salmon. Brown bear (Ursus arctos), Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Please click on the image above to view a larger version of this photo.

Hey Folks,

For regular readers here, you might well know of the photo tours and guiding I do with Expeditions Alaska. I’ve just now set up a page to compliment those photo tours here on Skolai Images, and you can be the first to visit by clicking here: Alaska Photo Tours.

I’m currently booking 3 photo tours: the ever popular grizzly bears in the fall tour (2×1 week tours), both of which are almost full for 2012. I’m also booking 2 Alaska aurora borealis photo tours for winter/spring in 2012; March and April. And the Skolai Pass Alaska landscapes backcountry tour is a great summertime trip; July and August seem to be the popular dates for that trip.

You can find all the info you might want, and links and pictures, over on the new Alaska Photo Tours page.

Give me a call or drop me an email if you’re interested. Thanks so much.

Cheers

Carl

Grizzlies in the mist

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Brown bear in fog, Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska.

Grizzly bear, Ursus arctos. A large adult male grizzly bear stands in dawn’s early light, shrouded in fog on a cool fall morning. Brown bear, Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Please click on the image above to view a larger version of this photo.

Hey Folks,

We were treated to some gorgeous soft light in the cool fall mornings on our recent grizzly bears photo tour. Fortunately for our group, no one had any troubles with lenses fogging up, which can wreak havoc on shooting early, cold mornings. The ethereal, moody experience of standing in the mist in near silence, watching the bears go about their morning, was really a special experience we all were grateful for. The photos were just the icing on the cake. And this bear? Ted, the coolest bear in the whole wide world. Ever. 🙂

I’ve shot this bear a number of years now, and it’s always exciting to see him on the river again. He’s a beautiful animal, and I’m lucky to have had so many great opportunities to see and photograph him.

Thanks Ted.

Cheers

Carl

Why you need a bear photo guide

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Grizzly bear and photographer, Katmai, Alaska.

Brown bear, Ursus arctos, and a wildlife photographer, walking along a road in Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Please click on the image above to view a larger version of this photo.

Hey Folks,

Just a fun photo to show you that this grizzly bear photography isn’t as easy as it looks. Here’s an experienced Alaskan wildlife photographer setting off trying to find a bear to photograph.

You might THINK it’s easy to find a 800lb brown bear, but such isn’t the case. Take a guide who knows what he’s doing with you so this photo isn’t you on your next photo trip. 🙂

Cheers

Carl

Northern lights and fall colors

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Northern lights, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska.

Northern lights, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Please click on the image above to view a larger version of this photo.

Hey Folks,

Here’s another image from a recent sojourn to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park to see and photograph the northern lights, or Aurora borealis. It was a treat to have a moonlit night to shoot by, providing plenty of ambient light to capture the fall colors as well as the northern lights.

This trip was a wild ride. A mad run from Anchorage to the Glennallen area Continue reading →