Category Archives: Wrangell – St. Elias National Park

Photos and notes on Wrangell – St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Mount Blackburn photo

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Black and white photo of Mount Blackburn, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

I hope you’re not tiring of Mount Blackburn. It’s an awesome mountain. One of the primary reasons I wanted to spend some time here in the winter is to catch this mountain in good light. In the summer time, when travel here is a bit easier and the weather much warmer, the good light is on the north side of the mountain. So here I am, running around at 50 deg below F trying to make a decent image of the mountain. I went up new year’s eve to shoot, and the light was amazing.

Of course, both my camera batteries died, due to the cold, and I made 3 photos, then spent my time sitting in the cold watching the alpenglow light up the mountain as if it had a fire inside. It was something special to witness, but I’ve not a single image of the event. Since then it’s been cloudy.

The weather did warm up to a comfortable 20 below though, so there’s always something positive. That and the little rubber foot off my tripod that fell off, and I thought was long gone, lost; I was wandering back to the shack just at dusk, when  I saw this little black thing half buried in the snow .. I kicked it (as I’m prone to do such things), and it was my rubber foot off my tripod. Woo hoo!

You all stay warm. I’ll try to get some images of something other than Mount Blackburn here sometime soon.

Cheers

Carl

Mt. Blackburn, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska

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Mt. Blackburn and the Donoho Basin, the Root Glacier, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey folks,

Here’s a quick one, from a few mornings back. Mount Blackburn, from across the Root Glacier and the Donoho Basin.  Really cold.

The mountain’s been out pretty often, which means clear sunny skies, which means – wear your long underwear. I’m still getting used to allowing myself an extra 30 minutes to get dressed to go outside to take photos.

Cheers
Carl

Northern Hawk Owl photo

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Northern Hawk Owl, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Owls rock!

Here’s a Northern Hawk Owl (Surnia ulula) taking flight from its perch on the top of a white spruce tree. These owls seem to be much more tolerant of my presence than their larger cousins, the Great Horned Owl. They’re also much more active during the daytime. Northern Hawk Owls tend to live in the boreal forests of the north, but do move south in leaner years when food is scarce. This year it looks like a bumper year for owls up here, so I doubt many of them will head south. Hopefully, that means I’ll get some photos. 🙂

Cheers
Carl

3 Toed Woodpecker photo

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3-Toed Woodpecker on Spruce Tree, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s a 3-toed woodpecker (three-toed woodpecker – Picoides dorsalis) from Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.

Welcome back, albeit briefly. I’m going to spend the next couple of months recharging a bit, and breaking from the net and blogging and writing and reading and blah, blah, blah. A little quiet time will do me good, I think. Hopefully during that time I’ll pick up some new images and also try to come up with some ideas to write about that will make the blog a little more interesting. We’ll see how that goes.

I’ll try to make a post or 2 along the way. In the meantime, you folks be careful out there.

Cheers

Carl

A new day on the way

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Northern Lights over Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

I can’t overstate the import of what the world saw this past week. For the first time ever the people of the US elected an African American president, Barack Obama, and the value that such a moment carries is immeasurable. A bare 40 years have past since Bill Russell became the first African American head coach in the NBA. 10 years ago the world saw the first black CEO of a Fortune 500 company (how ironic is it that Franklin Raines became CEO of — wait for it — Fannie Mae!!!!) There are innumerable examples of things like this all highlighting the magnitude of this moment. But perhaps none more than this one; Continue reading →

More aspen boles

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Aspen boles, abstract photo, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s another from my aspen boles project. I simply took a long exposure, and slowly moved the camera up and down as the image was exposed. I found I had t be careful to really limit the movement sideways, and keep it as vertical as possible, for a decent photo. It’s fun experimenting with this stuff, I think.

On another note, I might not be able to post too much more. I’m getting ready to buy a snowboard, and may well be unable to move any of my limbs within a few weeks. Pray for me.

Cheers
Carl

Aspen boles, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska

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Aspen boles, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s an image from my most recent venture into the park. I’ve never really tried this kind of technique with photography too much, but I kind of enjoyed the results. Some of them, anyway. It was interesting to me to edit this series of photos – abstract images emote so differently, and I’ve not a lot of practice in that field, so I felt I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to be looking for.

The technical aspect of photos is so dominant in more orthodox imagery, so editing become somewhat rote; check sharpness, exposure, etc. But abstract imagery requires a different process, and I find it hard to edit Continue reading →