Mount Sanford Photo
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Category Archives: Landscapes
See it to believe it?
Wintertime on the Kuskulana Glacier. Abstract photo of ice patterns and colors on the glacier, Wrangell Mountains, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Please click on the image to view a larger version of the photo.
Hey Folks,
It’s interesting to think about how technology and cultural constructs shape what we think and feel. Today we live in a somewhat bizarre world, where digital mediums both record and present way too much of our lives; we can watch Australia’s then Prime Ministerial candidate Kevin Rudd (he went on to win the election) pick something from his ear and eat it during gov’t Question Time, we watch a person rush over and catch a baby falling off an escalator, etc, etc. So much of our lives is recorded and witnessed again, from the mundane to the exciting, the thrilling to the disheartening, our greatest moments and our worst. Whether recorded intentionally or unintentionally, today we see it almost all on the big screen.
In some ways, the power of visual imagery has only increased, it appears, with the inundation of imagery that digital technology has yielded. Some folks might suggest that this flood of images waters down its potency, but it appears to only strengthen with increased volume. The more imagery we’re subjected to, the stronger, apparently, their hold on us. Continue reading
Happy Flat Earth Day
A dried up pond on what is normally a wetland. Effects of climate change, global warming.The coastal plain near the Canning River, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, ANWR, Alaska. Please click on the image above to view a larger version of this photo.
Hey Folks,
For the less progressive of the folks who read this blog, Happy Flat Earth Day.
Cheers
Carl
eBooks and microstock
An early fall snow coats the peaks of Mount Edith Cavell, Edith Cavell Lake, Canadian Rockies, Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. Please click on the image above to view a larger version of this photo.
Hey Folks,
Looking around the web recently I can’t help but notice the surge in photographers’ promoting eBooks. I wonder if eBooks aren’t the newer version of microstock photography? The hallmark of microstock sales is, IMO, an incredibly low price for (typically) royalty free sales; at best only very loosely managed rights. That seems to be the industry marketing model for eBook sales as well.
I’m not saying this is all a bad thing. One plus I see is that the bulk of eBook sales are direct from the photographer to the customer; cutting out an agency, which I think is (virtually) always a good thing.
Another plus is the quality of the material; the eBooks I’ve seen have been absolutely first class stuff. Microstock photos are often pretty sad images.
I think the above 2 positives are more than likely related.
Just wondering out loud is all.
Cheers
Carl
Mount Saint Elias Photo
Mount Saint Elias, 18 008′ high, catches the last of the sun’s rays for the day, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska – aerial photo. The rocky islands, or outcroppings, in the foreground are called Nunataks. Please click on the image above to view a larger version of this photo.
Hey Folks
Mount Saint Elias is possibly one of the great unsung heroes of American mountains, possibly all the world. Towering 18 008′ tall, the mountain rises right from sea level to its lofty summit. The Saint Elias coastal range are the world’s tallest coastal mountains, and Mount Saint Elias is their crown jewel. It’s also the crown jewel of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, the nation’s largest national park, and finest preserve of wildness and wilderness.
From the north, Mount Saint Elias is bordered by the Bagley Icefield, largest non polar icefield in North America at nearly 130 miles long. There is simply no end to the superlatives for this massif.
This photo is from the end of an amazing flight-seeing trip to the Saint Elias range. Absolutely jaw-dropping stuff. We didn’t arrive back to the landing strip until dark; super was late this night. But the chance to be in the presence of such magnificence is a treat to be savored as long as possible. I was pretty glad to have had the opportunity.
Mount Saint Elias is the 2nd tallest mountain in the nation, the 2nd tallest mountain in Canada (it sits right on the border). I’d be surprised if more than the smallest fraction of visitors to the region ever even see the mountain, however, simply because so few people make the trip. It’s not a roadside venture at all. But oh wow, oh so worth it.
Cheers
Carl
Photography; does it get in the way
Aurora borealis lights up the winter night sky over Mt McKinley, highest mountain in North America, also called Denali. Viewpoint from Denali State Park, Alaska. Click on the image above to view a larger version of this photo.
Hey Folks,
One topic I’ve often heard discussed relating to nature and outdoor photography pertains to the value of the experience itself. Does photography “get in the way”, and limit the photographers’ realization of the experience itself, or does it add to it?
I have friends, for example, that don’t like to bring a camera on a backpacking trip because they feel it hinders how they are able to soak up the actual experience. They’d rather sit and watch that glorious sunrise than fiddle with the camera and try to get a good composition. They’d rather sit back and stare in awe at the Aurora borealis do its thing over Denali than take their gloves off and tweak camera settings. Continue reading
How to Photograph the Canadian Rockies
Evening light on the Canadian Rockies. Please click on the image above to view a larger version of this photo.
Hey Folks,
Some great news; photographer extraordinaire, and a man I am proud to call my friend, Darwin Wiggett has put together his excellent series, “How To Photograph the Canadian Rockies” again, this time with even more detail and information than its predecessor. In 2005 Darwin released, through Altitude Publishing company, this great book, as a small, portable handbook,a a guide to photographing the Canadian Rockies. I was lucky enough to grab a copy before the company went bust and the book’s publishing ended, leaving countless nature photographers frustrated, as they weren’t able to snare a copy. The book is absolutely fantastic; I unhesitatingly call it a “must have” for anyone heading toward the Canadian Rockies. Which is a bummer; a ‘must have‘ is now a ‘can no longer get’.
Until now. The great news; Darwin’s just set up a new website, How To Photograph the Canadian Rockies, and released all the great info in his book as ebooks. This time the ebooks go into more detail, and cover the Canadian Rockies region by region. Starting with the Icefield Parkway area, the first 2 ebooks are currently available, and soon to come are ebooks on photographing Banff and Jasper National Parks, probably the crown jewels of the Canadian Rockies.
We’ll do a quick test here. I’ll invite Darwin to check this blog out and tell me where the scene in this photograph (above) is, and where I shot it from (Darwin – if you know it, don’t post the answer just yet). The first non-Darwin who can do so, I’ll buy you any one of Darwin’s ebooks (your choice which). Continue reading
Mount Sanford Photo
Black and white photo of Mount Sanford, one of the highest peaks in the Wrangell Mountains, at dawn, from a small frozen kettle pond. Winter snow creates patterns on the frozen lake. Mt. Sanford, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Please click on the thumbnail above to view a larger version of this photo.
Hey Folks,
Here’s an image of Mount Sanford, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, I took a while ago, that I converted to black and white in photoshop. I shot this after the alpenglow had faded, and the sun rose high enough in the sky to light up not just Mount Sanford’s massive peak, but the entire floor of the Copper River Basin.
It’s very easy to be tempted to pack up and head off after the alpenglow on a mountain wanes; I often find the light immediately following the alpenglow to be unappealing to me. The sky has a weird yellowish tint to it, and the contrast between the dark, shaded foreground and the brightly lit peak is too great to really photograph well; for me, anyway. Continue reading
The Wrangell Mountains
Willow Lake and the Wrangell Mountains, wintertime, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska. From left to right, Mt Drum, Mt Sanford, Mt Zanetti, Mt Wrangell. Please click on the image above to view a larger version of this photo.
Hey Folks
Well, maybe not all of them, but some of the stars, for sure.
Mt Drum, Mt Sanford, Mt Zanetti and Mt Wrangell, viewed from Willow Lake, along the Richardson Highway. It’s not always this clear, however, and so many of the people who drive by this scene have no idea what they’re missing. Perhaps more amazingly, when it IS clear, some people drive right by without so much as a glance.
Cheers
Carl
Mount Wrangell
Willow Lake, frozen and snow covered, view across the Copper River basin to Mount Wrangell and Mt Zanetti, winter, alpenglow on the mountains, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska.
Hey Folks,
“only for a moment, and the moment’s gone” – Kerry Livgren.
Mount Wrangell, and Mount Zanetti glow at sunset. Viewed from Willow Lake, near the Richardson Highway.
Soon after, the light faded, and I headed home.
Cheers
Carl