Aurora Borealis and moon over Eureka in Southcentral Alaska. I teach night photography workshops in Alaska. After covering the fundamentals of focusing techniques and how to get proper exposure, I then turn to a discussion on depth of field and composition. I tell participants not to abandon the principles of composition just because it is dark outside. A good foreground and middle ground will add to astrophotography subjects, whether it’s the Milky Way, constellations, the moon, or the Northern Lights. This photo, Twilight Zone, is one I have envisioned for a long time. I wanted to depict a r ..read more

Lupines along the Twenty Mile River in Turnagain Arm in Alaska We usually equate long exposure photography with astrophotography, where long shutter speeds are needed to properly expose for stars and moon, the Milky Way, auroras and other nighttime phenomena. However, long exposures (known as dragging the shutter) are also used in daylight conditions, allowing photographers to capture the passage of time in a single image.  It’s a creative way to go beyond what our eyes see in a fleeting moment. Water and fast-moving clouds are typical subjects for long exposures. At the northern end of t ..read more

Windfall Harbor, Admiralty Island Rainforests are prime ecosystems for generating moody weather.  The Tongass National Forest in the Inside Passage of Southeast Alaska is a perfect example. At 16.7 million acres (6.76 million hectares), it is the largest national forest in the U.S. The Tongass is part of the Pacific temperate rainforest region, which stretches from northern California to Prince William Sound in Alaska, and is considered the most expansive on the planet. Storms from the Pacific Ocean dump prodigious amounts of moisture on the mountainous terrain.  Rain and snowmelt ar ..read more

Mount Iliamna, Homer, Alaska Although the Alaska wildflower is the Forget-Me-Not, it would be easy for visitors to the state to assume it was Common Fireweed given its pervasiveness.  It is even depicted on the Alaska Scenic Byway Route road signs.  Its name derives from the fact that it is among the first plants to reappear after a wildfire due to its deep roots.  Blooming in mid-summer, local lore also believes that fireweed is a harbinger of winter; snow is said to arrive six weeks after the blooms top out. The summer of 2022 was a banner year for fireweed.  It was espec ..read more

REFLECTIONS ON 2022 This past year was a challenging one for me personally and professionally as health issues limited my time in the field. Fortunately, I am on the mend and am looking forward to being more photographically productive in 2023. Notwithstanding health restrictions, I am finding that I am being more selective about where and what I photograph.  So while I took fewer photographs in 2022 compared to previous years, what imagery I did create is some of the best I have done in my career. Following are some of my favorites from 2022. Let me know if you agree. “Mount Iliamna Su ..read more

Curry Ridge Trail – Denali State Park At 325,000 acres, Denali State Park does not have the name recognition of its larger neighbor, Denali National Park, which at 6 million acres is famous for the tallest mountain in North America. Nevertheless, the state park does have panoramic views of the Alaska Range including Denali, Mount Foraker, and others.  My plan for the day was to hike up Curry Ridge Trail to capture a scenic landscape at the peak of fall colors in September.  Instead I got this photo.  What happened? When I left my house in the early morning for the 120-mile drive ..read more

Round Tangle Lake and the Amphitheater Mountains along the Denali Highway The Denali Highway is a 135-mile gravel road (Alaskan for “highway”) that connects Paxson on the east with Cantwell on the west.  Prior to completion of the paved Parks Highway in 1971, it was the only route for people living in Anchorage to get to Denali National Park, home to the western Alaska Range and Denali (Mt. McKinley), the tallest mountain in North America. The road is a popular recreational destination for Alaskans as it offers similar stunning wilderness landscapes as the national park without the access ..read more

In-camera blur of sunrise on Knik Arm in Alaska. Is your photography in a rut? Are you looking for ways to reinvigorate your creativity? One option is to make blurry photos. No, not the ones that happen by accident, but the ones that you intentionally create. Done correctly, landscapes become impressions, like impressionistic paintings, rather than literal interpretations.  Intentional blurs are a great way to make an often photographed location uniquely yours. First, a short primer on intentional blurs. There are many ways to create them, but this one is accomplished by movemen ..read more

Setting full moon and Belt of Venus at sunrise along a back road in Alaska. In the poem, The Road Not Taken, poet Robert Frost was confronted in a woods with the choice of two diverging roads.  Students of literature know that he took “the one less traveled,” perhaps because he thought he would find something new or unexplored.  While serendipity has its place in life and photography, photographers who are intimately familiar with a location through the seasons, and various lighting and weather conditions, are more likely to realize their artistic vision. In the winter, I often trave ..read more

Winter sunrise in Eagle River Valley in Southcentral Alaska. Landscape photographers seek out compositions during sunrise and sunset for good reason.  The low angle of the sun passing through the earth’s atmosphere can paint the skies and landscape with warm colors and create what is called sweet light. My house sits on a mountainside overlooking Eagle River Valley in Southcentral Alaska.  Looking to the east one morning, I saw that the high clouds were beginning to pick up color from the sun’s first rays.  It  had the promise to be an epic winter sunrise.  I could see ..read more