Archive for the ‘Musings’ Category
Monday, March 21st, 2011
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. (more…)
Tags: Alaska, Art, aurora borealis, Denali, Northern Lights, Photography, Skolai Images
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Art, Cool stories, Denali National Park, Landscapes, Musings, Northern Lights, Photography | 6 Comments »
Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
An adult Bald Eagle silhouetted headshot, on perch, Homer, Alaska. (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). This photo was taken with photo equipment, by a photographer. The 2 worked together. The eagle co-operated only briefly. Pesky eagles. Click on the image above to view a larger version of this photo.
Hey Folks,
I read it again last night. This nonsense has to stop. Why do photographers so often have such a hard time simply acknowledging that what we do is inherently technological? As such, technological advances (i.e., new gear) can (and typically do) play an enormous role in the work we produce. Perhaps much more so than most other art forms.
You’ve all seen the kind of commentary I’m talking about; another piece about how painters don’t talk endlessly about their paintbrushes. Or, even more inanely, how if Art Wolfe were to shoot with a P&S camera, he’d still produce a remarkable portfolio. It’s the photographer, not the camera, that produces great work, blah, blah, blay.
Right? (more…)
Tags: Alaska, Art Wolfe, Bald eagles, Birds, equipment, photographers, Skolai Images
Posted in Abstract Photos, Alaska, Art, Birds, Musings, News, Photography, Rants, Tech Stuff, Wildlife, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 9 Comments »
Thursday, March 10th, 2011
Aurora borealis and setting moon, in the Waxing Crescent phase, light up the winter night sky, Alaska. To view a larger version of this photo, please click on the image above.
Hey Folks,
Just a quick shot from last night’s Aurora. It wasn’t the greatest Aurora, but any aurora is a treat to witness. Here I managed to capture the slowly sinking moon, in the Waxing Crescent phase, before it disappeared beneath the horizon.
One piece of advice I’ll offer folks visiting Alaska to see/photograph the aurora – don’t drive around Alaska at night with under a half a tank of gas. And remember to bring a warm sleeping bag and sleeping pad in your vehicle.
Cheers
Carl
Tags: Alaska, aurora, aurora borealis, Northern Lights, scenics, Skolai Images, Winter
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Musings, Northern Lights, Winter | 3 Comments »
Monday, February 28th, 2011
Hey Folks,
Mount Blackburn - Winter in Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Wrangell Mountains, Mount Blackburn, Kuskulana River, Winter, Alaska. Please click on the image above to view a larger version of this photo.
Mount Blackburn, the 5th highest peak in the US; a grand mountain!
Sometimes those moments in the mountains are just too grand to describe; This is one of those views that is beyond the sublime. The Great Horned Owls hooting behind me only added to the ambience. The more time I spend in Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve, the more impressive the place appears.
As the light faded, I quietly breathed my “thank you”, turned the skis around, and eased toward the night.
Cheers
Carl
Tags: Alaska, Kuskulana Glacier, Landscapes, Mount Blackburn, scenics, Skolai Images, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Cool stories, Landscapes, Musings, Skiing, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 6 Comments »
Monday, February 14th, 2011
Black and white photo of Great Egret, St. Augustine, Florida.
Hey Folks
“The word photography is based on the Greek φῶς(photos) “light” and γραφή (graphé) “representation by means of lines” or “drawing”, together meaning “drawing with light” (ya gotta love Wikipedia).
“Photography means painting/drawing with light”.
It’s time photographers (and photography) mature, and walk away from this virtually meaningless phrase. The phrase is a fabrication, deception at best, and has never been valid. Let it rot. We’re not painters, we’re photographers. We no more “draw with light” than does any person with their finger in the sand. Pixels and film aren’t light, they don’t even “capture” light, they merely represent it – to propose otherwise suggests only a childlike understanding of what light might actually be.
If interpreted in this callow manner, all painting would similarly be “painting with light”. Indeed, all visual art could be a form of painting with light; drawing with pencils and crayons, digital graphic arts, sculpture, pottery, dance, et al. Van Gogh painted with light. Michaelangelo painted with light. Early aboriginal cave paintings were painted with light; with no light, there’d be no painting. Most certainly, there would be no viewing these paintings. The idea that we paint with light is no more valid than saying carpenters sculpt houses with stardust.
(more…)
Tags: Art, Birds, Florida, Great Egret, Photography, Skolai Images
Posted in Art, Birds, Musings, Photography, Rants | 12 Comments »
Thursday, January 20th, 2011
Mount Blackburn Photo, Wrangell Mountains and the Copper River Basin, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park, Alaska. Please click on the image above to view a larger version of this photo.
Hey Folks,
Here’s a view of Mount Blackburn and the Wrangell Mountains, at sunset.
One of the hassles with shooting in Alaska in the dead of winter is, of course, the cold. We all understand how that’s a hassle, right? Cold fingers, batteries that die, and so forth. The list goes on.
Getting a vehicle started at 40 below zero deg F is itself an art. An engine block heater for your car helps – well, it’s pretty much a ‘must have’. But at minus40deg, even that won’t get you far. The engine block heater helps warm up the mechnical parts of the engine block, but at these frigid arctic temperatures, even the oil thickens up so much it doesn’t flow; problematic for a car engine. So , an Oil Heater works well. Another useful tool is something to warm up the battery. The 3rd item that’s a good tool to have is a battery heating pad – cold temperatures can dramatically affect the cranking power of a battery, so heating it up will help get your car started. (more…)
Tags: Alaska, Copper River bas, Landscapes, Mount Blackburn, scenics, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Cool stories, Landscapes, Musings, Photography, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 6 Comments »
Friday, January 7th, 2011
Winter is a great time for backcountry skiing in Alaska. Cross country skiing and ski touring in Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, along the Kuskulana River, near Mt Blackburn and the Wrangell Mountains, Alaska. Please click on the image above to view a larger version of this photo.
Hey Folks,
Happy New Year, and Welcome back to the blog. I had a somewhat mixed couple of weeks, which I’m sure I’ll tell you all about here soon enough. Before I get all that together however, I’ll post a short note about this news I saw, an article concerning a new publishing of the Mark Twain classics: “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” edited by Professor Alan Gribben of Auburn University at Montgomery. It differs from other editions of those books because Mr. Gribben has turned the word “nigger” — as used by Tom and Huck — into “slave.” Mr. Gribben has also changed “Injun” to Indian.
This is interesting to me. I’m a huge fan of Twain, particularly those novels, and the idea of editing (i.e., rewording) such great work is almost ghastly .. on the surface. On the other hand, we live in a world where art, including ‘great art‘ is constantly being ‘adapted‘ for presentation: consider films presented on television, for example. How are bleeps, voice-overs, cuts and blurred body parts any different to a publisher swapping out words that might be offensive or inappropriate? Or updated versions of Shakespearean classics, making them infinitely more readable for kids? How about song lyrics bleeped for radio play? Or, better yet, literary classics like Nabokov’s “Lolita” banned from schools altogether?
How about the outcry over John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High”? The US Senate held a hearing in 1985 to deal with explicit lyrics in pop music. So we’re not talking about anything new here at all. Indeed, one of the most popular shows on TV in recent times is American Idol, where countless classic tunes have been butchered by this generations’ most current attempts to throw its own heros up the pop charts. 
(more…)
Tags: Alaska, Art, Mount Blackburn, Skiing, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Art, Landscapes, Musings, News, Photography, Skiing, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 2 Comments »
Saturday, December 25th, 2010
Hey Folks,
A lil’ holiday spirit. As this is published, I’m probably somewhere right around here:
A black and white photo of the boreal photo in Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, wintertime, Alaska. Please click on the image above to view a larger version of the photo. And Happy Holidays, everyone!
Cheers
Carl
Tags: Alaska, boreal forest, Landscapes, scenics, Skolai Images, snow, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Backpacking and Hiking, Cool stories, Forests, Landscapes, Musings, Skiing, Snowboarding, Snowshoeing, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | No Comments »
Monday, December 20th, 2010
Backcountry skiing on a ridge on Flat Top Mountain, Glen Alps, near Anchorage. Chugach State Park, winter, Alaska. Please click on the image above to view a larger version of the photo.
Hey Folks,
I recall a conversation or 2 on the subject of art and science; essentially, what differentiates and what connects the science and art. Art is exploration. Science is similar process with maybe more strictly defined boundaries. Certainly they’re both forms of creative expression.
I think the critical illustration of their differences is very simple; artists are so often WAY cool, and scientists way nerdy.
Cheers
Carl
Tags: Alaska, Anchorage, Art, Skiing, Skolai Images
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Anchorage, Art, Landscapes, Musings, Skiing | 4 Comments »
Saturday, December 18th, 2010
A backpacker/hiker stands and looks up the Lakina River drainage to the Lakina Glacier, on the side of Mount Blackburn. Wrangell mountains, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Please click on the image above to view a larger version of this photo.
Hey Folks,
If art is exploration, then perhaps one of the best modes of “practice” we might undertake is the challenge of the new; stepping outside our comfort realms and engaging something new. Stepping toward the unknown.
The process of learning is stimulating in itself, but I think it’s more than that, too. It’s stepping back and revisiting how to learn. Going through the process of picking up at the beginning, and working toward building a comfort level with some kind of form.
Art involves, essentially, that process. With that in mind, I find it great practice to pick up something I’ve not done before, something I know nothing about, and step into it. This winter, for example, my goal is to learn to telemark ski. I’d fooled with it briefly last year, but didn’t really understand or know the process. Also, as I found out this fall, had all the wrong gear for learning on. So, I’ve set myself up this winter with a nice rig, and taken some lessons.
The good news; what started out as essentially a “Special Ed” class is gradually molding into something resembling telemark skiing. It’s great fun, and quite a workout. On top of that, it’s stimulating! (more…)
Tags: Alaska, Art, hiking, Photography, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Art, Backpacking and Hiking, Miscellaneous, Musings, Photography, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 3 Comments »
