Snow covered boulders glisten in late evening sun. Winter light on fresh snow, along the frozen Kennicott River, or Kennecott River, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

To honor the shortest day of the year (or longest for those southern hemispherian folks who might be reading, here’s a big fat Happy Solstice to you all. I posted a small, color version of this file a few years ago, but lately I’ve taken a liking to this black and white rendering, so I thought I’d post a nice big full page version for you.

Have a great day folks,

Cheers

Carl

Winter travel through the boreal forest, in Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Hiking on snowshoes through the snow-covered taiga, white spruce forest in winter.

Hey Folks,

I’m going to be putting a trip together for next spring, late March/early April, to do a snowshoe and backcountry cross-country ski trip. We’ll be staying in a cozy, warm cabin, not backpacking with tents, etc; a wood fire makes all the difference!

We’ll be doing day trips out to different parts of Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Stay tuned for details coming soon, when this summer winds down and I get a moment to add the trip to the website.

This trip will be a blast, and a great introduction to Alaska’s most awesome season. Drop me a note or add a comment here and I’ll be sure to add you to the list. This trip will be run via my backpacking and trekking business, Alaskan Alpine Treks.

Cheers

Carl

Mount Sanford. Looking toward Mt. Sanford, across the broken boreal forest of the Copper River Basin in the Wrangell Mountain Range, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska.

Mount Sanford, taken one cold morning back in the winter. Down in the lower right hand corner you might notice a small building. That’s the outhouse next to where the truck was parked, at Rock Lake. I didn’t dwell here for long, the wind was biting cold, and I had hot coffee waiting back down the hill.

Cheers

Carl

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.

We see virtually everything, and I wonder if that doesn’t blind us in some ways. Must we see it to believe it? Do our real world lives hinge so completely on recordings for us to understand beauty and grandeur, love or tragedy, death or finality? How about to gain closure?

Has the evolution of an omnipresent recorded-visual imagery so reduced our ability to accept that we can’t trust that which we don’t see? I can’t help but think of how many amazing moments, from the monumental to the incidental, were never recorded on film, were never photographed, yet their stories told and retold over the years, nurtured for decades, for centuries. What’s lost to live in a world where if we must see it to believe it?

Has “Reality TV” so molded our perspective that this is the only window through which we as a culture can  move forward? Is that what we’ve become, that we’ve reduced even the most tragic and compelling moments of our lives to recorded imagery, to photos, to videos, to scripts? Are we THAT addicted to visual imagery that we need it for resolution?

Life isn’t a reality show and nor was what happened Sunday, May 01, 2011. We’re not spectators on the sidelines of the universe; we’re participants of the world. Photos are wonderful things, and they can be an incredibly powerful too for the human mind, but the universe, and that includes our selves, rarely needs a memory card and a LCD monitor to move forward.

Thinking further, I’m not sure this speaks to the power of an image, or power of imagery, as much as a debilitation of our other faculties. We all know that a completely passable ‘image’ can be constructed by even a relatively poorly skilled graphic artist, yet we’re somehow beholden to this idea of an image as documentation. We feel a need to “see it to believe it”, but we also know that seeing it doesn’t make it any more real. Few among us have the discerning eye to spot a good photoshop fake from an authentic photo, and yet we clamor for this pseudo ‘proof’; proof which will still, ultimately, rely on the word of some specialist we in turn seek for advice.

“Is it real?”, would be the immediate response. We all KNOW this, yet still we have some weird kind of autonomic response, demanding visual measurement. I suspect what we’re experiencing is more likely an addiction to entertainment than a real strengthening of the power of an image. The phrase “the power of an image” has, in this sense, more to do with our own yearning to see than any heightened powers of persuasion a specific image might have.

A picture might paint a thousand words, but if those words are merely ‘well, is this real?’ then I’m not so sure that’s a very powerful statement at all, is it?

What a weird world.

Cheers

Carl

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. 

It can take as long as an hour for the light to reach the foreground, depending on the location, time of year, etc, and that time often feels like the longest part of the day. Standing, waiting, wishing, hoping, filling in time until the sun rises high enough to light up the valley floor. Add to that it’s cold, I’m tired and hungry, and I already witnessed (and photographed) the gorgeous alpenglow earlier, and I’ve got plenty of reason to move along.

However, it’s often worth waiting. I find the light improves again, usually soon after the sunlight hit the floor. The sky turns a great, soft blue, the sidelit landscape glows and the play of shadow and light can be very dramatic. It’s hard to beat really nice alpenglow, but that early sidelight comes close, I think.

The repeating windblown snow patterns on the surface of this frozen lake appealed to me as a foreground subject. I liked that their angle and shape seems to reflect that of Mount Sanford in the distance; the harmony and rhythm of that interplay provides a wonderful complimentary balance to the frame, for me.

I converted this to black and white largely because I thought the simple graphic nature of the image was strength here; shapes, patterns, rhythms, etc. I find those elements to be reinforced and strengthened by removing the color. It still works nicely as a color photo though. I’ll post a color version below:

Mount Sanford, color photo.

Which image do you prefer, and why?

Cheers

Carl

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

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

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

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

Hey Folks

The first of the monthly series for 2011. In no particular order:

Photography Stuff

A Video by Frans Lanting. A short video presentation on his Life Project, and how the ‘biodiversity project’ for National Geographic led him there. Quite possibly the only photography related “news” you need to give your attention to. Amazing.

Animal Photos of the Year. The UK’s “The Telegraph” present 30 Photos of the year, in the category “Feeding and fighting”. The first image is fantastic. Check all the categories for some more cool photos.

Photos of the Year. Naturescapes.net presents their Photos of the Year Gallery. Some amazing images here, all of them. Justin Reznick’s Grand Teton image is superb. Congrats to everyone.

Quote #1: “Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

ANWR turns 50 Years old. And I’ll plug my own slideshow here. If you haven’t seen it, take a wander through the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge with this birthday tribute; 50 years since the establishment of the Refuge. Here’s to the next 50.

Photographers present their 2011 favorites. Jim Goldstein hosts the annual photo-pallooza, with well over hundred and fifty photographers offering their favorite images from the last year. Thanks to Jim for putting this together. Check out the work here.

Photography and Conservation. A video from the ILCIP, International League of Conservation Photographers. “In a new video documentary, some of the world’s foremost conservation photographers discuss the critical role photography plays in calling attention to threats faced by the natural world and in affecting global change.” Watch the Video documentary. “You really can’t have successful conservation without photography shining a light on it”.

Photography Business Plan. A helpful article on mapping out where you might want to head, starting now. Contrast this structured approach to the typical “let’s see what happens when we press this” strategy adopted by most “artist” types (yes, yes, yes, I know, gimmea  break here, OK?) Start Your photo business plan for 2011.

Frog and a Snake. Of all the amazing images coming from the countless weather related madness around the world, this one is pretty wild. A frog hitches a ride on a the back of a brown snake to flee the flooding in Queensland, Australia.

Photo Editing Tips. Another article via Jim Goldstein’s blog, Experienced professional Gary Crabbe offers his advice on editing photos. A helpful read, well worth your time. Gary’s really someone to learn from, so this article is full of useful tips.

Aperture Blog. Aperture users would do well to subscribe to this great blog. With a new look, it’s a great site.

Nature’s Best Magazine. 2010 Winners published in Nature’s Best Magazine. Windland Smith Rice International Award Winners. Some wonderful photography here, of course. Look for Bence Máté’s Green-crowned Brilliant Hummingbird and Green Pit Viper – stunning shot.

Meditation and the Brain. Not directly “photography” related, but I’m sure the findings would be very similar had they studied making art. “an 8-week meditation course leads to structural changes in the brain”. Short article from Scientific America.

Odds and Ends

We are Cyborgs now. Technology is evolving us, says Amber Case, as we become a screen-staring, button-clicking new version of homo sapiens. Amber Case studies the symbiotic interactions between humans and machines — and considers how our values and culture are being shaped by living lives increasingly mediated by high technology. Good, short presentation.

Google and Bing? Who’s copying who? Google says Bing is “cheating, copying our search results”. Perhaps what’s most disturbing is Bing’s response, in the article: “Bing has been watching what people search for on Google, the sites they select from Google’s results, then uses that information to improve Bing’s own search listings. Bing doesn’t deny this.”

Quote #2: “We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” – Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

Science and People. Are we hard-wired to distrust science? “The absence of scientific evidence doesn’t dissuade those who believe childhood vaccines are linked to autism, or those who believe their headaches, dizziness and other symptoms are caused by cellphones and smart meters. And the presence of large amounts of scientific evidence doesn’t convince those who reject the idea that human activities are disrupting the climate.” This is a pretty interesting article, read it here.

Facebook Ads are up. Facebook continue to spread the word, and make every single word you utter someone else’s spam. Now they’ve “introduced a new advertising vehicle called Sponsored Stories, which takes all those shared “likes,” check-ins and other actions that are already being posted by you and your friends and turns it into a paid ad.” The folks at Facebook say who tested this out said ”it helped with brand identification and retention.” Seems like there’s no end to this stuff. Full article.

2010 Tops off a hot decade. And yet the deniers continue. “Topping off the warmest decade in history, 2010 experienced a global average temperature of 14.63 degrees Celsius (58.3 degrees F), tying 2005 as the hottest year in 131 years of recordkeeping.” From the Earth Policy Institute.

Winter on the Kuskulana River, Kuskulana Gorge, near the McCarthy Road, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. During the summer this river rages a dirty silty brown, a seething torrent of dirty water. At the lower water levels of winter, it becomes a beautiful turquoise. Fantastic place.

That’s the news from here til next month. If you have any items you’d like to add below, please do so. The only qualifiers are that you must have actually read the article/watched the video/browsed the photo/s, AND thought the link actually worthwhile sharing. Put everything else on Twitter.

Thanks folks.

Cheers

Carl