Mat-Su Fall!

Chickaloon River

    Fall and early winter have been unusually busy for me. It's been great business-wise but I've struggled to make the time to stay connected here! Luckily, that gives me a lot to catch up on.

    In mid-September I spent the day in the Matanuska-Susitna region in search of fall color. The peak colors in Alaska only last a couple of weeks but can be absolutely stunning! I ended up spending most of my time scrambling around Chickaloon River just a little further up the Glenn Highway from the town of the same name. I took a lot of long exposures, about one to four seconds, to get the silky look in the water. The sky was pretty dull with heavy clouds so I added a blue gradient to make the white spaces in the composition less distracting.

    Here are some favorites from the day:

Old Harbor, Kodiak Island, Alaska

A happy surprise. I never thought of this as a cover image but was very pleased when I saw the final product!

      I have a wonderful working relationship with First Alaskans Magazine based here in Anchorage. I've been doing various assignments for them for about four years now and each one is challenging and interesting. The magazine deals exclusively with Alaska Native issues. Weather I'm photographing a traditional healer, a woman working on suicide prevention, or photographing dancers, singers, and drummers, I always feel lucky to be involved.
      My favorite project I'm involved with is a feature called "Beyond The Road". The purpose of this section of the magazine is to highlight native villages that lie off of the road system, that is, only accessible by air or boat. I absolutely relish the opportunity to explore the unique villages, people, and culture of bush Alaska. I've been to four locations so far and each has been rewarding photographically and personally fulfilling.
      Initially I'm a little nervous as I first start to explore a new village. They are usually fairly small so any newcomer stands out. The way I handle this beforehand is to establish some contacts before heading out and basically letting the village know there will be "some guy with a camera" wandering around taking photos. Once they know I'm featuring them in the magazine I'm welcomed with open arms and have encountered nothing but friendliness and cooperation.
      I visited Old Harbor in May. This mostly Alutiiq village, is nestled on the coast of Kodiak Island along the protected shores of Sitkalidak Strait. I was blown away by the stunning setting which came with an abundance of wildlife as well. I was even more impressed with the people. I was given food and lodging by Jeff Peterson of Kodiak Combos/ Peterson's Adventures. he also took me out on his boat with a group he had in town for some chartered king salmon fishing. I highly recommend Jeff and his lodge! Also, Tribal Administrator, Fred Brooks, took me around the village and its surroundings and introduced me to many of the local residents.
      My favorite incident was as I was about to leave the village. A woman I had only met once the day before showed up to give me a ride to the airport and she had brought a full on dinner for me to eat in the car on the way. If you'd like to read more about Old Harbor contact the magazine here. below are some of my favorite images from the adventure!

Sunny Barrow!

Baleen Palm Tree, Barrow, AK 2013

    I just returned from a week in Barrow, Alaska. Barrow is the farthest north community in North America. I was there to complete three assignments for First Alaskans Magazine. More on those later. As you can see I was basking in sunny skies and balmy -20º F temps. I thought I'd share one of my favorites from the trip. The fronds on the "palm tree" are actually baleen from the Baleen Whale which is harvested by the Inupiaq of the village.  More soon!

Puffins!

   As I mentioned below, during our Lake Clark National Park bear photography trip we spent one day in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge at a near by island photographing Horned puffins (Fratercula corniculata).

    It was absolutely wonderful to be able to be so near these beautiful birds. If you've ever come across these birds in the open ocean you know just how speedy and difficult they are to photograph. On this tiny island we were able to position ourselves in locations near to where the birds came to roost.

   While the photography is still challenging, especially when the puffins are in flight, this location allows for lots and lots of practice! We were lucky enough to be there when they were  bringing in small fish to feed their young as well.

   Below are some of my favorites!

Lake Clark N.P.: Landscapes

  As I stated earlier, I had almost as much fun photographing landscapes as I did bears out at Silver Salmon Creek this summer. It was wonderful to have wildlife AND stunning scenery to photograph. It was almost too much stimulation. Seriously! Here are some faves from the trip. BTW, I'll be leading another trip to Lake Clark in August of 2013. details soon here: wayde@waydecarroll.com.