Highlights from Costa Rica

Golden Scarab Beatle/ Arenal

  Last March I led my fourth photography trip in Costa Rica and I've finally gotten around to processing some of my favorite images. This trip, offered through Journeys International, is always wonderful and every time is different. The incredible variety of wildlife, the colorful people and small towns, make for an endless number of unique photographic opportunities.
  With two days/ nights in a cloud forest, three days/nights in the highlands surrounding Arenal volcano, and three days/nights in the jungles and canals of Tortuguero we visit three completely different ecosystems. Our local guide is expert at helping us find the local wildlife and always know the best fruit stand to stop at!
 I thank De, Fred, Mike, and Sydney for making the trip a wonderfully memorable one!
   A link to the trip offering is here.
 I'm posting some of favorites below!

White Faced Capuchin Monkey/ Tortuguero

La Fortuna Falls, Arenal

Green Vine Snake, Tortuguero

Arenal Lake

Plumed Basilisk (I think)/ Arenal

Coati/ Arenal

Green Crowned Brilliant Hummingbird/ San Ramon Cloud Forest

Montezuma Oropendola

Mariana Wedding Chapel/ Villa Blanca

Blue Morpho Butterfly/ Arenal

Arenal Volcano at night.

Jesus Christ Lizard/ Tortuguero

Jesus Christ Lizard/ near Arenal

La Fortuna Falls/ Arenal

Giant River Otter/ Tortuguero

Moth Detail/ San Ramon Cloud Forest

Unidentified Moth/ San Ramon Cloud Forest

Typical Fruit Stand/ near Arenal

Hooded Praying Mantis/ Arenal

Mariana Wedding Chapel/ Villa Blanca

Postman Butterfly/ Near Arenal

Pink Ginger/ Arenal

Little Blue Heron/ Tortuguero

Caiman/ Tortuguero

Arenal Observatory Lodge

Green Crowned Brilliant Hummingbird

Violet Sabrewing/ San Ramon Cloud Forest

Montezuma Oropendola's/ Arenal

Kenai Backcountry Lodge

    Last Summer I was asked to photograph the Kenai Backcountry Lodge (KBL) for Alaska Wildland Adventures. This lodge, accessible only by boat, sits near the shore of remote Skilak lake, a part of the Kenai River system in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.
    I was very excited to have this opportunity. As a photo guide for AWA I had been out to the lodge before but always "on duty" with our clients. Helping our guests with their photography is always my priority so I don't have the time and freedom to take as many images as I would if I was traveling on my own. Being hired to take promotional images for the lodge and the upcoming new website was a real treat. I had most of three days to just concentrate on image making! I was luck in that there was a great group of folks staying at the lodge that found it fun to have a photographer tailing them half the time and occasionally asking them "Can you hold right there for a second?", "Can you do that again?", "Can you take off the black coat so I can see your red fleece?". Etc. Etc.
 here are a few of my favorites that should give you a pretty good feel for the place!

Dining Hall, Kitchen, and Library.

Cabins

Interior lit with a strobe via wireless trigger.

Activities (Kayaking not represented but is an option as well!)

Dining

Beer and Sodas kept ice-cold by the small creek running through camp.

Scenery

Kikkan's on Fire!

Three time U.S. Olympian and 2012 World Cup Sprint Champion Kikkan Randall

   Anchorage's own Kikkan Randall is having another amazing year on the Cross Country and Sprint Skiing World Cup circuit and I couldn't be more excited for her. I've had the pleasure of working with Kikkan and her husband Jeff Ellis (an incredible athlete in his own right) several times over the last five years or so. Last summer we went up into Chugach State Park to just have some fun taking photos. Kikkan and Jeff are happy to get some updated photos of themselves and they both indulge me as I try out new ideas with lighting etc.  Kikkans racing color is pink. It's in her hair and in her racing gear. I picked up a long piece of pink silk material at a local fabric store to play with in the wind in the mountains. Jeff was game and repeatedly threw the ends of the fabric up into the air as I clicked away! I used two strobes, one on either side to light Kikkan.

    With Kikkan in the news every week right now with another outstanding World Cup finish I thought I'd share some of my favorite images from our shoot.

    You couldn't ask for a better individual to represent our country as an athlete and I can't wait to see what else she accomplishes this year and in the Olympics in 2014!

    GO KIKKAN!

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!