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Siberian Flox, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

This beautiful wildflower was photographed high on a rocky cliff in the Brooks Mountain range in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Accessing this wildlife-rich and scenic area is difficult due to its remoteness and lack of road access.

A group of four of us drove five hours north from Fairbanks to a tiny airfield at the “truck-stop” town of Coldfoot, Alaska, where we boarded a small bush plane and flew two hours to the Kongukut River. After a few days floating the river in an inflatable canoe, a day hike took a friend and me high into the mountains for some splendid views. Much to one’s surprise, the rocky mountain ridge tops are spackled in dramatic splashes of color from a variety of wildflowers.

This is the only place in Alaska that I have viewed and photographed the Siberian Flox. The set up for this scene was a bit complicated, since the flowers are quite small. I wanted a close-up pattern, so I used a long lens, a close-up lens filter (which enabled me to move in on the flower), and a 1.4 extender, which also enabled me to get 1.4 times closer to the flower.

That is a lot of “stuff” hanging off a tripod, and I would not recommend it as the ideal approach. But I did not have a macro lens with me at the time, and this enabled me to get the effect I wanted.

Subject:

Siberian Flox

Location:

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

Camera - film - gear:

• Canon 1Ds digital
• 100-400mm f5.6L (475mm)
• 1.4x extender
• Canon 500D close up filter
• f40 @ 1/13 second
• 100 ISO
• Bogen Tripod