Wild and scenic Kobuk river, Gates of the Arctic National Preserve, western Brooks Range, Alaska. Canon 5D Mark II, 16-35mm f/2.8L (26mm), 1/800 @ f.9, ISO 400
The Kobuk river in the western Brooks range is designated a wild and scenic river. Last weekend was the first time I’ve flown over it, and it kindled an interest to make a river trip sometime in the near future. Break up this year along Alaska’s major river systems of the interior was relatively gentle, in comparison to other years when ice jams generated high water and floods throughout the Yukon river basin. While ice still filled the main channel of the Kobuk it was flowing without obstruction.
Wild and scenic Kobuk river, Gates of the Arctic National Preserve, western Brooks Range, Alaska. Canon 5D Mark II, 16-35mm f/2.8L (16mm), 1/640 @ f.9, ISO 400
The dark and foreboding clouds looming over the hills makes for a moody scene, and it reminds me how much I like this type of lighting as opposed to a cloudless, blue sky day. Although, I would have to say that the blue sky days sure make flying a little more predictable. This particular plane was not outfitted with a window that opened enough for unobstructed photography, so I had to shoot through the glass, something I’m not keen to normally do. However, the glass was very clean, and the results are not bad. It made me think however, that some sort of black fabric, like the old large format photographers used to drape over their head, would be a way to minimize reflections on the glass. But you would have to figure some way to attach it just above the top of the window. Perhaps its time for a little duct tape and piece of black fabric, it could prove useful on the next bush flight–pending the pilots approval of course. . .
