On our 10 day river trip along the Nigu and Etivluk, we saw two grizzly bears, both of which upon noticing us, took off across the tundra. This is the kind of reaction one likes to see when encountering a bear in the wild. Well, sort of. Photographing bears in the arctic is quite unlike…
While paddling down the Nigu river on a sunny day, a small herd of bull caribou stepped into the water a little bit down river. I had my camera in a dry bag with the 24-105mm lens on, so I quickly grabbed it for a few shots. Steering the boat did not go well with…
Surprisingly, sea otters are larger than they may appear. Most often one sees their cute, whiskered faces peering from the water as they playfully groom or feed on shellfish. But when they are viewed completely out of the water, as in this photo of otters on a floating iceberg, their size is considerable. A mature…
While flying over the Copper River Delta in south central, Alaska, I grabbed a few frames of Harbor seals hauled out on a sand shoal along the river delta. They were pretty densely packed together and I was curious as to how many were present in the picture. Field biologists have methods for counting and…
Caribou on the mountain ridges of the Brooks range–all the little brown dots in the foreground, I’m guessing perhaps 1000 in this group.Click on the image to see it larger. Thanks to a generous friend, colleague, pilot, Hugh Rose, I spent an afternoon flying over the Brooks range looking at caribou along the mountain ridges.…
Where is your favorite place to photograph? I’m often asked this question, but find it very difficult to answer. Part of Alaska’s lure and fascination to me is found in its tremendous diversity of environment. Sampling from one makes the other’s uniqueness more prominent. I like winter because of summer and I like summer in…
Caribou in taiga, arctic, Alaska Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f4L IS, 1/500 sec @ 6.3, ISO 500, vertical crop Most of my winter photography of caribou has been in the treeless arctic. The snow covered spruce trees make this image a little unique to my experience. This year on the north side of the…
Dall sheep ram, Denali National Park, AlaskaCanon 1Ds Mark III, 400mm 5.6L, 1/125 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400 In the unhunted mountains of Denali Park there are some good sized Dall sheep rams. With virtually no pressure from humans, the sheep have slowly been habituated to human presence. I know a place where a band…
Caribou traverse a mountain ridge in the Alaska range, Denali National park, Alaska.Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f4L IS, 1/1000 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400 Canon’s 500mm f4L IS lens vies for the position of my favorite lens. It is always loaded with a camera in wildlife country and its tremendous image stabilization capability enables…
Male Harlequin duck resting on rocks, headwaters of the Gulkana river, interior, Alaska.Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f4L w/1.4x, 1/2 sec @f45, ISO 100 Harlequin duck males are colorful birds with distinct markings. They favor fast moving water for feeding and can often be found resting on rocks along stream shores. They are attentive birds…