Alaska Adventure: Month Three
There aren't any Alaska pictures in here! True. But there are some fantastic photos from my third month on the road. I started the month of September, 2016 in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. Since I'd gone to Alaska via Whitehorse, I didn't do much here but stock up on supplies. There isn't really much of anything else around for hundreds of miles. From Whitehorse, I went on to Hyder, Alaska, where I'd hoped to see more bears. No luck, oh well. Then on to Jasper and Banff National Parks along the British Columbia / Alberta border. This region - the Canadian Rockies - is one of my favorite places anywhere. I spent about a week and a half here before continuing south, back to Glacier National Park, then on to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks in Wyoming on my way home. Overall, the three months I spent getting to and from, as well as the time I spent in Alaska were remarkable. It's a beautiful part of the world, and I'm already trying to figure out when I can return!
From Whitehorse, Yukon Territory to Greeley, Colorado. The final leg of an amazing trip.
My trip to Hyder, Alaska, was supposed to be all about seeing bears. Unfortunately, I didn't see a single bear while there. Oh well. I'd just spent a month and a half in Alaska, and seen more bears than I could count. So when I didn't see any bears in or around Hyder, it wasn't the end of the world. It proved to be a beautiful region, nonetheless, as evidenced by this mountainside shrouded in fog. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48.
Pyramid Lake and Pyramid Mountain, in Jasper National Park, Alberta, are beautiful any time of day, but being there when the sun first illuminates the mineral-rich face of Pyramid Mountain is awe-inspiring. Most mountains in the area, although spectacular, are simply gray. But the abundance of metals and minerals in Pyramid Mountain gives it an orange color that has to be seen to believe. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48.
I had to come to Lake Cavell on back-to-back mornings to get this shot, because on my first day, the sky was nothing but clouds, and I didn't get any early-morning light on the mountaintops. But my second day was much more successful. Surprising for a place this beautiful was the fact that there was only one other photographer there when I took this photo, and he was completely cooperative when I explained that I was going to wade out into the freezing-cold lake in order to get the shot I wanted. Small sacrifices – like cold feet – are sometimes necessary to get shots like this. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48, 80x54, 90x60.
Ravens are interesting and intelligent animals, but they've never been anywhere near the top of my must-photograph list. When I saw a bunch of people huddled around what must have been the most tame raven on the planet, though, I knew I probably wouldn't get another chance like this. I love the detail apparent in this photo. The scratches in his beak seem to tell stories about the life this oddly beautiful black bird has lived. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30.
Canada's magnificent Icefields Parkway connects Jasper (in the north) to Banff (in the South). It is one of the most beautiful drives I have ever been on. It takes one past countless mountains and waterfalls. While many of the falls it passes are magnificent due to their size, those shown here – Tangle Falls – aren't incredibly impressive, size-wise. But as is often the case, Tangle Falls proves that waterfalls need not be enormous to be photogenic. In fact, I find that smaller waterfalls with layers of cascades are often easier to photograph than their larger cousins. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45, 40x60, 48x72.
Moonrise in the Canadian Rockies
Sometimes you are just in the right place at the right time. I knew a nearly-full moon was going to be rising a little bit before the sun set on the evening of September 12, 2016, but I was in the car and had a limited range of view because I was driving through a forest. Then, as I went around a corner, the road opened up a path through the forest in front of me, providing me with a perfect view of a newly-risen moon standing above a mountain face that was just beginning to glow with that wonderful pre-sunset light. It would have been difficult to consciously place myself somewhere with a better view. I'll take it! Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48.
Sunset Reflection at Mount Rundle
I spent several evenings on the shore of Vermillion Lake, just outside of Banff, Alberta, hoping to get a great sunset shot. There were several evenings where the weather simply conspired against me, and I went back to my campground without a single shot. But I did finally get lucky on my last night in Banff, when the skies cleared and the setting sun turned the ever-present Mt. Rundle a wonderful shade of yellow. The perfectly smooth water of the lake provided for an almost glass-like reflection of this beautiful mountain. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48, 80x54, 90x60.
When I visited the Canadian Rockies in 2012, I had pretty bad luck with light at sunrise and sunset. Even so, Two Jack Lake was one of my favorite places to shoot. I knew I'd have to return to Two Jack during my 2016 trip in the Canadian Rockies, and I even found a different perspective from which to shoot the lake and Mt. Rundle. I used a polarizer in this photo in order to make the clouds more noticeable, and I really love this photo, especially considering it doesn't have the golden-hour light that I so often aim for in my landscape photography. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48.
I got up early on the morning of September 16, 2016, with the hope of getting a photo of the nearly-full moon setting behind a mountain. But my timing was a bit off – the sky was still too dark for a great picture when the moon set. So, as the sun began to rise, I knew I needed a shot, and I needed one quickly. Since I was already at Logan Pass, I figured I'd start the day with a short hike, and quickly walked the mile and a half to the Hidden Lake viewpoint. I'd say it turned out pretty well for being as unrehearsed of a shot as it was. Available in the following sizes (Panorama C): 30x10, 36x12, 48x16, 60x20, 72x24, 90x30, 90x30 Triptych (3 x 30x30), 108x36, 108x36 Triptych (3 x 36x36), 120x40, 120x40 Triptych Triptych (3 x 40x40), 144x48 Triptych (3 x 48x48), 162x54 Triptych (3 x 54x54), 180x60 Triptych (3 x 60x60).
When I go out hiking, I always have (at least) two camera bodies ready to shoot with. The first one is for landscape shots, and has a fairly wide-angle lens on it. The other camera has a telephoto lens. On the morning I saw this bighorn, I was happy I had my telephoto camera ready to shoot, because he didn't give me much time to get set up and get the shot. Seconds after I'd managed to get this photo, he disappeared behind the hill shown, leaving behind nothing but an empty, blue sky. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24.
It seems every photographer has a photo of a blue sky viewed through a wide-angle lens filled with yellow aspen leaves. And now I do, too! If you look at a color wheel, blue is opposite of yellow, which makes this color combination pleasing to the eye. The hardest part of getting a photo like this is finding nicely spaced aspen trees with nothing but yellow leaves on a blue-sky day. After that, it's pretty much a matter of pointing your camera up. Voila! Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30.
Going to the Sun Road is a – if not the – highlight of Glacier National Park. There are many pullouts along the 2-lane road that afford incredible views of the surrounding area, such as this one of Haystack Falls, a 490-foot cascade that perfectly encapsulates the majesty of one of America's most scenic drives. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45.
McDonald Creek, in Glacier National Park, ultimately feeds into Lake McDonald, on the western side of this beautiful National Park. The unearthly blue hue of the water is caused by the fact that the stream is glacially-fed. Stopping anywhere along the creek affords one views such as this. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48.
The view from the Elk Ranch Flats roadside pulloff in Grand Teton National Park is almost comedic in how picturesque it is. Honestly, it looks like something from Lord of the Rings. Beautiful, jagged mountains? Check. Line of bright-yellow trees? Check. Horses? Yup. Horses. On a beautiful, wide-open field. Part of me still has a hard time believing this place actually exists. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48.
Although Yellowstone National Park lacks the stunning majesty of the jagged peaks of Grand Teton National Park, which lies just to the south, it makes up for it with tranquil beauty and wildlife in numbers that make me reminisce about the Serengeti. This panorama represents a fairly typical scene in Yellowstone – you don't really have to do any off-road exploring to find scenes like this. It's an incredible place, and the concepts behind the world's first National Park are considered by some – myself included – to be “America's Best Idea.” Available in the following sizes (Panorama C): 30x10, 36x12, 48x16, 60x20, 72x24, 90x30, 90x30 Triptych (3 x 30x30), 108x36, 108x36 Triptych (3 x 36x36), 120x40, 120x40 Triptych Triptych (3 x 40x40), 144x48 Triptych (3 x 48x48).
Did you know that Lewis Falls, in Yellowstone National Park is named after me (the photographer)?! Yup. That's 100% true. Fine, maybe that's not true. What is true is that I was happy to be here when the leaves on the bushes around Lewis Falls had changed to yellow in the autumn of 2016. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30.
Moose Falls is one of Yellowstone's many secret spots. I've shot the falls in the past on an overcast day, but when I visited the falls in September, 2016, it was the first time I've seen it with blue skies. The changing colors were an added bonus! Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45, 40x60, 48x72.
I certainly timed my arrival at Grand Teton National Park in late September, 2016 well. The five nights I spent in Yellowstone and Grand Teton were the last stop of a three-month adventure through Canada and Alaska, and finishing up my time in the outdoors with colors like these was a fantastic send-off. Two or three days earlier, and there wouldn't have been any orange in this grove. Two or three days later, and there wouldn't be any green. Timing is everything! Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45.
