Nature photography and outdoor destination marketing
– Jo Walton
Good advice.
Thanks to Ann-Christine of the Leya blog for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Illustrate a Favorite Quote or Poem.
When Patti announced “Last Chance”, our unpublished favorites from 2022 as last week’s Lens- Artist’s Photo Challenge, I knew I had an embarrassment of riches. Since I took a long hiatus from my blog this year, I had way too many favorites for one post. Since I spend about half the year down south housesitting and the other half home in Alaska, it seemed like an easy way to solve my dilemma would be to split my images into two installments. Last week’s post was “Below the 49th Parallel,” and I’m happy to share my Northland favorites this week.
Any roundup of the Rambling Ranger’s favorites would have to include a flower pic or two. My favorites this year were all taken in ponds along the McCarthy Road. My very favorite flower pic of the year I shared a couple of weeks ago in my “Patterns” post, Bog Beans and their shadows. I mentioned in that post that the flowers were exquisite when viewed up close, so here’s a closer view. My other flower pic is a combination lily shot, both Pond Lilies and Water Lilies growing together. Technically it’s a little messy and maybe not one of my best, but this post is about favorites, not bestest, right? Although sometimes they’re one and the same…
I took a one-day photo workshop through the Wrangell Mountains Center with Paul Scannell and Anna Mikuskova. One of our exercises was to each pick a piece of paper out of a hat, with an intangible concept written on it, then go out and shoot that concept. We were given 15 or 20 minutes to complete the assignment. My concept was “rebirth.” I shared a different image with the group that better illustrated rebirth, but this image was my favorite from that exercise.
Since I spend most of my spare time at home working on the homestead, that’s where a lot of my favorites come from. I thought I’d try a square format on this image.
This B&W image is my very favorite part of the view from my front porch. I don’t know of anyone who has the view of this ridgeline that I do, and in my opinion, it’s one of the most amazing views in the Wrangells. And get this – none of those white mountains even has a name, not even the real high one lost in the clouds. That’s how wild this place is! The dark mountain in front is Mt. Donaho, which blocks this ridgeline from most of my neighbors’ properties.
The last shot I’m including from the homestead is my favorite aspen tree, the one right outside my front door. The fall colors were fabulous this year.
I spent a little time this fall at the toe of the Kennicott Glacier, less than a mile from McCarthy. It’s an interesting place to be. With global climate change and the glacier melting, the lake at the toe gets bigger all the time. The Kennicott Glacier has a surface moraine and is covered with debris. That ice is moving a lot of rock! Any image you take here is ephemeral. It will definitely look different a year or two from now. Here’s the face of the glacier with some of the surrounding mountains.
I try to make a fall road trip on the Denali Highway every year if I can. This year I went for it, even though the weather was dismal when I left McCarthy. On my first night out, it poured buckets. The forecast called for more rain, but surprisingly, the morning dawned bluebird. I got the best views I have ever seen of Mt. Deborah and Mt. Hayes. Meanwhile, back in McCarthy, it dumped inches. It rained so hard it washed everyone in Kennecott’s water systems out of National Creek, including the Park Service’s! So glad I made the road trip! The feature shot is of the Susitna River with Deborah and Hayes dominating the view.
One of my Northland favorites from that trip became a favorite during post-processing, when I noticed a grizzly bear in the photo. I didn’t see it when I took the picture! It’s over a quarter mile away, in the center of the photo, before the line of trees. Look for the light spot. Fall can be a scary time for a bear encounter in Alaska. They match the fall colors and can be hard to spot.
My last Northland favorite is from Canada’s Cassiar Highway. I camped at a remote lake, where I witnessed possibly the most colorful sunset/sunrise cycle I’ve ever seen. Both sunrise and sunset morphed through every color imaginable, from gold to orange to red to purple to pink. And it was completely still. Incredible reflections and color combos. I couldn’t pick a favorite shot, but this is one of them.
What fabulous images will the New Year bring? I can’t wait to find out!
I tried to keep it down to 12, but I couldn’t. Here is a baker’s dozen of my favorite photos of 2021.
It was really hard to cut it down to just a baker’s dozen. Reviewing the images I’ve captured over the last year, I realized that what I had were favorite photographic moments, not individual photos.
You know, when you’re really in the zone, actively practicing the Art of Seeing? You might take a whole series of shots and not be able to choose one in the series as the best. That’s how I felt about a lot of these images.
I tried to disqualify images I’d already published in this blog (mostly!) So if you read my last few blog posts, you’ll find a few more favorites I wish I could include.
Despite all the darkness and cold, there are some things about winter in Alaska that are really special and that I miss when I’m not there, kind of a reward for those who tough it out. One is the aurora, of course. Another is the special pink sunset/twilight glow in the sky on certain cold, clear nights. Although I got lots of great alpenglow, I didn’t see as many pink light evenings as I have in past winters. But I did get it one evening when I photographed the Knik Glacier.
I went to Homer to see a few birds this spring. The migration was a bit disappointing, but I did get some wonderful eagle shots!
This is my favorite flower shot for 2021. I didn’t shoot nearly as many flowers as in years past, since I stayed in Alaska and didn’t follow the bloom. But I saw two brand new flowers I’d never noticed before in a few ponds along the McCarthy Road, White Water Lilies and Wild Calla.
It was October. It was not yet prime time for birds at Bosque del Apache. Due to the drought, the ponds on the edge of the refuge that are usually the go-to spots for bird photographers trying to catch the spectacle of the Bosque were dry. I wasn’t expecting much. I only had one day to spare. But the Bosque is a magical place and doesn’t disappoint. Having fewer sources of water concentrated the birds that were there. I was surprised to realize that three of my favorite photos for the entire year were taken on that day.
Even though I published the sunrise photo in a prior post, I had to include it since it was probably my second-most favorite photo for the year. Also, I processed it a little differently this time and think it does a better job of capturing the feel of sunrise on the Bosque.
As I slowly drove by, I realized that all those “dead leaves” on that tree were birds. Then they took off and I was swept up by a cloud of birds. The Bosque is bird heaven!
This might be my favorite photo of 2021. Except it’s one of those photographic moments, one of a series… I like the vertical images I captured of this scene a lot, too! Both this image and the feature image were taken on the beach at San Simeon in California. The island the cormorants are roosting on is part of the California Coastal National Monument. It is usually just offshore except during a very low tide, like this one.
I absolutely fell in love with the manzanitas and madrones of southern Oregon in November and December. I can’t choose my very favorite madrone/manzanita photo. I have about 20 favorites. But they were my favorite thing to photograph all year. So here’s one I haven’t published.
I couldn’t choose a favorite detail shot of that forest, either. I have about a dozen favorites of bark, lichens, mushrooms… But this is definitely one of those favorites.
This is definitely my favorite abstract of the year, though. Can you guess what it is?
This final shot conveys my thoughts and hopes for 2022, that the light burns through the fog of the last couple of crazy years and brings us all many happy blessings. Welcome 2022!
Thank you to Tina Schell of Travels and Trifles for hosting this week’s Lens Artists Challenge, Favorite Photos of 2021.
Light. Sight. Painting with light. The art of seeing. Hallelujah, I have seen the light! That’s what photography is all about, right? The art of using light, especially natural light, to share your vision with others so that they may see the light, too.
Come take a journey with me, up and down the California coast chasing that beautiful natural light. Some times of day are better than others, but we’ll be out at all hours of the day, as every kind of light can capture some mood or be best for a certain subject.
We’ll start at dawn. I’m not much of one for getting up early, so it’s an effort, but it’s worth it. No, don’t roll over and go back to sleep because you peeked out and it was foggy. The soft light captured in those early morning mists can transform the mundane into the sublime.
Stormy days are no reason to stay inside, either. Before long, you may find that many of your most dramatic images were taken on bad weather days. Check out my opening wave for another example.
Besides, you’ll never catch a rainbow without a little rain!
Calm, cloudy days are wonderful for flowers, animals, forest and beachcombing shots. Colors are richer and harsh shadows are eliminated.
Partly cloudy days are good times to learn patience and watch the light change with each passing cloud. You can capture the same scene in many different moods by just staying put and seeing how the constantly changing light transforms your subject.
Bright sun is not my favorite lighting. It works well for some scenes with bright colors and bold contrasts. If you have to pick a time of day to catch some lunch, recharge batteries and catch up on the internet, chose the middle of the day. Sometimes, though, you have to just use what you got and make the best of it as I tried to do with this image of elephant seals at Piedras Blancas Wildlife Reserve.
Bright sun is also good for backlighting, especially during the golden hour.
That’s the golden hour of late afternoon light, followed closely by sunset. My favorite time of day, since I’m a lazy slacker who doesn’t like getting up early in the morning.
It’s not over ’til it’s over. Even if it’s cloudy and you don’t think a sunset is going to happen, the sun may break through at the last minute and reward you with something special. Follow that sunset from the first warm colors to the last.
To the last minute and then some, capturing the last glimmers of natural light deep into the dusk.
Thank you, Amy of The World Is A Book, for bringing us this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Natural Light.
Opening shot: Solitude at Sunset by the Seaside
For this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Patti @ Pilotfishblog asks, “What images can you find that feature a subject that begins with the letter S? For an added challenge, capture an image that illustrates a concept with the letter S, such as serene, sharp, spooky, or silent.” So, see if I have succeeded!
Sayonara!
“Please don’t take my sunshine away.” –Traditional
The sun will come out tomorrow. Umm, maybe, but not for long enough. I’m about to enter the long dark.
I’m staying in Alaska this winter, for the first time in many years, and I’m dreading it. Dreading the dark. Dreading the cold. Wondering if I made the right decision. I’m already freezing.
I’d rather be in the desert, or hanging out on the Pacific Coast. But 2020 is a different kind of year. Travel just doesn’t seem like the wise or responsible choice this time around. There’s Covid, and the strife and uncertainty of a nation at odds with itself. I feel the need to be near like-minded souls and people who know and love me, instead of playing the eternal wanderer. At least for a little while.
There are some good aspects to a winter in Alaska. It’s pretty. Actually, pretty damn beautiful. I’ve been aching for the aurora. The warmth of good friends is most definitely the most important reason to stay. But still, I don’t think I’ll make a habit of it.
Little darling, the smile’s returning to their faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun,
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right
-George Harrison
Thank you, Ana of Anvica’s Gallery, for this week’s theme, The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow. The symbolism of this topic for me on this day is not wasted. I do feel hope.
Saturday I kept breaking out in tears, tears of joy and relief. I didn’t realize how much I had been sublimating, how deeply the despair and anxiety of the last few days, of the last four years, had penetrated my soul, until I turned my computer on that morning and saw 290 on the electoral vote count. Prayers of gratitude. Especially in these times, we need leaders who feed our hopes, not our anger.
“Minds that seek revenge destroy states, while those that seek reconciliation build Nations.” – Nelson Mandela
Wise words. Words for our nation to heed. Words a true leader should live by. Remember these wise words as the events of the next couple of months play out. It’s always darkest before the dawn. I hope our democracy survives the transition. If it does, the sun WILL come out tomorrow.
