In Praise of the Wild: the Importance of preserving ANWR

As the month of September draws to a close and the transition to Autumn is in full swing, I find myself thinking back to the last several months of Summer and the extremely satisfying time I spent in wild places photographing the amazing beauty and life of our planet. Personally,  wilderness and wild places have  always been very important to my life and it is in such places that  my senses are most alive and  connected to world. Perhaps it was my childhood growing  up in rural Pennsylvania , where my backyard and playground were  the local woods, fields and streams, that pointed me down this path of life, but as I grow older I seem to cherish more and more the time I can spend in truly wild places. It is with a bit of sadness that I ponder the fact that so many people have never had the opportunity to experience wild places and thus do not really understand the complexities and inter-relationships of  our environment  and life on earth.  Certainly one of the goals of my photography is to try to  capture the essence and sense of place that makes up the environment of natural and wild places so that people who have no personal experience may come to appreciate the  beauty  of such areas and then may at least consider why preservation of the environment and wild places is so important.

This Summer I was able to make a trip and experience a small part of what I consider to be one our most amazing and important wilderness areas in the US, The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in  Alaska. ANWR consist of over 19 million acres  of incredible wilderness  ranging from the stunning peaks and alpine environment of the Brooks Range to the  amazing Arctic “prairie” of the arctic  coastal plain and the shores of the Beufort Sea of the Arctic Ocean. I was lucky to experience a small part of it on two week river trip on the Canning River which we rafted for over  120 miles from the Brooks Range all the way to the Arctic Ocean . I have experienced a lot of wild areas but  this trip was  absolutely incredible, dare I say almost life changing. From fabulous  alpine peaks  and  the absolutely crystal clear Marsh Fork to the vast sky and grasses of the arctic plain the entire trip was a visual delight and as a photographer, being able to work  with the amazing  quality of the  ” midnight”  low angle sun light was divine. In addition, the wildlife was incredible , particularly the large concentrations of nesting bird life on the arctic coastal plain. Having a close encounter with about 1000 caribou of the Central Arctic Herd crossing the river , some within 100 feet of us, was a sight  I will never forget.   Which brings me to the point of all this. There are some places on this earth that need to be preserved as they are and not developed on any scale, and ANWR is one of them. The threat of oil development on the Arctic Coastal plain  in the Refuge is still very real, but we must resist. There is too much to loose for a few years supply of oil. I will leave you now with a few images. They are no substitute for experiencing ANWR in person but I hope at least they can convey some of the spirit of the place.

Caribou Antlers on the Tundra, ANWR, Alaska

Caribou crossing the Canning River, ANWR, Alaska

2AM light on the Arctic Coastal Plain, ANWR, AK

The Arctic Ocean shore, ANWR, AK

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The Color of Light: Lessons from a Spring Aspen Grove

Cool light in the Aspen Forest

This past weekend I found myself photographing in the great aspen forest that covers the terrain west of Kebler Pass in the central Colorado Mountains. The fresh Spring foliage was a beautiful lime green and I started exploring looking for compositions  before sunrise and as time passed I made a number of images with different compositions. What was particular striking was the change in the color of the light as time progressed. The early images made just before and after sunrise with the aspen still well covered by shade took on a distinctly cool tone with subtle shades of blue reflecting off of the white aspen trunks.  Later images were distinctly warmer producing a very different look. The two images posted  show how photographers can take advantage of the “color” of light to make images  of similar subjects that have distinctly  different character. This is the essence of good photography;  using  the character  and “color” of light as an essential element of  a striking visual image.

Warm post sunrise light on the Aspen Grove

Mesa Arch Sunrise : Photographing the Iconic Image: There is a reason we do it!

Certain images in the nature and landscape genre have become what we photographers know as icons.  We all know what this means: these are  the ” famous” features and scenes that have been photographed countless number of times by countless numbers of photographers. Well known examples are  images like Yosemite Valley  from the Winona tunnel, and the Maroon Bells reflecting in Maroon Lake with Fall color. They are part of the “checklist” of images that serious  landscape photographers all  aspire to capture.  The reason we all love to  photograph icons is because they are such spectacular examples of the landscape of our planet. When photographers make images of “icons” are they doing something unique? At  one level probably not, but at another level,  at a  personal distinct  moment of time in their  life, each photographer making an image of an icon captures their vision of the icon and makes it their own. It is important to consider that at any given time the light and environmental conditions will be different which will result in an image that will be truly unique.

With this statement in mind,  I personally often return to areas over and over to  make images of scenes( icons or not) in different seasons, conditions and light.  A great example of this is  a recent photograph  I made of  of the iconic Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park photographed with  the reflected light of sunrise imparting a spectacular glow on the underside of the arch. This icon was  first made famous by  the great large format  landscape photographer David Muench.  I have visited Mesa Arch on at least 5 different occasions in different seasons  and light conditions  and have been fortunate enough to have made a few decent images of this  amazing feature.  This most recent image was made in February when I was on my way to Reno Nevada to attend the NANPA summit. What makes it interesting and unique to me is the presence of snow and the misty clouds glowing with the sunrise light. Only one other photographer was present to experience this inspiring scene, and even if I had not  successfully captured this image the experience of just being there and witnessing the amazing reflected  light and glowing clouds would have been reward enough.

Sunrise light at a snowy Mesa Arch in Canyon Lands National Park, Utah

Looking Forward to Summer: Light in the Aspen Grove

I have been trying out LR3 beta 2 and in a hard drive search for some images to try with the new  LR3 RAW processing engine I discovered an image I made in  a Colorado aspen grove last summer  that had some nice angled back-light. The back-light and strong highlights were a challenge to deal with  but after some work both in LR and CS4. Here is the result. I for one am ready for summer!

A Colorado aspen grove glows with morning back-light

Serendipity and the luck of the photographer: the chance of being at the right place at the right time!

I recently received  a request for a photograph that I do not currently have in my files so I planned a quick trip to try and capture it. I pre-visualized the image: sunrise light on a specific snow covered mountain with some nice clouds in the sky, and on the morning I was there to make the image conditions were almost perfect with the exception of the clouds.  I made the shot and granted it is a nice image, but not exactly what I was hoping for and I will most likely return to try again. I have learned over the years that patience and  perseverance reward the photographer.  That said, later in the day as I was traveling the weather started to change  and  as I was driving through the northern San Luis Valley  an amazing lenticular cloud developed over the Northern Sangre de Cristo Range.  It was mid-day light, but the combination of the snow covered mountains with the incredible sky and clouds was too good to pass up and envisioning it in black and white, I knew it would be an excellent image.  So the moral of this story is that as photographers as much as  we may plan and have  hopes to capture certain images, it is often the random serendipitous chance moments that we encounter that produce the most satisfying images. I am not saying you should not plan and pre-visualize, but just getting out there and seeing what images come your way can be rewarding. In other words just get out and do it and see what nature provides!

A Lenticular Cloud over the Sangre de Cristo Range, CO

The Joy of Clouds

There is nothing less interesting to me as a landscape photographer than a bright clear cloudless sky, but add some clouds and marginal weather with interesting light and wow, some magical images can be made. A great example of this is my Bison and Crestone Peaks image where the sun lights up the layers of clouds formed  from an inversion and a clearing late Spring storm with fresh snow on the peaks . Earlier in the morning the valley was blanketed in fog and I was able to make some interesting images but as it started to burn off, this  amazing scene was revealed.  Clouds can add a dynamic element to any landscape and can make any image truly unique.

I will offer two additional examples, a black and white image of amazing cumulus cloud build up over the Chiricahua Mountains in Arizona in July, and early morning  clouds over the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve in Oklahoma. Without the clouds my camera would have stayed in the bag.

Cumulus Cloud Build-up over the Chiricahua Mountains, AZ

Tall Grass Prairie Morning, Oklahoma

Bosque Moonset

I took my my annual trip down to Bosque del Apache NWR this year during the last week of December to coincide with the full “Blue Moon” on December 31/Jan 1.  I often time my trips to coincide with full moons so that I may photograph moon rises and moon sets. The best time to photograph a moon rise is usually  the day before the full moon, as the rising moon will occur  before sunset and allow a nice balance with sunset light. Of course if there are clouds on the eastern horizon, the moon is obscured and that was the case at Bosque this year. The best time to photograph the full moon set is the morning following the full moon or occasionally one morning later. Again the idea is to balance the position of the moon with the pre-sunrise light. Another interesting element that may be present is the earth shadow. In the western US, if the horizons are clear before sunrise or after sunset, the presence of the earth’s shadow  is often visible as a pink and blue band on the horizon opposite the rising or setting sun. The juxtaposition of such an earth shadow with the full moon can make a stunning image, and this was one of the images I was after at Bosque. I was fortunate to have almost perfect conditions on the morning of New Years Day and managed to make the image seen here. A few clouds were present that masked the effect of the earth shadow but  they took on the wonderful  pink glow of pre-sunrise light that photographers love. It was cold enough that a group of Sand Hill Cranes were huddled together with their necks buried in under their wings and their legs actually frozen in the ice. After the sun rose it was quite comical watching them trying to extract themselves and then run and slide across the ice to take off.

New Years day full moon set over the Crane Pools at Bosque del Apache NWR

Sandhill Cranes getting ready to takeoff at Bosque del Apache NWR

Taking another look: finding new images among the old.

In getting ready for the upcoming Colorado College Arts and Craft show I have been revisiting older images in my files looking for new stock to print.  I impose on myself very high standards for images that  I offer  for prints so usually very few selects from a particular trip  ever become  a fine print on paper.   However sometimes  a subsequent look after the passage of time will reveal an image that  deserves to be printed, and in my search for some new images to offer  I did indeed find a few more gems on my hard drives:

Aspen,Willows and Pines, Teton NP, Wyoming

I made this image in Teton National Park in the Fall of 2007.  The soft cloudy afternoon light that made the Autumn colors pop, and the strong composition of layers of grass, willows and aspen make this image worthy of  printing. Enjoy.

Extracting an Image: layers, patterns and colors

One of my favorite places to photograph is Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado. Its a great place to extract natural abstract images  built on patterns, textures, colors and forms. I made this image last Spring and as I  wandered  among the dunes, I was drawn to the patterns of magnetite, illmenite and other dark heavy oxide minerals that are concentrated by  the wind winnowing away the lighter less dense quartz and feldspar grains. These diagonal layers of  dark patches in contrast to the  golden colored layers of rippled sand in the foreground combine to make an interesting  graphic image. A print of this image is currently on display at the Visitor Center in the park.

Memories of Summer: Oklahoma Tall Grass Prairie Sunrise

A blast  of Winter came to Colorado over the last few days; snow, cold and wind. Now I actually like cold and snowy weather; it can provide  beautiful and challenging photography, but my senses  were still accustomed to the wonderful  warm days of Indian Summer in Colorado that were present just days before the storm . This morning, as I scraped the ice off my truck in 16 degree temps, my mind wandered back to my summer excursions, particular to a trip I made in July to Oklahoma when the temperatures went over 100 degrees. On one day I spent a wonderful morning at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in the Osage Hills of Northern Oklahoma and was able to capture a great sunrise. Conditions were perfect with incredible verdant green grass and wonderful clouds in the sky that lit up as the sun hit the horizon. Viewing it certainly warms me up and brings back wonderful memories. Isn’t that why we all make photographs?

Sunrise on the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, Oklahoma