Skolai Images

Hey Folks,

A recent thread on global warming and other environmental issues posed the question: “Are we having fun yet?” What a fantastic question to ask of ourselves in the year 2008. This question hit me square between the eyes; that’s really the issue here, isn’t it, I thought. That’s exactly what’s going on. Recent years have given more people more access to more goods and services, more art, more sport, more information, even to more other people, than ever before. With the internet we have access to the entire world at our fingertips. I can learn about almost anything in a matter of minutes. I can order plated Patagonian Alpaca Wool rugs in a few seconds, with the click of a mouse. I can order Goat’s Milk chocolate from Israel in the time it takes me to write this sentence. Figuratively, we have everything, literally we have more than anyone has ever had before. We live, in every sense of the word, in a time of abundance. And yet we seem bent on ‘more’. Why aren’t we happy yet, I wondered. (note: before you read on, this gets kinda long) (more…)

Hey Folks

So one morning when I couldn’t catch the apparently fugacious Mt Blackburn - shrouded by cloud, it’s ironic that such a magnificent and colossal mountain might be so clandestine. Yet so often, that’s exactly what these mountains are; shy, reclusive, and hard to photograph. So I turned my lens toward the ground, shot a few abstracts like this one, of a snow-covered glacial moraine. I really liked the curves and the play of Shadows & Light (a “must have” album, Shadows and Light, by Joni Mitchell, the band is one of the greatest assortment of musicians ever to tour together!). I knew when I took the photo I’d convert it to black and white, as there was little color in the original, though the shadows do take on a nice blue hue.

Moraines definitely look WAY prettier in the winter, covered with fresh snow.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

A simple abstract of a tree trunk and branch, with a little snow. So, what kinda tree is this?

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

Happy New Year!

This photo is from Moose Meadows, in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. I took this in fall 2007, on the trip through the Canadian and North American Rockies with my mum and dad.

All the best for 2008.

Cheers

Carl
Banff National Park Photos.

hey Folks,

I’m a little tired, so I’ll make this brief. This image is of a rock form called “Cara del Indio”, which translates to english as “Face of the Indian” - because the rock form resembles the profile of face of a wizened old Indian; the native people of this area were the Mapuche, who were mostly wiped out by the Spanish Conquistadors. The word “Futaleufu” by the way, is a Mapuche word that translates as “Big Water”, and yes indeed, the Futaleufu River is Big Water. Chile.

Cheers

Carl

PS - Oh, I should’ve added: this feature is just before Mundaca. Generally rafting trips will pull over on to a small beach below Cara del Indio, have a quick rest, and the guides will go over the plan for running Mundaca - it also allows the safety boats, like the cataraft and a kayaker or 2, to get ahead and set up for safety, if needed.

Hey Folks,

I know, I know .. I promised yesterday’s post would be the last of this series, but I changed my mind. This is another image of some ice forms on the Kennicott Glacier. I really was hoping to get some nice abstracts of the deep blue glacial ice so common in this kind of landscape, and so totally missing from my files. It took me quite a bit of clambering around (before my injury, of course), and fiddling with my tripod so that I could get this particular composition, but I was glad I did. There was this huge chunk of hanging ice right above me (more…)

Hey Folks,

Here’s another photo from my recent trip to the Wrangells. This is a photo of a couple of chunks of ice. I spent quite a bit of time right around this little area, watching the light - it’s amazing how much it changes in a very short time in the winter here. I found some great pieces of ice and chunks and walls and all kinds of cool stuff. If it had been summer, I wouldn’t have been able to cross the river and lake to get to this part of the glacier. (more…)

Hey Folks

I made it back to Anchorage, at long last. What a debacle that was! After countless hours, and even more countless dollars, my van is up and running, just like it was when it left here. And we’re not really any the wiser as to what the problem may have been. It could’ve been the PCM board (kind of like the mother board computer for the vehicle), but it just as easily could’ve been a $15.00 relay (like a fuse). Or, it could’ve been something completely different, sitting in wait to strike again at some untimely moment. It (the van) suddenly started running fine, and nobody knows why. The joys of electrical components and cars and computers, all together!!! I’ll be pretty stressed out driving around for a while. Ugghh!!

This is another photo from the trip - the first one I took, actually. I saw the ice had started to form on this little creek, and wandered over to see what I could see. (more…)