Archive for the ‘Trees’ Category
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
Snow covered spruce trees in the boreal forest, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska.
Hey Folks,
This photo from my most recent trip to Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve, over the Xmas- New Year. The note below was penned one beautiful evening last winter, by candlelight in a tiny cabin in the Alaska. There’s nothing quite like the silence and the cold of the boreal forest in an Alaskan winter.
The Paradox of Silence and the Cold
Silence is the aural equivalent of stillness. Both appear related to time, or at least our perception of it. Winter in the north seems to be abundant in both. The northern winter, often so harsh and unrelenting, is also the time when the place becomes still and silent. (more…)
Tags: Alaska, boreal forest, Carl Donohue, Landscape features, scenics, Skolai Images, snow, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Alaska, Forests, Landscape features, Trees, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 5 Comments »
Monday, December 7th, 2009
Fall in the boreal forest, aspen tree trunks, Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska
Hey Folks,
A quick visit back to September; the boreal forest is a melange of color in the fall. The vibrancy of the Alaska woods in the fall is a function, perhaps, of the speed at which the dramatic changes take place. The green foliage of summer glimpses the oncoming winter and is gone in the blink of an eye; one last hurrah of color before settling in, nestled beneath the whites of winter.
Cheers
Carl
Tags: Abstracts, Alaska, Aspen, autumn, boreal, Carl Donohue, color, Fall, foliage, forest, images, Landscape features, photos, Skolai Images, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Abstracts, Alaska, Fall, Forests, Trees, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 3 Comments »
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
Camera panning blurs the boles of Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) in Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska.
Hey Folks,
Here’s a follow up to my most recent post of this small aspen stand in Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Aspens aren’t doing so well in the warming climate we’re seeing in the world today. It’s more than a shame, they’re such a magnificent tree. I remember the first time I ever camped beneath the canopy of a stand of aspen, not far off the Resurrection Pass Trail in Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. A quick dinner of pasta and tuna, some cocoa and a Milky Way for dessert, and my sleeping bag called my name; just as I settled in to that beautiful state of semi-consciousness between wakefulness and sleep, those moments when all the world is your friend, a slight breeze rustled through the forest, the indescribable sound instantly hooking my complete attention. (more…)
Tags: Abstracts, Alaska, boles, Carl Donohue, photos, Populus tremuloides, Quaking aspen, Trees, trunks, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Abstracts, Alaska, Fall, Forests, Musings, Trees, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
Quaking aspen, Populus tremuloides, Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska.
Hey Folks,
I was looking through some older images tonight, and found this one from last fall. This is from a little stand of Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) that I’ve photographed a few times. I’d actually been looking for some wildlife to photograph, but was thwarted yet again in my quest, so, as the light faded, I headed for this stand of aspen. I had photographed them a number of times, but never really played with the camera panning technique here before. This was a situation where digital photography was a real help; I could take an image, review the frame on the LCD on the back of the camera, and see what I liked, or disliked, and figure out what I needed to do in order to create the kind of image I was looking for.
Now, generally I don’t post the ‘photo techs’ on images, because I think to do is largely useless information. (more…)
Tags: Abstracts, Alaska, Art, boles, Carl Donohue, creative process, Forests, images, photos, Populus tremuloides, Quaking aspens, Trees, trunks, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Abstracts, Alaska, Art, Fall, Forests, Photography, Tech Stuff, Trees, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 6 Comments »
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
Hey Folks,
As I said in a recent post, on my recent trip to Katmai National Park and Preserve I really hoped to make some images that featured not only the great grizzly bears, but also the awesome fall colors of the boreal forest . The Black Cottonwoods of the area provide the perfect background for photographing grizzly bears, but rarely do photographers seem to combine the 2. Most folks come up to Alaska and shoot the bears in the summer, and I think they’re missing out. The classic shot of a grizzly bear fishing for salmon at Brooks Falls is nice, and only generally possible mid-summer, of course, but there are a lot of other opportunities around in the fall that can be equally exciting. Great fall colors make stunning backdrops, and can really bring a vibrancy to the image. Stepping back, zooming out, and letting the scene dictate the photos is often the key.
In this photo I enjoy the sense of relationship between subject and environment – the dichotomy is largely only a function of our thought processing. The idea that the “environment” is something other than everything is a little peculiar; the subject IS the environment, as equally as the environment is the subject. There is really no difference between the bear and his habitat. (more…)
Tags: Alaska, animals, bears, Brooks River, Brown bears, Carl Donohue, fishing, Grizzly Bears, hunting, images, Katmai, Katmai National Park, Katmai National Park and Preserve, mammals, photos, predators, Ursus arctos, Wildlife
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Fall, Forests, Grizzly Bears, Katmai National Park, Photo Tours, Travel, Trees, Wildlife | 6 Comments »
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
A snow covered spruce tree stands in winter, Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska.
Hey Folks,
Today was pretty dreary weather here in Alaska, so I thought I might go with yesterday’s theme of black and white winter landscapes. I shot this lone snow covered spruce tree one afternoon last January. We had a cold spell, with some gorgeous clear days, and not a breath of air moved.
(more…)
Tags: AK, Alaska, black and white, Carl Donohue, images, Landscape features, photos, scenics, snow, spruce tree, stillness, tree, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Abstracts, Alaska, Landscape features, Musings, Trees, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 7 Comments »
Monday, October 26th, 2009
Mt. Blackburn stands tall to catch the sun’s first rays of alpenglow, high above the Kennicott Valley, early fall, Wrangell – St. Elias National Park, Alaska.
Hey Folks,
I just visited my friend Mark Graf’s great blog, and read with interest his commentary on mountains and the import and grandeur of nature, the role it can play in our lives. Mark prefaces his post with the legendary John Muir, so I’ll do the same:
“Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature’s darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but nature’s sources never fail. – John Muir, Our National Parks, 1901”
While I think it’s a fantastic photo Mark posted, and a great post, (I’d ask that you read it and the comments that follow) I have to be the lone opponent in the discussion here; (more…)
Tags: AK, Alaska, alpenglow, Carl Donohue, color, Fall, images, John Muir, Mark Graf, Mount Blackburn, Mountains, Mt Blackburn, nature, photos, sunrise, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Alaska, Environmental Issues, Fall, Glaciers, Landscape features, Mountains, Musings, People, Rants, Trees, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 9 Comments »
Thursday, October 8th, 2009
Hey Folks,
This one is for my buddy Mark Vail, who I know has to be getting a little homesick right about now. He’s been gone from his home a few days.
“A few days??”, I hear you ask, “that’s nothing!”
Well, sure it is – to most people. But most people don’t have this view by the trail to their crib, either. 
Fireweed Mountain and a perfect reflection in a small pond, right off the McCarthy Road, taken this last fall, on the end of our Skolai Pass photo tour. Inclement weather suggested we fly out a day earlier than planned, and we made the best of the following morning (which was, of course, gorgeous weather) with some fall colors along the McCarthy Road. You might recall some scenes of Fireweed Mountain in the winter I posted in the past.
We commented on the difference between roadside photography and backcountry photography. One noticeable difference is how nice it is to pull up the vehicle at a likely spot, hop out, scout out some compositions and then start photographing, with the doors to the van wide open and some killer tunes from the ole iPod rockin’ our world as we clicked and clicked away. I think we were listening to Emmylou Harris as we shot this, “Where Will I Be”, from Wrecking Ball. Great album!
We actually had a great day shooting, and got some nice images – markedly different to the high open alpine stuff we’d been photographing up at Skolai Pass the day before. The contrast in scenery was fun, and the colors were great.
I’ll try to mix in some more images from that trip here as I go through my new collection of bear photos from the recent Katmai trip.
Cheers
Carl
Tags: AK, Alaska, boreal forest, Carl Donohue, Fall, Fireweed Mountain, images, Landscape features, McCarthy Road, photos, reflections, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Backpacking and Hiking, Fall, Forests, Lakes, Landscape features, Mountains, Travel, Trees, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 8 Comments »
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
Hey Folks,
While I’m out trudging around in the cold and wet mountains, you get to sit home and read about it, and still see the pictures!
This photo was from my recent trip to the north side of Wrangell – St. Elias National Park, off the Nabesna Road. The weather wasn’t super co-operative for grander landscape images, which was a bummer, as there are certainly some grand landscapes to be had in the area. But the weather was good for more intimate scenes, like this one.
The boreal forest is a real treasure, and hiking through it is always a treat. It’s amazing what one can find sometimes – I’v e found everything from moose racks and caribou racks to trekking poles, tent stakes and other trash. But this last trip was a first for me. I found a fully-loaded, good condition large caliber centerfire rifle, with a scope, sitting by a tussock in the forest. I packed it out, and handed it in to the Park Service office, and still haven’t found out exactly what happened as to how the rifle came to be there. Pretty crazy stuff.
Other than my trip was, as always, too brief. Marred by dismal skies, I was really hoping to get some big shots of Mt Sanford, but the mountain was only rarely visible. The final morning of my trip it was out, but distant clouds to the east blocked the sun’s rays from adorning the peak – total bummer. There is a view of the mountain that I think lends itself to as fine a landscape image of grand mountains as any, but I need to put in more time, apparently, to make it happen.
As for the image above, I spend so much of the summer hiking and trekking in the alpine areas of the park that I don’t get to spend the hours in the forest that I would like. The forest is a special place, and I always enjoy my time there. In the fall, it comes alive with color, and this year was grand, for sure. The color seemed to peak around the end of August, and only a few days later had noticeably dropped off. I was lucky to catch it before that happened.
I’ll be back (hopefully) from my next trip with some more landscapes, and then we’ll see what the last 2 weeks of September bring for my trips. At the moment, I’m toying with a few ideas, but haven’t set anything in stone so far. We shall see.
Oh, a side note; this kind of more open boreal forest is often referred to as ‘taiga’, which is a so-called Russian word for ‘little sticks’, expressing the smallish stature of the spruce trees. However, my Russian friend Sergei tells me that in Russia, the word taiga simply means ‘forest’. We’ll have to explore this controversy further and see wherein the truth lies. In the meantime, here’s a quiz; how many various vegetation species can you see here, and what are they (Mark Vail you go last)?
Cheers
Carl
Tags: AK, Alaska, autumn, boreal forest, Carl Donohue, colors, dwarf birch, forest, photos, spruce trees, taiga, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Alaska, Fall, Forests, Landscape features, Travel, Trees, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 2 Comments »
Saturday, April 18th, 2009
Hey Folks,
The boreal forest, winter. Spruce trees covered in snow, near McCarthy, Wrangell – St. Elias National Park, Alaska.
Cheers
Carl
Tags: Alaska, boreal forest, Carl Donohue, Landscape features, photos, scenics, snow, spruce trees, taiga, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Alaska, Forests, Landscape features, Trees, Winter, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | No Comments »
