Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category
Monday, May 3rd, 2010
Male grizzly bear, brown bear photo, (Ursus arctos) Katmai National Park, Alaska. Please click on the thumbnail to view a larger version of the photo.
Hey Folks,
Just a quick note here to say if you can, check out this online radio interview Tuesday, May 4, 2010, at 9pm EST. I’ll be talking with photographers Greg Downing and E.J. Peiker, of Naturescapes.net, and host Dave Warner, from Lensflarelive. It should be a lot of fun to do, and hopefully interesting and useful as well. I know I’m excited about it, Greg and EJ are great photographers whom I’ve admired for a long time, and it’ll be nice to talk with them.
Well be talking about wilderness photography, backpacking and hiking and photographing, as well as some environmental/conservation topics that might be relevant to nature photography. Greg also had the idea of present a few images online and we can discuss those and present a little more context about the work. I’m not really sure all of what we’ll talk about yet, but the show is open to call in, and it’d be great to hear from you on air. Hopefully the conversation will be interesting.
The broadcast can be heard live here. If you miss the show, it will be edited and available as a podcast soon after – I’ll add a link to this post when that becomes available.
I hope you enjoy the show,
Cheers
Carl
Tags: Alaska, Brown bears, E.J. Peiker, Greg Downing, Grizzly Bears, interviews, Katmai National Park, Lensflare, Photography, radio, Ursus arctos, wilderness
Posted in Alaska, Art, Cool stories, Environmental Issues, Grizzly Bears, Katmai National Park, News, Photography, Social Media, Wildlife | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
Bull Elk bugling, Jasper National Park, Canada.
![]( "Non-profit Free version.")
Hey Folks,
I had another photo request for free use of my images today; they come in pretty regularly, it seems, particularly for wildlife and landscape photography. We nature lovers obviously love what we do, and so must have a desire to give our work away for free. How can we not?
I’ll be the first to admit it folks; these are tough times, for buyers and sellers alike. There’s no denying that truth. I thought I’d try to find some kind of compromise here. I always like to develop a relationship with someone who may potentially pay for my work, and I also wanted to help these people out – theirs is a just and worthwhile cause. And hey, maybe helping these folks out might provide the impetus for some real economic activity in the world? I hoped to do my bit to help the economy get rolling, my own little stimulus plan, if you will (I still can’t believe the government got away with labeling theirs a ‘stimulus package‘). At the same time, I didn’t really want to give away my work for free. What to do?
I tried to explain to the person on the phone; I listened closely, and sympathized – “yes, I realize you’re a non-profit organization, but my business, on the other hand, is NOT a non-profit“. This didn’t clarify things, apparently.
A different tact: ”Well, you see, my rent doesn’t go down according to the charity work that your business does, and the food I eat doesn’t become free simply because I did a good deed for the day“. We got nowhere. (more…)
Tags: Alberta, bull elk, Canada, Carl Donohue, Jasper National Park, licensing, photos, stock photo business, Wildlife
Posted in Canada, Elk, Photo business., Photography, Rants, Wildlife | 8 Comments »
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
A tourist hiker stands beside the shores of Moraine Lake and watches people canoeing on the lake The grand scenery of Moraine Lake and the Wenkchemna Peaks, or 10 Peaks at Moraine Lake make the area a popular tourist destination for hiking, canoeing, photography and adventures. Hiker, Moraine Lake, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. Click the image to see how good I look in red.
hey Folks
I was scanning through some images recently and stumbled on to this one. Here’s me in stunning mauve at Moraine Lake, Banff National Park, in Alberta Canada.
Most photographers know how much difference putting a person or 2 in the photo can make to the salability of an image. And adding some color makes a difference as well.
But the image must tell a story. For stock photography, the more generic the story might be, the more possible different uses it might have. This could be a tourist, a hiker, someone lost, a photographer, etc. It could even be someone advertising Arcteryx jackets.
But the real story of this photo, for me, is my first time to Moraine Lake. I spend a whole day just soaking up the grandeur of this place. I can think of very few places that are so simply pretty as the Canadian Rockies. They’re almost picture perfect. Many other places have a wonder all their own, and I’d never forsake the wildness of Wrangell – St. Elias National Park, for example, for the Canadian Rockies. But for sheer ‘hop out of the car and be amazed’ classical mountain beauty, the Canadian Rockies have it going on.
I’d been to Jasper National Park a few times, photographing wildlife there. I’d driven through Banff in order to get to Jasper. And I’d thought to myself ‘wow, Banff is pretty’ more than once. But the first time I drive up to Moraine Lake, got out the car and walked over to the lake, it just floored me. I walked along the lake’s edge, and sat and stared at everything. At the detail or these incredible peaks above me, the silence of the montane forest, and that water. That amazing water. It just absolutely blew me away.
They day was cloudy, it was early in the summer, and few people were around; those that were had taken rental canoes out on the lake, and I had the shoreline pretty much to myself. So I just sat and soaked it in. If you ever go to Banff National Park, and I recommend that you do, at least once in your life, give yourself plenty of time up at Moraine Lake. It takes time just to see it – you can’t stand at the overlook, glance around, and see it all. give yourself a day, and embrace the place. Your life will be richer for it.
More photos of Banff National Park.
Cheers
Carl
Tags: Alberta, Banff National Park, Canada, Carl Donohue, hiking, Moraine Lake, Skolai Images, tourist
Posted in Adventures, Backpacking and Hiking, Banff National Park, Canada, Lakes, Landscape features, Mountains, People, Photography, Travel | 4 Comments »
Sunday, March 7th, 2010
A young brown bear (Ursus arctos) walks through a stream hunting for spawning Sockeye Salmon. Grizzly bear, or coastal brown bear, Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Please click the image for a larger version of the photo.
Hey folks
5-6 more weeks and the bears are running around the woods again!!!
I’ll be in the woods for the coming week, but I thought I’d post a brown bear photo, and schedule a couple of other blog posts for while I’m gone.
Catching this young blonde colored brown bear in some nice light was quite a treat. That’s the benefit of spending time in the field. Most wildlife photography, it seems, is done in places where the subject is pretty much a given; places like Homer for bald eagles, Yellowstone for elk, Churchill for polar bears, and Katmai National Park and Preserve for grizzly bears, or brown bears. So what makes the differernce? Light. (more…)
Tags: Alaska, Carl Donohue, Grizzly Bears, Katmai National Park, Skolai Images, Wildlife
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Grizzly Bears, Katmai National Park, Photo Tours, Photography, Wildlife | 1 Comment »
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
A bald eagle headshot, silhouetted against a glowing sunset, Kachemak Bay, Homer, Alaska. Click the image to view a larger version of the photo.
Hey Folks,
I read a great blog on art yesterday, by Paul Grecian. The subject was a play on the aural equivalent of the old adage, ‘if a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it does it make a sound’. Paul takes the viewpoint that art is a human pursuit, and exists only when it has a human audience. “If there is no human to perceive it and translate the experience into an emotion, then there is no art” - I’m not so sure I subscribe to that idea, for a number of reasons.
I think art is a verb; art is something we do. The results of that process might be nice to look at, or not, or nice to listen to, but the essence of art is creating. The act of creating is where art lies, not the products of that process. And we are not at all the sole creators. An American Tree Sparrow calling the tune of the alpine country is as artful as Joshua Bell playing a Beethoven concerto. The dance of the Japanese Red Crowned Crane is glorious. A Bower bird’s building her nest? The song of the wolf pack over the frozen night air is as spell-binding as Aretha or Stevie on a good day, no? What distinguishes human art from the performances of our fellow creatures, other than our own ability (and endeavours) to relate to it?
Art is essentially play. (more…)
Tags: Alaska, Art, bald eagle, Birds, Carl Donohue, humans, nature, silhouette, Skolai Images, Wildlife
Posted in Abstracts, Alaska, Art, Birds, Musings, Photography, Sunsets | 13 Comments »
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Skolai Pass, the north end; Sunset over Skolai Pass, Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Please click the image to view a larger version of the photo.
Hey Folks,
Skolai Pass has rocked into March 2010. This month’s edition of backpacker magazine, which I wrote about earlier, has a full page image of mine from Hole in the Wall, accompanying an article about hiking the Goat Trail. And this month’s edition of Popular Photography includes another photo from Skolai Pass by photographer Doug Roane, taken on one of last year’s Skolai Pass Photo Tours. Check out a large version of Doug’s amazing photo here. Better yet, take 15 minutes and browse the collection of images on Doug’s website. Awesome stuff!
Skolai Pass, the south end; Waterfalls overlooking Skolai Pass and Russell Glacier - Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, AK. For a gorgeous larger version, visit Doug's website at www.dougroanephotography.com
Doug’s photo was voted 2nd place in the March “Your Best Shot” competition. Huge congratulations Doug, a recognition well-earned. (more…)
Tags: Alaska, Carl Donohue, Doug Roane, Landscape features, photo tour, scenics, Skolai Images, Skolai Pass, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Cool stories, Glaciers, Landscape features, Mountains, News, Photo Tours, Photography, Waterfalls, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 2 Comments »
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Miles from Facebook; Ross Green Lake, fall, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Please click the image to view a larger version of the photo.
Hey Folks,
Remember this post a few months ago, comparing Facebook with Walmart? In that post I pointed out that Facebook had more than 300 million registered users. Well, now, just 4 months later, Facebook has over 400 million registered users, and in January apparently surpassed Yahoo in traffic numbers, making Facebook the 2nd most heavily visited website in the US. Google, of course, is #1 (Skolai Images is #5 or 6, depending on if update the blog or not). But yes, that’s right, Facebook is now bigger than Yahoo. Until 2008, Yahoo was the #1 website in the world. News article here.
Google apparently love their #1 ranking, and have just released Google Buzz – if you haven’t already, you might want to click on my Buzz profile, (more…)
Tags: Alaska, Carl Donohue, facebook, Fall, Google buzz, Landscape features, Ross Green lake, scenics, Skolai Images, Social Media, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Alaska, Landscape features, Miscellaneous, Musings, News, Photography, Social Media, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 3 Comments »
Friday, January 8th, 2010
Dawn rising over Mount Blackburn, elevation – 16,390 feet (4,996 M), winter, Wrangell – St. Elias National Park, Alaska. Click the image to see a larger version and to browse the rest of the gallery.
Hey Folks,
I thought I might make a blog post, the first for the new year, with a quick presentation of my favorite images from the past year. Not necessarily a “best of”, but just a collection of 12 images, one from each month, each of which mean something to me. Some of these have appeared on the blog before, some have not.
The first one is my favorite image of Mt. Blackburn I’ve taken so far, taken one cold morning a year ago. One of the primary reasons I wanted to spend winter in the McCarthy area was this particular scene. I knew the mountain would get great light in the winter, though I’d only viewed it from here in the summer previously. During the summer the great light is on the northside of mountains here in Alaska, so I’d never really viewed this scene in the great alpenglow you see here. A couple of winters in a cabin in the woods rewarded me in many ways, and I consider this image a nice memory of those days. Good times.
The 2nd photo (more…)
Tags: 2009 review, Alaska, bears, Birds, Carl Donohue, Moose, National Park and Preserve, photos, scenics, Wildlife, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Adventures, Alaska, Glaciers, Katmai National Park, Landscape features, Mountains, Musings, Photography, Reviews, Skiing, Snowboarding, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 15 Comments »
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
Looking down from a great height at some of the amazing escarpments in the St. Elias Mountain Range, Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Hey Folks,
Have you ever thought about climbing the 2nd highest mountain in the US, the 2nd highest mountain in Canada, the 3rd highest mountain in North America, the mountain with the greatest vertical relief of any mountain in the world so you can ski from top to bottom? From 18 008′ to the sea? If so, this movie’s for you. Mount St. Elias. 2 Austrian mountaineers and an American freeski mountaineer set out to run the “ultimate vertical descent” – 18 000 of skiing from the summit of Mount St. Elias to the sea, to Icy Bay. Pretty amazing stuff to watch, I can’t begin to imagine what that kind of endeavor must be like.
“If you want to achieve something great, you have to risk more than usual – that’s the way it is.” — (Axel Naglich) (more…)
Tags: Aerial Photos, Carl Donohue, Elias, films, images, Landscape features, Mount, Mount St. Elias, Mountains, movies, Mt. St. Elias, photos, Saint, scenics, Skolai Images, snow, St., Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Wrangell St. Elias
Posted in Abstracts, Aerial Photos, Alaska, Cool stories, Landscape features, Mountains, News, Photography, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park | 3 Comments »
