Skolai Images

hey Folks,

I promised my buddy Ron I’d post this. Hey Ron!

This is a wild lynx, from Wrangell St. Elias, photographed this last winter. I was pretty lucky to get this. I couldn’t believe my luck when I spotted this gorgeous cat, and hoped and prayed I’d get a photo. The lynx obliged me. I wish, of course, the image wasn’t quite so cluttered, particularly his little white beard created by the snow-covered branch in the foreground, but it’s the first photo I ever got of a lynx, so I’m happy enough, I reckon. He let me fire a few a frames, and then bounded off into the brush.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

Here’s a photo I took a little over a month back, of Long Lake, off the McCarthy Rd. You can see what happens if you get to close here; the last photographer obviously tried a little too hard to push the boundaries. This lake freeze over, except for this small outflow at the western end of the lake, and another small section on the northside of the lake, where a spring bubbles into the lake, and keeps the surface from freezing. That section is a spawning ground for salmon all through the winter, even into April, and is one of the latest spawning areas in Alaska. The winter spawn is an important food source for a lot of animals in the area, including lynx, wolves, wolverines, raven, mink, marten, foxes and coyotes and more.

Won’t be long now until the lake thaws and the waterfowl settle in. Loons nest here every summer, so I hope I’ll get to photograph some of them soon enough.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

Here’s a photo of part of a small herd of caribou I ran across in Wrangell - St. Elias National Park a few days ago. I visited the north side of the park briefly, before having to head to Anchorage for a week. The north side of the park is so different to the middle and southern side I’ve spent most of the winter on so far (I say ‘winter so far’ because we’re currently in the middle of a predicted 2′ dumping of snow - which, in my book, means winter isn’t over). I my trip up to the northside, coming to the park from Nabesna Rd, has me all fired up already to spend some more time there both this summer and the fall and winter .. I think wildlife are more prevalent on the northside - I saw moose and caribou on one afternoon .. lots of caribou, probably over 300 in a few hours, scattered along the way in bands of between 20 and 50. They’re super skittish though, and difficult to photograph. I spent the better part of an afternoon trying to get close enough for some decent photos, with little luck. This band I found out on a still ice-covered lake, and with a little patience (on my part) and a lot of luck (on my part) and much tolerance (on their part) I managed a few photos. The light was awesome. (more…)

Hey folks,

Here’s a quick one from the road. Taken last night. The aurora borealis, or northern lights, as it’s commonly called, is absolutely the most mystical, magical, unbelievable thing I’ve ever witnessed, and dare say ever will. I’ll write more on the lights later, but here’s a quick recount of my experience last night (or 2 nights).

I was headed to the north side of the park, during the evening, (more…)

Hey Folks,

Well, I was going to try to set this up

So another off-the-wall post here; how would you expect anything other?

Another of my little projects this winter was to learn to play the Native American Indian Flute. I thought it might be nice having an instrument I could backpack and hike with during the summer, and I was also concerned about having a guitar in the cabin this winter, with the crazy low temperatures not being friendly to a delicate and expensive guitar (I ended up bringing my acoustic guitar, a Martin J-18, out to the cabin with me anyway - more on that later). I bought the flute in late January, a flute handmade out of walnut, in the key of E. It’s awesome. I’ve been playing it nearly every day, often for hours at a time.

Playing a wind instrument is SO different to playing guitar .. I never pay attention to my breathing when playing guitar, and yet it’s almost the ONLY thing to give attention to on a wind instrument - learning the difference between ‘blowing’ and ‘breathing’ makes the world of difference to tone and depth.

Lately I’ve found playing a few notes and riffs is a nice way to say ‘thanks’ to the mountains after I’ve done some photography .. so I usually get to my spot, pick out some compositions I want, play the flute while I wait for the light to really glow, then when I’m done, I play a few simple tunes to thank the landscape. It’s a treat for me to hear the flute amidst such scenery.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

So spring’s finally here, and summer’s just around the corner. Well, so thought the trumpeter swans, anyway. They headed north, arrived, and trumpeted the standard ‘What The Heck?” when they saw ice everywhere.

This family of 4 trumpeter swans were amongst the first to arrive - good flyers, I expect, as I doubt they took a shortcut. I’m sure they’re about as keen as I am for the ice and snow to melt and some warmer weather. I was surprised to see a couple of youngsters with them - what a way to start your life, a crazy migration thousands of miles north (more…)

Hey Folks,

“Oh, break up is early”, they said. “Spring’s here!” they cried. “Summer’s on the way”, they projected. Well, it was about 15 degrees Fahrenheit this morning, and that didn’t factor in the wind chill. Winds in the vicinity of, oh, I dunno, say around 200mph, blowing straight out from under the polar ice cap, I’m led to believe. And here’s me trying to snowshoe across one of the great lakes to take some pictures!

Well, fool me once, for about 5 minutes, but I’m not THAT stupid. Uh uh, no sir, not me. This little vegemite turned tail, and (more…)

Hey Folks,

Here’s one I shot yesterday. As winter comes to an end, the hares are hungrier than ever, which means I get to see them a little more. This one is just starting to change his coat back to the brown summer coat. You can see the black tips on the ears, which don’t go white, even in the mid of winter. As winter goes along, the hares get hungrier and hungrier - there is not a lot of fodder for them once the snow covers everything. You can see the willow branch this one was nibbling on when I found him. The hares eat the bark right off the saplings .. (more…)

hey Folks,

Sorry about the delay .. no internet access in the cabin. We do have fresh snow on the ground, after a good dusting all day long, and more on the way tonight, it appears.

Nothing really new to tell - I’ve been trying to shoot some night-time photos, start trails, to no avail. Digital really sucks for that.

Thanks for all the comments in the interim, I need more computer time to reply to all of them. For now, just ‘thanks’.

If you haven’t read ‘The practice of the wild’, by Gary Snyder, check it out. Great book!

I’ll try to get something more postworthy up soon.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

I stumbled across this article earlier today, and thought it might be a good topic for a post. The subject is conservation photography, rather than typical nature photography. “Although nature photography can appeal to a viewer’s aesthetic sensibilities, the truth is that photography has much more potential to play a role in conservation than has yet been realized. When photographic skills, creative talent and scientific understanding converge on a subject the outcome can be powerful.”

I think it’s a great article, and an important one, but I think it’s simultaneously important that we remain aware of the capacity in which photography can harm our, as well as our audience’s relationship with the natural world. (more…)