Skolai Images

Hey Folks,

I was going to write tonight about another company that I’ve had great dealings with, and do a little plug for them, but I’ve changed my mind. The news has been all about the Exxon Valdez case, so maybe I’ll make a few notes here about this subject. For those of you who haven’t been following it (and I haven’t followed this latest round too closely), the US Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments from Exxon and the plaintiffs, folks from the the Prince William Sound, Alaska area, specifically concerning punitive damages. I’m no lawyer, so my comments are worth the price you’re paying to read them - but I’ll share them here regardless.

In late March 1989 the Exxon Valdez oil tanker dumped nearly 11 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound. These estimates come largely from simple math - 53 million (the number of gallons originally onboard), minus what was later reclaimed from the vessel equalled 10.8 million gallons missing, i.e., spilled. Many watch groups argue these estimates, though widely accepted, are underreported, because much of the oil recovered from the ship was diluted with sea water. The accident occurred, investigations found, primarily because the ship’s captain was drunk and sleeping at the time. (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

Here’s an image loooking south towards the eastern edge of the Chugach Mountains, in Wrangell - St. Elias National Park. The glacial moraine in the foreground is the edge of the Kennecott Glacier. I’d hoped to get up to Kennecott early this particular morning and catch some alpenglow on Mount Blackburn, which I did, but a pesky cloud obscured the very peak of the mountain, and I need get back there and reshoot the images. It was kinda frustrating, to be sure, catching a magnificent peak like Blackburn (16 390′ high) in awesome light, before dawn, glowing magenta and red, and not quite be able to see the peak. I’ve made 3 attempts so far, once it was completely clouded in, this time, and the last time it as minus 45deg F - the snowmachine I borrowed wouldn’t start - well, after it DID start, via a preheater (hairdryer plugged into a generator-powered AC socket) and an extra battery, warmed in my cabin the night before, it took 30 minutes just to get it warmed up enough to turn the tracks, by which time I’d missed the light I was looking for. Maybe sometime soon I’ll get another crack at it - the last week or 2 every morning was overcast enough that I knew Blackburn wouldn’t be visible.

Hopefully I’ll be back in the park soon, and get to do some more shooting.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks

Well, it’s been a nervous last few days, but here I am in Anchorage. I managed, through sheer luck, to get all the way back to town with no real drama. A little tweaking of cables and a lot of grace, and my van started, and drove me and my buddy Charlie and his 2 dogs, Keba and Musa, all the way back to Anchorage. I’m still in a little bit of shock. My van seems to have some kind of mystery virus, that nobody is able to diagnose. There’s a possibility, one mechanic told me, that it’s as simple as 2 cables poorly soldered together. Which 2 remains anyone’s guess.

I’ll be here (hopefully only) a few days, and then head back to the cabin. (more…)

hey Folks

Well, I’m back in the woods, living the quiet life. This image is from a trip I made up to kennecott a few weeks back, hoping to get a nice morning shot of Mt. Blackburn. I had no luck with Blackburn, so I shot Donoho Peak, instead, along with various other images. This is Root Glacier in the foreground.

It’s been pretty cold here the last few days, so I haven’t spent much time on the computer .. the owners of the house are away, and so the house has no heat. I come over, check my email, (solar power!) and head back to my cabin. Today I turned on a little propane heater, which I’m nearly sitting on, and it’s still freezing! The days are unbelievably clear, but it’s way cold. What’s most frustrating to me is how nothing seems to work well in the cold. The tripod legs stick, the camera fogs up ( I couoldn’t even read the historgram yesterday), ad infinitum.I can’t imagine what it must be like trying to start and deal with an automobile.

I’m heading back to the cabin to get warm.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

OK, here’s another trivia; these 2 mountains, Mt Drum on the left and Mt Sanford on the right, are volcanic mountains. Mt Sanford is a shield volcano. Shield volcanos are the result of low viscosity lava flows (free flowing) that build up over time - the lava flows and flows, hardens, flows, etc, and the mountains gradually grow. They tend to have a lower profile with shallow, kind of sloping sides .. they become broader mountains, typically, and are sometimes mistaken to be entire mountain ranges.
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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,

Here’s an image I took one of my first afternoons in the park this last time. I headed out from the cabin around 2pm, and took this maybe 45 minutes later.I was back in the cabin by 4pm, well after sunset had faded. The days are getting longer now, and I’m keen to spend some more time poking around the hills seeing what I can find. Hopefully we’ll get some more snow soon, as a few windy nights had blown most of it off the trees and shrubs right before I left. Most of the snow, it seemed, landed on the road, making the drive out somewhat, uhhmm, memorable.

The mountain on the left is Porphyry Mountain, which rises above McCarthy, and that is the tip of Sourdough Peak off in the background, which lies southeast of McCarthy, overlooking the Nizina River before it enters the Chitina River. Sourdough Peak is the one I posted a photo of the rock glacier from recently. The riverbed I’m looking over here is the Kennecott River.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

My humble abode. This is after I shovelled all the snow off the roof. There’s about another 6-9 inches of snow on the roof already!

The original part of the shed is the part covered by the sloping roof. The porches, the flatter roofed sections, were add-ons later. The main area is probably 14′ x 16′ or thereabouts. There’s a little platform, like a loft in the roof, which really warms up when I’ve had the fire running. I’ve been doing a few little add-ons here and there myself, mostly with just odd bits and pieces of timber I find laying around, in my downtime, here’s a look at the new Shaq, a la Carl style:
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Hey Folks,

Here’s a closer look at the same mountains, Mount Drum, Mount Sanford, Mount Zanetti and Mount Wrangell. This is a panoramic image - click on the single frame and will open the full size photo for you - the finished photo is I think 8 horizontal frames stitched together in Photoshop - which means this sucker will print up H-U-G-E! Hopefully this does the view some form of justice.

Cheers

Carl