Alpenglow

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 18 Comments

Alpenglow on Resurrection Peaks, Chugach National Forest, near Seward, Alaska.

Alpenglow on Resurrection Peaks, Chugach National Forest, near Seward, Alaska.

This is looking North, directly away from one of the most amazing sunrises I have ever seen in Seward – the same morning of my recent post on sunrise over Resurrection Bay.  This has to be the most dramatic, colorful alpenglow I have ever seen.

I must confess, I have often mis-used the word alpenglow.  Thanks to blog reader Aaron for setting me straight on my welcome home post.  As Aaron pointed out, and further research confirmed, alpengow is the pink glow you see while the sun is still below the horizon.  There can not be a direct path of light from the sun to the mountain.  So that red / orange light shinning on snow caped peaks at the beginning or end of the day isn’t really alpenglow – I have been mis-identifying it for years.  I don’t know what it is called – sweet mountain light I guess.

This is pretty much straight out of the camera.  I added a little contrast to the mid-tones, but I didn’t add any color or saturation.

Orcas, Kenai Fjords National Park

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 12 Comments

Orcas work thier way along the outer coast, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Orcas work their way along the outer coast, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

I captured this photo just before our fall trip – we are now converting and processing images from the end of summer, and from our Fall trip.  I hope to share more here over the next few weeks as we do.

I thought the orcas were cool – but I really liked that rock wall behind them.

Sunrise over Resurrection Bay

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Photos, Travel 11 Comments

Sunrise over Resurrection Bay, Seward, Alaska.

Sunrise over Resurrection Bay, Seward, Alaska.

Like my last post, this was also captured last Sunday morning.  The clouds first started turning pink at 8:30 a.m.  Yesterday’s post was captured at about 9:30.  And, the first light of day wasn’t until after 10:00.  We had hours of amazing light!

This is one of 5 photos that will eventually make up a panoramic.

Winter in Seward

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Photos, Travel 11 Comments

Resurrection River and Mt. Marathon, Seward, Alaska.

Resurrection River and Mt. Marathon, Seward, Alaska.

We have had an amazing stretch of weather combined with some wonderful winter light – I did a lot of photography this weekend!  Here I waded out into the river and got as low as possible.

This is looking South toward Mt. Marathon and the bowl area, a place we spent the night last summer.  You might remember this image from Mt. Marathon looking North from Mt. Marathon down towards the Resurrection River.

Christmas Gift Ideas for Photographers

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 14 Comments

Another photo from Thursday evening of the Chugach National Forest, Seward, Alaska.

Another photo from Thursday evening of the Chugach National Forest, Seward, Alaska.

Update:  I just posted an updated, more extensive list here:  Gift Ideas for Photographers.

I get asked this question a fair amount as friends try to shop for their avid photographer loved one.  It is a tough question to answer because camera gear can be very expensive, and most photographers have fairly strong opinions on photo gear.  So, I thought I would throw out some less expensive, safer options to consider.

Digital frames Most photographers love to share the photos with family and co-workers, and having a  nice  digital frame for the office or home makes a great gift for most any photographer.  I can’t recommend a particular one as I don’t own one, but I have found the buyer feedback on Amazon to be pretty accurate.

Books.   I can’t own enough books, I’m running out of room to store them all.  I have books on particular animal species, books on locations, and books on photography.  Here are some of my favorites:

Outdoor photography

Galen Rowell’s classic book The Inner Game of Outdoor Photography is scheduled for re-release next May.  Until then, this great book by the master is a great read even if some of the information is dated:  Galen Rowell’s Vision: The Art of Adventure Photography

I haven’t seen this book, but know most of the contributors so feel fairly safe in recommending:  The Ultimate Guide to Digital Nature Photography

Location Guides

These can be very helpful and provide a nice running head start for any location.  I like to try to find my own “hot spots”, but there is nothing wrong with getting some help finding the existing ones.  Except for the Oregon book, I have used, enjoyed and relied on these location guides:

Photographing the Southwest: Volume 1–Southern Utah (2nd Ed.)
Photographing the Southwest: Volume 2–Arizona (2nd Ed.)
Photographing the Southwest: Volume 3–Colorado/New Mexico (Photographing the Soutwest)
Photographer’s Guide to Yellowstone and the Tetons
The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite
Photographing Oregon (Phototripsusa)

Animal Reference

Birds – every nature lover should have this valuable resource:  The Sibley Guide to Birds

Bird behavior.  If your photographer already has the Sibley Guide to Birds, this makes a great compliment:  The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior It covers nesting / feeding, all kinds of stuff.

Wolves.  If you like wolves as much as I do, and Denali, then this is a must read:   Wolves Of Denali

Moose.  I wish there was a book like this on every species.  It is very comprehensive, over 700 pages, and parts are technical, but if you have ever wondered something about moose, you can find it here.  I should warn you, books like this don’t come cheap, but Amazon has it for $75:   Ecology and Management of the North American Moose

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Or when all else fails, you can never go wrong with a  B & H gift card.

Resurrection Peaks

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 18 Comments

Resurrection Peaks, Chugach National Forest, near Seward, Alaska.

Resurrection Peaks, Chugach National Forest, near Seward, Alaska.

This was from last night at sunset.  It is probably more accurate to say, yesterday afternoon at sunset – this was a little after 3:00.

Prince William Sound Photo Tour

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 4 Comments

Harriman Glacier, Prince William Sound, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

Harriman Glacier, Prince William Sound, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

Well now that my first two Alaska photo tours are filling, (we have one spot remaining for the Kenai Fjords photo tour, and two spots for the Bear and Puffin photo tour), I thought I would promote my final offering, a photo tour into the amazing Prince William Sound.

Like the Kenai Fjords tour, this is an all inclusive boat based tour into a region of amazing scenery and wonderful wildlife.  This three night, four day tour will be limited to four guests, myself, an incredibly knowledgeable captain, and a cook – and we will have a 58 foot research vessel to spread out on!  We will have access to a Zodiak skiff for shore excursions and hikes, and will overnight in a different remote location each night.  Instead of repeating the amazing details here, you can read much more here:  Prince William Sound photo tour.

Stormy Seward!

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Photos, Travel 9 Comments

Resurrection Bay, Seward, Alaska.

Big waves, high tides and hard winds hit Resurrection Bay yesterday, Seward, Alaska.

These benches sit along a bike trail on the Seward Waterfront.  The bike trail should be visible in the photo, but it is buried under a foot of water, mud and rocks.  This wave actually broke over the tops of the benches, I had to run back to keep dry.  Large rocks were washed up on to the Sealife Center’s parking lot.  The forces of nature are amazing.

I guess we didn’t have it that bad.  According the the Anchorage Daily News, a Coast Guard Station much further West from here measured wind speeds of up to 178 mph!