Whale Tails and Travel Plans

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 7 Comments

Humpback Whale Tail, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Humpback Whale Tail, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

This was one of two whales who put on an amazing show for us last week.  When they weren’t breaching, they were swinging their tails back and forth throwing lots of water around!  It was awesome!

We have been watching for an opportunity to head back down to the Vancouver area to add summer coverage to the Vancouver photos we captured last winter.  Well the forecast shows most of Alaska receiving rain for the next week, while the Vancouver area looks like a week of sun.  We started looking for bargains and thanks to Priceline, buses and frequent flier miles, we were able to put together an inexpensive, very last minute trip.  We threw this together on Sunday!

I scheduled this post in advance so that it would be posting while we are on the plane flying south.  It is going to be a busy, whirlwind week in which we will spend time in Vancouver, Whistler and Victoria!  Probably won’t get much sleep, but hoping for lots of photography!  I usually post updates from the road, and will do my best on this trip as well.

Steller Sea Lions

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 4 Comments

Steller Sea Lion, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Steller Sea Lion, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Another photo from my recent trip.  It was nice to watch these guys in the evening when they are far more active.  I was using a bit of fill flash with my telephoto – this helped illuminate the teeth and mouth.

Breaching Humpback Whale

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 17 Comments

Breaching Humpback Whale photo, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Breaching Humpback Whale photo, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

I know it is late to be posting to the blog tonight, but I just got in from a wonderful overnight trip to Northwestern Fjord in Kenai Fjords National Park, and was excited to share this photo.

What a sight to see!  A photo just doesn’t do this experience justice, as it is unable to communicate the powerful sounds and energy created when an animal the size of a school bus, rises out of the ocean and then splashes back down in a huge wave of water.  This is really cool to see up close!

This is full frame with my 100-400 at 400.  I was shooting with an ISO of  640 because I needed all the shutter speed I could get on this cloudy day.  This gave me a shutter speed of 1/2000 at f/5.6.  The hard part is locating the whale, framing and focusing while it is still out of the water.

Here are more whale photos.

More Harding Icefield

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 11 Comments

Janine stopping to admire the scenery at the half-way point of the Harding Icefield Trail, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Janine stopping to admire the scenery at the half-way point of the Harding Icefield Trail, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Replace the name Janine with hiker, and that is the caption that may accompany this photo one day if it is ever published.  A more accurate caption would be; Janine stopping, then moving a bit to the left, then coming a little towards me so that I can see her shoes, then turning slightly towards the mountain…well you get the idea.  She is always a great sport when it comes to posing.

Here is a better description of the Harding Icefield Trail

Janine crossing a snow field near the end of the trail.  It is hard to see in this photo, but there is acutally a big drop off 30 feet past Janine.  Notice the dirty snow - that is thanks to this winter's volcanic activity.

Janine crossing a snow field near the end of the trail. It is hard to see in this photo, but there is actually a big drop off 30 feet past Janine. Notice the dirty snow – that is thanks to this winter’s volcanic activity.

Exit Glacier Fog

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 6 Comments

Looking down Exit Glacier from the Harding Icefield, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Looking down Exit Glacier from the Harding Icefield, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

This is sunset from my recent overnight trip to the Harding Icefield.

Over the last few months I have been photographing and posting images from the Seward area, most of which were captured within the 10 mile or so section you see in this image.  The largest mountain on the right is Mt. Alice, probably my single most photographed subject.  Below Mt Alice, covered in fog, is the seaside town of Seward, the town we are proud to call home.  The valley between Exit Glacier and Mt. Alice is the Resurrection River Valley – a beautiful valley I love to drive or ski through, and the source of endless photographic inspiration.  And finally there is Exit Glacier and the Kenai Fjords National Park.

Harding Icefield

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 10 Comments

Harding Icefield, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Janine overlooking the Harding Icefield, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

We just got in from an overnight trip to the Harding Icefield via the Harding Icefield trail – I sure love that place on a beautiful day!

Much like a river flowing from a lake, here the ice is flowing from out of the icefield down to the left in what becomes Exit Glacier.

Coyote, Chugach National Forest

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 10 Comments

Coyote, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

Coyote, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

I spotted and photographed  this coyote last night – I think it was the same one I often spotted while skiing last winter.

Shortly after finding him, the coyote found a spruce grouse family with very small chicks.  The mother spruce grouse did an amazing broken wing acting job the the coyote compelty was fooled by.  The coyote took off chasing the mother bird some distance down the road, and she managed to stay enticingly close, but just out of reach.  Unfortunatly one the the chicks froze motionless right in the middle of the road!  I went and stood by the chick  so that it wouldn’t get hit by any passing vehicles.  Eventually, it moved back into the forest.  Nature sure can be fascinating to watch!

Vegas and Valley of Fire

Ron Niebrugge Las Vegas, Nevada, Photos, Travel 9 Comments

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

Janine in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

This is a larger version of a photo I posted here last winter – I think this has got to be one of the most amazing geological features I have ever stumbled across.

I posting this again as a lead in to say Janine is done updating our main website with photos from our winter travels, and we now have updated sections for Valley of Fire State Park, and Las Vegas.