Photo Blog - Niebrugge Images

Seward Boat Harbor, Alaska.

This was from earlier in the week - at 4:30 in the morning!

These fireworks at the end of an Arizona Diamondback’s game in Phoenix this spring is about the closest thing I have to a 4th of July photo! 

Font’s Point, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

We have been working our way through the adjusting, key-wording and finally adding our photos from our last trip to our website.  We just updated our section of Anza-Borrego photos from our time spent there this spring.

We now have a lot of coverage of this beautiful desert, too bad few people outside of Southern California have heard of the place.  Heck, I come across people in So Cal who haven’t heard of it - but then again, the relatively low visitors numbers is one of the things I like about the place.

A white colored black bear near Skagway, Alaska.  These white colored bears are also known as Kermode, Spirit or Ghost Bears.

Certainly one of my highlights last summer was spotting and photographing this rare bear.  You may have remembered me writing about it here:  Spirit Bear.   The local residents were so excited to have such a rare bear around, that they lobbied and convinced the State Board of Game to pass a law protecting the taking of a white black bear. (more…)

Last night at about 10:00, just two short days after offering my deal, I got the call I had been waiting for - Wolverine!  Not only that the excited caller said, but there were three of them, and they were in my front yard! (more…)

An engine from the Alaska Railroad in Seward, Alaska.

Everyday I drive by the train parked next to this beautiful field of lupine, I tell myself I need a photo of that scene before the lupine blooms out.  Well today I finally made the time to capture a photograph.

A little black bear in Seward, Alaska.  (more…)

Killer whale outside of Seward, Alaska.

I liked how the only sun light to been seen anywhere around just happened to be illuminating this giant whale. 

Here are more Kenai Fjords photos.

Another look at the beautiful Kenai coast outside of Seward, Alaska.

You can see why this area is a challenging, but amazing place to kayak.  Not only do you often have rough seas, but getting to shore can be pretty tough in many areas.  But what a place to explore up close!

There in an extensive book written on Kenai Fjords National Park titled A Stern and Rock-Bound Coast.  Seems like an appropriate name!

This was also from Monday night.  I liked how a little bit of sun was lighting up the green hillside - it almost made it glow.

Breaching Orca from Monday.

I would have liked to have been able to compose this a little tighter, but fortunately there was a pretty nice background!

Here are more whale photos.

Humpback whale outside of Seward, Alaska. (more…)

One of my favorite places to stay in Denali, and one I recommend, is the Teklanika (”Tek”) Campground.  The reasons; the Tek campground saves you 60 miles on the bus each day, staying there allows you to drive a portion of the road few others are allowed to drive, and it puts you in a great place to see wolves and bears right from camp.  In addition, Tek gets some of the best evening light in the entire park.  And finally, you are able to buy a Tek Pass, giving you unlimited access to the buses for the length of your stay. 

Unfortunately this year the Tek campground is closed until July because of aufeis - overflow river ice from the Teklanika River. 

I was a bit disappointed, and skeptical the campground really needed to be closed, so one day I walked in a took a look.  Well this photo from June 9th pretty much sums the situation up - river ice in this particular site had to still be three thick feet!  Needless to say, the closure is more then justified. 

Eielson Visitor Center, Denali National Park, Alaska.

It seems like most National Parks I have visited in recent years have, or are building one, or in some cases two new visitor centers.  There are some beautiful new visitor centers, but in my opinion, none of them are as nice as the new Eielson Visitor Center 66 miles into Denali National Park. (more…)

I came across this scene just minutes after the sow grizzly and her two cubs killed the young calf of this cow moose.  The poor moose just kept circling, her mothering instincts so strong that she would continue to move in close to check on her calf, until the sow would chase her off.  The cow moose left the area a couple of times, but continued to return.  Finally she was able to get in a position above the bears where it appeared to me she could see her calf was gone, after this final look, she left for good.

I captured this photo because I liked the patterns in the vegetation, but two things really struck me. (more…)

Eight snowshoe hares in a short section of road in Denali National Park, Alaska.

Two years ago I spent a fair amount of time photographing hares, as it seemed the population had peaked.  Last year I was surprised to find even more, but this year the number of hares was nothing short of unbelievable!  Driving the road in evenings and mornings was literally was a challenge, often they wouldn’t move from the road and you would have to drive around them.  Dozens were killed by cars everyday making easy pickings for other wildlife.  One wolf in particular seemed to walk the road every evening just eating road killed hares. (more…)

Great Horned Owl nest, Denali National Park, Alaska.

I have never had a close look at a Great Horned Owl, so to see one on a nest with two chicks was a real treat!  Now, back into the park.  (Note: Thank you Calvin for the heads up on the species, I have made the correction).

Porcupine.

Usually when I see a porcupine, all I see is the backside and a lot of quills as it slowly flees.  It is nice to know these guys really do have a face!

A wild wolf in Denali last night.

Yesterday I hit the road and made the long drive to Denali National Park.  I arrived at about 10:30 last night, and since it was still light out, I decided to drive a few miles into the park for a look see.  Much to my surprise, I came across this wolf along the road just 8 miles into the Park!  She was a beauty!  This was close enough to capture this with a 100-400!  What a great start. (more…)