Photo Blog - Niebrugge Images

We took a drive out the Copper River Highway - it seemed like we were going back about two months in time! 

It appeared a large snow blower had cleared a path through the drifts just wide enough for my truck.  The drifts in some places were 15 feet tall!  It would have been fun to see Child’s Glacier with all this snow, but at this time the road was only cleared to mile 40 something, and you pretty much needed 4 wheel drive to even get that far.  Child’s Glacier was still another 20 miles away.

Yesterday we returned to Seward after a short, but wonderful trip.  It seemed only fitting to post a photo of a group of shorebirds departing the Copper River Delta.

Sea Otter

As wonderful as the birds have been here in Prince William Sound, it is hard to beat an animal as cute as a Sea otter!

Resting shorebirds for as far as the camera can see!  And after flying thousands of miles, who can blame them.  I stopped down the f/18, but it is hard to get much depth of field when using telephotos.  I kind of like the out of focus effect.

Today (Tuesday) there weren’t as many birds as on Monday when I captured this image.  High tide is when the best photography takes place, but today a predator (I believe it was a Merlin) passed over at high tide and cleared the birds out in a hurry.  We did get a nice break from the rain.

Flocks of shorebirds in Cordova,  Alaska.

What a fantastic day!  Wow!  Not just the sheer quantity of birds, but the way they fly together.  It isn’t in perfect unison, but more like a synchronized dance where the entire group can continually vary the size, shape and color of the flock with endless combinations.  I was mesmerized.  Hugh Rose has lead tours here for many years, he says there had to be over a 100,000 birds today - they basically just arrived today.  I was shooting non-stop thinking it couldn’t possible get any better, and that was when I heard the words “O my God! (more…)

Resurrection River in the Chugach National Forest, near Seward, Alaska.

Wading across this knee deep river in my ski boots was a chilling reminder that I was no longer in the desert!  But it was so worth it. (more…)

Well I haven’t subjected you to my shameless self promotion in awhile, but this one is too excited to pass up.  For the second year in a row I have a photo on the cover of The Milepost! 

As I wrote last year, this is a special cover for me, as I remember growing up, every traveler through Glennallen carried a copy of this extremely valuable travel guide.  To this day, I still make sure I have the current Milepost with me as I travel around Alaska and Canada as it has detailed mile by mile descriptions of anything you may encounter - not only the mountains and rivers, but the restaurants and campgrounds as well.  If you are driving to Alaska, you must have the latest copy of The Milepost!

The photo was taken in late September at Tern Lake, part of the Chugach National Forest, about 35 miles out the Seward Highway from Seward.  Wait a second, a quick peak at The Milepost tells me this lake is 37.2 miles from Seward.

Aerial of Seward, Alaska.

Well aside from the one to two feet of snow South-central Alaska received last Saturday, it is great to be home!  I love that drive down the Seward Highway, through the mountains and along the coast - I think I counted five moose on the way home.  I also love the fresh air, it hits you as soon as you step out of the airport terminal.

This photo was captured during summer a couple of years ago.  Here are more Alaska photos.

Looking into the Chugach National Forest near Seward, Alaska.

We are hitting the road today with mixed feelings.  I must admit, it is kinda tough to leave Alaska this winter because it has been such a beautiful one.  I don’t know how many feet of snow we have received, but it is many, and now the days are getting longer, it is really nice here right now!

But, it is really nice in the desert right now as well.  It sounds like it is going to be a good year for desert wildflowers, and we are going to enjoy the warm weather!

We break our travel up over two days, and then have a couple of days visiting family and getting everything together, so we should be arriving in Anza-Borrego State Park south of Palm Springs, California by Friday.  Many people have asked, and yes I will definitely be providing plenty of desert wildflower updates, including the locations of the best blooms here on the blog. 

We plan to spend a month in the Borrego area - the lower Sonoran Desert blooms first, and then we will move to Arizona to a place outside of Phoenix for another month - hopefully hitting that bloom at the perfect time as well.

This image was captured within the city limits of Seward, Alaska - looking out at Mt. Alice and the Chugach National Forest.

If you are in Los Angeles or Orange County, California over the next 12 weeks, you might see this image on a billboard promoting Nature Valley products.  Pretty cool!

This is a photo from last winter in the Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

Happy New Year!

The snowy mountains of Mt. Alice from the home office last night, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

A few people emailed after my mountain post earlier this week to ask if this was really the view from the house.  I should point out, I am shooting these with my 100-400 at about 300, so that does tend to exaggerate the impact a bit - there is about 3 miles of ocean between us and the mountains, but otherwise that is the view.  It is awesome to have a photo opportunity like this right out the door!

Wouldn’t you know it, a few hours after saying I wouldn’t be doing much shooting, I’m out photographing this sunrise.  How could I not!  With a good humored, sarcastic laugh, Janine mentioned how we really needed more photos of a sunrise over Resurrection Bay - I probably have 100’s.  That’s ok, I will probably take 100’s more in the years to come, even if they are just for me.  In reality, because of the surrounding mountains, sunrises and sunsets are relatively infrequent around Seward. 

We traveled to some beautiful areas this fall including the Tetons, but in my opinion nothing compares to where we live.  The Tetons are a household name in the U.S., but I think this range of mountains is equally dramatic, rising out of the ocean with near the vertical relief as the Tetons, and yet I don’t even know the names of these peaks - they may not have names.  By Alaska standards, these are small.  I feel very blessed and fortunate to live near such beauty!

Sticking with the train theme, this is a recent photo from the Alaska Railroad as it travels between Anchorage and Seward, Alaska.  I was able to shoot this from a platform between the cars.

For part of the assignment I followed the train north from Seward in the morning and shot some exteriors.

Yesterday I did an assignment for the Alaska Railroad.  Whether it involves riding the train, or following it in a helicopter, Alaska Railroad assignments are always one of my favorites!  The scenery between here and Anchorage is so beautiful that it really makes my job much easier.  Now using multiple flashes in a dome rail car where reflections show up where you least expect - that isn’t as easy.

 Janine and I spent a very short night in Anchorage and then rode the train back to Seward today.  I think that is the first time I have been on board where I wasn’t shooting - now I can see why that trip is so popular - it was really fun and relaxing!

Here are three more Chugach National Forest posters. (more…)

It is always fun to get samples of our photos in use. (more…)

We just recieved the final copy of our latest project; a book on the Chugach National Forest book, and I think it looks great!  (more…)

Here is a photo I captured in Seward, Alaska last June. (more…)