by Ron on November 16, 2009
Cover of Alaska Magazine, November, 2009.
Having the cover of Alaska Magazine is pretty cool. Check that, it is really cool! We knew we had made this sale almost two months ago, and I was really looking forward to seeing the final result once we got back home – I think it turned out great!
This is a rock ptarmigan in Denali National Park. Willow ptarmigan get all the love in Alaska – they are even our State Bird, so it is nice to see the rock ptarmigan get a little press. 
After a few longs days of travel we are now safely back home – it is great to be back in Seward! The below zero wind chill factor this morning reminded me we were no longer in Palm Springs. But then again, so did the lack of stop lights, traffic, the fresh air, amazing scenery…
This year, I'm very excited to report that we have the cover image for all three Bell's Travel Guides!
In my last post, in response to a question I shared information about our top grossing photos. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the above photo. The boxing bear cub image you see on this travel guide hasn’t been used in an advertising campaign, this kept it off the top grossing list, but in terms of total number of sales, it has to be our most popular image. [click to continue…]
It doesn’t happen very often, but every now and then we get a request in which we know we have the perfect photo – like for this book!
This is a publication of “True Tales to make you Laugh, Chortle, Snicker and Feel Inspired”. I haven’t had a chance to read the whole book yet, but I just sat down and read one of the first stories: To Alaska (Without Pants). It was hilarious! I now look forward to reading the rest of the stories!
by Ron on September 24, 2008
Another Grizzly Bear from last week in Denali National Park, Alaska.
We have taken a few short, 3 to 4 day trips over the last 5 months, but by in large, we have been home working in the office. After two years with a pretty heavy travel schedule in which we spent at least 200 nights away from home, this office time was very needed! We have been able to get caught up, and work on a number of proactive marketing opportunities that we never seem to have time to pursue.
Now I’m looking forward to taking a trip and completely engrossing myself into photography. October is a perfect time to travel – it is wet and dark here in Alaska, fall colors will be gone, but snow has yet to arrive. On the other hand, it is a perfect time in the Southwest – warm days and cool nights, fall colors and few people. The best thing going for Alaska in October is the aurora borealis, but we are still at the bottom of the activity cycle, so like last year, good lights are not nearly as likely.
So where are we going? Good question - we aren’t even sure! We will fly to Palm Springs and go from there. We have some things scheduled in Las Vegas near the end of the month, but before then, I think we will head to Southern Utah – you can’t go wrong there. It is really tempting to return to Zion, as we had such a fun time there last year, but we need new coverage. We are leaning towards Moab - I have spent a couple of days there in the past, but really haven’t scratched the surface of that red rock area. Two weeks there could be really fun and productive. Wherever we go - I should have plenty of new blog material!
by Ron on September 23, 2008
Fall tundra colors reflecting in a pond, Denali National Park, Alaska.
I don’t know if this really “works”, but I kinda like it. At first, I focused on the surface of the lake, but I didn’t care for the results. I then tried focusing on the reflected image and not the surface - this created more of a colorful, abstract image.
by Ron on September 22, 2008
Hiking in Denali National Park, Alaska.
Fall has to be the best time for hiking in Denali – not only is it beautiful, but there aren’t any mosquitoes!
by Ron on September 19, 2008
Red Fox, Denali National Park, Alaska.
Janine says fox are “my animal” because I always seem to see them. I do have unusually good success with spotting these cool guys. If you are going to play favorites, fox seem like as good of an animal as any because they really are beautiful animals that are fun to watch.
This guy was working the road, I assume, looking for road kill hares. Just as he began to pass me, he stoppped ever so briefly and looked my way, just long enough to capture this image.
by Ron on September 17, 2008
A couple of Grizzly Bears feeding on the tundra, Denali National Park, Alaska.
The tundra is sure beautiful in autumn! The fall colors were past in most of Denali – this was by far the most colorful area left in the Park, and it had a couple of Grizzlies! Actually, one of them is the same Grizzly Bear in yesterday’s post. This was about 10 minutes later, and a few hundred meters further away – they couldn’t have wandered into a better spot.
by Ron on September 16, 2008
Grizzly Bear, Denali National Park, Alaska.
Even though I was “safely” by my vehicle, I must admit, as I watched through the view finder and saw this guy turn and head down the hill towards us, my heart started racing. My camera tells me he was 35 meters away, but when he filled the viewfinder, it seemed closer! I do kind of like the perspective of looking up at him from below
We just made it home after a short but wonderful trip to Denali. This has been a good summer for me and bear photography. It wasn’t by plan, but it has sure been fun. Here are more Grizzly Bear photos.
by Ron on September 15, 2008
Wild Lynx, Denali National Park, Alaska.
Wow, what a trip this has been! But the highlight was this lynx – I have been trying unsuccessfully for many, many years to capture an image of a lynx, but a couple of hours ago that all changed.
It is late and I’m tired, so I will write more when I get back to Seward – but I had to share my excitement!
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. [click to continue…]
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. [click to continue…]
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. [click to continue…]
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. [click to continue…]
by Ron on August 27, 2007
I posted at length this spring about a number of wolves in Denali – I was particularly attached to the Grant Creek Pack since I had been photographing the two adults for a number of years. I first spotted the female in 2002 – she was a hunting machine. I was thrilled to see her form a pack with one of the beautiful black wolves from the Tokalat Pack. It was almost like having two good friends meet and then get married!
On my travels through Denali this month I learned the alpha female had died. [click to continue…]
An alert customer of ours spotted this photo on the cover of the Alaska section of the Anchorage Daily news today. It was promoting a page of photos supplied by readers. The photo was provided courtesy of Bob Armond! I’m glad she emailed – with me on the road I might have missed it. [click to continue…]
The Denali Road Guide – a must have for first time visitors to Denali National Park, Alaska – won a really cool award recently. [click to continue…]
I figured these cute little wolf pups were a great way to end my series on wolves. [click to continue…]
This was on another visit to Denali, about a month after the chase that I wrote about yesterday. The pups had left the den, and we could see them at a rendezvous site across the valley if we looked carefully with binoculars. While we were watching, this very large grizzly wandered down the valley. Three of the adult wolves walked to the top of the bank and watched very carefully – you can see two of them in this photo. After a few minutes, the black yearling went down the bank presumably to run the bear off. Unlike yesterday’s photo, this bear didn’t run. In fact, he barely even looked up! As you can see in this photo, he even has his back to the wolf as he feeds. [click to continue…]
The den for the Grant Creek wolf pack has been in a closed area fairly near the Denali National Park road. Because of this, this stretch of road can be very popular with the visitors and tour buses. We were there one day when out of no where a grizzly came charging down the road running in and out of the buses. Janine speculated that maybe the wolves were on to him for being too close to the den. Sure enough, a minute later came three member of the pack charging down between the same buses. They followed the grizzlies scent out to the riverbed where they caught up to the small adult bear and the chase was on! [click to continue…]
In the summer of 2004, the alpha pair had a litter of six. From what I have been told, that fall the pack made an extended trip outside its range, and when it returned to the area only two of the six remained. This is one of the two from early summer of 2005. Except for a little less grey in the face, this yearling looks a lot like his father and uncle. The other yearling was light brown. Both of them were beautiful healthy wolves that loved to play and run, and were fearless even around grizzlies as I will share tomorrow.
