Lost Lake Trail, Chugach National Forest, Seward, Alaska.

This is a recent photo of the Lost Lake Trail is cutting through a section of forest that we have always referred to as the enchanted forest thanks in part to the cool witches hair hanging from the trees.

Photos from past Alaska bear tours.

I’m offering two Alaska bear photo tours next summer; my August tour is full and I only have two spots left for my June tour.  You can get all the details here:  Alaska bear photography tour.  If you haven’t been up close to these magnificent animals,  you are in for a real treat – an experience of a lifetime that you won’t forget!

Because of there popularity, lots of people are beginning to offer similar bear tours.  Often, it is people with little experience with Alaska or bears that are looking for a way to pay for a trip.  I do believe I have the best bear tour available and thought I would take a minute to point out the advantages – advantages that aren’t always obvious to someone shopping for a tour.  So here they are:

* I have lived in Alaska since 1976, and on the Alaska coast for the last 20 years. So when I offer advice on gear to bring, or places to visit before or after the tour, it is based on many, many years of actual Alaska outdoor experience.

* I started photographing wildlife in Alaska as a youngster 35 years ago and have been a full time photographer for over a decade. This is a great chance to ask questions and learn from someone who pretty much lives and breaths outdoor photography. This tour isn’t just a fun way to pay for an Alaska vacation – it is what I do for a living.

* We will be staying in nice, spacious, warm cabins and using a modern lodge with cell access and wifi. The food and accommodations are very nice for such a remote location, the lodge has a full time cook and a full time baker taking care of our food needs and often offering meals like fresh Alaska fish accompanied with a salad from the lodge gardens.  You won’t be staying four to a room at Brooks Lodge, in a tent, or on a boat dealing with Alaska’s oceans, where you have to board a small skiff with your valuable photo gear just to access the bears. We often see as many bears while back at the lodge as we do in the field – the photo opportunities are literally around the clock.  With Alaska’s challenging weather, you will appreciate a warm spacious lodge at the end of each day.

* This tour includes transportation to the lodge from Anchorage. As you compare photo tours beware as you may find many require an expensive flight to Kodiak or King Salmon that has not been included in the tour price.

* Lake Clark National Park doesn’t have the arbitrary bear viewing distances that you find in Katmai National Park. In Katmai, the regulations restrict you from approaching within 50 yards.  Even if the bear approaches you, Katmai does not allow “Continuing to occupy a position within 50 yards of a bear that is using a concentrated food source”.  On the Katmai National Park website they say “your chances of seeing bears are best when they gather to feed on seasonally concentrated food sources like salmon and sedge grasses.”  obviously the same time and places most Katmai bear tours are typically held.

In Lake Clark, even when we are accompanied by a Park Ranger, we can let the situation and the bears dictate the distance by using common sense and our experienced bear guide – and it is often less then 50 yards especially when the bear is approaching on its terms.  Seeing these beautiful animals up close is a big part of the thrill!

*  Besides myself, we are accompanied by a full time bear guide / naturalist who spends the entire summer with these bears.  The guide often has a biology background, and in most cases, has spent multiple summers with these bears.

*  I limit the number of guests to just 6.  Some tours bring 8 or more and I’m sure it is more lucrative, but I believe this is too many when photographing wildlife.  As the bears move to the left or right, if the group is too big you start getting into each others way.  I have found that a group of six makes cooperation easy and everyone can get the shot.

* We will visit one of the best places to photograph Horned and Tufted Puffin in Alaska short of an expensive trip to St. Paul on an optional boat trip.  Seeing these cool photogenic birds is a real bonus.  We can watch them from shore, with cameras and tripods for an excellent photo opportunity.

*  Repeat clients.  Three out of the four currently signed up for my June bear trip did other Alaska tours or workshops with me last year – half were actually on last years bear tour!

* The lodge owner grew up in Lake Clark area and was one of the first people in Alaska to offer bear viewing tours.  It has been a family run business since the 80′s, and they have been offering bear viewing for over 20 years.  They have been operating with a perfect safety record for almost 30 years. I don’t know of anyone who can come close to their experience offering bear viewing.  The owners of the lodge and their employees are some of the finest people you will meet.

If you have any more questions, you may find the answers at this link, or feel free to contact us directly.  Alaska bear photo tour.

Sunset over Resurrection Bay, from Seward, Alaska.

This was a nice sunset in town from Tuesday night.  There has been a couple of humpbacks in the bay all week, but I wasn’t able to find them with this light.

It is a little hard to see in this smaller version, but there is a bit of a fata morgana mirage visible along the shoreline.  Here is a better example:  fata morgana mirage photo.

Chugach National Forest, near Seward, Alaska.

Another recent image from our beautiful snowy winter!

Lost Lake Cabin, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

This public use cabin looks funny in the summer because it is perched so high in the air.  Now, it is easy to see why!

This cabin was renovated last summer – looks great.  We have stayed here in the past during the winter – the view from here looking down on Resurrection Bay and Seward is spectacular!

Sunrise along the Lost Lake Trail, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

I love to run in these hills and usually try to go twice a week in the summer and once a week in the winter.  I usually leave my camera behind and just enjoy the exercise and experience – but every now and then I bring along my camera and tripod like I did last Friday morning.  I headed up about an hour before sunrise – it was sure a beautiful morning!

Seward Boat Harbor, Seward, Alaska.

This was yesterday morning (10:00 a.m.) as the storm began to clear.  This area is a beehive of activity in the summer.  Right now, not so much!

Seward Boat Harbor during a snowstorm yesterday, Seward, Alaska.

It has been a cold, snowy winter here in Alaska recently, and although we haven’t had near the snowfall that has put Cordova in the news lately, we have had our share.  Yesterday in particular it snowed extra hard blanketing the harbor with snow and ice.  So after doing a lot of shoveling, I grabbed my camera and cruised around town grabbing some images.

Downtown, Seward, Alaska.

Bull caribou, Denali National Park, Alaska.

This is one of the largest bull caribous I have ever seen!  This was from my fall trip to Denali National Park.

I often get questions about the settings I use for a particular image.  I’ll try to get better at including that information as it can be valuable for learning.

Here I had my Canon 7D with a 70-200 f/2.8 lens and 2x converter.  Great combination for hiking because of its light weight.  On this day we climbed way up into the hills and I was glad I wasn’t packing a large telephoto.  I shot this at f/5.6 and 1/640 of a second at ISO 800.  I prefer a lower iso with the 7D, but needed the shutter speed.

I was using aperture priority mode and had dialed up + 2 2/3 of a stop in additional compensation.  If that sounds like a lot of compensation, it is.  The bright sky really fools the camera, and I didn’t want a perfectly exposed rich blue sky with a silhouette, I wanted detail in the caribou.  So I dialed up compensation until I had detail in the caribou and didn’t worry about blowing out the sky.  Now as soon as the caribou came off the ridge and had and earth background, I had to quickly dial the compensation back down to zero.  That is something very easy to do with the big wheel on the back of many Canon cameras, I can do it very quickly without looking.  It is something I have even practiced so that it is second nature.  I think being able to quickly adjust camera settings on the fly is really important when photographing wildlife in constantly changing light and environmental conditions.

Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

This is a new one from last night.  If it looks cold and snowy it is because it was cold and snowy.    I think the temp was around zero and the snow was many feet deep.

Happy New Year everyone!

A couple of cabins on Lower Summit Lake, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

The continuation of an on going video assignment for an visitor center film had me out in the field all day yesterday, and with all the fresh new snow, it was sure a beautiful day!  When I came across this wonderful alpenglow at sunset, I had to grab a couple of “stills” – see I can even talk like a videographer. 

Here is what is looks like in the summer:  Summit Lake.

Winter mountains, Chugach National Forest, from Seward, Alaska.

Well I thought I would give you a break from the Hawaii photos and share something from Alaska.  I captured this from my front yard yesterday afternoon looking across the bay from Seward.  Recent heavy snowfall has the mountains looking (in the words of Tony the Tiger) “just great”!  Well, he says something about great, you get the idea.

Watching northern lights, near Seward, Alaska.

We had a great northern lights show last month – and this parking lot about 12 miles from Seward was very busy despite the late hour, as locals drove out of town to watch nature’s amazing show!

This should be the last of the Alaska photos I’ll share here for awhile.   Sunday, we board a plane and head to Hawaii!  I’m really excited – haven’t been there in over 17 years.  We will spend 4 nights in Waikiki before heading to Kauai.  We will stay in Kauai for 3 to 6 nights – we will decide once we get there.  I have made arrangements for a door-less helicopter charter -  I love flying and shooting from a helicpoter with the doors off, it should be a great way to photograph the remote Na Pali coast.  Then, for the last two weeks we will be in Maui.

I hope to keep the blog updated with Hawaii photos while traveling, but it might be tougher then normal as we will only have one laptop and keeping up with business is always a priority.  And, I’ll need to spend extra time scouting as most of it will be new to me – and, a fun place to be scouting!    So, hopefully I’ll have something to share on Monday or Tuesday!

Late August and early September in Denali National Park - I think the best time for wildlife and landscape photography, and fewer visitors.

This is a frequent question – what is the best time of year to visit Alaska for photography?  It is a great question, and not one that is easily answered as it depends on where in Alaska you are looking to visit, and what types of subjects you are hoping to photograph.

Like most Alaskans, I certainly have my opinions on my favorite times of year.  Of course this is a very subjective answer in which not everyone will agree – if you think otherwise, share your thoughts – it adds to the discussion.  I must also admit I had a hard time ranking these and constantly changed my mind.  Really, for many of the prime months it is a 4 or 5 way tie, you can’t go wrong with any of them!

July

Maybe July is my top month because I began writing this in July.    July brings long days of sun, lots of wildflowers and everything is very green.  It is the last of the “dry” season as well.  As one of the driest months on average;  the coast in Seward averages only 2.6 inches of rain in July.  That number will climb to over 10 inches by September.  Denali and Juneau average just over 3 and 4 inches for the month of July  respectively.

I would say July is the best time of year for travel type photography as the streets and many business are lined with colorful flowers pretty much everywhere from Juneau to Fairbanks.  It is also a wonderful time for landscape photography – everything is green and many wildflowers are in full bloom.  It is a decent time for wildlife photography, especially marine mammals.  Other mammals don’t look too good right now, especially the likes of sheep and caribou who will be molting their coats.

The biggest drawback to July is the crowds.  It is the most popular month, so count on hotels, campgrounds, RV rentals and restaurants to be crowded and expensive – reservations are a must.  Mosquitoes are also a drawback – they can be thick.  Especially in certain areas like the west end of the road in Denali or on the Arctic slope.

August

August is a wonderful transition month as we go from Summer to Fall.  In fact, the fall colors begin appearing in early August in the northern portions of the  Brooks Range, and will be nearing peak by the end of August in Denali.  The rest of the state is often covered with thick fields of fireweed – a wonderful, colorful foreground for landscape photography.  It is a bit wetter in August on the coast – both Seward and Juneau average over 5 inches of rain in August, although Denali drops to about 2.5.

Really August is great for landscape photography thanks to the fireweed, but it is also a good time for wildlife.  The racks on moose and caribou will be reaching full size, and will be dropping their velvet covering by the end of the month.  Other mammals like fox and wolves will begin putting on their thick winter coats.  The bugs aren’t bad in August either – mosquitoes are almost always gone by August 1.  There are some other bugs around, but I don’t think I have ever needed bug spray in Denali in August, although I have encountered bad mosquitoes in early August on the Arctic / North Slope.

The drawback to August – again the crowds.  It isn’t as busy as July, but it is still a peak summer month.

September

When we get nice weather in September I think they are some of the most beautiful days of the year!  Unfortunately in Seward and Kenai Fjords, we are just as likely to get a day with a half of inch of rain as a day of sun.  Seward averages over 10 inches of rain in September, while Juneau is over 7.  Denali drops to just over an inch and a half – in fact I love Denali in September, especially the first half.  The fall colors are absolutely amazing as the tundra turns bright red.  The wildlife looks its best – the fur bearers have their winter coats, and moose and caribou have full size, velvet free racks.  It seems like huge moose come out of nowhere for the rut activity.

Really September is probably the best time of year for wildlife photography, and one of the best for landscapes.  By the end of the month it can be one of the best times for Northern lights as well.  There are other advantage to September – the hotels, restaurants and cruise-lines are all still open, but not crowded.  You can often find good values and bargains this time of year, and usually can get by without reservations except for photographer popular places like the Wonder Lake campground in Denali.  Gee, maybe I should have listed September number 1. 

June

June is the tale of two halves.  Take Denali.  The first half is often a landscape of brown interrupted by streaks of old snow that hasn’t melted out of the gullies.  After September, the first half of June and late May is probably one of the best times for wildlife photography – lots of cute newborns along with a corresponding increase in predator activity.  In Denali, mosquitoes don’t begin to show until the second half, although they seem to be appearing earlier in recent years.  Now the second half of the month brings a wide variety of wildflowers – some very unique and beautiful.  The second half also brings the bugs and the visitors.

The same it true throughout Alaska.  Even down on the coast as far as Juneau it takes time for things to green up.  But, in mid June Alaska is awash in lush, green vegetation.  On the coast comes the first wave of wildflowers – the most notable are the fields of lupine that can be very plentiful in some years.

The visitor numbers make a noticeable jump in mid June – it goes from to somewhat quiet to July / August type of numbers, so you need to plan accordingly.  June is also one of the driest with average precipitation totals of 2.3 inches for both Denali and Seward, and 3.3 inches for Juneau.

May

May is like September in that most the visitor based business are now open, but aren’t very busy.  This is another great time to find travel bargains.  There are some unique photo opportunities in May, particularly the bird migrations.  Shorebirds, ducks etc., they are very plentiful.  Near the end of May is the beginning of the birthing season for many mammals – great for the cute baby animal opportunities, along with the predator activity.  It is also a good time for marine mammals, and you won’t have to worry about any bugs!  May is a fairly dry month, Seward and Juneau average around 4 inches of rain, with Denali receiving less then an inch.

There are some drawbacks to May – it isn’t that great for landscape photography, and it is difficult to get anywhere into the back-country.  Nothing has turned green yet, and the hills are full of dirty, rotten snow in which you can’t really ski or snowshoe, nor can you hike.  I find April and May frustrating in this way as it is the only time many of my favorite back-country trails are accessible.

March

March is a great winter month – growing up near Wrangell-St Elias National Park I used to say March was my favorite month of all.  We have lots of snow, long days and decent temperatures.  The snow usually has a nice crust layer – perfect for skiing, snow shoeing or snow machining.  It is funny how the same temperatures in November feel so much colder.  It is also a great time for travel photography thanks to events like the Iditarod.  Northern lights tend to be most active around the two equinox, so it is a great time for snowy aurora photos.

October

There are a few opportunities most notable would be the northern lights thanks to the fall equinox.  There is still plenty of wildlife activity – my favorite would be the swan migration.  But, it can be a wet, cold time of year – Seward for example averages 9.8 inches of rain during the month.  Leaves will be off the plants in most parts of Alaska, but hasn’t been replaced with snow.

Late September, October and November can be so nice in much of the lower 48 from Jasper to Zion, I’m rarely in Alaska during this time of year.  Couple the wonderful opportunities elsewhere with the somewhat limited ones in Alaska, and frankly unless you are specifically after northern lights, I would travel elsewhere during this time of year.

April

April is right there with late October / November as my least favorite time of year.  Unlike the fall months, in April you can count on finding plenty of snow, but it is often dirty and a bit rotten making it a poor subject for photography and a bit difficult to travel on.  Birds haven’t arrived yet, and bears are typically still holed up in their dens.

Now as a Alaska resident, April can bring lots of sunshine and warmer temperatures which can be invigorating.  And as an avid cross-country skier, I absolutely love the early morning crust skiing that is often found that time of year.  But, for photography purposes, I would rather be chasing wildflowers in the Southwest.

November / December / January / February

No surprise here, this is winter time in Alaska.  Of course you can find plenty of northern lights this time of year, but March and October tend to be better for aurora activity, and have more moderate temperatures.  If you are into winter activities, this is a nice time of year, and the winter landscape opportunities can be amazing.

The downside is the cold weather and short days.  You can find many of the same winter photo opportunities in March when you will have more moderate temperatures, and much longer days.

Caribou, Denali National Park, Alaska.

Another new one from the fall.  Speaking of new Denali photos, we have just made a huge update to our section of Denali National Park photos – love that place!

Dall's Sheep in Polychrome Pass, Denali National Park, Alaska.

Another new one from Denali.  If you are getting tired of Alaska photos, hopefully by this time next week I’ll have some Hawaii ones to share!

Lake Clark National Park Pictures

Another new one from August.  Janine now has updated our section of Lake Clark National Park pictures – check out the link to see more!

Brown / Grizzly Bear cubs, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.

I spent a lot of time watching and photographing these two cubs the year before as first year cubs.  They were just as fun this year as they were last – just a bit bigger.

Sunrise on Aialik Glacier and Aialik Bay, Kenai Fjords National Park, near Seward, Alaska.

I’m out the door this morning for a quick over night assignment – thought I would share a quick photo before leaving.  This is another one from my Kenai Fjords National Park Photo tour last summer.

Brown / Grizzly Bear digging for clams, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.

I like this one and as the photographer, that is really all that matters I suppose, but I’m curious what others think – do you like it or hate it?  I’m thinking most people won’t like it, but maybe I’m wrong.