Photo Blog - Niebrugge Images

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.  Here are more Cordova, Alaska photos.

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…)

Cordova Alaska boat harbor during a stormy, rainy night last night. 

Yesterday we took the Alaska State Ferry from Whittier to Cordova, one of may favorite Alaska towns, to see the amazing shorebird migration.  I have always wanted to see this amazing event, and it currently is a big hole in our Chugach National Forest coverage.  Unfortunately, we have seen lots of rain, and very few birds, but that should change during the next few days… hopefully!

Look at how deep the snow is along Exit Glacier Road!  Hard to believe it is May 3rd.  This is near the Resurrection River bridge and is as far as you can drive right now.  Judging from the snow depth, it may be awhile before you can drive the rest of the way to the glacier.  Now this really isn’t the photo I was going after this morning - I better explain. (more…)

I was wondering around in the boat harbor this evening and found this sailboat rigging kind of interesting.  It seems like there are endless little photo opportunities in a commercial boat harbor.

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.

This photo was on the card in my back-up camera, a camera I didn’t need on this trip.  I do remember taking this photo before leaving on this trip.  This is a snow storm raging outside our front door; you can see the door frame on the edges.  Normally I keep a path shoveled down to the street out front, but the snow was filling it in so fast that I said forget it and took a picture instead. 

Finding this photo kind of reminded me of my film days when a partial roll would get left in a camera after a trip, only to be developed weeks or months later.  It would often be a nice surprise.   

I must admit, after a couple months in the warm desert, this scene looks completely foreign to me right now.  I have often said that during the summer in Alaska, I have trouble even remembering what winter is like, and in the winter, summer seems equally inconceivable.  I remember enough to know I am very excited to be heading back to Alaska  for summer!  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!

Kayakers in Northwestern Fjord, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

As you head into Kenai Fjords from Seward, Aialik Bay is the first fjord you come to.  But they next bay over, Northwestern Fjord, is even more spectacular in many ways.  Northwestern has more glaciers, and almost no vegetation, it is a very harsh, raw environment.

This is Northwestern Glacier from a few years ago.  A few years before this, there wasn’t any rock showing between the legs of the glacier, it was all solid ice.  Now that the rock wall is exposed, this south facing glacier is really melting fast.

A tour boat in front of Holegate Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Well, back to Kenai Fjords.  The easiest way to experience this amazing park is on a boat tour.  Which tour is one question I am frequently asked, and since I have a lot of opinions on the subject, I thought I would write about them here today. (more…)

Pedersen Lagoon, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

The last 8 photos I have posted on Kenai Fjords, along with the photo in my Graduated Neutral Density filter post were all captured in this amazing location.  I tried to describe it early on, but I think this aerial view really on a feel for this place.  Ailaik Bay is in the foreground.

Pedersen Lagoon, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Continuing on my theme - this is another photo from my favorite place.

Kayaking in Pedersen Lagoon, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

A kayak is a great way to get around Aialik Bay and Pedersen Lagoon.  This was a little early in the season - the icebergs are a little thick by the entrance at this time of year making it a little tricky picking your way through the maze - tricky but fun!  As the summer continues, it get easier.

There are numerous beaches for camping all around the bay, and the Park Service has food storage boxes at most of the best beaches, so you don’t need to worry about lugging bear proof food containers.  The one thing you do have to worry about it the unpredictable weather.  Short sleeve days like the one pictured aren’t very common.

Ghost Forest, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Everyone calls these standing dead trees “ghost forests”.  Don’t know if that is an official name, but it works for me.

These trees have been standing dead like this for over 40 years.  Pretty amazing given our wet environment - my fire wood ends up rotting after just 3 or 4 years.  So how did they die, and why are they still standing strong? (more…)

An unnamed mountain rises above Pedersen Lagoon and Aialik Bay, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.