Capturing Alaska -And Beyond!

Not Giving Up!

2011-05-16T23:58:00.000-08:00

Last week we had this crazy weather going on in Anchorage. I was coming home from the grocery store around ten in the evening or so, without my camera (cardinal sin!) and I couldn't help but notice there was all kinds of amazing light going on. There was clear sky in some areas, very dark clouds in others, rain here and there, and a couple of rainbows. I cursed myself for not having a camera and (slightly) sped home to get one.
That accomplished, I started to panic- "Ok, where is the best spot to try and capture all that was going on?" It was then I realized the value of getting out more in my own town so I'd have a list of spots keyed in to shoot from depending on where the "action" was.
I decided to go down the inlet a bit, it seemed the sunset may be amazing. Unfortunately that vantage lost much of the varied weather I was attracted to and I was running out of time to try and capture something. I took some decent photos at one spot and even had a nervous experience with a young bull moose- photos I'll share later, but all in all I was disappointed. I felt I had missed out on a special opportunity. I walked out to the mud flats and took some typical sunset photos and was pretty bummed, I knew I'd delete them when I got home. I lingered hoping to find something in the waning light. I noticed a tiny patch of dried grass with a hint of the last glow of daylight and was drawn to it. There has to be something here. I lay on my stomach and noticed the nice juxtaposition of the frail willow branches near by against the colorful clouds and knew I found a photo I'd be happy with. I took several frames at a slow shutter speed with the camera resting on the ground.
This is my favorite.
I was happy to finally find a keeper and reassured myself of the value of not giving up!

Alaska Press Club Awards!

2011-04-08T23:42:00.000-08:00

Last week I was happy to find out that the First Alaskans magazine with my photo of Terzah Poe on the front, and a feature on her inside, was awarded "Best Magazine Cover 2010" by the Alaska Press Club!
I was told the magazine was going to enter it several months ago and completely forgot about it. It was a wonderful surprise when I read about it the day after the awards! (I didn't attend obviously!)

The enclosed feature, "Terzah in a Hurry", took second place in the category of "Best Magazine Feature 2010". Writer Victoria Barber and I combined to create a wonderful piece on a truly amazing woman.

I spent many hours with Terzah over the course of two months. We spent time on the job, during radio interviews, at home, at meetings, on the campaign trail with her husband Bob, and I even followed her up to Fairbanks for more work and time with her relatives. It was a real honor getting to know her a little. She really let me in to her life for this and I think it shows in the quality of images we were able to get.
It's been my great pleasure to work with First Alaskans on several features so I'm glad to be a part of recognition for them as well! Thanks to Tony Hall for hiring me!

Here is a scan of the double page opening of the feature:

UC Cooperative Extension, Placer County, CA: Wayne Vinyard

2011-03-29T15:37:00.000-08:00

Wayne Vinyard; You may be wondering where the winery photos are. I had a bit of confusion when I was setting up this part of the assignment. I was trying to locate "Wayne Vinyard" on a map given to me of all the agricultural locations I was to shoot over the course of several days. After scanning the map several times I finally made a phone call and found the problem. Wayne Vinyard is the farmers name and his crop is rice!

This was a pretty cool day in the field. After a winding crazy drive in an area covered by fields of one crop or another and following directions such as " turn left at the largest silo at the end of the longest straightaway" I somehow ended up at the right location.

Within minutes of meeting Wayne I was riding along side him in his rice harvester. It was amazing to see how easily the tall fields of rice were cut down and the individual grains of rice harvested in one quick and decisive turn of the harvesters blades. I learned a lot that day as I watched Wayne and his family- there are three generations at work in the field- harvest their crop. As it always seems when I'm dealing with people who work the land, the Vinyard family had an obvious love for what they were doing. It makes me envious of the dedication to one important way of life chosen so long ago. Then again, it makes me feel damn lucky to be a photographer who gets to experience small portions of these lives and share those experiences with others.

UC Cooperative Extension, Placer County, CA: Fortezza Vineyard and Winery

2011-03-21T23:29:00.000-08:00

This is Lisa Mann, owner of Fortezza Winery in the rolling hills of Placer County, California. I got to spend an afternoon in her vineyard just as they were harvesting grapes at the end of her growing season. It took a little coaxing but Lisa finally allowed herself to be the subject. She was more than willing to give me free reign on her property but she was bashful in front of the lens. I think she finally realized she'd be rid of me sooner if she succumbed to my requests!

Actually, Lisa was a real pleasure and I think you can see in these photos the love she has for what she is doing. The winery is fairly new but from the taste she gave me I can vouch for her talent as a wine maker.

As a photographer I love it when all is lush and green but I enjoyed working with the earthier tones here. Lisa herself seemed to blend in quite naturally. Most of these were taken with natural light but I used a gold reflector on some as well. I was getting pretty good at shooting and positioning the fill light at the same time!

UC Extension Agricultural Project: Flying Mule Ranch

2011-03-09T20:11:00.004-09:00

The most exciting location during my various assignments for the UC Davis Agricultural Extension in Auburn, Ca was Dan Macon's Flying Mule Ranch. I was asked to photograph sheep on Dan's ranch. I was fortunate to arrive on a day when Dan was moving his flock from one grazing site to another. While the sheep are beautiful the stars of the day were Dan's two herding dogs. Dan opened the fencing from the first grazing area and the two dogs took over. I can't tell you how fun it was to plop myself on the ground as a hundred sheep rushed past on all sides! Thanks to a stray sheep here and there I was able to keep rushing ahead and have the flock come towards me again. The quarter mile trek was short but exhilarating. The most challenging part was capturing the two dogs in action. Thanks to the bright daylight I was able to shoot at fast shutter speeds and freeze the animals movement. here are some of my favorites!( Check out the dogs in their well deserved swimming hole at the end!)

UC Cooperative Extension, Placer County, CA: Blossom Hill farms

2011-03-06T23:39:00.002-09:00

The next place I'd like to share from my agricultural assignment in Placer County, California is Blossom Hill Farms in Auburn. When I arrived one of the original owners, Claudia Smith, had just harvested a variety of pumpkins. It was fall and their decorative winter squash was high in demand. Claudia is getting ready to retire and will be leasing her land to Allison Deyo and her husband for the foreseeable future. Allison was eager to show me around and talked a lot about her plans for the various sections of land. We spent time in the greenhouse and in the garden. I was happy that we got to get some poultry images as well. I felt a true love and passion exude from both women when they talked about the land and what they are able to reap from it. It was obvious that Allison may have a hand in things even after retirement! As ever, I cherished each moment on this lovely farm. Here are some of my favorite images!

UC Cooperative Extension, Placer County, CA: UEKI GARDENS

2011-03-04T13:40:00.003-09:00

Last fall I was I was lucky enough to be asked to take images of farmers and ranchers in northern California's Placer County. The client was University Cooperative Extension of UC one of the country's leading agricultural programs.
I had done work for a sister organization, Placer Grown, several years before photographing fruits, vegetable, animals, and landscapes. This time they wanted to focus more on the people who actually do the work. What is great about the program they are endorsing is that they are trying to promote the idea of eating locally grown products. There are several farmers markets throughout the year that make obtaining the local fare easy and enjoyable.
I have to say that this has been one of my favorite assignments. I absolutely love just being out on the farms and ranches, smelling the soils, produce, and yes even the animals. There is something old world and wholesome about being around the origins of what fills our cupboards and tables every day. The people who run the farms and ranches couldn't have been more wonderful which makes the experience even richer.
Over the next week I'll post some of my favorite images from the various locations. I'm grateful to Cindy Fake for the assignment and to all the owners that graciously put up with my calls and my cameras! A special thanks as well to Joanne Neft who got me involved in the first place!
This first post focuses on Terri Ueki and her husband Bob Roan. (Ueki Garden Flowers ). They are well known for their wide variety of stunning flowers but they also grow a variety of fruits and vegetable. They were my first stop on this whirlwind four day tour. I had actually photographed just flowers on their property in the past so it was a reunion of sorts. It was a pleasure to see Terri and Bob again. The overcast weather was a plus as it helped me avoid a lot of contrast. Terri and bob were so kind in letting me hover around with my cameras and occasionally direct them to a better location.

To top it off they invited me in to their home for some coffee, conversation, and home baked treats. I'm continually blessed by the gifts this profession has to offer. Meeting wonderful people passionate about their work will always make my work worth while. This assignment couldn't have gotten off to a better start!

Recent Tear Sheets

2011-02-22T13:42:00.000-09:00

Anchorage Convention and Visitor's Bureau

Accent Alaska Stock Photo Agency (Top Image)

Alaska Magazine/ February edition.

Journeys International Photo Safaris by Wayde Carroll

It's always fun to see how images end up being used. Here are some recent tear sheets featuring my images!

South Fork, Yuba River

2011-02-12T00:20:00.002-09:00

I had some work in San Francisco last week so I extended my trip a few days and spent some time in Grass valley, CA. I used to live there and it is still one of my favorite places to spend time. My favorite feature of the area is the Yuba river. There are three forks and hundreds of amazing locations for photography.
Ed Rotberg and Kial James and I hooked up one morning to hike around and take some photos. I had bought the Canon 7D a month before and still hadn't used it. I wanted to use it for the first time making some images that were meaningful to me. When I bought it I was in the middle of a lot of corporate work, which I appreciate, but it wasn't the type of work that excites me. Well I finally got my opportunity!
This is the first image taken with the new camera, literally image #0001. I shot it in color and then made a black and white version. I then layered the two together in Photoshop CS5,with the BW image on top. I created a layer mask and brushed in some of the color layer beneath. I liked all three versions a lot- color, BW, and a combination of both- but this version strikes me the most. Not a bad trial run! BTW this blows up amazingly well. I haven't given the 7D a full blown test yet but so far it's lovely! What's better than hiking in a place you love with good friends and taking some nice photos? Not a whole lot...

Celtic Festival III of III: Miscellaneous Images

2011-02-01T21:22:00.000-09:00

Wrapping up the KVMR Celtic Festival images. As you can see there is just a plethora of interesting photographic subjects to completely fill up two full days of shooting. I'm always trying to focus on images that KVMR can use to illustrate the wide variety of events and emotions present during the festival. Here is a random selection of images I liked that didn't fit into the last two postings.

KVMR Celtic Festival part II- Musicians

2011-01-21T12:06:00.000-09:00

One of the best things about photographing a Celtic Festival is the music. No matter what I'm shooting, all day long, I'm taking photos with an amazing soundtrack going on around me. The KVMR Celtic Festival has musicians from around the globe performing on several stages, non-stop, throughout the day.
I'm pretty lucky. As the "official event photographer" I get unfettered access to backstage and behind the scenes. Because of this I'm able to shoot from all angles and use every lens in the bag. I even get up on roof tops to get an over-all scene.
As with anything else I'm trying to keep my backgrounds uncluttered and to catch defining moments during a performance. Because musicians tend to move around non stop it's essential to boost up the ISO and keep a really fast shutter speed so I can freeze the action. I try to stay at least at 1/500th of a second. I do experiment with slower speeds to catch movement etc. but in general I'm trying to get sharp images. I shoot a lot and experiment with compositions. Usually I use the stage lighting/ ambient light as is but will sometimes throw a flash in when the lighting is pretty poor. This can be a pain for the musicians and some flat out don't allow it! So I keep it limited.
I have to thank Ed Rotberg for the use of his fish-eye lens! You'll notice several of these taken with that.

KVMR Celtic Festival- Reenactment Group Portraits

2011-01-14T22:38:00.002-09:00

Happy New Year!

First of all I want to thank my friend Glen Hall for kicking me in the butt and getting me back to blogging.

I've got a lot of assignments from the past few months to share. I'm starting with one of my favorites. I've been photographing the Celtic Festival for KVMR radio in Nevada City for about ten years now. I've been more and more excited each year as my skills grow and change and I'll rue the day I don't get to come back! They have a new promoter next year and I've already secured the job again so I'm thrilled!

I'm going to share these in three different posts starting with the reenactment groups.

Along with the world class musicians and fantastic artisans, there are several Celtic groups, clans, etc. that set up, and live in, camps that emulate the time period their particular group represents. There are groups "from" Scotland, England, Ireland, and even the Fairy kingdom.
A band of pirates invaded the scene this year as well!
It's a lot of fun. The actors never break form and are in awe of the amazing modern contraption I use to steal their likenesses with.

As you can guess there are endless portrait opportunities. Colors and textures abound. I get to use every lens and technique I can come up with.

I literally get lost in this make believe world for two days and am always sad when it ends. Music fills the air constantly, people dance about, a patron meanders by chomping on a turkey leg. The Nevada County Fairground is about as lovely a place as you could find for an event like this as well.

Ok, enough talk, here are some photos!!

Christina and Chris: Engaged!

2010-11-07T23:27:00.000-09:00

Ok, so I'm washing out on the portrait a day deal. I've been working at home or taking care of sick kids for a week and alas have failed. I'm still excited to be carrying my camera around more often again and am excited to get back out there.
Meanwhile I do have a lot of work from the month to start posting.
Here are some photos from an engagement session with Christina and Chris. We were lucky and were able to get outside when we had some light and color and no rain!
Christina and Chris were both wonderful to work with and we got along well from the get go. We did some "posed" images with some flash shot through an umbrella and then we tried to just explore and see what we could find a little more casually. We ended up spending over an hour at Kincaid Park along the forested trails and the bluff as well. I look forward to shooting their wedding next summer at Hilltop!

Portrait #8: Claire

2010-11-01T23:22:00.000-08:00

OK, so I'm cheating a lot by using my own kids but frankly I've either been slogging away on images from a recent trip to California or spending time with my kids. This project still has me thinking a lot about capturing more spontaneous portraits and has me carrying my camera around at all times again. It's easy, once I'm in the throws of a busy working period, to put the camera down and only touch it for work. It's been great looking out for photos just for the fun and practice of it.
This is my daughter Claire. I was driving her to a Halloween event, the night before, and she was touching up her "make up", just like any twenty one year old six year old, in the mirror on the visor . I noticed the cool lighting and made her "pose" quickly before we got out!

Portrait #6: Jack

2010-10-30T16:04:00.000-08:00

This is my beautiful boy Jack. I have this "O Flash" attachment that's a poor man's ring flash that I bought for insects etc. in Costa Rica. I thought I'd test it out on a person, though some times they can "bug" me as well! Ha!
It's not too powerful since it basically attaches to my on camera flash and re-routes light through it and out the "ring" which encircles my lens. But at close range I think it could be useful, especially as a fill light. The light on Jack's hair is from a window. This is the 24-70mm at F2.8 around 1/60th sec.

Portrait #5: Susie

2010-10-28T15:45:00.000-08:00

This is Susie. I was walking out of Kaladi Bros. on Northern Lights when I looked over and noticed her sitting next to the window. She looked interesting to me, I liked the light, the background was nice.
I almost walked out without a word but I kept thinking "portrait for the blog!" She noticed me staring so I sat down and told her I was a photographer and I'd love to take her portrait. She was happy to pose so I ran out to the car and grabbed the camera. I have nice smiley pictures but this seemed the most genuine photo.
We ended up talking for a few minutes. I found out she was from Scandanavia and when she visited her homeland recently she thought "my, we do all look alike!"- referring to the pale skin and very light colored hair.
It's amazing what pleasant surprises come from being a little bold and asking to take someone's photo!
Photo: Window light, 24-70mm at 35mm. ISO 800, F2.8 at 1/40th sec.

Portrait #4: Beanie!

2010-10-27T23:52:00.000-08:00

This is my wonderful daughter, Claire. I thought the lighting pattern on the floor was interesting and had her quickly jump in for a photo. This is the lobby of a building in town. I had to underexpose by two stops to keep her bright face from blowing out against the dark background. 70-200mm at F4.

Portrait #3

2010-10-26T22:03:00.000-08:00

Somehow I've ended up with about ten preschools to photograph every fall, actually I know how- my wife got me to photograph my children's preschools and one thing led to another... After doing it for several years now I actually enjoy it. The kid's are amazingly beautiful weather they're smiling or crying their eyes out. Lucky I'm able to get most of them smiling.
This is one of my favorites of the day!This is three lights (hair, main, background) and a reflector for fill shot against a grey backdrop.

Portrait Day #2

2010-10-24T21:39:00.001-08:00

Same subject, different day! I have been taking images of Janie for an upcoming article in First Alaskans Magazine. The image was taken with my 100mm F2.8. I used a canon 550ex flash shot through an umbrella, triggered with my STE-2 transmitter.

Joining in on a portrait a day! Portrait#1:Janie Leask

2010-10-23T22:08:00.002-08:00

As I was checking out some of my favorite local photographer's blogs yesterday I paid particular attention to my friend Nathaniel's at http://ngwphotography.blogspot.com/. Nathaniel, along with many of us in Anchorage, have been following Clark Mishler's blog project in which he's committed to taking a portrait a day for a year. Clark's in the home stretch now and it has been wonderful to follow. (Clark's one of my personal favorites. You can see the project here: http://clarkjamesmishler.com/.)
Nathaniel decided he'd like to work at being a better portrait artist and committed himself to 30 days of portraits.
The point is he inspired me to take up the challenge as well. The above portrait is of Janie Leask, CEO of the First Alaskans Institute after a women's league hockey game.
Available light, 24-70mm F2.8 lens. The only special technique here was setting a custom white balance under the funky arena lighting.

Alaska Photo Safari Review

2010-09-17T23:57:00.001-08:00

Here are some photos from the photo safari I lead for Alaska Wildland Adventures in July. I had a wonderful group of people that made the trip a real pleasure. We all met in Fairbanks, spent a few days in Denali National Park, explored the Seward Highway route down to Seward, spent time shooting in Kenai Fjords National Park, and ended up with a few days at the Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge, deep in the heart of KFNP!

Cordova Photography Workshop!

2010-08-16T23:09:00.002-08:00

Last month I hosted an amazing week long photography workshop in Cordova, a small idyllic fishing village on the shores of Prince William Sound. I was with a wonderful group of eight people that, despite a decent amount of rainfall, were eager to learn and practice photography in a uniquely Alaskan setting.
We based ourselves at the Orca Adventure Lodge which couldn't have been more Alaskan, except for the fact that the meals were bordering on gourmet. Steve and Wendy did a terrific job making our stay as comfortable and as interesting as possible. We had our own van and spent our time exploring rainforest trails, calving glaciers, harbors, kelp box races, and anything else that caught our fancy. We came across moose, salmon in streams, bald eagles, nesting swans, and stunning scenery. One day was spent touring the sound with Steve and we had the thrill of walking in grizzly habitat and seeing a few come through the forest. We found dall porpoise, sea otters, jelly fish balls, and waterfalls, as well as many varieties of sea birds!
We also had a member of the local Eyak native community come out and model for us during a lighting seminar!

The trip was run through Journeys International and I was lucky enough to have the owners, Joan and Will Weber along for the trip. They're special people that run a special company.

Below are some of my favorites from the week. Soon I'll post some of the group's photos!

Costa Rica Part 4 Tiskita Jungle Lodge

2010-07-22T00:36:00.000-08:00

After the scheduled photo safari for Journeys International was completed I went down to the far southwestern coast, literally the end of the road, to scout a new possible location for future photo trips. Journeys recommended the Tiskita Jungle Lodge and biological preserve.
As much as I love spending time with guests on the safaris it's always a treat to be able to explore a new area and spend time taking images just for myself. I was also looking forward to relaxing for a bit but the photo opportunities were so numerous and diverse I could never get myself to rest until it was dark out.
There are numerous trails to explore and wildlife abounds. The tiny town of Punta Banco is a ten minute walk down the road and is a wonderful place to capture locals in their environment. An added bonus is the possibility of seeing a member of the near by Ngobe indigenous tribe.
I stayed for three nights and would have loved to spend a few more days!
The owners, Peter and Lisbeth Aspinall were extremely knowledgeable and shared their experiences daily. Lisbeth gave me a guided tour and was amazing at spotting wildlife. Peter was equally knowledgeable in the area of local flora and fruit growing techniques. The fruit from their orchards was available daily. What a treat for me! I drank juice several times a day. Not your milk carton variety, fresh picked and squeezed! Hard to find in Alaska!
In short the scouting was a success. Journeys and I will be offering a new CR trip based in the Monte Verde Cloud Forest and Tiskita Jungle Lodge in the near future!

Here is an overly large sampling of images all taken within walking distance of the lodge, all except those of the surfers and large ocean rocks. Those were taken in Pavonnes, a small surfing community five miles back up the road. Awesome!!

Costa Rica Part 3 Arenal/ Tortuguero

2010-07-08T19:22:00.000-08:00

I just returned from six amazing days in Cordova, Alaska. I didn't have time to wrap up Costa Rica Images before leaving. Here are some photos from the end of the official "Photo Safari" portion of the trip. Next, I'll post some images from a new area for me.

I'll have Cordova images soon!

Hope and Cory Wroblewski/ Fairbanks!

2010-06-29T13:38:00.000-08:00

On June 19th I was fortunate enough to be able to photograph the wedding of Hope and Cory in Fairbanks. I couldn't of had a more wonderful couple to work with. They were as easy going as I am and it was a pleasure to spend a couple of days with them. Their family and friends were equally as charming.
It was a beautiful day with every sort of weather from beautiful blue sky to overcast with a bit of rain.
Here are some of my favorite photos from the day!

Alaska State Parks 40th Anniversary Poster

2010-06-25T23:52:00.001-08:00

I found out while I was in Costa Rica that one of my images was chosen for one of four posters the Alaska State Parks is putting out in celebration of their 4oth anniversary. Here is the preview they sent me. I'm thrilled to be lucky enough to have an image that represents Alaska and the State Parks!
This was taken on Wrangell Island at Petroglyph Beach State Historic Site. The ancient rock carvings are still just lying along the beach for anyone to find and photograph. A lot of people make graphite (pencil) etchings of the rocks on paper as well. I've shown this image before as part of a southeast stock photo trip I took a couple of years ago. This is one of the most time consuming images I've ever taken but also one of my favorites. I had read about the petroglyphs and new I wanted to try and create an image with a mysterious mood to it. No one is quite sure who did the carvings and why. I had seen some great images of the rocks with that late afternoon golden glow on them but didn't want to replicate that idea. I decided to find my composition and wait until after sunset- around 11:30pm- to shoot. I used a couple of flashes to light up the rocks in the foreground- propped on rocks and a backpack, a neutral density filter to darken the sky and bring its exposure value closer to the foreground exposure, and I triggered it all with a remote signal while hopping on the rocks in the background. The camera was mounted on a tripod of course! It took me several attempts to get the exposures correct and get a decent silhouette of myself. It was one of those times when it was all over that I knew I had a nice shot! Every now and then I get lucky!

Costa Rica Day 3/ Arenal

2010-06-22T22:32:00.001-08:00

Here are some images from our first day near the Arenal Volcano. We stayed at the Arenal Observatory Lodge which is the prime place for capturing night time images of the lava boulders tumbling down the mountainside. The volcano was particularly active during our stay and several times I nearly had to change my pants after an outrageous "WHOOOOOSSSHHHH!" of smoke was expelled from the cone. It was truly incredible to hear such a powerful force of nature. The gardens are beautiful and full of photo ops of flora and fauna, especially birds. There are several photos of the group in action here as well. The snake is a fer de lance. One of the most dangerous snakes in the world. It's not so much that it's venom is the most deadly but the snake is very agressive by nature and does not hesitate to bite when slightly threatened. Needless to say we never walked around at night without a flashlight and a slight quiver in our gait!

This was taken of our local naturalist guide, Pedro, during a mini-flash workshop before leaving Villa Blanca. I set the ambient tungsten light to around minus 1.5 stops and the shot Pedro with an off-camera flash through an umbrella.

COSTA RICA PHOTO SAFARI DAY 2!

2010-06-15T13:41:00.015-08:00

These are from the grounds of The Hotel Villa Blanca in the San Ramon Cloud Forest. This is an amazing morning each year. The hotel has a "hummingbird garden" where they set out feeders for the humming birds each morning just for a short while. For us "serious" photographers the guides put nectar in some of the local flowers to create a more natural photo op. Villa Blanca is very conscious of the fact that the birds need to stick to their natural diet and not become dependent on the nectar so they remove the feeders for the rest of the day.
It's truly a delightful experience to have 50 or 60 of these wonders darting about at incredible speeds. It's a great opportunity for the group to practice their stop action techniques. We were shooting with shutter speeds of 1/1000 to 1/4000. The best technique seemed to be to pre-focus on a point in manual focus and shoot as much as possible once the birds approached. Even then we still ended up with more pieces of birds in the frame than "keepers"!

This is Andrey Villabous. He works for Villa Blanca and I have taken his photo for the past three years. It's always a pleasure to see his smiling face. This year we got a little fancy with two speedlights, one in front and one from the back/ side.

The sun was setting and I saw this beautiful light hitting this attractive couple. I ran out and asked if I could take a few photos and in less than 3 minutes the light was gone!

We spent part of the day exploring two near by towns. Sarchi has a unique workshop powered by a water mill. This is the official site of manufacture for Costa Rica's trademark symbol the Oxcart. The country credits the oxcart for bringing them into the modern era. With it they were able to transport coffee in large quantities to the various ports thus giving Costa Rica a much desired and profitable export. And boy is it good.

In Grecia we convinced on of the local "Ticos" to suffer a photo session as we all took turns with this characteristic gentleman. The red gothic church behind him has a metal exterior and was a gift from Belgium in the 1890's. It is the Cathedral de la Mercedes.

2010 Costa Rica Safari- Day 1

2010-06-12T20:27:00.000-08:00

PURA VIDA! VILLA BLANCA & The SAN RAMON CLOUD FOREST.

I just returned from leading my third photo safari in Costa Rica for Journeys International. I feel so lucky to be able to "work" in such an amazing place. Costa Rica is a photographer's paradise no matter what type of subjects you prefer. Each visit is different from the last. This year we had a little more rain than usual but still had a great time. Even though I get to revisit some areas there is always something new to observe. The light, an animal I've never seen, an interesting character, the rain. And always the people, "Ticos", are friendly and generous with their knowledge and time. Oh and don't forget the great food and....COFFEE! Even though it's very warm and sometimes very humid, the coffee still always sounds good. The one souvenir I bring back for myself is a bag of the locally grown export.

This year the group- Terry, Carolyn, John, Marie, and Chalsa, spent time in three different locations, the San Ramon Cloud Forest, the very active Arenal Volcano , and the rainforest of Tortuguaro on the Caribbean Coast. I then spent three days on my own in the very wild southwest region at the Tiskita Jungle Lodge.
The added bonus for me is meeting the wonderful people that make up our group. Terry and Carolyn are friends from an Alaska trip several years ago and I was so grateful to be able to spend time with them again. Not only are they terrific people but they're talented photographers in their own right.
I'll share photos for the next several days in sequence of our trip. I'll also post photos taken by the group as soon as I've collected them all!
Enjoy!

Mother's Day at the Alaska Native Heritage Center

2010-05-25T23:52:00.003-08:00

I was hired by First Alaskans Magazine to take some images at the Alaska Native Heritage Center's free open house on Mother's day. I love the center. It's a great place to see native arts and crafts and to see a wide variety of live performances. Chanting, drumming, dancing, traditional games, you name it!

It's a wonderful place to become immersed in the First Alaskans world.

They also had the reenactment sites open with traditionally dressed "actors" explaining how various tribes lived in the past.

This is a sampling of images. I'm looking forward to getting back out there when summer has really set in and the trees are full and the grasses tall.

Turnagain Arm and the end of winter, I hope!

2010-05-16T20:18:00.001-08:00

  I was driving along Turnagain Arm last week on my way to Girdwood. I LOVE this 45 minute drive and will find any excuse to do it. ( "I could sure use a cup of coffee- Hey! I hear Girdwood has coffee! Let's go!) Accent Alaska, my stock agency, is located there so instead of taking 15 minutes and dropping a disc in the mail I drive it down! Of course I always bring my camera.
  It was a grey, windy day, with not much exciting going on as far as light but I was attracted to the textures in the mud. I actually passed this spot up but then decided I needed to see if I could get something there. To get down to the mud I had to cross the Seward Highway, go down a small hill, cross the railroad tracks, and scramble over some boulders. That was no big deal. The wind was. Not only was it much stronger down here by the water, it was much colder. I, being such a smart and experienced Alaskan photographer, failed to put on the coat and light gloves I had sitting next to me in the car. Eventually it was very uncomfortable holding the frozen camera body in my bare hands so I'd take a few images, warm up my hands, take some more until I couldn't take it!
  Because it was so windy I took a lot of images of each composition to make sure I ended up with a sharp one. I'm glad I did because I really ended up with several blurred photos even with settings of 1/125 sec. at F13 and ISO 400.
  I love the texture of the mud. It was a no-brainer to convert the muted hues in this scene to black and white.
  The stacks of lumber, dropped of by the railroad for future repair work to the tracks, added an interesting contrast to the more natural elements and I couldn't help but experiment with them.
  As you can see there is no snow on the ground and it is rapidly melting off of the mountains. Summer is on the way!

Welcome!

2010-05-13T15:04:00.017-08:00

Welcome!

This is the first posting of a new blog for Wayde Carroll Photography. I look forward to sharing my images, techniques, thoughts, and inspirations here. Any comments, critiques, questions, or wise cracks are welcome!

I'm a photographer based in Anchorage, Alaska and I do a wide variety of work to keep paying the bills! From one posting to the next you may find photos from an exotic location or you may find a pair of bare feet photographed for a local hospital brochure. I'll try and limit the foot postings, promise!

I want to extend a special welcome and thank you to the people who followed me on my Chatalaska blog for so long. I was sad to see it shut down but feel I can share a wider range of topics here.

This first image of the Chugach Mountains was taken just down the street from my home. I was locking up the house before hitting the sack and looked out the window to find this amazing orange glow filling the sky! I quickly grabbed my Canon 5D and a 24-70mm lens, made sure there was a card and a battery in the camera (I have actually driven out to a spot in the past to catch some amazing light only to discover my battery was still at home charging, just in case, you know, I might need to leave at a moments notice...), and ran down the street to a local park with a nice clearing.

I was in aperture priority at F6.3 and had a shutter speed of 1/125 at ISO 400. Because the lens was zoomed out to 24mm I wasn't too worried about depth of field and the 1/125th shutter speed allowed me to hand hold the camera and not worry about a tripod. I knew the color wouldn't last long and after shooting about 15 images the sun was gone and the clouds were grey/ blue. Made it!

I would have liked a bit more of the mountain range in the image but I was eliminating some distracting homes that were directly in front of me. Not bad for a mere ten minutes work!