Night Owl

 I’ve been spending a fair amount of time with this pair of great-horned owls recently. They’ve allowed me to get quite close, although they are primarily nocturnal and seem to appear just after sundown, making them difficult to photograph. Last night I decided to add a bit of light by mounting a flash and bounce card/diffuser on my camera. Since their eyesight is keen in the dark, I was concerned that the bright light may harm their vision or cause temporary blindness. I did some research and from what I gathered, owls do not seem to be affected by bright light sources and often use outdoor floodlights to their advantage when hunting. Since the sun had just set, there was still a bit of ambient light and I was at least 50 feet away. They would look directly at me while the flash fired multiple times and then fly to another tree seemingly unaffected.

Exposing was a bit tricky but my technique paid off. Those of you fellow photogs will appreciate the settings I employed: I was shooting with a 400mm lens, aperture F/4, shutter speed 1/60 of a second, ISO 4000, and my flash was cranked all the way up, connected to an external battery pack. I had to cross an old beaver dam and wade into a creek that was well over the tops of my hiking boots; c’est la vie, it was worth it as I was able to create unique images. This is photo of the female as she was looking at me inquisitively, framed by the mountains and twilight sky.

Great Horned Owls

I didn't get too far on my morning walk when I was distracted by a pair of great-horned owls, not a bad start to the day!

Golden Hour

As far as golden hours go, it doesn't get much more golden than this. Taken last night on the Albert Loop Trail, which with the salmon starting to arrive, will soon be closed by the state park until early winter to avoid bear/human encounters. This trail is part of my daily walk; I am taking advantage of the light and the scenes while I can.

My Sanctuary

A river is a powerful place to meditate. This is where I like to begin my days, roughly a mile and half from where I live, in Eagle River Valley. Each morning when I walk out here, I dip my hands into the cold glacial water, rinse my face, breathe in the surroundings and let go of thoughts that hinder my being present in the moment. The moving energy and the voices in the rushing water wash away all that is inconsequential, revealing the light and creative possibilities.

Star Trails over Tahoe

South Tahoe star trails…this is the last photo I took in Lake Tahoe. After an intense two-hour hike into the mountains, I didn't want to turn around and leave right after sunset so I stuck around a couple more hours to take some night shots. There was an endurance race that weekend which began at the trailhead by Spooner Lake with 10K, 50 mile and 100 mile divisions. You can see the headlamps from the racers along the trail to Marlette Lake and the stream of light below them is from the support vehicles.

It's been a busy week - after my flight was cancelled and spending the night in Reno, I returned to Alaska last Monday evening and promptly hit the road for Kenai the next day to get my annual supply of salmon. I'm just now getting a chance to breathe and catch up on some editing. 

So Many Roads

"So many roads, to ease my soul...so many roads"

The first time I heard those words was the last time the Grateful Dead played together with Jerry Garcia on July 9, 1995, and they've resonated with me ever since. To cap off my trip to Lake Tahoe, I decided to go for a big hike last night - 10 miles round trip and well over 3,000 feet in elevation gain. Seeing as I reside just a few hundred feet above sea level, the lack of oxygen at 9,000 feet was noticeable. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable and strenuous finish to my journey. I was literally chasing the light up the mountain, trying to get to a vantage point to photograph the sunset before it was gone. I stopped at this spot, where the setting sun and the scene seemed to translate Jerry's lyrics perfectly.

Heavenly View

Looking down from the tram tower on top of Heavenly Resort as one of the cars leaves for the base of the mountain, carrying wedding guests back down at the end of the evening. This was the perfect photo to end on, after a joyous celebration.

I have less than 24 hours left here in Tahoe and I plan to make the most of it. Let's see what magic I can discover before I leave...

Heavenly Wedding

We couldn't have asked for better weather and light for yesterday's wedding on the mountain at Heavenly. As far as backdrops go, it's tough to beat Lake Tahoe at sunset. Congratulations to the lovely couple - my good friends Erin and Kate. It was an honor to be part of your special day and a pleasure to photograph such a wonderful event. Best wishes for you on your journey together.

Much love,

Colin

Tahoe Sunset

Here is another photo from last's night's stunning sunset over Lake Tahoe. Capturing this required me to wade out into the water and get blasted with waves for a half hour or so, but the results were worth it. If you know me, you know that I always strive for a different angle than what's already been done, and I'm willing to go the extra mile to find it.

On that note, I am off to photograph a wedding on the mountain at Heavenly Resort, overlooking the lake.

Cheers,

Colin

Good morning from Lake Tahoe

The sun rises on a new day here in Lake Tahoe. This is a big day, a day of new beginnings. My friends are getting married and it is my mission to capture the mood and the moments, to tell the story through photographs. After shooting well past sunset last night, waking up at 4 am and driving over to Emerald Bay to catch the sunrise, I need to rest, focus, and recharge my batteries, both literally and metaphorically.

Namaste,

Colin

Goodnight from Lake Tahoe

There is nothing like experiencing a place for the first time and discovering all that it has to offer. Everything is new – the scenery, the light, the energy, and it will never be that way again. You may go back and explore more intensively, likely adding to your body of work, possibly improving on what you’ve already done, but you will never see it the same as you did the first time and experience the magic of being someplace new.

Goodnight from Lake Tahoe, and never stop exploring. 

Colin

Brian and Sophia

One of my favorite photos of Brian and Sophia from last Saturday's wedding at the historic Kennecott Mine near McCarthy, Alaska. This was taken in one of the old cabins, utilizing the natural light coming through the windows along with a flash bounced off of the ceiling to create the ethereal effect.

Brian and Sophia's Wedding

As it turns out, the old mining buildings at Kennecott make for some very interesting, albeit unconventional wedding photos. I was really looking forward to photographing here, the possibilities are endless.

India Presentation at the Anchorage Downtown Rotary Club Luncheon

Monday morning I was enjoying the simple life in McCarthy, Alaska, a tiny community on the edge of Wrangell St. Elias National Park that has no electrical grid, where drinking water is still gathered from a local creek. Barely 24 hours and 300 road miles later, I was in Anchorage delivering a presentation on my journey through India to the Downtown Rotary Club. My life is often unsettled and chaotic and I’m generally running on a perpetual lack of sleep, but never is it boring, nor would I have it any other way.

I’ve received great feedback from those in attendance yesterday and have also been asked to do this program for another rotary group. Just prior to taking the podium someone asked me if I was nervous. My response was that it’s not nerves, but when I share my images and experiences, especially from a place like India, I do it wholeheartedly. I feel enormous pressure to deliver a strong message to accompany my images, to convey the magic and the feelings I experienced during the moment the photograph was created. I truly enjoy public speaking and sharing what I do, and I look forward to every opportunity that comes my way to do just that.

Cheers,

Colin

Sometimes you have to go the extra mile to get the shot, and sometimes that involves stripping down to your underwear and getting into the water to watch the bride trash her $2,000 wedding dress.

This past weekend I drove 300 miles (each way) to the remote Alaska town of McCarthy to photograph a wedding at the Historic Kennecott Mine. The last 40-50 miles is gravel road that intersects portions of Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve, our nations largest national park – almost six times the size of Yellowstone. We couldn’t have asked for better weather or a more idyllic setting for what turned out to be one of the wildest wedding parties I’ve had the pleasure of working with. The bride and her bridesmaids all wore cowboy boots, the couple was transported to the reception in a meat wagon pulled by a four-wheeler, and the fireworks and Fireball Whiskey added just the right amount of Alaskan redneck flare to make it authentic. We topped off the evening by watching the entire wedding party jump into the local swimming hole in full dress. Of course, the only way to properly capture this was to strip down to my underwear and wade into the chest deep water for the best angle. Sometimes you just have to go the extra mile to get the shot, and having such a fun group of people made it that much easier. Congratulations Brian and Sophia, it was an honor and an adventure to photograph your special day.

Nat Geo Your Shot - I made the Editors' Picks Top 10!

Well, this put a bounce in my step...I just received word that one of my tiger photos from India made the Editors' Spotlight for the ‪#‎LetsExplore‬ hashtag challenge on National Geographic’s Your Shot page. Out of nearly 12,000 images, mine made the Top 10 as selected by National Geographic photographer David Guttenfelder, curator of the challenge. Every little step is a step in the right direction!

As I write this, my Facebook page currently has 997 likes, just 3 shy of a new milestone. Thank you all for staying tuned and appreciating what I do. Feel free to share this post and let’s see if we can surpass 1,000 likes today!

Cheers,

Colin

One final, parting swan image:

Here is one final, parting swan image before I move on to another subject.

Appreciating the finer details of the forest...

Today was a bit more introspective. It seems I've been singular in purpose lately, so rather than carry my telephoto in the hopes of catching wildlife action, I put the big lens into my pack and kept my wide angle and macro at the ready. I hit the trails early, before the light was harsh and the wind started blowing, and took a closer look at the forest to appreciate the finer details it has to offer. The textures of the wormwood flowers and fern perfectly conveyed the mood I was feeling.

Fare thee well, my swan friend...

Swans, like geese, mate for life, so when I discovered this solitary trumpeter near the Nature Center last week I reasoned that it had probably lost its partner. Yesterday, while I was photographing, I noticed it tilting its head as if it was listening for sounds in the distance and possibly hearing the call of another individual swan. After nearly four hours of observing and taking photos, it began to call and swim back and forth in a pacing manner, which led me to believe it was getting ready to take flight. I positioned myself and sure enough, it beat its wings on the water and took off up the valley, hopefully to find a new mate and breed.

Solstice Swan

To honor my favorite day of the year and welcome the new season, I spent four hours with this trumpeter swan earlier today. Happy Summer Solstice from Eagle River Valley.