Festival of Native Arts, Fairbanks

Yup'ik Miracle Drummers and Dancers
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 300mm f2.8L IS, 1/250 sec @ f2.8, ISO 1250

The Yup'ik Miracle Drummers and Dancers perform at the Festival of Native Arts in Fairbanks, Alaska. The group are tradition bearers from the Yup'ik culture and have been performing together since 1994, promoting drug and alcohol free communities.

Festival of Native Arts, Fairbanks

Canon 1Ds Mark III, 70-200mm f2.8L, 1/160 sec @f2.8, ISO 1250 w/off camera flash
Inu-Yupiaq dancers at the 2009 Festival of Native Arts, Fairbanks, Alaska

The annual festival of native arts, which celebrates native culture, art and dance began last night in Fairbanks, and runs through Saturday evening. Each year, there is a representation of native groups from around the state that dance and sell artwork during the three day event. I'm partial to the Inupiaq and Yupik dancers, largely because of their facial interaction with the audience, their open body posture, and use of hand gestures. Their dances are story telling demonstrations with the body. The Inu-Yupiaq dance group is a blend of the Inupiaq and Yupik native dances. Photographing this event can be challenging because of the low light. I used an off camera fill flash triggered by an on camera signal, which let me add some light.

2009 Single Block Ice Art

Single block ice sculptures at the World Ice Art Championships, Fairbanks, Alaska.

Single block ice sculptures at the World Ice Art Championships, Fairbanks, Alaska.

These are comparison shots of the same ice sculpture. The first frame shows the work in progress and the second frame shows the detail enhanced when lit at night with colored lights. The multi-block competition, which will conclude on Friday, March 6th, will reveal some spectacular, large sculptures this year. I'll post some of those upon completion.

2009 Ice Art

Mongolian sculptors Rashaanjav Tuvshintur and Tserendash Batmunkh created an abstract single block sculpture titled "Evolution" for the 2009 World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska. With the single block competition complete, the Multi-block competition begins March 1 and concludes on March 6, 2009. Four person teams will carve and sculpt massive ice sculptures to be judged at the end of the week.

Cold Weather Photography

Cold weather in Fairbanks, Alaska.

I'm asked frequently about photographing in the cold weather, so I posted an article on my web site. Here is a brief excerpt of that, which I plan to update in the future. Read the full cold weather photography article.

There is a rare beauty in Alaska’s winter, both in the quality of light and color, and its silence and simplicity. But it can be extreme in cold temperatures, particularly in the interior and arctic regions. To experience and document this season, you need to reconcile your working photography system with cold weather. One needs a method that keeps them warm enough to function, as well as enjoy the experience. While I like being in the cold, I do not like being cold. There is a big difference here. Like most things in life, we feel most comfortable and confident once we have personally tested ourselves in a given situation or set of conditions. This applies for working in the cold as well.

Two ways to stay warm:

There are two basic ways we stay warm. One is to generate heat within through exertion and then retain that heat with clothing, or we can absorb the heat from another source like a wood stove, chemical hand warmers, or drinking hot fluids. Sometimes, putting on more insulation or clothing just does not help, and some sort of additional heat is needed. A combination of both work best for me. I should first state that by comparison with my other hominid friends and colleagues, I seem very susceptible to cold hands and feet. Over the years it seems as if I’ve tried just about everything in the attempt at staying warm. I have found no magic solution. However, my constantly tweaked system seems to work o.k., if implemented well. I’ll discuss here how I dress and deal with photography in cold weather. By the way, this is about the human body, not the camera gear. I’ve found so far, that the weak link is me, not my cameras and gear (save that of having extra batteries).

General Clothing:

When photographing in Alaska’s super cold sub zero temperatures; I’m very seldom expending great degrees of exertion. Generally, I’m standing around waiting for the aurora borealis, or waiting for the proper light to fall upon a landscape. In these conditions, I break ranks with the conventional wisdom of clothing layering. Layering IS very critical when your body temperature varies considerably due to heat generation through exercise and you need to adjust with clothing by adding or removing layers. As for the deep cold, when you are not exerting yourself, what you want is loft and insulation. This is best achieved with down, like a hefty down parka, although some synthetics work well also. I start with a base layer of wool (merino wool—soft on the skin, or capelline). Definitely not cotton! Then over that goes a mid weight shirt of similar fabric, one that has a collar reach to cover the neck, then a down sweater, then my hooded down parka. This does the trick pretty well, and my body core stays warm even at very cold temps. I use similar base layers for the legs with an outer layer being appropriate for the conditions. Generally that is a pair of insulated bib overalls. Avoid anything “tight” fitting... Read the rest of this article >>

Fairbanks celebrates Alaska's 50th Satehood Anniversary

Fireworks celebration of Alaska's statehood, Fairbanks, Alaska

Canon 5d Mark II, 24-80mm f2.8L, 1.6sec @ f2.8, ISO 200

Fairbanks has been washed in warm temperatures recently, reaching 50 degrees above zero. This followed nearly two weeks of cold temperatures reaching minus 40 degrees and colder! Due to the cold temperatures the fireworks celebration for Alaska's 5oth year anniversary of statehood was postponed until last Saturday. Conveniently, it was about 30 degrees, a very balmy temperature for the event. I grabbed a few token shots with my Canon 5D Mark II, just to experiment a bit with the new camera, and, I took a few video clips, one of which is posted below.

I picked up a 5D Mark 2 to test it out as a lightweight camera for international travel, and potentially as a good landscape camera. I doubt it will replace my 1D series camera's completely, but a little experimenting in the near future will give a good idea of its performance in the field, specifically for the kind of shooting I do. This point is critical, since the subjects and style of shooting become a big factor in the final choice of a camera. The wonder camera is still elusive. But, I do like the light weight bonus of the 5D Mark II. I just wonder how it will do when I eventually drop it during some crazy escapade!

Part #6: Copper River salmon - fish earbones

Erin Nicholsan with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game removes the earbone from a Sockeye salmon caught in the Copper River. The earbones are marked when the fish are fry at the Gulkana hatchery, and can be identified as adults.

This post is part of the photo essay I'm working on about the hatchery enhanced Sockeye salmon of the Copper river.

There is an extensive story to be told of the difficulties in raising Sockeye salmon in a hatchery environment. This is in part due the Sockeye's susceptibility to a virus which can spread quickly and deliver extensive mortality. The Gulkana hatchery has taken measures to deal with this issue, and have had amazing success. In order to judge long term survivorship of hatchery fish, they need to be marked in some fashion. This used to be done with a variety of tags placed on a small percentage of fish. More recently however, a new type of marking is done at hatcheries which effects the earbone of each fish, thereby marking 100% of the fish, and in a sense, branding them. The Gulkana hatchery uses a salt based water solution to mark their fish, which enables the fish that are caught throughout the commercial and personal use fisheries to be identified. In order to do this, the earbone is removed from the fish, dried out, then looked at under an electron microscope (more on that in another post). After I returned from the river with my Salmon, an ADF&G technician removed the earbones from all my fish and sent them off for testing. The percentage of Gulkana hatchery red salmon caught annually varies, and in a later post, I'll address some of those numbers.

Part #5: Personal Use Fishery - Copper River Sockeye Salmon

Dipnet fishing in the Copper River Canyon, Alaska.
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 16-35mm 2.8L, 1/400 sec @ f9.0, ISO 400

This is the fifth part of series I'm documenting on the Copper River red salmon, read the others here.

For many Alaskans, the personal use dipnet fishery of the Copper River is an important event. Each household is allowed to catch 30 salmon per season for their personal consumption. It begins in June and is usually wrapped up by August. For those not familiar with the procedure here is the scoop: A big net on the end of a 12 foot pole is lowered from the shore (some use boats) into the silty river water, preferably in an eddy which the fish favor for swimming up river (I might add that there is no lack of advice out there for proper technique and location. Many have their tried and true "spots" which faithfully deliver year after year). When the wiggle or bump is felt in the net, you haul it out. The fish is then bopped on the head, or live bled in the gills, and put on a stringer. This year my interests were two-fold: One, to catch my fish and two, to document the procedure. Its a challenge to do both and I was certainly focused on getting my fish as a first priority.

I chartered a boat ride that dropped me off down river in the canyon. The weather was fantastic (which is often not the case by the way). Perched on a small island rock adjacent to the canyon wall, I dropped in the net and bingo, had a beautiful shiny salmon in a few minutes. In just a few hours, I had my limit of fish but zero pictures. The disadvantage of my beautiful location was that no other fishermen were in sight to photograph. So, I did what photographers often do when faced with this dilemma: self portrait, self timer, and experiment. I forgot my intervolometer in the car (fancy programmable cable release) so I was left with pushing the shutter button and getting into position in a 10 second time period, and repeating this frequently. I put my camera on a tiny tripod, about 6 inches off the ground and did the best I could with composition. The results were acceptable, although I really wish I could have framed the scene from behind the camera! All in all, it was an exhilarating experience in outrageously beautiful country. I now have a freezer full of red salmon that will last until this time next year, and the process will happen again.

Dipnetting Sockeye salmon on the Copper river

Sockeye Salmon dipnet harvest on the Copper River.

The "event" of dipnetting red salmon on the Copper river lies somewhere between a ritual, subsistence, and a testosterone surge. I'm among those that look forward to this annual event, both for the wonderful harvest of the silvery fish as well as the intrigue of adventuring along the shores of the mighty Copper river. I just returned with my limit of 15 fish for the year, and I was gifted with some fine weather--to quote on of the ADF&G biologist in Chitina "it was one of the 7 nice days of the summer!" I'll be writing more about this in an upcoming post.

Barley grain, Delta Junction, Alaska

I've been working on an assignment featuring the town of Delta Junction, Alaska. Known for its annual cereal grain barley project initiated years ago, it has had varying degrees of success, and lots of failures. The harvest should begin about September 1st this year, as the grain heads are beginning to golden and ripen.

2008 World Eskimo Indian Olympics Blanket Toss (Nalukataq)

Mens Blanket toss at the World Eskimo Indian Olympics, Fairbanks, Alaska
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 24-70 2.8L, 1/200 @ 2.8, ISO 1600

The World Eskimo Indian Olympics concluded on Saturday night in Fairbanks. The men's blanket toss finals were judged on height, style and dress. Volunteers from the audience held the blanket made from walrus hides, and hurled the contestants into the air. The annual event will return again to Fairbanks in July of 2009. Below is a quote from WEIO's site on the blanket toss.

NALUKATAQ (BLANKET TOSS)

Several walrus skins are used for this event. The skin has holes on the edges so that rope can be looped through all the way around and used for handle grips. One person gets in the middle of the skin and stands there while being tossed. With a good coordinated effort on behalf of the pullers, the person being tossed can get as high as thirty feet in the air and lands on his/her feet without falling down. This is quite similar to a trampoline, with the only difference being that people are the springs and they can move to catch an errant jumper.

The Nalukataq is done in the whaling communities in the spring if there has been a successful whaling season. It is been part of the whaling feast activity as long as people can remember.

There are two schools of thought as to why this sport is being done. One is for the simple exhilaration is provides, and the other is for spotting game over the horizon. The judges look at balance, height, movements in the air - sometimes you can see jumpers dancing or running in place - and all around form and grace when determining a winner. Sometimes, flips and somersaults are done to the delight of the pullers and spectators.

2008 World Eskimo Indian Olympics Dancing

Inland Eskimo Dancers, 2008 WEIO, Fairbanks, Alaska
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 300mm f2.8L IS, 1/200 sec @ f2.8, ISO 1000

The Inland Eskimo Dancers from Anuktuvik pass in Alaska's Brooks range danced on Friday night at the World Eskimo Indian Olympics. Females dressed in purple, males dressed in blue, drumming and dance in the form of story. Entertaining and delightful to watch. Native dance is interspersed between the athletic events, with various different groups and regions represented each evening.

2008 World Eskimo Indian Olympics

Alaskan High Kick
Elijah Cabinboy, from Nome, Alaska

Elijah Cabinboy from Nome ties the world record for the Alaskan high kick Thursday evening at the World Eskimo Indian Olympics in Fairbanks. After the competition, he tried one more time to break the record and hit the ball, but it was off the record since only his first three qualifying attempts count. A description of this and other events can be found on the WEIO website

"This is a game of balance where the athlete sits on the floor below a target with one hand grasping the opposite foot. With his/her remaining free hand planted on the floor, the athlete springs up and attempts to kick the target with the free foot. After kicking the target, the athlete must show balance upon landing - he/she is at the original position before kicking. Height is the objective.."

An ear full - I mean "pull"

Each year the World Eskimo Indian Olympics are held in Alaska. They were first held in Fairbanks in 1961, and now alternate annually between Fairbanks and Anchorage. A little summary from their website gives background:

For time immemorial, Native peoples of the circumpolar areas of the world have gathered in small villages to participate in games of strength, endurance, balance, and agility. Along with these athletic games, dancing, story telling, and other audience participation games took place. This provided an opportunity for friendly competition, entertainment and laughter. The hosts provided food and lodging, and visitors brought news from surrounding villages and expanded opportunities for challenge building and renewing old and new friendships. This is the background of the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics and the atmosphere, which we seek to replicate.

The specific photo shown here is the Ear Pull, sort of like tug of war between two seated people, only using your ear and piece of twine. If it looks painful, that's because it is. It is a game specifically geared for pain tolerance, an attribute essential to survival in the extreme arctic conditions. I have many photos on my website from the annual event: World Eskimo Indian Olympic photos

The Ear Pull, an event of pain endurance at the World Eskimo Indian Olympics
Canon 1Ds Mark II, 70-200mm f2.8L IS, 1/160 @f4.0, ISO 800

The price of milk in Barrow, Alaska

I spent some time in Barrow, Alaska this summer, which is located in northern Alaska, along the Arctic ocean. Its an Inupiaq (Eskimo) community with a rich culture, and like many of Alaska's native communities faces a host of challenges due to changing lifestyles, economics, and climate. If you find yourself miffed at the price of gas for your car, you can be glad you don't buy milk at the prices in Barrow.

Milk at $8.99 in the Barrow, Alaska grocery store.

Season's apart

On the eve of winter solstice, I'm reminded of a photo I took during the summer solstice, June 21, 2007. Fairbanks celebrates the summer solstice with many events and activities, one of which is the Gold Panners semi-pro baseball game that plays until midnight under natural daylight.

Midnight sun baseball game, June 21, 2007, Fairbanks, Alaska