Caribou in the Brooks range mountains

Caribou on the mountain ridges of the Brooks range--all the little brown dots in the foreground, I'm guessing perhaps 1000 in this group.
Click on the image to see it larger.

Thanks to a generous friend, colleague, pilot, Hugh Rose, I spent an afternoon flying over the Brooks range looking at caribou along the mountain ridges. These are reportedly from the Porcupine caribou herd that migrates across the Brooks range and eventually reaches the calving grounds of Alaska's arctic north slope. Aggregations of 100 to 1000 animals could be seen feeding on the windswept mountain ridges where I presume access to food was a bit easier than the heavy snow-laden lowlands. The Brooks range is always an experience of immense wilderness. The mountains go on and on, with scarcely a node of human habitation. Conditions were far from optimal from almost every perspective but I grabbed a few photos that show how mobile and hardy this animal is, able to trek the high and low country and travel for miles. The vista of a large group of caribou migrating in a long line eluded us, although we saw many tracks revealing amazing photo ops if the timing was right.

The never ending mountain ridges of the Brooks range mountains.

Weathering the weather

Bull Muskox in blowing snow
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f4.0L IS, 1/500 sec @ f7.1, ISO 400

I just returned from a week of photography in Alaska's arctic. Surprisingly, late March and April still deliver significant sub zero temperatures in the far north, even as the sunlight rushes back at a rapid pace. I'm finding, as time goes by, that waiting out long periods of weather becomes increasingly more difficult. Mainly due to the boredom of waiting for light, which can be considerable in length of hours and days. This is when Podcasts on the IPhone become real valuable--no radio in that country.

I'm usually dressed in many layers, capped off with a big down parka and fur hat. On one excursion in very strong winds, I was hot from trudging around on snowshoes and pulled off my parka hood and hat for a second. That resulted in a light frost bite to my left ear. It only takes seconds in those conditions.

Below are a few photos from the venture. In 6 days, I took less than 1000 pictures, pretty slim shooting. But, I captured a few keepers, and actually photographed the aurora borealis, which has been an elusive subject this winter due to the absence of solar storms. This was also my first chance to test out Canon's new 24mm 1.4L II, which in quick summary, seems immensely improved over the previous version for sharpness. I'll explore that in a later post.

Crescent moon over the Brooks range
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f4.0L IS, 1/10 sec @ f4.0, ISO 800

Boreal Chickadee
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f4.0L IS, with 1.4x, 1/1250 sec @ f6.3, ISO 400

Male Pine Grosbeak
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f4.0L IS, with 1.4x, 1/250 sec @ f6.3, ISO 400

Aurora borealis and star trails over the Brooks range mountains.
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 24mm f1.4L II, 15 min @ f8, ISO 800

Aurora borealis over the Brooks range mountains.
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 24mm f1.4L II, 20 sec @ f1.4, ISO 1000

Semi tractor travels the Haul road in high winds and blowing snow
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 100-400mm f5.6L, 1/640 @ f9, ISO 250

Wind blown snow and spruce trees
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 16-35mm f2.8L, 1/800 @ f11, ISO 400

Your Favorite Place to Photograph in Alaska?

I’m often asked this question, but find it very difficult to answer. Part of Alaska’s lure and fascination to me is found in its tremendous diversity of environment. Sampling from one makes the others uniqueness more prominent. I like winter because of summer and I like summer in part, because of winter. Change and diversity really make travel across this landscape both distinctive and remarkable. Then there is the equation of wildlife, which is quite different in the arctic than in southeast Alaska’s marine waters, both of which are astonishing in their own right. So as unsatisfying as it seems to not “name” a particular spot or location, Alaska’s collective spaces win me over. I was raised in the Midwest and became addicted to wide open spaces very young. I like the ability to see for long distances and across great vistas. Alaska feeds this addiction well.

Often a given location is great for one particular subject, but has a few drawbacks in other ways. For example, Katmai National Park at Brooks Falls is an amazing place for brown bear photography, but for this very reason, there are lots of people there. Dealing with groups of people can far more difficult than dealing with the bears!

So instead of naming a favorite, I’ll list a few places that I enjoy photographing—mainly from a photographic perspective, not necessarily the pure nature experience or absence of people. They are not secret spots in any measure, rather well known really, but they are that for a reason indeed.

Brooks Falls, Katmai National Park:
I like the topographical relief of this area , the nearby mountains, the aqua blue water of Naknek lake, the orientation of the sunrise, the diversity of wildlife, and yes, of course the amazing congregations of brown bears.

Sunrise over Naknek Lake and the Brooks river

Brown bear peers through grasses, Katmai National Park

Prince William Sound:
The long fjords choked in lush green hillsides are fantastic in this sheltered waterway of southcentral Alaska. Glaciers are thick and active, dumping huge icebergs into the sea. The weather can be wet, but not as severe as southeast Alaska. Its coastal landscapes and wildflower meadows are amazing. The bird life, marine wildlife, and the interface of human participation through kayaking and/or maritime industry make it intriguing. It’s growing in popularity and number of visitors, in a large part, due to the road opened through the tunnel to Whittier.

Lupine and floating icebergs, northern Prince William Sound

Harbor seals hauled out on icebergs

The Brooks Range:
This is a massive region. It is extreme, austere, beautiful and rugged. Far less populated than the other areas mentioned above, it is equally more difficult to access. But the landscapes fascinate me, the rugged mountains, the infusion of light in the summer (and mosquitoes!!). I hope to do more work in this area over the next few years.

Fresh snowfall on mountains, Brooks range.

Caribou migrate through the snow in the Brooks range

Denali National Park:
While I often go to Denali Park with mixed feelings—there are soooooo many people to contend with along the road corridor—it does remain a very productive and beautiful place to photograph. The road moves through four different mountain passes, which parallel rivers with grand vistas--all in just 90 miles! I know of no other road system in the state with this diversity in such a short distance. The wildlife is abundant, relatively speaking, and diverse as well. It is also one of the few places to effectively and safely photograph interior grizzly bears—presuming one has a professional photographer’s permit which allows the luxury of traveling the park road in your own vehicle.

Sunrise over dwarf birch, Cathedral mountains, Denali National Park

Caribou on mountain ridge, Denali National Park

Polar bear photos

We have added a few new polar bear photos to the website from a trip in October to Alaska's arctic coast of the Beaufort Sea. Additionally, we made a polar bear gallery to supplement our polar bear information page.

Favorites from the last few years

I've been developing a new page on my website titled "alaska photo galleries" and a section includes some flash galleries which include 100 favorites of 2008. In addition, there are favorites form previous years as well. Looking back on a year's worth of travels and images provokes lots of memories and grand sights from across Alaska's landscape.

Alalska's Natural Wonders: Pick #7 Brooks falls bears

This selection completes my top 7 picks for Alaska's Natural Wonders. The survey on the right shows the general results from those who chimed in.

Brown bear fishing for salmon at Brooks falls, Katmai National Park, Alaska.

Selecting any "top" subjects in a list is never simple nor authoritative, particularly with a subjective category like natural wonders. There is no rigid criterion in my selection process, and narrowing down the last one is a toss up between four or five. However, I'm casting a vote for the Brown bears of the Brooks river in Katmai National Park. There are few, if any other places in the world where bears gather in such density to feed on salmon. Furthermore, they have grown comfortable with human presence so observing them in close proximity can be easily and safely achieved. Over time the bears have learned of the protein rich food source of salmon that make their yearly migration through the Brooks river. They show up when the fishing gets good and gorge themselves on the river's bounty.

Alalska's Natural Wonders: Pick #4 Salmon migration

Place your vote (right) for the top 7 Alaska Natural Wonders. This is my fourth pick out of seven, more to follow.

Copper River Red Salmon (Sockeye)

Alaska has five species of Salmon, and they all are harvested for commercial, personal, or subsistence use. The King and the Red salmon however, are the most favored and their epic migration still remains a mystery in many ways. One may argue that salmon migration is not isolated to Alaska, and therefore weakens its worthiness for a position in Alaska's top 7 natural wonders. I might be partly jaded in my opinion, since I consume a lot of salmon. I've been documenting the Copper River red salmon for a few seasons and it is a beautiful and amazing creature. It gets my vote.

Red Salmon, Brooks Falls

Red Salmon, Brooks River, Katmai National Park, Alaska
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f4L IS, 1/640 sec @f/8, ISO 1000

In reviewing some files from a trip to Katmai, I came across this image, which is the only one I kept out of many taken. It's a much more difficult acquisition than it may appear. This is so for many reasons. One never knows for sure where the fish will jump, and they jump so quickly that it is almost impossible to use autofocus. Instead I pre-focused on a spot and waited. As you will notice, the salmon is red, which indicates it is later in the year than the strong runs in July and fewer fish jump by this time. So, lots and lots of waiting, then waiting for the fish to be in the correct position, the correct color, and in your plane of focus... and, you press the shutter at the right time. Staring at moving water through a 500mm lens makes your eyes wacky real fast. I used ISO 1000 to enable me to maximize the shutter speed and the f-stop. As it is, I could have used a faster shutter speed, but it was a trade off in depth of field.

Why I shoot at 400 & 800 ISO

I was recently asked why many of the photographs in the recent posts were shot at 400 or 800 ISO. Do they hold up well at that ISO or was I shooting them for web resolution in mind? To answer this question appropriately involves addressing a few issues. First of all, I want to make clear that the following comments pertain to the Canon 1Ds Mark III camera. This is important to note, since cameras vary in their sensor type, capabilities and signal to noise ration. And second, my criterion in shooting 99% of my subjects seeks for end quality sufficient for a two page spread in a magazine.

Many out their in the blogosphere have done tests with ISO settings, and I don't plan to redo that here. I'll show you images I've taken and how they have been reproduced in the marketplace - which is the real test. It took me a long time to feel comfortable shooting at 400, let alone 800 or 1000 ISO. The days of film had so ingrained an apprehensiveness about quality at those values, that I defaulted to the lowest possible ISO. Now however, if the technique is correct one can shoot at ISO 800 and expect sufficient quality for reproduction in four color press and fine art prints. I'm not intimating that there is no difference between 100 and 800 ISO, but the key is to select the ISO that is optimal for your subject and conditions.

When shooting landscapes with a tripod, I can generally default to ISO 100. If I'm hand holding the camera or shooting with long lenses, I start stepping up the ISO to give me the shutter speed and/or f/stop that is appropriate to the conditions.

For example, here is a photo of bull moose that I shot at 400 ISO with a shutter speed of 1/160 sec.

(cropped tight to show detail)
slightly soft due to a slow shutter speed. ISO 800 would have been better in this case, giving a shutter speed of 1/320 instead of 1/160.

Unfortunately, due to the bull's quick movement it is slightly blurry. This is a classic example of how I should have been at ISO 800, at 1/320 sec instead, as it would have rendered a sharp image. In the end, a sharp image wins, and, if the quality is sufficient at 800 ISO why not use it! It is true that there is a little more noise at 800, but not much, and the trade off is obvious.

But, there are some important things to consider when shooting with high ISO.

• Your exposure needs to be accurate. Post production exposure adjustment is more limited at high ISO speeds. If you are one stop underexposed and plan to boost it in your post production process, it is akin to shooting at twice the ISO. So, your 800 ISO suddenly looks like 1600 ISO. I have found that from a quality perspective, it is better to adjust your ISO in the field instead of planning to boost the exposure after the image was taken.

• I also use an exposure style called "Exposing to the Right" which seeks to optimize the signal to noise ratio of a file by shifting more of the levels to the brighter side of the histogram, then pulling them back in post production. In a way this is sort of like reducing your ISO. There is an article on this at Luminous Landscape, I recommend reading it.

Through my testing, I've concluded that an image shot with good glass at 800 ISO, exposed correctly, can be printed at 24 x 36 inches and look beautiful. In addition to the high ISO capable camera's these days, there are programs that can help reduce noise as well, and we use Noise Ninja when necessary.

Below are some samples of images that would print 24 x 36 with adequate sharpness. I realize that such a comment is hard to see realized on the small images posted here, you will have to trust me. Note the ISO

ISO 800

Crop to show detail

ISO 800

crop to show detail

ISO 800

Crop to show detail

Polar Bear Tracks

Polar bear tracks on wind-blown snow, Barter Island, Alaska.
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 24-105mm f4L IS, 1/50 sec @ f20, ISO 400

The strong winds of the arctic blow the snow vigorously across the tundra creating patterns on the hardened surface. The pressure of a polar bear foot upon the fresh snow remains as the snow around it is blown away, leaving a set of footprints that are raised upon the surface rather than depressed. Even the slight weight of an Arctic fox is enough to change the surface composition of the snow, and a track will remain as the snow around it is eroded by the wind. The shadows from the low angle light provide the necessary depth to distinguish the pattern details.

Cryptic Willow Ptarmigan

Willow ptarmigan in Atigun Pass, Brooks range, Alaska.
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm 4L IS, 1/500 sec at f7.1, ISO 800

Willow ptarmigan turn a cryptic pure white in the winter to blend in with the snowy landscapes. Their black beak, rings around their eyes and tips of the tail are the only other distinguishable markings. This bird, photographed along the freshly covered snowy slopes of Atigun pass in the Brooks range is in the final few days of turning completely white. The former rusty brown phase of autumn has just a few remaining feathers. The bird seemed to know this somehow, as it moved quickly between the willow branches while feeding. I took hundreds of photos, each time getting a little closer as the bird became more comfortable with my presence. In the end, it walked so close to me that I could no longer focus on it with my camera lens.

White on white

Photography in Alaska's arctic, particularly in the snowy months, presents many subjects and scenes filled with white, and often a white subject on a white background. While traveling with a photo tour group, one of the sharp-eyed guests (thank you Skip) spotted this arctic fox curled up in a snow drift on a frozen lake.

Arctic fox, first frame from some distance.

arctic fox looked up occasionally during approach, taken on tripod

Alaska's arctic north slope is flat, and there are few geological features of relief. We decided to try to approach the fox, moving slowly. It seemed remarkably unconcerned by our slow approach, and we continued to photograph at each successively closer location.

closer yet, but lacking contrast

The white on white scene shows the effectiveness of the cryptic color phase that this fox adopts as the ground turns white with snow. However, I wanted more contrast. The only way to achieve this was to basically put the camera on the surface of the ice, as low as possible, in order to include some of the gray sky in the background. After some time, and many photographs, the fox gave us a few occasional glances, but eventually curled up in a ball and went back to sleep.

Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f4L IS, with 1.4x (700mm)
Arctic fox, camera positioned on the ground to include the sky as contrast. 1/800 sec @ f6.3, ISO 800

The frames show the progression of photos from the first shot quite some distance away, to the final frames utilizing the sky for some contrast and color. There is usually an evolution in the process of shooting any given subject, and thinking about foreground, background, light direction, exposure, etc., all play into the challenge.

Caribou in taiga

Caribou in taiga, arctic, Alaska

Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f4L IS, 1/500 sec @ 6.3, ISO 500, vertical crop

Most of my winter photography of caribou has been in the treeless arctic. The snow covered spruce trees make this image a little unique to my experience. This year on the north side of the Brooks range the caribou herds moved west and virtually none were visible along the Dalton Highway road corridor. This scene was captured near Finger mountain, from a group of perhaps 50-75 animals, a mix of cows and bulls.

Arctic photo tour

Polar bear on the sea ice, Beaufort Sea, arctic Alaska.
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm 4.0L IS, 1/500 sec @ f5.6, ISO 800

Earlier in my photography career I guided a variety of photo tours throughout Alaska. I've recently scaled back to just one trip, which I co-guide with friend and colleague Hugh Rose. Hugh is a talented photographer and an extremely knowledgeable natural history guide. It is a foray into Alaska's arctic with a focus on the Aurora borealis and Polar bears, but other wildlife and landscapes of the arctic as well. We had a trip filled with photo opportunities, a little shy on the aurora this year, and lots of snow! I'll be posting a few images from that trip in the upcoming posts with a few comments regarding the nuances of the photos.

Breaking and entering?

From my observations, young bears exhibit a mischievous behavior more often than adult bears. Chalk it up for play, curiosity, or too much energy--who knows why. This second year bear took a liking to the wood slats on the walkway to the bear viewing platform in Katmai National Park. Each year the park maintenance crew have some repair work to do from the various antics of bear chewing and non-malicious demolition. I scared it away once but it returned for more, so I grabbed a quick photo before deterring it again.

Flare and bear

Brown bear and sunrise, Katmai National Park, Alaska
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 24-105mm 4.0L (32mm), 1/250 sec @ f/11, ISO 100

The versatility of zoom lenses is so appealing that I use prime lenses less often these days. However, they are notorious for lens flare and controlling that can be difficult. On this trip, I did bring a 24mm prime just for the purpose of daybreak landscapes which include the sun. Where was that lens on this fine morning? Back in camp, I forgot to bring it, since I was traveling light.

This was a very complicated photo for a number of reasons. Not a small issue was the temperature variations so near freezing and high humidity of morning fog. This caused my lens to fog over. And, every time I would put my eye up to the camera the view finder would fog up also. To complicate all this, I could not see my exposure values because I was blinded by shooting directly into the sun. In retrospect, this would have been a worthy time to experiment with the live view feature of the 1Ds (that is, you view the scene on the monitor on the back of the camera like most little digicams offer). I expected all sorts of unwanted lens flare but the position of the sun somewhat near the center of the frame helped to reduce that, and the flare that did show up almost creates a sense of motion.

Dall Sheep

Dall sheep ram, Denali National Park, Alaska
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 400mm 5.6L, 1/125 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400

In the unhunted mountains of Denali Park there are some good sized Dall sheep rams. With virtually no pressure from humans, the sheep have slowly been habituated to human presence. I know a place where a band of rams hang out, but the area is large, and in this case, required quite a bit of hiking until I found them along the steep ridges. I took this shot with the Canon 400m 5.6L, I like this lens for two main reasons: one, it is very, very sharp and two, it is light weight. Unfortunately, it is not image stabilized and does require careful use, even on a tripod (especially a light weight tripod which I also favor when there is a lot vertical climb involved). In lower light, the auto focus does not perform as accurately as some of the fast lenses in this range, but all of the trade offs are worth it. I've taken some remarkably sharp photos with it, and as long as one is methodical about technique, its a winner. I actually bought it to trek for the Mountain Gorillas in Uganda, wanting something with good reach, light, but with excellent quality. The light on this late afternoon was pretty flat for most of the time, the exposure reveals how dim it was. But still, the ram struck a nice pose, and the background autumn colors are a good accent.

Caribou in the Alaska Range

Caribou traverse a mountain ridge in the Alaska range, Denali National park, Alaska.
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f4L IS, 1/1000 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400

Canon's 500mm f4L IS lens vies for the position of my favorite lens. It is always loaded with a camera in wildlife country and its tremendous image stabilization capability enables me to shoot it hand held in many otherwise difficult situations. In this case, there was no time to set up a tripod. I saw the caribou beginning to run across the ridge and I grabbed the camera, quickly set an exposure and fired away. I have a bunch of frames in this series and none of them are perfect (in the sense that the animals are all lined up running), but this one was close. The drama of the mountain landscape adds a true wilderness feel to this image, which I find fitting for this amazing animal. Next time, I'll wish for large adult bull caribou to show for a repeat session. Click the image to see it larger.

Sandhill cranes, Creamer's Field, Fairbanks

Sandhill Cranes take flight on a thunderstorm weather front, Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, Fairbanks, Alaska.
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f4L IS, 1/640 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 400

Saturday night in Fairbanks (8PM) a dark and ominous cloud formed in the skies behind Creamer's field. I was watching the Sandhill cranes gathered in groups on the ground feeding and making their distinct calls. As the storm grew closer, the winds picked up and the birds began squawking louder and more frequently and jumping up and down. They began to take flight in small groups, taking advantage of the increasing winds. I was able to grab a few frames of them front lit by the sun juxtaposed against the nearly black clouds in the distance. Soon following the torrents of rain came!

Sea otters and Ice

Sea otters, Prince William Sound, Alaska
Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f4L IS w/1.4x (700mm), 1/400 sec @ f/5.6, hand held

I just returned from a 5 day trip in Prince William Sound. Typical to that region, I saw lots of rain and clouds. The last day opened up to beautiful blue skies and grand vistas of the Chugach mountains. The beginning of that blue sky is reflected in the water around the sea otters in this picture, adding a vibrant color to the surface water. Sea otters congregate in large numbers in parts of Northern Prince William Sound, and haul out on icebergs, similar to the harbor seals. These two otters exhibit a curiosity as our boat approached them slowly.