“Capturing Alaska”
with Wayde Carroll






Root Glacier, Wrangell –St. Elias National Park

   It looks likes spring is actually going to take hold this time. Snow around Anchorage is rapidly disappearing, patches of green are starting to appear on lawns, and buds are appearing on the trees.
   I’ve been busy planning photo excursions for this summer. I’m starting to get giddy with anticipation of the long, warm (relatively), days ahead. Sunset is already almost 9pm! While pouring over my maps and guidebooks I reflected on how many amazing places I visited last summer. I’m still editing and captioning images from those trips!
   I just finished up some photos from Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. This is the largest National Park in the nation and the least visited. After visiting I can see why. The roads in are bumpy, long, and dusty. Once you arrive, it is unlike any national park you’ve ever been to. The only way to get into the never-ending wilderness is bushwhacking or by plane. There are few established trails and few amenities. It seems as if it were named a national park and then left to its own devices.
   But what an amazing place! We stayed in McCarthy, once a bustling boom town in support of the Kennicott Copper Mill, now a tiny artist and adventurers community. The most accessible activities there are flightseeing (or being dropped off in the park for a serious adventure), exploring the Kennicott Mine, and hiking Root Glacier. All are worth your time and effort.
   These images are from a guided day hike on the Root Glacier. Typically I’m not one to go in for guided hikes, as a photographer I like to go at my own pace, stop if I want to get a photo, run ahead if I feel, but I felt a little uncomfortable putting on crampons and traveling on a river of ice for the first time!
   We were led by Greg Runyon, of Kennicott Wilderness Guides. Not only was Greg a skillful and patient guide, he was also extremely knowledgeable in terms of glaciers and the park. He answered questions, and modeled for me, and in general made the outing that much better.
   It was amazing to know we were walking on ice that formed thousands of years ago. I never knew that a glacier held a landscape within itself. There were streams, pools, waterfalls, and caves. Greg swore that it was the purest water on earth and we all gladly drank our fill. What a treat!
   Photographing on a huge sheet of ice was fairly challenging.  With so much bright white it was important to keep a keen eye on my histogram and make sure my exposures were accurate. In every situation the cameras meter is trying to expose everything as a neutral gray, and while it seems counter-intuitive in such a bright scenario, I often had to increase my exposure to bring the whites back up to white. Even then it was difficult because the brighter portions where the sun was reflecting off the ice would still get blown out a bit. The trick was to keep those areas small and to a minimum in my photos. One key was to shoot at a ninety-degree angle from the sun to take advantage of any side lighting and gain some contrast with shadows.
   I used a polarizer sometimes to cut down on reflection and add saturation to the colors present.
   When the sun is so bright it is almost impossible to see the image on the back of your camera. Never use that to determine the accuracy of your exposure!
   With only a four-day visit I only scratched the surface of this unique place. I look forward to a return trip soon!