Capturing Alaska

with Wayde Carroll

 

 

 

Lifestyle Images with Kikkan Randall and Jeff Ellis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   A few days ago I got together with Kikkan Randall and Jeff Ellis for some lifestyle images pretty much for the fun of it. For those of you who don't know, Kikkan is a two-time U.S. Olympian and was the first woman from the United States to medal in a World Cup Cross-Country Skiing event. Jeff has a long list of accomplishments as a member of the Canadian National Cross Country Skiing Team. Both have their sights set on the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.

   I met Kikkan and Jeff because I was lucky enough to be the photographer for their wedding last year in Talkeetna. We ended up doing an engagement shoot along with the wedding and later I did a wedding gown session with Kikkan in the studio. I had a great time with them at every occasion and eventually asked them if they would like to get together for some fun stock photography. They were both interested in getting some lifestyle images for their web sites and possible editorial use. They wanted something other than photos of them skiing!

   It took us several months to finally find a date that worked for all of us that had amenable weather as well!

 

 I had a big list of locations and ideas and we barely got to a third of it. Each location and activity turned out to be too good and it was hard to stop shooting. I have to say it was amazing to have world class athletes skate-skiing for photos. I kept worrying about making them repeat passes too much and they just replied that they could go all day. It's incredible to the their level of fitness. Sort of like me! (Ha!)

   We did several portraits and set up a few activities over the course of a few hours. I was able to play with some lighting and practice my "action" photography skills. I had a ball and really enjoy both Kikkan and Jeff. We're able to have fun while "working". I'm hoping we'll get together again soon for more!

   I have to say that it's a thrill to see two top athletes that are such humble, gracious, intelligent, and down right nice people. They're the type of people I'm proud to be rooting for. I'll be keeping an eye on this year's Cross-Country World Cup events like never before. Go Kikkan! Go Jeff!

 

 

 

Capturing Alaska

with Wayde carroll

 

 

 

Roadside Gift

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Capturing Alaska

with Wayde Carroll

 

 

Wonder Lake

 

 

View from Eielson Visitor's Center

 

 

Reflection Pond

 

 

Denali and friends

 

 

 

 

Grizzly Scenic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fresh Snow!

 

 

Grizzly Mother and Cub

 

 

Grizzly Sow

 

 

Grizzly Cub

 

 

Red Fox

 

Willow Ptarmigan

 

The following images are from the Kantishna Roadhouse. The portraits are of Emmitt Peters Jr. His father won the second Iditarod and he himself will be training for the race once he finishes film school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall Splendor!: Denali National Park and Preserve

 

 

   I've been hearing about the glorious, yet elusive, fall color spectacular in Denali National Park and Preserve for years. I have been to the park many times but I've never been able to time the fall colors just right.

  In Denali, the colors are at their height for only a brief time, maybe a week or two. I've been there when I could see the flora starting to turn. I've been there when the peak had clearly passed and the tundra was a dull brown as opposed to the fabled brilliant red of fall. A few times I had heard from other photographers that the peak is happening right "NOW"! But obligations kept me from hustling on up there.

   Well, this year it finally happened! On my third, and final, trip of the summer I was rewarded with what was truly some of the most magnificent scenery I've ever been privileged to set eyes upon.

   I was in the park for three days and you could literally see a difference every day. On the way in I felt  "Wow, this truly is stunning" On the last morning It was more like "Holy Smokes" (something along those lines), this is unbelievable!" To add to the glorious coloring I was blessed with a low angled, early morning, sun that added a warm glow to everything as well as interesting shadows and nice side lighting on the mountains to make every detail "pop". There wasn't a trace of haze in the skies.

   Maybe for the first time, I couldn't take my eyes away from the scenery as we took the bus out of Kantishna and back to the park entrance. I had been given a gift and I wasn't going to waste it.

  I took some nice photos when I could. I even saw some nice wildlife, but on this day the Park itself stole the show.

 

 

 

Capturing Alaska

with Wayde Carroll

 

 

Out on the Water

 

 

  All of the following images were taken on a recent trip in the Kenai Fjords National Park. No matter how many times I go out there I'm always surprised at how gorgeous it is. Every trip reveals something new whether it's weather, wildlife, landscape, ice, or an infinite combination of them all.

  Typically I boost my ISO to around 800 to give me the fastest shutter speed possible. This will help counter the effects of the constantly moving boat. When shooting I spread my legs wide and lean against the side of the boat. This forms somewhat of a human tripod and adds some stability.

  A polarizing filter is effective sometimes, especially on sunny days. What I do is keep a polarizer in my pocket so that I can pull it out, rotate it while looking through it, and see if it's doing anything I like. I see so many people that think they have to screw it on the lens before judging it's effect!

  Also, keeping my camera covered and having a towel handy is a must to wipe of errant spray from rain and/or waves.

 Lastly, try and be ready for anything. I missed an Orca breaching because I wasn't quite set up yet!

 Bad photographer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Capturing Alaska

with Wayde Carroll

 

 

Creamer's Field

 

 

 

Canada Goose photographed using the continuous tracking focus mode. This is great for moving objects because it continually tracks and predicts where your subject will be as long as you hold the shutter release button half way down. I also had the camera in the continuos shooting mode so I can fire up to five frames per second. It's amazing how accurate the tracking is even in this mode.

 

 

Detail of the old dairy building. I had to add some exposure to account for the brightness of the scene.

 

 

Sandhill Cranes coming in for a landing. This looks like a composite of three images of the same bird landing but it was actually three birds following one another in line. A shutter speed of 1/2000 of a second was used to "stop" the action.

 

 

A view of the field and the Dairy building. There weren't many cranes yet.

 

 

The air was thick with fireweed seeds being released with the help of a slight wind. Having the cotton-like puffs back-lit by the sun, and then choosing a dark background, really made them stand out.

 

 

It was raining like crazy the night before and the air was full of smoke from the near by fires. I thought the first day of our trip would be a bust but as you see the weather treated us well after all!

 

 

Another view of the dairy building. The sky had some whitish haze in the background at the time. In situations like these I like to try and find some natural framing to add some interest to the blank space above.

 

 

I didn't spend much time around any kind of farms growing up and I just fell in love with the barley crop. So many textures and colors. Beautiful.

 

 

Close-up of barley plant.I needed a fast shutter speed to account for the wind.

 

 

I loved the contrasting colors and the repetitive direction.

 

 

Another way to deal with dull skies is to exclude as much as possible.

 

Sometimes it's nice to experiment with your depth of field. (your range of apparent sharpness). By using a wide open aperture (F2.8 here) I was able to isolate the foreground plants from the dairy behind.