Happy New Year!

 

From Wayde Carroll Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Capturing Alaska”
with Wayde Carroll



U.S. Snowboard Team Member Callan Chythlook-Sifsof



   Last week I got to work with Callan again! I first worked with her last summer on assignment for First Alaskans magazine and by some lucky coincidences I landed this shoot to do some advertising photography. Callan was the U.S women’s national champion last year and is on track to represent our country at the Olympics in 2010. One of her sponsors is going to be using her likeness for a variety of products and advertisements.
   Two of the people from the ad agency came along on the shoot, which was held at Alyeska Ski Resort in Girdwood, where Callan lives and trains. It was very cold snow y and overcast in the morning on the way down from Anchorage but the sky cleared and the sun blazed through while we were on the mountain and we were able to get some amazing photos with sunlit mountains in the background!
   The art director, Leah Arsenault, had previously shown me some images where the subject was lit with strobes and “popped” out against an underexposed background so we did some photos with that look. We also took some photos where the lighting on her was set to match the background.
   Because of the low arc of the sun we were in shade the entire time. To light Callan I used an off camera dedicated Canon 550ex flash fired through a small white umbrella. This is when having people around to help is a big bonus. Instead of worrying about the wind knocking over my light stands I had human stands to handhold the flash. I used the canon transmitter attached to my camera to fire the remote flash. This works really well as long as you keep the flash where the transmitter can “see” it easily. Not perfect but you can still achieve great results. It’s important to me to be able to get the light source at an angle to the subject. Having straight on “flat” lighting makes for a much less interesting image.
   It was an awesome day! Great people, gorgeous location, and we ended up with some nice images. We would shoot for 15 or 20 minutes, go inside for some coffee or cocoa, change clothes and locations, and repeat!
   I’ve been more than impressed with Callan as a person and will be rooting for her like crazy. I’m very thrilled and proud to see an athlete of such quality representing our country. Keep an eye out for her as the Olympics approach! Go Callan!

                       Trapper Don Craig.

 

 

 

 

Freezer full of fur.

 

Snare set for fox.

 

Setting box traps near a stream running under the highway.

 

Pulling a frozen mink from a box trap.

 

Setting bait in box traps.

 

Checking well hidden traps.

 

Don retrieves a marten from a box trap.

 

Trapper Don Craig, Houston, AK.

 

Setting bait surrounded by snares.

 

Don in the headlamp of a snowmachine.

 

Don runs into some friends while gasing up in the morning.

 

“Capturing Alaska”
with Wayde Carroll



Trapper Don Craig, Houston, AK.



   If you’ve kept up with this blog over the last year you might remember a photo I took of a trapper selling furs on the side of the highway during Iditarod. The photo was notable for me not just because I liked the photo but because I made myself get it instead of letting it go.
   I was driving up to Willow to take some photos at the re-start of the Iditarod when I passed this guy selling furs in front of a huge American flag display usually up for the local fireworks stand. He had hats and furs on the hood of his truck and a big sign that read “Fur Hats”. I drove by in a hurry to get to Willow but I kept thinking what a great photo that would have been. “How Alaskan is that?”

 I have specific memories of photos I wish I had taken. Photos I was in too much of a hurry to get, or photos that I said I’d come back to later only to find out the scene had changed completely and there was no longer an image worth getting. I kept thinking of this as I was driving and after about fifteen minutes I couldn’t take it any more and I turned around to hopefully get the photo.
   My luck held and all was how I had seen it. I was a little nervous to approach this wild looking trapper guy but it turned out my fears were unwarranted. I’ve rarely had a person so willing to “model” for me! We talked a bit and I asked if he’d be interested in letting me follow him around a bit to document this fading lifestyle. He was totally in to it. He told me the season was over so we arranged to talk the following winter to work on the project.
  Happily I managed to hang on to his info and we connected last week!
   I’m not a trapper and have never even hunted. I didn’t take interest in this project to stand on either side of the animal rights debate. What I was interested in was observing a lifestyle that at one time was the only way to ensure survival through the long winter months, and is now continued by just a hand full of people. One of my favorite books of all time is “The Stars, The Snow, The Fire” by John Haines. He lived and trapped in the area around Denali for a combined period of twenty five years. What makes this book incredible is the way Haines describes his lifestyle and the beauty he is surrounded by. There is a lyric quality to everything he describes and his pure love of his life comes through in every segment. I’ve read the book twice and will again.There is something completely fascinating and real about living off the land. You can argue that these trappers don’t “need” to trap but I think there is something valuable in maintaining these old world skills on some level.
   I met Don in Houston, AK well before sunrise. It is a 90 minute drive from Anchorage. Via snow machine, hiking, and truck we spent the day checking all his various trap lines. It was quite incredible to learn what I could that day. I learned about different types of traps and snares, baiting techniques, placement of traps- not only to trick the animals, but tricks to keep other trappers from finding and looting from one’s secret trapping areas.
   Don harvested two animals that morning, a marten and a mink. $200 worth of fur. Back at his home he had an abundance of animals that were being kept frozen until he skinned them and packed the meat. We took a lot of photos there as well.
   In the coming weeks I’ll get back up there again to document Don skinning the animals. It turns out that he and his brother also offer river trips for fishing and guided moose hunts. I’m thinking I might do an article on him and see if I can get that published. It’s amazing what possibilities arise when you stop and ask to take someone’s photo! This was a project that I did out of pure love of photography and experience. I may be able to sell some of these images but I’m really not sure.
   For the most part all the images were taken in natural light, hand held, at ISO 800. For the first image of Don with the pile of animals I used an off camera flash fired through an umbrella to soften the light and make him “pop” out of the grey day. The other image with lighting is the one of Don in front of a snow machine headlight. The snow machine was still on the trailer and that’s why the light was able to hit him in the face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Capturing Alaska”
with Wayde Carroll



Variations


  This week I wanted to talk about image possibilities. I don’t mean possible photo subjects. I’m talking about what you can do with an image after you’ve captured it and are staring at it at home on the computer.
  I was confronted with the myriad variations possible with an image in post production this week as I was editing some ice photos captured along the Seward Highway. 
  I took the images in daylight white balance and I liked the cool, blue,  mysterious, look I saw on the image playback. But as I was looking at them at home I started to wonder if I should try and bring the photos back to a more natural color- cast. I didn’t like them as well. Then I thought about  how they might look in black and white . I liked them. I then started thinking about  the infinite possibilities and thought it might be good to display some here.
  Often I take images knowing what I want to do to them on the computer later. With the digital revolution the possibilities are limitless because you can change an image as many times as you want and come up with a book of variations on one image!
  It’s a good habit to keep all of your “film hats” on as much as possible. Instead of having a camera body loaded with black and white film or color film, super saturated or grainy etc., with digital you are constantly shooting all types. It’s up to you as the artist to decide which interpretation fits your wants or needs. So keep the various possibilities in the back of your mind and, as always, experiment and have a ball.

  This small sampling is labeled with the changes made for your reference.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Capturing Alaska”
with Wayde Carroll



Assignment- Tourism Promotion Images


  You may recall that last October I was in Grass Valley, California to photograph the KVMR Celtic Festival. While I was down there I also took on an assignment to gather “stock” images for Nevada County tourism purposes. Whenever possible I combine assignments when I travel so I can get the most out of the trip- and travel expenses! I had done a lot of work for the Nevada County Gold Magazine in the past and was thrilled to have an excuse to spend some extra time in this area I love shooting for them. Outside of beautiful scenery and great hiking and river opportunities, Nevada County is comprised of several small communities started during the gold rush era and continue to thrive as a bedroom community to the greater Sacramento area. The three largest gems, Grass Valley, Nevada City, and Truckee (including Donner Lake), were my main points of interest.
  Over a two -day period I browsed around the county searching for enticing images and nice lighting. As you can see the weather turned out to be perfect and I “lucked” upon many people enjoying the lifestyle I’m trying to promote. I have “lucked” in quotations because, yes I was very lucky in terms of lighting and having people enjoying activities such as rowing, shopping etc, but I was only “lucky” because I made sure I was out shooting from dusk to dawn to make sure I gave myself every opportunity to luck into those situations.
  Also, because I knew my gear, and had the experience, I knew exactly how to capture the light when I saw it and to maximize its effect. So, as you’ve probably heard many times before, luck has a lot to do with being out there and being prepared.
  I love this kind of assignment because I’m basically trusted to use my own eye and capture what excites me. I’m not forced to photograph a certain item in a certain way to make it work for an ad etc.
  I’m not a master or definitive expert but I have learned a few things after doing this kind of work for several years. Here are some tips that help me get better images when on assignment.

Research- It’s good to research the area you’ll be in ahead of time. On the internet you can find the tourist hot spots and discover events and activities available during your time there. It’s a great starting place.

Make A Plan! - Having a plan gives you a rough guideline on when you think it’s best to get images in a certain place. Think about your options, what images are possible, and plan your route for the day. Plans rarely work out exactly as you write them but it’s worse when you’re wandering aimlessly about hoping to luck upon something.

Be Ready To Abandon “The Plan”- During your travels during the day you may hear of a great place or wonderful event going on that day that you hadn’t discovered in your research. Don’t be afraid to chuck it all and go! Also, there are times you’re getting such great photos in an area that it would be a crime to wrap it up just because you have a self imposed schedule.  If you have amazing light or unique subject matter you need to take advantage of it!

Get Up Early, Stay Out Late- This one key in itself gives you the opportunity to photograph those beautiful colors that saturate our world around sunrise and sunset. The images of the movie theatre tower, old library, and restaurant stand out because they were all taken after sunset but before the color had gone out of the sky.

  Don’t Be Afraid To Approach People: Tourism guides really want to have images of people doing things as well as pretty pictures of their area. Usually I don’t have models tagging along with me so I’ve learned that if I want people in my photos I need to be able to approach them, gain their trust, and sometimes position them. I’d say 90% of the people I approach are happy to comply. I used to try and “steal” photos of people and hope that I’d get a good expression etc. and too often the result was unusable images.
  The woman in the photo sitting on the dock was jogging by and I asked her if she’d “model” for a minute. The nice looking couple walking in downtown Truckee were headed in the other direction and I asked if they would walk past me the other way for a few clicks. The woman artist was just setting up and I approached her and asked if I could capture her at work!

Create The Image You Want- Don’t be such a purist that you won’t alter a scene a bit to get a better image. I loved the fall pumpkins but wasn’t getting a pleasing composition so I moved them around a bit until I got what I wanted. And, as I stated above, the woman artist was just setting up her easel, her canvas was blank. I decided right away that I was going to take an image of the scenery in front of her, make it look painterly later in photoshop, resize it, and put it in place of her empty canvas for the image you see here.

Keep Your Camera On and Ready and In The Front Seat- I have several images, especially of wildlife- such as the image of the common Merganser on Donner Lake shown here-that I grabbed only because my camera was at the ready. If I had had to reach in the back of the car, turn on the camera etc. the bird would have been too far to capture well.

 Lastly a Few Mental Tips- I try to keep in mind the following things when I’m out “searching” for images. Keep an eye out for color.
Picture scenes through your variety of lenses.  Would this scene look interesting with a super wide angle?
Think about polarizing and neutral density filters. Would they help this scene?
Keep changing position to look at something from different angles. Get high, low, shoot through something.
Can supplemental flash help here?
 Have fun, experiment, go down a road you’re not sure where it leads!