Textures of the Talkeetnas

All of these images have been manipulated in Adobe Lightroom. The first seven images I shot specifically to change to colors and contrast for an abstract series of landscapes. I got the idea originally last year while out on the same Talkeetna trip, when I shot a picture of a steep mountain side drainage that looked almost like paint being squeezed out of a tube. I decided I would try to create a series of these pictures this year. Here is the original image below.

The talkeetnas are full of a variety of facinating geology. We found a huge chunk of limestone in Caribou Cr. full of fossilized shells.

The tail of Meekins Super Cub Piper, just after he supplied us with our first re-ration of food

Spikes working their way out of the rails along the longest train trussel west of the Mississippi.

Textrue along the train trussel

Silhouette of a Caribou

Raina on lookout for the students across Prairie Cr.

Traversing the Talkeetna Range

Oshetna River

Nowhere Cr.

Descending into Mazuma Cr

Leaving Nowhere

Yum, Pizza night!

Heather and Raina infront of one of the few Glaciers still left in the Talkeetnas

Nowhere Camp

Our most challenging Pass, full of large boulders and snow

Glacial Erratics are everywhere

Descending into the Kosina

Kelly and Kyle

Amanda traverses over a beaver damn

24 days, 150 miles, 20,000 + ft of elevationi, 5 wolverines, wet boots, numb toes, and a pile of stinky gear. We made it again, a trek across the Talkeetna Range, one of the most stark and beautiful areas in all of the world. If there was a place on earth that resembed Mars it would be the Talkeetnas, deafeningly silent at times, except for the occasional roar a river or buzz of a bush plane, its emptiness is full of rich textures.

This was my third time crossing of these mountains in the last four years. I feel honored to have participated in one more successful Expedition Leadership class at Alaska Pacific University. A unique experience at a unique college, and one of the my favorite trips of all times. Our class consisted of 6 students, one teacher assistant, co-instructor Raina Panareese, and myself. Our packs weighed about 55lbs on average, and we had two food rations flown in at pre-arranged locations.

We started along the Glenn Hwy near Gunsight Mountain, traveled up Caribou Cr, to the Oshetna River drainage. We then moved then crossed the Black river, and pushed our way up the Kosina, and over the Tsisi. We bushedwacked our way accross all 8 miles of Praire Cr. up the bench above the Susitna River and bushwacked our way down the otherside to our destination, Gold Cr. where we flagged down the train at one of the only whistle stops left in the country.

Caribou Cr.

This is a unique upper level course that emphasizes leadership in the most basic of ways, traveling on foot, with only the most essential things, in an environment that only few have the opportunity see. Each student is required to teach three classes; a skills class, a natural history class, and a leadership class. They take turns leading each other, making decisions for the group and navigating the mountainous terrain, with two instructors , myself and Raina, whom are there to provide feedback. In some ways it is artificial, with the instructors there to interject any dangerous decisions, i.e. river crossings. But... in the end the students have developed their own judgement and we are able to let them travel unaccompanied for the final 6 days. We follow behind almost 24 hours in terrain that would be impossible to stumble upon them, and we must trust that they will be waiting for us at the train. And of course they are.

Flight Seeing, Neacola Mnts

Ryan, a dear friend from Girdwood flew Weston and myself around the Neacola Mtns. just west of Anchorage across Cook Inlet, in the southwestern portion of the Alaska Range. The weather was beautiful. I used my wide angle lens to shoot this picture just before take off. The wide angle gives almost 180* view and makes the cabin of this plane look much larger than it is.

Approaching the Neacola Mtns.

I believe this is the Capps Glacier, on the northeastern side of Mt. Spurr

A closer look at a crevasse field on the Capps Glacier

View of the foothills of Mt. Spurr

The clouds were capped over Mt. Spurr, but we flew around its southern base. The light was amazing through this small rain shower. A ridge leading up to the top of Mt Spur on the right.

Ryan circled around to put the plane between the sun and the rain to create this optical affect, a rainbow.

Ryan, our pilot and navigator.

Braided river drainage of the Chakachatna River

This is where I start to go a little abstract with my nature pictures. Bradford Washburn is one of my favorite photographers and explorers. His Black and White images of Alaska in the mid 20th century have had a huge influence on a portion of my photography. I love his ability to find patterns within natures' chaotic spread, and produce such artistic compositions. This is one of my attempts to do the same, but with color digital. Just like Washburn manipulated his images in the darkroom I have done the same, but using Adobe Lightroom instead.

A view of the Susitna Flats State Game Refuge. I love the contrast between the red building and the green wetlands. I am unsure of what these cabins are used for, but was amazed by their existence in what looks like a very large bog.

Water erosion in the mud flats near the estuary of the Susitna River.

A view of downtown Anchorage

Missoula Improv Dancers

I originally saw these ladies performing early in the summer at the Missoula Saturday Market last summer. I snapped a few pictures of them on XXXX sculpture at the end of Higgins St. and then left. After looking through the pictures I had a few that I liked, but wanted to re-shoot them because there were so many other people in the background. The picture above crops out most of the sculpture and I heavily manipulated this picture in Lightroom and changed the colors.




I couldn't believe I left without talking to these girls or getting a phone number, especially after I was infromed that the Rocky Mountain School of Photography was interested in the XX picture for the 2008 Catalog. It happed to be RMSP's 20th Aniversery and they were looking for something that represented 20 for the cover. I had to laugh because all of the pictures I shot that day I had cropped in camera the bottom half of the XX's out because of all of the people in the background. I had nothing that would work.



If only I could re-shoot these girls. I only had two weeks left before I graduated and would be flying back to Alaska. Where would I find these girls? I haven't seen them in two months. I decided that I would just visualize running into them. That next Saturday, boom, there they were performing next to the XXXX's, but again too many people around. After a brief conversation the only day that we could all meet up again was my last full day in Missoula, which happened to be after graduation. It was on. One last chance for the cover shot.


The following week I met them at the First Interstate Bank on Higgins and they brought two drummers to keep a beat. After an hour and just before sunset we moved down to the XXXX sculpture to give it one last try.



I must have shot a couple hundred pictures that night and struggled a little bit with the composition. I wanted the XX's, but there were all kinds of distractions in the background if I dropped my lens down too much, so I did my best and they were pretty awesome to watch. The next day I quickly edited changed the colors slightly, and submitted a few options to RMSP. Two months later this image appeared on the cover, and it was officially my first cover photo.

A Past Reminder

View over Lake Coeur d'Alene, ID

Getting there is half the fun

Self Portrait in the rear-view mirror

Justin moves a log out of the way with a tow strap

He's still the 11 year old I first met

They were always good at breaking me out of my comfort zone

I recently visited my home town of Coeur d'Alene, ID back in May to see my family and some old friends. Now shopping malls, car lots and development projects have connected Cd'A with many of its outskirting communities including Spokane, and although its hard to choke down it is what happens over time. I was reminded that change is inevitable. After spending a week hanging out with my folks who now live in Spokane, I made a special visit to one of my favorite places on Lake Cd'A, Gozzer Rd. The Geyer family who I had became close to through my highschool boyfriend, Joe, still live on this road above Lake Cd'A, just below Cd'A Mountain. I spent a lot of time my last few years in Cd'A roaming around in the pine woods of this country and hanging out with Joe's parents, brothers, sisters, nephews and neighbors. Their comment that I still look exactly the same made me laugh because I was astonished how they had all grown up. Eight years will do that.

Justin, now 21, the second youngest, still had the heart of the 11 year old I originally met, and I wasn't there more than twenty minutes before we were 4 wheeling up some old logging road looking for wild turkey's. Although we didn't see any, we ended up at the top of Cd'A mountain with some ammo, two beers, and a great view. Although guns are not my favorite thing in the world, I felt that it was a celebration of our past when I used to tag along and photograph these kids doing what every backwood kid should be doing, having fun.

I changed these pictures to black and white because I like the stark contrast with the movement of each picture, and the subject . It also gives it an urgent, sort of old documentary feel, that represents the beginning of my obsession with photography. It all began in these woods above this lake with these folks.