Poppy Explosion

Usually I don't like to post two images that are so similar, but I couldn't decide which one I liked more. They are both so unusual with the single poppy just before its about to bloom and the silhouette of a tree in the background that looks more like a dancing figure. The only difference being the position of the poppy to the tree and the mood set by the direction the figure in the tree appears to be looking. The image above seems very open and curious and the one below seems a little bashful.

Both pictures were taken at ISO 250, 1/100 of second at F4.8 with the above shot at 50mm and the one below at 70mm. I intentionally overexposed about 4 stops to get the full color and detail of the poppy just before it was about to "pop." The orange circles on the tree are a result of lens flare because of the back lit situation. The lens flare being "a happy accident" especially after I manipulated the black tones and color saturation in Adobe Lightroom to bring out the orange/blue lens flare and enhance the color of the poppy.


I have always liked the look of over-exposing my subjects when they are back lit. Give me an hour with my camera in a field of poppies and this is what you get. Maybe this is the view Dorthy had in the Wizard of Oz just before she fell asleep.




There's nothing quite like a Lens Baby when shooting flowers or babies. I love this look. If you've never heard of a Lens Baby, google it. Its a great lens to have in your camera bag tricks depending on what kind of look you're going for. It does require some patience and trial and error, but once you get the hang of focusing and setting your exposures the affects are pretty fun. It basically bends and distorts a portion of the image while keeping another portion of the image in focus.




As a child I remember this apricot tree and the poppies around it, but 25 years have passed and the neighbor who owns this property now has let the poppies run wild in his yard. I was lucky to be visiting my parents over Memorial Day weekend as they began to bloom, and couldn't resist the fun shapes and vibrant colors. Peaceful Valley, Spokane, WA. 2009

Patagonia Icefield November 2006

Shuttling our last load up the ablation zone of the Marconi Glacier, Patagonia

An Argentine group of eight on one rope traverses through the debris on an ice fall to avoid a small crevasse. "pelgro. zona de avalanchas de seracs."

Whiteouts, ground blizzards and blowing snow became the theme of our trip

Ryan Hokanson, kiting around Circo De Los Altares. This was only our second day of nice weather in ten days.

Jason Kwiakowski, puting the kite away after the winds died down

Cerro Torre

Storm Day, Matte?

South American Dreams

Cerro Torre, Patagonia Argentina

Lima, Peru

Punta Del Diablo, Uruguay

Two months ago I started sorting through some old slides and rediscovered some wonderful images that I took shortly before I made the switch to digital. I did a pretty aggressive edit and narrowed my selection to about 25 slides from a three month trip through Argentina, Uruguay, and Peru and promptly had them scanned. Excited about my rediscovery I immediately started touching them up, removing dust and scratches, turning some black and white, and even managed to get one on the cover of Western Mountaineering's 2009 Catalog.

... but every time I opened my blog I just didn't know what to say. I couldn't think of a single word I wanted to share about those experiences. Almost as if each picture was so far away, so far from where I am now, that they almost felt like a series of little dreams. Each picture so rich and beautiful, so full of textures, almost like I had imagined them... yet so vastly different than my most prominent memories from that trip. Where was the picture of Jason and I on our hands and knees as we crawled behind an old lift shack on Cathedral Mountain trying to escape 80 mile an hour winds? Where was the picture of me hanging 10 feet in a crevasse with my sled teetering on the lip, because I had failed to attach a prusik. Where's the picture of that stuffy little hostel room where I spent fours days fighting a respiratory infection and dysentery in Peru? It's so interesting to look through these pictures and realize what an amazing place I was in, and how my state of mind was so detached from those experiences, like I wasn't even there in the first place.

So my two month case of writers block continues... and my lucid South American dreams weave together what was a pretty incredible journey.

Skiing the Selkirks, BC... Valkyr Style

Simply Beautiful

Girls Day

Brooke Practicing for the Worlds

Heart Pass

Boys Day

Rory kicks off a small slab

Hiking out of Viking

Rory Camm

Gwen and Brooke

Brooke Edwards

US Nation Nordic Skiing Championship

The US National Nordic Championship hosted in Anchorage at Kincaid Park finished up today after a long week of waiting. Temperatures were just slightly too cold to race most of the week and many of the events were canceled. Monday warmed up just enough to allowed the Freestyle Race to proceed. The women skied a 5K loop and the men skied a 10K loop. Anchorage's very own Kikkan Randall placed 2nd racing for the US ski team and Alaska Pacific University. Laura Valaas placed 4th, Kate Arduser place 6th, James Southam place 5th and Brent Knight placed 6th, all racing for Alaska Pacific University.

Today the racing jury decided to run the sprint classic race for the final race of the event. Temperatures were just warm en0ugh despite a consistent breeze, but racers only had to brave a short distance 1.2K for the women, and 1.4K for the Men. Kikkan Randall led the pack throughout the entire finals, and came in first. Shortly behind her Laura Valaas in second place. Congratualations APU!

Laura Valaas coming up a hill during the sprint race

Lars Flora tucking around a corner in the sprint race

A Pre-Season to Remember

Andy Dietrick and Weston Morrison skinning up a peak in Hatcher Pass, late October.

The Best Birthday Present Ever. A beautiful day of ski touring in the Girdwood Valley.

Brooke Edwards making telemark turns on Sunny Side in Turnagain Pass

Kris Dudley, enjoying the powder and the view from Notch Peak, Girdwood Valley.

Why can't we be in the sun? A view from the top of Max's Peak, Girdwood Valley

New Prospects and Projects

Some grad students outside one of the buildings on the Kellog Farm.
Both are in the Master's of Environment Educations at APU.

Somehow I have managed to squeeze in a few side projects on top of my mountain of responsibilities this fall. Hence why its been two months since I've updated my blog. In August I started working full time for APU, running their aquatics program for APU's Recreation Program. I had previously committed to teaching two beginning photography classes two nights a week for the semester and also decided to work part time ski patrol come the start of ski season. November was rough, as all three of these jobs collided into days on end of work. You want something done? Ask a busy person. In late October I was asked to shoot some photos for APU's website and some of their Master's program brocures. I so badly wanted to say no, but I couldn't refuse the opportunity. Photography is my dream job. In the end it payed off and sleep was the only thing I really lost.

Kikkan Randall leading the APU women's team during a practice at Hatcher Pass

Alaska is hosting the US Nordic Championships at Kincaid starting tomorrow Jan. 3rd. This event is a big deal for the Alaska nordic community. Many of APU's very own nordic ski team will be competing in this event and are expected to do very well. In preperation for the event their coach had asked if I could take some pictures of them practicing early season at Hatcher Pass. Here is one of the images that appeared of the front cover of Coast Magazine this month.

A view of the North dorms of the Atwood Center at APU in November

Grand Prize Photo for the 2nd annual Anchorage Press b & w photo contest

In June I shot a series of commercial pictures for my friend Josh, who owns a Landscaping business in Anchorage. This was taken from the top of the new J and L Tower of one of his employees watering the grounds. I immediately saw the interesting patterns that were created from the shadows of the vertical sculptures and I really like the contrast and the patterns on the sidewalk. I decided to change it to black and white and entered it in the Anchorage Press annual black and white photo contest. To my surprise I won the grand prize and it appeared on the cover of the Press in December.

Represents of the feeling of Night Skiing from Chair 1 at Alyeska.
Actually taken early in the morning prior to avalanche control work.

Throughout the month of December I had ten prints hanging up at the Java Haus at Alyeska. All were pictures of the Alyeska Ski Patrol hard at work last ski season. Thanks guys! I will miss these early morning control days.

Psyched for Another Season

West Face of Little League, if they had only dropped in right now, this picture would have been even sicker. They chose to wait until the light was gone. Skiers Unknown.

Headwall Ridge Hike, ski patroller Brian McGorry

Sponsored by Smith

Watherfall, Shadows Area, Andy Dietrick

Greatings Earthlings

Brooke always makes it look easy

I love it when people wear lots of color, boarder unknown

Winter of 07-08 was the best season of my 28 years on this earth. I'm looking forward to another one.

Painting with Light

This is series of self portraits from a friends house in Girdwood. I created these pictures at night with a star machine, a slow shutter speed, and my camera propped up on my backpack. I shot about 15 and these three were my favorite. A tripod would have made this a whole lot easier, but I didn't have one with me and No, I wasn't on drugs or drunk. I just couldn't sleep.