Winter Photography

My first post on photography (see it here) generated quite a bit of feedback, so I figured you all might enjoy another photographic update!

My winter photography thus far has mainly been confined to numerous trips to Kincaid Park, the western most point in Anchorage. This 1500-acre park happens to be home to a sandy beach, now covered with snow, and my favorite spot in Anchorage to photograph.

An image I made in early November, before much any ice formed.

It is said that the best photographs are often made on “edges”: the edge between night and day, fair weather and a coming storm, or land and water. The beach at Kincaid offers one such boundary, allowing for myriad subjects, moods, and light at this junction between the coast and the waters.

My setup once I've skiied down to the beach.

With snow on the ground, the best way to get the mile from the parking lot to the beach is by ski. This journey prepares my mind to think photographically and also gets my body nice and warm, so that it can maintain core temperature a little longer once I stop moving! The cold does become an issue, influencing everything from how long I am out to what camera gear gets used or not. It’s actually been pretty warm up here by Alaskan standards (for example, as I write this, the outside temperature is 42 it and feels like spring!). That being said, the coldest temperature I’ve gone out to photograph in is 0 plus blowing winds. Always present in this sort of situation is the tradeoff between warmth and dexterity. I have found my mitts to work pretty well, though it can be hard to manipulate all the camera buttons and is all but impossible to do some things like attach a filter to my lens.

Sunrise and a crescent moon rises over a cold (0 degrees) Cook Inlet at low tide.

One issue at this time of year is the short amount of daylight (though we are gaining light back more rapidly every day!). Currently, the sun sets around 4:20 pm in Anchorage, making it hard to be anywhere to photograph the “magic light” except on the weekends. Add to that the fact that Anchorage’s weather lately seems determined to remain overcast and grey without let up. Often, there are long stretches of flat, uninteresting light, but that only makes it more special when dazzling light breaks through, illuminating the Alaskan landscape. Enjoy!

Redoubt Volcano, sunset

Sunset, low tide

sometimes it's just sort of grey...

Sunset, Cook Inlet