Girls at the Park
"Slide Hair" - Della looks over her shoulder at the end of one of her many trips down the slide
On account of it being a gorgeous evening; Eva, Breea, Della, and I walked to the girls’ favorite park and spent about an hour swinging, sliding, balancing, and climbing. The highlight for me was definitely the wild hair that resulted from nearly every trip down the slide and the way Della’s hair in particular stood out against the dark play surface under the soft backlight. I neglected to make adjustments to my typical focus settings, and the 5d MkII already performs below average in that arena, so the number of photos with the combination of accurate focus and smiling faces was less than desirable. The moral of the story: I should be doing this kind of thing more often…we all should.
Learning Job’s Lesson
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the chapters at the end of the book of Job where God responds to Job’s complaints by directing his attention to the grand nature of the world around him. The natural world has long been a reminder to me of nearly all God’s divine qualities, but while visiting the Taku Glacier area, I began developing my own “verses” modeled after those found in Job. Those thoughts are still evolving, and they carry a personal flavor, with an opening line of something like, “Who filled the icefield with snow…” Another thought revolves around the idea of tending the stands of spruce that populate ledges amongst sheer mountain cliff faces, and that reminded me of this photograph from an early summer morning. I’m continually awed by God’s handiwork, and hopefully this writing project will see completion. Until then…
"Who Tends the Spruce" - Sitka Spruce and other vegetation cling to the sheer cliffs on the flanks of Mt. Sroller White
Mendenhall Icebergs and Falls
As far as I know, this waterfall remains unnamed since being revealed by the receding glacier a few years ago. The easiest approach is by kayak; any other access would require either a full day of strenuous mountain hiking or some pretty dangerous ice wall repels. We took the short kayak ride to check out a recently calved chunk of ice that has a top surface roughly the size of a football field. Smaller chunks of ice between it and the glacier prevented us from circumnavigating the iceberg, but there was even more fun to be had over on the east side of the glacier’s face. The flow from the waterfall and the activeness of the Mendenhall have created a swirl of ice in the lake that moves fairly rapidly and was a blast to float through. Thanks for having a look.
"Ice Wall" - ridges and planes of ice exposed in a secluded spot on the lower Mendenhall Glacier
While reviewing photographs with historical relevance and the work of artists who used the medium in its early years, my vision has been tuned to black and white. Most current photographers feel free to cross the line between color and monochrome at any time that the one may suit their subject or the other fit their artistic sensibilities of the day. The photograph above would not have ended up being presented in black and white had it not been for the insight of my wife. I find it interesting that we can discard a thing like color, which is so integral to our perception of a visual reality, and end up with a new vision more agreeable to the mind.
Vision Check
While undergoing preparations to teach photography to high school students again this fall, I’ve been rereading “Mountain Light” by Galen Rowell. The book deeply inspired me during my first reading, and on the second go round, I’ve discovered an abundance of poignant thought, profound statements, and stimulating quotes. In many instances the book reminded me of ways I view the world differently from the writer, and I began reevaluating what I consider to be successful imagery and why. In some ways, Mr. Rowell held his photographic process to a much higher standard than I do, but I’m sure in still other ways the levels are reversed. Looking back through my catalog of photographs (or at least their RAW beginnings), I wanted to discover whether there were adventures or outings where I had passed over an image that illustrates my personal connection with the world in favor of ones I expected to appeal to others. I haven’t determined where this process will take me, but I imagine it will produce fruit of some kind or another.
"Lower Basin" - the sun creeps over the top and around the back of Thunder Mountain with the Mendenhall Glacier in the distance
Tracy Arm Visit
This post features another experiment in video sharing. The Tracy Arm cruise with Adventure Bound was a seriously fun day, and while the weather was pretty wet, the glaciers did not disappoint. I tried a lot of video during the trip and edited together a long (maybe too long) sequence that summarizes the experience.
