includes detailed photo captions • about the shot • full ... · pdf fileincludes...

Images from a summer of endless light Alaska

Calendar

20142014

Includes Detailed Photo Captions • About the Shot • Full Moon Dates

The Photographer Warren Field is an Australian freelance photographer and graphic designer. He was recently a brand ambassador for OLYMPUS Imaging Australia and his photographs appear in UNESCO publications and web content, many issues of the Australian Geographic Journal (see samples below), World Expedition brochures, Serendib In-flight magazine (Sri Lankan Airlines), WILD Magazine and CHILDFUND AUSTRALIA fundraising activities.

The Challenge Pursuing photographic excursions around the world; advocating conservation through inspiring images of travel and nature.

Work and SamplesEquipment: Olympus Zuiko Four Thirds Super Pro/Pro lensesPhoto library: http://warrenfield.com.auBlog: www.warrenfield.wordpress.comSamples from Australian Geographic Magazine:Issue 95 – Heysen Trail, South AustraliaIssue 85 – Larapinta Trail, Northern Territory

Contact: [email protected]

CreditsThanks to all in Eagle River and Wasilla, Alaska for their encouragement and enthusiasm in the formation of this calendar.

Captions: Thanks to Alaska Department of Fish and Game (www.adfg.alaska.gov) and National Parks Service (www.nps.gov) for permission to reproduce sections of captions for the animal images.

Additional sources: SEWARD: © www.sewardchamber.org;

Calendar design and additional caption information: Warren Field

Bio, Information and Credits

August 2013. From my base in Thailand I had made it to Wonder Campsite, Denali National Park and Preserve. The environments couldn’t be more contrasted.

Along the only road running through the park I saw the ‘Great One’ – Denali or Mt McKinley (6194m) close-up, for the first time, in an almost perfectly clear sky. Incredibly, my first sight of the mountain came as a silhouetted form, seen from my bedroom window in Eagle River, a mere 200km away! Unusual for a mountain normally blanketed in cloud.

Ansel Adams had spent some time here, inspiring today’s photo graphers to come up with something special. Denali is in good company. Its sister peaks – Mt Foraker (5,304m), Mt Hunter (4,442m) and Mt Brooks (3,624m) – are seen poking through spaceship’ clouds set behind the banded scenery of spruce trees and remnant glacier (mid-photo).

Images: © Warren Field 2014

Cover Shot: View from Wonder Lake Campsite, Denali National Park and Preserve

January 2014

The Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) makes itself quite conspicuous with its lively habits and noisy chatter. Cone cuttings on stumps or rocks are common and tracks in snow are numerous where this squirrel occurs. It can be found in spruce forests over most of Alaska. It occupies a wide variety of forest habitat, occurring in the hardwood forests of eastern North America and the coniferous forests of the west and north.

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About the shotThe excitable, high-pitched squeak of this squirrel, makes them easy to locate and shoot. In anticipation of a quick snack as I pitched my tent, the squirrel became my first shot in Denali National Park. I waited motionless with a large telephoto lens and took three frames before it discovered I don’t feed native wildlife.

Left: Dwarf Cinquefoil


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full moon

Caption courtesy © Alaska Department of Fish and GameCaption courtesy © Alaska Department of Fish and Game

February 2014

There’s only one road through Denali National Park and Preserve commandeered by these wonderful, old school buses that drive the length of the road every day, picking up and dropping off intrepid walkers and providing tours of the park for visitors. This view from the Toklat River under omninous clouds cast mountain shadows that threatened to change the mood entirely but the day remained bright.

About the shotA spontaneous image that spurned me into action the moment I saw the composition about to unfold. The bus, dwarfed by the impressive scenery, provided a perfect impression of scale and would pass in a second. The settings required only minimal adjustment. Fortunately for me, manual focus and wide-angle lens were already in use.

Left: Western Columbine



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January 2014 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

full moon

March 2014

Brown and grizzly bears are classified as the same species even though there are notable differences between them. Kodiak bears (from the Kodiak Archipelago) are classified as a distinct subspecies (U. a. middendorffi) from those on the mainland (U. a. horribilis) “Brown bears” typically live along the southern coast of the state where they have access to seasonally abundant spawning salmon and an array of vegetation. This allows them to grow larger and live in higher densities than their “grizzly” cousins in the northern and interior parts of the state.


full moon

About the shotSeeing a bear is the highlight of the Denali adventure – especially one of this size. Traveling back from camp at Wonder Lake, the bus came to a sudden halt as this large brown bear sniffed the air to our right, just off the road. Frantic moments ensued as we attempted to keep quiet, simultaneously photographing for our lives. I attached a 2x converter to get as close a shot as possible.

Left: Brown Bear Images: © Warren Field 2014

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April 2014

Easily recognisable from their large colourful bills, the horned puffin, above (Fratercula corniculata) and the tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata) spend most of their lives at sea and only visit land to breed in the summer – as we were lucky enough to witness at the Chiswell Islands – the last rock outcrops before the open ocean. The bills are larger and more colourful in the summer nesting season as the outer layers are shed in late summer. Both males and females have the same markings. Puffins are built for swimming underwater rather than for flying using their wings for propulsion, literally ‘flying underwater’.


full moonAbout the shotAfter bears, puffins were high on our list of wildlife to observe. Seeing a flash of orange beaks and rapid wing beats brought us to our closest allowed viewing distance at the Chiswell Islands. This revealed both horned and tufted puffins in addition to humpback whales, common murre, cormorants and black-legged kittiwakes (see August). Maneuvering a long lens for composition required stone-cold concentration.

Left: Humpback Whale


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May 2014Seward is situated at the head of Resurrection Bay on the Kenai Peninsula and is the gateway to the wildlife havens of Kenai Fjords National Park where many of these pictures were taken – see Black-legged Kittiwakes (August) and Aialik Glacier (December). The historic town is one of Alaska’s oldest and most scenic communities.

Caption courtesy © www.sewardchamber.org


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About the shotEarly morning in Seward Harbour, a diffused sun and striated clouds create a calming effect on the day of our magnificent cruise in Kenai Fjords National Park.

Left: Mist engulfs Resurrection Bay


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April 2014 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Caption courtesy © www.sewardchamber.org

June 2014Trekking the McKinley Bar Trail, to the west of Wonder Lake, takes you through undulating wet and dry tundra interspersed with large patches of tall willow and alder, through sizable spruce forests to the large gravel bars of the McKinley River. Reflections in clear weather can be magnificent. The park bus allows multiple trekking options, stopping on call through along the length of the Park Road.


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About the shotHere, Mt McKinley (Denali) is hidden behind a wall of morphing cloud. This view interested me because it shows horizontal bands of information from the highest cloud-clustered mountains and foothills down to the delicate spruce forests and grasslands reflected in a tundra kettle pond (a shallow body of water formed by a retreating glacier).

Left: Forget-Me-Nots


full moon

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May 2014 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Caption courtesy © National Parks Service, USACaption courtesy © National Parks Service, USA

The layered hues of pinks, reds and brown of the Polychrome Range are one of the most unusual sights I saw from the park road. Five Polychrome Glaciers are tucked away at the headwaters of the Toklat River and are some of the most accessible glaciers in the park, surrounded by these multicolored ridges. The wide, brush-free gravel river bars are surrounded by open tundra hillsides and small drainages filled with willow. The entire unit is above the tree line.

About the shotPhotographed with a long telephoto lens, the flattened perspective enhances these beautiful mountain ridges, striking in their subtle shades of colour.

Left: Fireweed


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August 2014 S M T W T F S 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

June 2014 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30


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September 2014 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

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The Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) is the only gull that dives and swims underwater to capture food. Here you see the kitti w akes diving a ‘baitball’ – a large shoal of fish just below the surface, hence the great numbers of birds. The name “kittiwake” is derived from the bird’s peculiar cry, a shrill ‘kittee-wa-aaake, kitte-wa-aaake’. They are the most numerous species of gull in the world and most adapted to nesting on vertical rocky sea-cliffs.

About the shotCruising the waters of Kenai Fjords National Park with a telephoto lens allows close observation of wildlife behaviour. Seeing great numbers of excitable black-legged kittiwakes naturallly caught my attention. The action happens so fast that capturing a pleasing composition relies on a hi-speed shutter (5 fp/s) to isolate a moment.

Left: Harbour Seals

Images: © Warren Field 2014Caption courtesy © Alaska Department of Fish and GameCaption courtesy © Alaska Department of Fish and Game

September 2014

An Alaskan summer enjoys over seventeen hours of daylight, the sun never disappearing fully below the horizon. Camping under remarkably clear skies in twilight and a waxing moon adjacent to Mt McKInley (Denali) – on the lower right – reminded me how far north I actually was... next stop the Arctic. Only one marked trail leads from this campsite to the McKinley River in the distance (see McKinley Bar Trail –June). Any further exploration is an official wilderness walk!


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About the shotI found the extended twilight hours through the night to be rather comforting. No blackness. I often rose at three or four in the morning to view the environment under this extraordinary and short-lived ‘night’.

Left: View from Eielson Visitor Center, Denali National Park and Preserve.


October 2014


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Moose, (Alces alces) the world’s largest member of the deer family, may be a common animal in Alaska but a sighting is always impressive. These large ungulates are prized as a valuable game species, and for wildlife viewing. While not normally aggressive, moose can become dangerous to people when they are hungry, tired of walking in deep snow, or harassed by people, dogs and traffic. Moose can be found in Alaska from the Unuk River in the Southeast Panhandle to the Colville River on the Arctic Slope, a span that includes many large Alaskan communities and numerous villages. Moose are considered by many to be a symbol of life in Alaska.

About the shotMoose! The park bus pulled to a stop, thirty pairs of eyes agape at Alaska’s iconic mammal. From my cramped window seat I snapped wide-angle views before changing to a heavy telephoto lens, hoping I’d still have a subject. The moose continued to bathe, stood tall and there was my moment.Left: Moose bathing, Denali National Park and Preserve.

Images: © Warren Field 2014Caption courtesy © Alaska Department of Fish and GameCaption courtesy © Alaska Department of Fish and Game

November 2014

Flying into Anchorage from Seattle gives one of the most magnificent views of the Alaska Range, extending northward and eastward in an arc for about 400 miles (650 km) from the Aleutian Range to the Yukon boundary in southern Alaska. It’s not just the high peaks at Denali National Park and Preserve that inspire. These rugged mountains near Girdwood were spectacular under the setting sun during a trek from the township.

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About the shotCarrying heavy camera equipment, solo, into the mountains to take shots such as this, may soon be a thing of the past as lighter ‘mirrorless’ cameras rival DSLR quality. Ironically, my film gear from the nineties was far easier to transport than today’s digital equipment – simply attached to my waist.

Left: Riley Creek, Denali National Park and Preserve.


full moon


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October 2014 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31


December 2014

The icy cul-de-sac of Aialik Bay in Kenai Fjords National Park leads to the head of the immense Aialik Glacier, the largest tidewater glacier of Kenai Fjords National Park which terminates at sea level and ‘calves’ directly into the sea. ‘Calving’’ is the release of immense boulders of ice that fall in to the ocean preceded by a heart-stopping boom and cracking sound. The unpredictable nature of these ice ruptures creates an excitable tension for onlookers.

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About the shotWaiting until our boat had rotated to enable me to compose this reflection, meant I momentarily forsook the chance to witness a ‘calving’ – or release of a huge boulder of ice – a tough choice – when all around, the eery cacophony of creaks and groans predicted an imminent ice fall.

Left: Tour boat at the Aialik Glacier


full moon


January 2015 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

November 2014 S M T W T F S 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

Further viewing

BLOGwww.warrenfield.wordpress.com http://warrenfield.com.au

For more information and location of sightings from this calendar, photo tips, travel stories and anecdotes:

Stock photography:

PHOTO LIBRARY

© Warren Field Photography 2014. Images may not be copied, printed or otherwise disseminated without express written permission of Warren Field PhotographyCalendar Disclaimer: If I’ve inadvertently missed a credit or source, please contact me to enable the file to be updated and to make correct attribution.

November 2014

August 2014July 2014 September 2014

December 2014November 2014

May 2014April 2014

January 2014 February 2014 March 2014

June 2014

Background photo: FireweedL

Photo library http://warrenfield.com.auEnquiries [email protected]

October 2014

WelcomeWith Eagle River near Anchorage as my base, I had just two weeks to capture my first images from this iconic US state. Favourable weather conditions, long hours of daylight and the extended twilight of summer opened up stunning mountain scenery in the Alaskan wildlife habitats of Denali National Park and Preserve and Kenai Fjords National Park – a breathtaking place for any lover of the outdoors, home to whales, seals, bears and moose.

Within hours of a summer arrival in Alaska you are greeted by a shower of vivid pink fireweed along the highways– the first flower to grow back after a fire and a measure of the coming and going of summer by its growth and retreat. Here are my best moments photographing in exceptional weather that even the locals described as a ‘summer to remember.’

AlaskaCalendar

20142014

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