Last Stop.....Ketchikan

Our flight from Anchorage to Ketchikan left at 8am allowing us to see a spectacular sunrise on the many Peaks and Glaciers of the Glacier Bay Park & Wilderness Area along the Alaskan Coastline. Today was my first view of such immense glaciers stretching from mountaintop to Ocean in one expansive and powerful flow.
We flew on the mail route which meant landing in Juneau and Sitka for mail drop off and pick up before making our way to Ketchikan. It is impossible for me to put into words the emotions running through me while looking out the small window from my seat at the many snow covered peaks, glaciers, scattered islands, and thick forests. What I do know is that I will be visiting this wild place many times more in my life somehow. It cannot be experienced or understood in such a short trip. A lifetime couldn't deliver a full understanding of such a place.
After landing in Ketchikan, Linda our local guide and driver picked us up form the airport. We took a quick ferry ride over to the town and up to Nathan Jackson's carving shop. Nathan is one of the world's great totem carvers. His personality fills you with energy making you want to be the best at whatever you do. His contagious laugh is worth the trip to Alaska. We were also gifted with the privilege to see him carve. When brilliance happens before you, it is easy to see. Tomorrow, we will set up at his carving shop and Michael will craft a photograph of Nathan working and living his daily lifestyle. Nathan is also a talented Harmonica player and if we are lucky, he may play for us. I'll try to learn all I can in such a short time.

Quick Day in Wasilla

Our late flight into Anchorage kept the mountains out of sight. For the first time on this trip I found myself in a so-so state of mind. Anchorage seems to be just another hustle and bustle city in my eyes but I know that great beauty and landscapes sleeps near. Tomorrow we will see this great beauty.

And after a few miles in the typical urban jungle we found great beauty. The Chugach Mountain range filled our smogged senses with a fresh wind. A strong wind indeed. We drove North on Hwy 1 to the Knik Arm near Wasilla (and yes, sarah palin is from Wasilla, and fortunately we didn't see her). The tide was quite low and the Earth was dusty with Dirt Devils swirling all around us. We explored the location we would be shooting at while keeping an eye peeled for Moose. Unfortunately, we saw no Moose on this trip. The shoot went well and we ended relatively early for once.
Michael found a fantastic brewhouse in downtown Anchorage called the Glacier Brewery. A nice way to end our quick visit to this part of Alaska.

Last day in Barrow Video Clips

Last day in Barrow

I'm writing this morning from my room in Anchorage. This will be a quick post that I may add to later. We arrived around midnight after another enriching day in Barrow. It was sad to leave when there is still so much to learn from the people, animals, and the Arctic Tundra itself. I'm sure I will make a journey back here during the whaling season. I would like to note that I am writing usually quite late after working all day and not able to take the time to check my facts, and a few of them have been wrong.....way wrong. For instance, we are no where near the Bering Sea but instead the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea inside the Arctic Ocean. There were a few more of these mistakes that I have since corrected. I'm sure there will be more. There are several hi-moments from my last day in Barrow, but here are a few that will stand tall in my mind when I'm an old man. Firstly, on our way out to the location towards Point Barrow we witnessed an Arctic Fox dragging food across the road and stopped to observe him as he ran to a safe distance from us and watched casually. He burrowed himself into the snow for camouflage and then started circling around his tail as if bedding down. Completely confidant and unaffected by our huge white van 70 yards away. I then got to work with Richard (our talent for the photograph Michael was making) and learned a great deal about their culture and lifestyle. Rita (our patient and gracious driver for the past 2 days) brought her son Reese to the location who entertained us all, especially when driving around Barrow. After a bit shooting in the morning, we headed to town for a few hours and to the Inupiat Heritage Center. Wonderful place filled with too much Native Culture to take in so quickly. Next, we headed back out to shoot around the last light of the day which proved to be worthy, warm, winter light. We were all pleased with his decision to come back. There was much more, but I'm running out of time this morning. Hopefully tonight I will be able to include more.
Thanks Rita for giving us the perfect Barrow tour, for sharing your family with us, and mostly for your company. Hope to see everyone here in Barrow in the not to distant future.

Hello Barrow

Another experience of experiences in Barrow. What to say in such short order. Hopefully the few images and video at the bottom will give you an idea of what I took in. This place is home to some truly beautiful people and culture. I met several amazing Inupiat Natives today with little interest in abandoning their traditional methods, and instead embracing them fully. This is a harsh and wonderful place to live and survive in, however the men and women who reside here move effortlessly amongst this Arctic Tundra. I met a couple of Whaling Captains who are both passionate and carry an authentic pride about their culture. I also learned several things about the traditional skin boats (made from Bearded Seals) they use to hunt the whales from. And we were incredibly fortunate to be able to handle the skin boats and help in the process of getting them rigged, ready, and delivered to the launch location.
I am most amazed at how happy and kind the people are who live here even though it seems to be a depressed area at first sight to the standards of typical Western Culture. They seem perfectly content with less and seem to worry little. For instance, Herman, one of the Captains put the bow of his aluminum boat through his back window on our way to the shoot location and told us the story with a smile and chuckle saying "oh, my wife won't be too happy about this." Also, when asked what they do during the long dark hours and how do they get through it, they smile and look at you as if confused by your question. Barrow is a damp city (no alcohol can be sold here, however it can be purchased outside of Barrow and brought in) which to many seems crazy that a "night life of partying" doesn't exist. I'm not sure if this is something they would rather have or not, but I do know that many of the Natives I have talked to moved to this area by choice and have had many other opportunities to leave but have decided to stay.

No Polar Bear sitings yet, but I am hopeful that tomorrow could be the day. Many Bears are in the area and seen daily, many times, monthly in fact, in downtown Barrow where the police are called to chase them away. We have seen other birds and plenty of tracks from Foxes to indicate that wildlife thrives in this harsh land without the many layers of artificial warmth I wore today.

Tomorrow will be our last day in Barrow. We will be catching our flight at around 8pm after a day of work down to the city of Anchorage for 2 days. This will be a shock, wish we could stay here longer instead.

Hello Alaska

Today was a day of days, for my first few steps into Alaska has finally happened. I'm writing from the Top Of The World Hotel in Barrow at 1 am, the most Northern city in America. What a privilege I have been given. I have been asked to help on a photography job for the 2010 Census here in Alaska for a week and finishing in Hawaii for 12 days. I will be working as a digital tech and photography assistant. We are making images to advertise the 2010 Census to the Native populations in these locations. It will be an honor to gain a tiny glimpse into their way of life amongst this arctic land. The cloud cover was thick on our entry into Anchorage, but a small window opened up just big enough for me to catch an eyeful of snow and mountains below. That small glimpse was enough to tell me that I was now amongst some of the most spectacular giants in the world. After a brief transfer in Anchorage we flew to Fairbanks for a moment and then continued to Barrow. Our driver Rita took us out to the end of the road North to scout our first location which is about 2 miles south of Point Barrow and although it was completely dark we could feel the power of the Beaufort Sea to the East and the Chukchi Sea to the West. The spit of land we stood on was only 300 yards or so wide between the two seas. I should get some rest but it is truly hard to sleep with so many new things to see. 10:30 tomorrow the sun will dip above the horizon and show us the Arctic Tundra I'm incredibly anxious to see. The first image we will be working on tomorrow will be of a group of Whalers setting out in a traditional skin boat on the icy shores of either the Beaufort or Chukchi Sea.