Yes- it really is this pretty- everywhere you go, everywhere you look! Mountains, glaciers, water, flowers- Alaska is beautiful!
This was taken at the Eagle River Nature Center.
Obscured
When people hear that we have traveled to Alaska, they usually ask us if we went to Denali National Park. Well, no, we say- we’re there to see our grandkids. This time we drove to Talkeetna, hoping to get a view of Denali, at 20,310 feet the highest peak in North America. You can actually see Denali from Anchorage, but we have never managed to catch a good view (similarly, we have never seen a moose or bear in Alaska- which I guess is pretty unusual!). Denali is so high that it creates its own weather- and is most often obscured by clouds. This time was no different, but if you look closely at the photo, you can see the snow capped peak through wisps of clouds. Don’t get distracted by the darker peaks- those are big, but not gigantic like Denali- look at the top of the clouds, above the space between the two dark peaks on the right that are above the tree line. Yes, you have to look closely- but that’s all I’ve got!
The Reasons
Here are the two main reasons we visit Alaska:
Miles at age 9: bookworm, lego-builder, adventurous skier and mountain biker
Henry at age 6: friend to all, gardener, adventurous skier and mountain biker
These two grow and change so fast- we don’t want to miss a thing!
Travels
We’ve just returned from a two week trip, which included a week in Alaska with our daughter, son-in-law, and grand-boys, a quick couple days in the Bay Area for business, and then a few days in Orange County to celebrate our son’s 40th birthday. It was a wonderful trip, but I’m glad to not be living out of a suitcase right now (although we leave Wednesday for a couple nights in Utah). I also came home with a determination to pack lighter and to look for lightweight luggage with spinner wheels!
I have almost 2500 photos to go through- mostly Alaska, but the last 450 are of a surfing competition in Huntington Beach (one of my most fun photography experiences ever!). No, I definitely did not have the right lens to photograph surfing, but my Nikon autofocus system performed admirably, considering the limited reach I had with my 24-120 f/4.
The view above is from my daughter’s deck in Alaska. I will be posting more photos over the next few weeks as I get them processed.
Fluffy
It is so much easier to capture a bird sitting on a branch than one in flight! I love how fluffed up this little finch looks!
Hoverer
More practice with the long lens . . .
I confess to adding a texture, because, despite the long lens, I’m not really a wildlife photographer. 😉
Bait!
I found this little store across from the beach in Newport very charming. I had an idea of replacing the background with the beach and oceans- and still might someday- but here it is in its (almost) natural surroundings.
Stalker
The morning we left, we took a quick walk on the beach, and I must have taken at least 20 photos of a man and his mother as they came walking toward me. I think he thought I was stalking them, but what I really liked was the composition of the S-curve in the sand (and gull) with the dog walker in the background. A peaceful scene!
Beach Time!
My husband was in Southern California on business last week, so I tagged along. Our first stop was Newport Beach, where we caught up with our son and his girlfriend and had a very quick afternoon at the beach. I’ll be posting a few photos this week from that all too short visit.
Steppin’ Out
Just walking at the top of the hill. . .
Make Yourself at Home
Our roadrunner guest made himself right at home in our yard. He is a predator after all; I try not to think of what he might have eaten besides lizards. I haven’t seen any of the young quail for awhile, alas. These shots are before and after he helped himself to some water in the fountain.
By the way, this is the same roadrunner I featured in yesterday’s blog post. His crest is sometimes up, and sometimes down. Supposedly the crest goes up when the roadrunner is communicating with other roadrunners, but this one has been a loner.
Unafraid
Last week, we spotted a roadrunner coming into our back yard several times each day. One day, Carol and I were out there for over an hour with our cameras, and the roadrunner was everywhere! We even watched him kill a large lizard by- sorry!- whacking him repeatedly against the rocks (don’t worry- no photos). At one point, he came down to the lower level and drank from the fountain- leisurely and unafraid.
Here he is in all his glory:
Sweeeet
I’ve taken many, many hummingbird photos over the years. And now I am trying to take better ones. The hard thing is to take them in flight, in focus, and in a good spot in the frame (good composition and background). So far, I have many, many shots of their tails as they take off- or just sitting at the feeders. At least in this shot, the wings are outstretched and moving.
Mr. Quail
Here is another shot of Mr. Quail. I love being able to get closeups with my long lens.
Long Lens Technique
Thanks to the expert tutelage of my friend, Carol, I am finally able to use my long zoom lens with the gimbal head I got for my birthday. I am working on assembling and disassembling the lens and tripod combo, as well as focusing and panning techniques for bird photography. I am far from competent, but am thrilled with my results so far!
Meet Mr. and Mrs. Quail, regular visitors to our backyard:
melinda anderson photography 