Thank you, You came Here

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Before we headed to Alaska last month, we looked at places we might visit during our short stay there. One of the places that caught my eye was the Eklutna Historical Park, near Eagle River, where our family lives. Advertised as  an “Alaska Native and Russian Orthodox cultural experience“,  the site includes two churches and an old cemetery, irresistible to this photographer/genealogist! As soon as we arrived, it started to rain, so we were only able to spend about a half hour there, but I managed to take a few photos while protecting my camera from the rain. The site is a blend of the Russian influence and the native Athabaskan tradition of building spirit houses over the graves of their family members.  The church above is the new church, built in 1962.

Below are some of the colorful spirit houses in the old graveyard, which is still used. The log church is the original Russian Orthodox Church, built by the Russians some time between 1830 and 1870 in Knik.  Around 1900, the building was moved to the old graveyard in Eklutna. The spirit houses show a blend of the Orthodox and native traditions, often decorated with the Orthodox cross.

Eklutna_triptych

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Moving Trees

I shot this photo in Eagle River, Alaska while out for a walk with the family. Yes, the blur was on purpose; I knew intentional camera movement was one of the upcoming topics for my photo club. I want to do more of this- the results are somewhat unpredictable, but fun!

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Cheerful

In January, a sign went up in the empty lot across the street from us, indicating a new home was going to be built. Soon, dirt and rocks were dumped along the sidewalk, a sure indication that grading was going to be taking place on the property. Eight and a half months later, no more work has been done.

We may not have new neighbors, but new life is appearing in those piles of dirt, thanks to the monsoon rains. Wildflowers have sprouted, their cheerful heads reaching toward the sky- in contrast to the images of sunflower decay I’ve been posting!

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Back to SF

I realized that I never posted my favorite Ferry Building shot from our brief San Francisco visit early in the summer.  I took this photo the evening before Carol arrived- right after Lonnie discovered the view while he was looking for ice.  This one, taken through glass, has better focus than the one I took the next night, even though it was handheld- no tripod. Go figure!

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And here is another edit of the same image- black and white with a slightly different crop.

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Off the Beaten Path

I decided on this restaurant for lunch even before we arrived in Alaska. It is in Hope, less than a half hour off the Seward highway, and it gets rave reviews for its food and atmosphere on Trip Advisor and in our guidebook.  Our daughter tried to discourage us, saying it was a long drive through nothing very interesting and that the food and atmosphere was nothing special. But having no other lunch destination in mind on the way to Seward, we decided to go anyway.  I was really excited to finally arrive- but then we discovered it was CLOSED for a wedding. And we were starving! Part of the reason for going there was for me to take photos (Lonnie was more interested in the food, as it was way past lunchtime)- so I snapped away for 10 minutes before heading back to the main highway and on to Seward.

20160803-MMA_3753_melinda_anderson-EditI actually spent a lot of time editing this photo, attempting to create sort of a Bleach Bypass look. The most time-consuming part of the edit was moving the couple closer to the foreground so they became part of the scene, instead of specks in the background.

The below image is a vertical crop of the above photo.  I took a vertical shot, but it wasn’t usable because of how much I had to crop off due to lens distortion with my 18-200 lens. Fortunately I had this version to play with.  After cropping and correcting the distortion (I love the new Transform Tool in Lightroom!), I used a preset in On1 Effects, which I modified a bit- and was done in five minutes.

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Through the Clouds

Our boat trip along the Kenai fjords in Alaska was one of the most memorable travel experiences of my life. Despite the rain and fog and the constant rolling motion (4 foot swells in places, they said- is that unusual? I don’t know.) and sometimes rough waters, it was amazing! We spent most of our time on deck, except for when the rain became too much, and were constantly awestruck by the dramatic coastline and the opportunities to see whales, puffins, eagles, porpoises, seals, and sea lions. And oh yes- glaciers! My photos of the scenery include mostly gray shapes with water spots- not too many keepers, considering how many I shot.

Here is one of my better land/sea-scape shots- taken while the boat was in motion and there was little rain. I wish I could say exactly where on the map this was. The mountains seemed to rise right out of the sea- with snow and glaciers and clouds to round out the scene.

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