Most of my Alaska photography time last month was spent photographing the loons that swam peacefully around the lake. Often they would dive beneath the water for food and then surface with a spray of bubbly lake water. They were usually in pairs and would call to each other when they were separated, flapping their wings when the other was spotted. There was a pair with babies which I never saw, unfortunately. Next year…
We were only at our cabin on the MacDonald Spit for two nights, but I photographed this particular boat on more than one occasion as it floated on the still, dark waters of Kasitsna Bay. I think I was drawn not only to the boat itself but to its reflection. What a beautiful place!
I first titled this image the Sinking Sun or Drowning Sun- but I see it now as rising. I guess it depends on your point of view.
I’ve made a small website change- and plan to do more over the coming weeks. If you got this blog post by email and didn’t go to my website, you would have noticed nothing new. But if you went to my website directly to look at my latest post, you may have gotten lost! The landing page for melinda365.com is now a slideshow instead of my blog posts. To get to my blog, you have to go to the MENU. This change has been in my head for a couple years, but it has taken this long to make myself sit down and actually DO it. I plan to update my galleries page as well to reflect work I’ve done in the last couple years.
FYI- looking at bay water shining through a grate in Homer, Alaska
Reflections in water are often prettier than what is being reflected. Does that make sense?
From a late afternoon visit to Watson Lake.
We took a drive yesterday in the beautiful weather, heading over to Cornville to visit the fish hatchery. The water flowing out of the tanks and through the grate caught my eye.
A peaceful scene from Lynx Lake
Like every other photographer, I’m drawn to reflections. This one caught my eye at the Eagle River Nature Center in Alaska. I loved the contrast between the bits poking above the surface of the water and the watercolor swirls beneath.
Watson Lake reflections
Autumn version:
Winter version:
This is from my walk a couple weeks ago at Watson Lake.
Water, water everywhere at Watson Lake!
When we were out driving around Sunday, we stopped at Watson Lake for a short while. There was some snow on the ground, but what interested me was the high water level. Areas that we could normally walk through in Watson Woods were flooded, which made for some nice reflections.
Same photo, tighter crop. . .
from our Alaskan boat trip
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.
When we were in San Francisco, I found the little water taxis very appealing and cartoon-like, so I made some adjustments in Photoshop and Topaz Simplify to accentuate these qualities.
melinda anderson photography 