A few months ago, I stopped posting images while traveling, because I didn’t like the results of my color processing on my 13″ MacBook Pro.  I thought that I would make an exception for one of my new humpback whale breaching images from my last week of cruising Southeast Alaska.

Last Sunday, I left Juneau and motored my 22′ C-Dory 90 miles south down Stephens Passage to Frederick Sound.  The weather forecast was typically miserable, however, I was elated to experience sunny skies for 3 days.  My previous attempts at photographing humpbacks breaching have not been very successful, so I assumed that my chance of capturing anything epic was miniscule.  The several hundred whales on Frederick Sound typically only come to the surface for 3-4 breaths before deep diving to feed for 20 minutes.  The most common photo is of their tails.  In order to photograph a breach, I have to locate a playful whale that is not several miles away, which is what I did with this youngster.  It repeatedly breached, slapped its pectoral fins, and tail lobbed near my small boat for over 2 hours.  Incredible!

During my trip to Iceland, I was enthralled by the dramatic landscape of Landmannalaugar and fortunate that the road had just opened a few days before my visit.  Because it was considered early in the season, there were very few people around.  I camped for 4 days, with the main challenge being that I slept during the day.  I always wonder why anyone would visit the Arctic during the summer and sleep rather than stay up all night.  Except for my travel buddy, I had Landmannalaugar all to myself each night from 8pm until 5am.  This is another one of my favorite images that I created after hiking up to the Brennisteinsalda steam vents and photographing the dramatic light on Blahnukur.

I was recently interviewed by the Gesellschaft Deutscher Tierfotografen (Society of German Nature Photographers).  Previously interviewed photographers include Andy Rouse, George and Verena Popp, Norbert Rosing, and Kevin Schafer.  My interview is currently featured in their triannual magazine Forum Naturfotografie.  It spans 14 pages and showcases 12 of my favorite photographs.  The double page opener is my image “East Pond Vent 1“, taken in Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii.

I want to share another one of my favorite Atlantic puffin images from the bird cliffs at Latrabjarg in the Northwestern Fjords of Iceland.  It took me 9 years to return to this fantastic location so that I could photograph these cute birds.  I was fortunate that the clouds parted late in the evening allowing the sun to bath the cliffs in golden light.  I like this puffins open beak with the fantastic bokeh background of the cliffs behind it.

My regular readers will have noticed that I am a big fan of shooting wide-angle landscape images and seldom use a telephoto lens other than for wildlife photography.  I enjoy discovering patterns in nature with a medium telephoto lens, but I prefer to shoot grand and dramatic scenes.  I also think that it is technically more challenging.  This iceberg detail and reflection picture from Jokulsarlon is a notable recent exception.  The blue color of the ice comes from the density of the ice absorbing all the colors of the spectrum, except blue which is reflected.   Photographing blue ice is best in overcast conditions, of which I had plenty.

During my trip to Iceland, I visited the spectacular Jokulsarlon 5 different nights over 2 weeks hoping to photograph an epic midnight sunset.  On the night that I finally created this image, the magic light had threatened to overwhelm the clouds for several hours.  I created my nicest stranded icebergs on the beach image, Jokulsarlon Beach Sunset 2, at 12:45am.  I don’t remember how I occupied my time for the next hour, but by 2:45am I was set up and ready to photograph the sunrise light when it briefly radiated underneath the heavy clouds and illuminated the mountains above the iceberg choked lagoon.

My image “Spray Park Wildflowers 1” is featured as the double page opener of the hiking feature in the June 2010 issue of Seattle Met.  Spray Park is my favorite alpine location at Mount Rainier National Park and is the closest side of the mountain to my home in Seattle.  During the brief summer hiking season, I depart my house in the early afternoon, drive for about 3 hours, and hike the 3 miles up to the wildflower meadows to photograph the sunset.  It is both a blessing and a curse if the wind is not blowing, a blessing because the fields of lupine and paintbrush are not blowing around in the wind, but a curse because of  the swarms of blood-thirsty mosquitoes that rival any that I have seen in Alaska or Canada.  Spray Park is higher than Paradise on the south side of the mountain, so the wildflowers peak about 1 week later, typically mid-August.  Based on the cold summer that we are having, I estimate that the wildflowers are going to be a little late this year, which is similar to the year that I created this image during the last week of August.

I’ve been editing my images from my trip to Iceland the last few days.  My regular readers might recall that I was complaining about the dreary weather the entire trip.  Just because the conditions are miserable does not mean that there weren’t any photos to be had.  Due to my years of photographing Alaska, I am adept at shooting in cloudy conditions.  While the general public is happy with blue skies (as I am about to enjoy myself this afternoon), the light that I need to create dramatic photographs requires being willing to work in less than inspiring conditions.  For example, consider this image of the Brennisteinsalda steam vents.  I created it at the end of a cloudy day in Landmannalaugar when there was no sunset light.  I experimented by taking over 200 images of the steam emanating from the ground in order to capture the steam pattern and dark clouds in this the decisive moment.

Yesterday, I spent 6 hours editing, processing, keywording, and sizing my Atlantic puffin photographs for the web.  As busy as my summer is, I am not going to finish processing the rest of my Iceland trip any time soon.  This is one of my favorites.  I like how the puffin’s breast is pointing forward with the orange bokeh from the sunset illuminating the cliff.  I always preach that the most important part of a great wildlife image is not the subject, but what is going on behind it.  Clean, simple background like cliffs and mountains in the distance yield the best results.  I created this image with my Canon 7D and 400mm f4 DO IS lens on a Gitzo GT2931 tripod with an Acratech Ultimate ballhead and Wimberley Sidekick.

I am pleased to share my latest cover image on Alaska Airlines.  This is the 3rd time this year and the 2nd month in a row that they have selected one of my photographs for the cover of their in-flight magazine.  I photographed this brown bear diving for a salmon when I visited the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary & Refuge in August 2006.  My buddy & I were fortunate to be the only visitors the last week of August, so the ranger gave us a private tour.  Even he said that he had never been to some of the areas that we hiked to.  I had applied several years in a row for the lottery but never got a permit.  Like most people, I had applied for the height of the salmon run and the bear congregation in July.  This time I applied for the last week of the season and received a permit.  So did 8 other people, but none of them showed up.  I’ve was told that it is also easy to get a permit for the first week or two of the summer.  So, keep those shoulder season dates in mind if you ever want to photograph brown bears and have McNeil River all to yourself.