Homer, Kachemak Bay & Grace Ridge

My wife and I had not had a night alone together since our daughter was born. Not that I am complaining; I love my sweet little two-year-old daughter more than anything. But when the chance came to hand our kiddo off to the grandparents and do an overnight exploration of Grace Ridge in Kachemak Bay State Park near Homer, Alaska, we took it.

Kachemak Bay State Park is a wonderland of impressive crags, sharp ridges and cracked glaciers. It was one of the first places in Alaska I was able to explore back in 2007 and one of the reasons I fell in love with Alaska. In 2020 we backpacked in to Grewingk Glacier with our packrafts and paddled around the towering icebergs that splinter off in the lake at the toe of that mammoth glacier. This time, we wanted to see a new area of the park, and we were not disappointed.

Grace Ridge is a 9-mile hike up and over a mountain through the alpine tundra with views of Tutka Bay and Sadie Cove off to each side. We approached it by staying at the Kayak Beach yurt the night before. It was what I kept calling an "old school" adventure for us, the type that we used to take all the time before undertaking the even bigger adventure of becoming parents. It had all the features of one of our trips circa 2010: a mountain climb, some evening lounging after gulping down backpacking food, even a splash of inclement weather. We were treated to an incredible display of light that left me clicking the shutter for hours on my camera the evening before our hike. The pictures I got that night and during the foggy climb the next day were incredible.

All-in-all it was a super successful overnight trip in a part of Alaska that gives a taste of adventure without being too out-of-reach. I highly recommend it to any photographer (or anyone, really) who happens to be in the area. The views and the photographic compositions are hard to beat.

(A collection of photos from the location/trip. For best results, click to enlarge)

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Kayaker's Cove

There is nothing like unplugging from civilization. Places like Kayaker's Cove in Alaska's Resurrection Bay, near the town of Seward, are perfect to retreat from the worries of civilization, even if only for a short while. You cannot get service at Kayaker's Cove, so unless you paddle out around the tall rock escarpments that surround the tiny cache of cabins, you are forced to entertain yourself the old fashioned way: with good company, and a sound mind.

We've made a point to take an annual trip out to Kayaker's Cove. Unfortunately, this year the weather didn't co-operate perhaps as we'd hoped. The rain didn't let up, not even for a moment, for the entire three days we were out there. From a photography standpoint, however, the mist and fog presented a different opportunity. Challenging conditions force me to look for compositions that differ from my normal style. I find myself finding shots that I might not have if the light and the weather had been different. 

So here is a small collection of shots from or three-day trip to Kayaker's Cove. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. And if you really enjoy, consider liking my Facebook or Instagram pages, or sharing this post with your friends. It is always much appreciated.

(Click for higher resolution images)

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Copyright notice: This website and all its contents are the intellectual property of Brian Wright Photography. None of the content can be used or reproduced without expressed written approval.
For information about how to contact us, visit this link

Eagle River Nature Center Photography

Black and white of dramatic peaks at the
Eagle River Nature Center

The Eagle River Nature Center is a nature reprieve near the town of Eagle River, Alaska. Resplendent with towering mountains and lush Alaska forest, this incredibly scenic area is shared by a bevy of wildlife such as bears and moose and a strong contingent of hikers, backpackers, packrafters and, of course, photographers. After hearing about it, and seeing photos of it for years, I finally had a chance to see it for myself last weekend and it did not disappoint.

While spending two night in the Rapids Camp Yurt about two miles up the Eagle River Nature Center trail, it was hard to know what to point my camera at. Incredible sights surrounded camp. Low clouds and fog gave the jagged peaks a moody, dramatic appearance, and frequent wildlife casually walked all around us. We had close-ish encounters with several bull moose, a mom black bear with two cubs and heard reports from other hikers about sightings of brown bears as well. When we hiked out on Saturday morning, signs at the Nature Center itself warned that a "small group of hikers" had been charged by a brown bear the day before. Needless to say it is a place where you want to keep your bear spray close at hand at all times.

A smattering of other images. Click for higher resolution

Bull moose at the Eagle River Nature Center

A

Butterflies on the shores of the Eagle River

Dramatic mountains 

Snow capped peaks and low clouds

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Copyright notice: This website and all its contents are the intellectual property of Brian Wright Photography. None of the content can be used or reproduced without expressed written approval.
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The Magic of Long Exposure: Capturing Movement in a Still Image

At Hogwarts, in the world of Harry Potter, still images come alive with movement. However, most of us are muggles and our photographs must seem dull and boring compared to those wizards. Lucky for us, there is another way to infuse motion (or at least the impression of it) into a still photograph. That secret magic is long exposure....

Long exposure is created by opening the shutter for long periods of time. Whether it's "short" long exposure, like one-sixth of a second (just long enough to give a pleasing blur to moving creeks or ocean waves), or long long exposure that can last for several minutes or more, this technique creates images that have that mystic and ethereal quality that I have come to love in photography.

Long exposure came to me at a time when I was reaching a stagnation point. I felt like I was going to the same locations and taking the same compositions over and over. Discovering long exposure, however, opened my mind to a whole realm of possibilities and I've been scurrying about to all the familiar locations with fresh ideas ever since. Here is a sample of images I have created since discovering a passion for long exposure. Which of these images are your favorites? What do you think of long exposure? I would love to hear your feedback and criticism in the comments.

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Copyright notice: This website and all its contents are the intellectual property of Brian Wright Photography. None of the content can be used or reproduced without expressed written approval.
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All the Light We Cannot See: Capturing the Hidden World of Infrared

 

Lying just beyond the electromagnetic spectrum detectable by the human eye is the infrared.

In my search for new ways to create images unlike any I'd ever made before, I stumbled on infrared photography after watching a Youtube video by one of my favorite internet photographers, Thomas Heaton. Images of dark black skies with white foliage astounded me in their ability to take the familiar and shift it just enough to make a viewer pause and reconsider the common things, like trees and clouds, in a whole new way. Later, I came on other infrared photographers like Shelley Vandegrift and Laurie Klein that were taking infrared into places so intriguing and beautiful that I felt compelled to try to learn

Infrared photography is challenging. Though it has the ability to give your images that extra umpf to make it unique and special, it is quite counterintuitive and it takes time to learn how to spot a composition that works in a spectrum your eyes cannot see. Also, becuase this light is invisible, a great deal of post processing is required in order to create these spectacular images that we, as humans with our limited range of sight, can enjoy.

So here are a few images from my early attempts at playing around with infrared. Some are pure infrared and some are blends with parts of photographs taken in regular light mixed in Photoshop. As always, I love hearing feedback and comments in the comment section.

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Visit THE ARCHIVE: A list of most of my articles and posts sorted by category

Copyright notice: This website and all its contents are the intellectual property of Brian Wright Photography. None of the content can be used or reproduced without expressed written approval.
For information about how to contact us, visit this link

Hatcher Pass: Photography Wonderland

 

Cabins are available at the Hatcher Pass Lodge

In Southcentral Alaska, just off the Mat-Su Valley, is a veritable paradise for outdoor recreation and photography: Hatcher Pass. 

Hatcher Pass is famous as a convenient and spectacular destination for outdoor recreation. Easily accessible from some of Alaska's most populous munipalities, Hatcher Pass offers quick access to quintessential Alaska features, like deeply crevassed glaciers, cloud-scraping peaks, and endless hiking trails. With myriad campgrounds, backcountry huts, and even the Hatcher Pass lodge, options are abound for your head to hit the pillow after day spent exploring this wild paradise. It is hard to imagine a more perfect setting for an Alaska adventure.

For landscape photographers, Hatcher Pass is a dream. Steep peaks with jagged ridge abutments, tumbling streams dotted with gumdrop granite boulders, ambrosial alpine lakes and even historical intrigue at the Independence Mine State Historical Park provide plenty of fodder to frame up in your camera lens. Abundant wildflowers in the summer and endless trails curling through the rugged Talkeetna Mountain Range provide enough subject matter for a lifetime. If you are a landscape photographer visiting or living in Alaska, Hatcher Pass should be at the top of your list.

A random peony mid-channel in the 
Little Susitna River in Hatcher Pass made for
a great photo subject

Mountains as far as the eye can see at the Hatcher Pass summit

Alpine brooks make for perfect leading lines in 
a landscape composition

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Visit THE ARCHIVE: A list of most of my articles and posts sorted by category

Copyright notice: This website and all its contents are the intellectual property of Brian Wright Photography. None of the content can be used or reproduced without expressed written approval.
For information about how to contact us, visit this link