Headed to Alaska

Mt. McKinley, Denali National Park Alaska (film scan)
An unexpected opportunity arose in the last couple weeks to travel to Denali National Park in Alaska and hook up for some wildlife photography with my friend Ken Conger. Many of the folks who have stopped in here to visit my blog are also readers of Ken's blog. But for any readers who have not yet visited Ken's blog, you owe it to yourself to click on the link above or check out the spectacular wildlife photography on his photo website here.

The only other time I had the opportunity to visit Alaska was in September 2001, and we were actually on our way into Denali National Park the morning the terrorist attacks shocked the world on September 11th. What an eerie and bizarre day that was.

On that trip, I was without a camera of my own, and used a friend's Minolta Maxxum film camera that he insisted that I borrow and take with me. This was the first auto-focusing camera I had ever used. I had been shooting with a Canon AE-1 Program for many years, and autofocus cameras had not yet hit the market when I purchased it.

The photo of Mt. McKinley above was captured at Stony Hill, which the maps show at mile post 62. This a popular stop for viewing the mountain on the tours that go that far into the park. It was explained to us that less than 10% of the people who visit Denali get to see the top of Mt McKinley, because it is usually covered by clouds. We were fortunate to have a clear day, and I have wanted to return ever since, especially after I purchased some more modern camera gear. The photo above was scanned from film.

Grizzly Bear - Denali National Park, Alaska (film scan)
Anyway, this time instead of being limited to a one-day bus tour, I should have a lot more time to try and capture some interesting wildlife photos. This grizzly bear photo above was captured by shooting out of an open window of our tour bus. My wife was shooting video while I was shooting stills when the bears appeared from the woods and walked alongside the road.

I am planning to keep up the blog while I'm away, so we'll see how that goes, assuming I am able to get some decent photos. In the meantine, if you care to see any of the other photos my 2001 Alaska trip, there are 8 additonal shots posted on my photo website. I have only scanned and digitized a few of the photos from that trip.