Humpack Fluke

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 2 Comments

Humpback whale, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Humpback whale, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

We were sitting with the boat motor off watching a group of humpback whales when two of them swam right towards us and then dived right before reaching us – some thrill!

Planet Hollywood Restaurant, Las Vegas

Ron NiebruggeLas Vegas, Nevada, Photos, Travel 5 Comments

Las Vegas Strip, Nevada.

Las Vegas Strip, Nevada.

Continuing on a the same theme as my last post – this image, along with a couple of others will be giant murals in the newly relocated Planet Hollywood Restaurant inside The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace.  One of them is a giant panorama.

I had hoped to see them and to grab a photo while I was there in March for the NAB Conference, but it was still under construction.  That will be fun to see one day!

Humpback Whale Breach

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 6 Comments

Breaching humpback whale, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Breaching humpback whale, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Even though I have seen humpback whales leap out of the water many times over the years – it still blows me away seeing such a massive animal coming so far out of the water!  The sight and sound is awesome!

I took a bit of a chance holding the camera in a vertical position – I think it better frames the action, but makes it harder to find and frame the animal in the limited amount of time you have while they are in the air.

This was with a Canon 7D with a 70-200 plus a 2x converter which I didn’t really need as this was captured at a focal length of 140mm at f/5.6 and 1/1250 of a second, ISO 800.  This was during my photo tour about a week ago.

Bear Morning

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Lake Clark, Photos, Travel 4 Comments

Brown bear looking for clams, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.

Brown bear looking for clams, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.

We had one morning during my spring bear tour that I thought could be perfect since the tide corresponded perfectly with the sunrise.  I had an epic morning given the similar conditions last August, so a group of us made the painful decision to get up at 3:15 to give it a try.  We didn’t have the amazing light I was hoping for, but it was still a beautiful morning.  Although I don’t like get up in the morning, I’m always glad when I do.

Bear Glacier Humpback

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 4 Comments

A humpback whale dives in front of Bear Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

A humpback whale dives in front of Bear Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

With the arrival of wonderful weather to correspond with the amazing whale activity we have been seeing lately, I just had to get back out there.  I have to say thanks so much to Doug and Val for a wonderful evening of pizza, whales and friends!

Blue Ice

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 8 Comments

Iceberg in front of Aialik Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Iceberg in front of Aialik Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

I’m going to resist calling this iceberg cool  🙂 – really is was awesome!  All sorts of wonderful patterns and colors, we circled it in the boat about 5 times taking photos and videos of this beauty!