Huge Caribou

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Denali, Photos, Travel 5 Comments

Bull caribou, Denali National Park, Alaska.

Bull caribou, Denali National Park, Alaska.

This is one of the largest bull caribous I have ever seen!  This was from my fall trip to Denali National Park.

I often get questions about the settings I use for a particular image.  I’ll try to get better at including that information as it can be valuable for learning.

Here I had my Canon 7D with a 70-200 f/2.8 lens and 2x converter.  Great combination for hiking because of its light weight.  On this day we climbed way up into the hills and I was glad I wasn’t packing a large telephoto.  I shot this at f/5.6 and 1/640 of a second at ISO 800.  I prefer a lower iso with the 7D, but needed the shutter speed.

I was using aperture priority mode and had dialed up + 2 2/3 of a stop in additional compensation.  If that sounds like a lot of compensation, it is.  The bright sky really fools the camera, and I didn’t want a perfectly exposed rich blue sky with a silhouette, I wanted detail in the caribou.  So I dialed up compensation until I had detail in the caribou and didn’t worry about blowing out the sky.  Now as soon as the caribou came off the ridge and had and earth background, I had to quickly dial the compensation back down to zero.  That is something very easy to do with the big wheel on the back of many Canon cameras, I can do it very quickly without looking.  It is something I have even practiced so that it is second nature.  I think being able to quickly adjust camera settings on the fly is really important when photographing wildlife in constantly changing light and environmental conditions.

Favorite Photos from 2011

Ron NiebruggePhotos, Travel 22 Comments

I have to thank Jim Goldstein for the idea of sharing a look at my favorite photos from the previous year.

With it cold and dark outside, it is a nice time of year to stop for a minute to reflect back on the previous year.  The constant pace to produce new material usually has my attention directed towards the future, but when I take the time to look back, I’m always amazed at the wonderful places and experiences I have been blessed to have witnessed in the previous year.

I also enjoy seeing the make up of my favorites.  Are they landscape, wildlife, travel or adventure sports?  The division between Alaska and outside Alaska is always interesting.  This year it looks like Alaska wildlife seems to be featured the most prominently – not surprising as that is some of my favorite subject material.  So, here they are – click on the thumbnail to see a larger version:

TOP 10

 

Denali, Denali National Park, Alaska.

Denali, Denali National Park, Alaska.

Great light, colors and subject – from my fall trip to Denali.

 

Brown Bear, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.

Brown Bear, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.

This was from my Alaska bear photo tour last summer – we had a few great sunrises!

 

Seven Sacred Pools or O'heo Gulch, Haleakala National Park, near Hana, Maui, Hawaii.

Seven Sacred Pools or O'heo Gulch, Haleakala National Park, near Hana, Maui, Hawaii.

Sunset at the wonderful Seven Sacred Pools from our Fall trip to Hawaii.

 

Dall Sheep, Denali National Park, Alaska.

Dall Sheep, Denali National Park, Alaska.

On this trip to Denali I captured a few landscape images from this location – seeing and photographing a ram in such a beautiful setting was a real treat.

 

Enjoying Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii.

Enjoying Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii.

Something different for me that received a big response.

 

Spencer Glacier, Chugach National Forest, Alaska

Spencer Glacier, Chugach National Forest, Alaska

This was from an over-night trip last summer into a place I love to photograph – Chugach National Forest.

 

Brown Bear, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska

Brown Bear, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska

Another one from last summer’s bear tour – already excited for next year!

 

Caribou in Denali National Park, Alaska

Caribou in Denali National Park, Alaska

I had a very limited collection of caribou photos so it was one of the subjects I concentrated on in Denali this fall and I think it paid off!

 

Northwestern Fjord sunset, Kenai Fjords National Park, near Seward, Alaska

Northwestern Fjord sunset, Kenai Fjords National Park, near Seward, Alaska

This was one of our overnight anchorages from my Kenai Fjords National Park photo tour last summer.

 

Field of Lupine at sunrise, Chugach National Forest, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

Field of Lupine at sunrise, Chugach National Forest, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

This was taken fairly near my home in Seward, Alaska.

 

Honorable Mentions

I try to limit my selection to just 10, but I’m never successful – so here are some more that received some serious consideration.

 

Las Vegas Strip, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Las Vegas Strip, Las Vegas, Nevada.

I do a fair amount of travel photography and considering this has already sold a number of times makes it a strong candidate for the top 10 list.

 

Brown Bear, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.

Brown Bear, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.

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Brown bear, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

Brown bear, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

I like both these bear images and could have had 4 in my top 10!

 

American Dipper, Chugach National Forest, Alaska

American Dipper, Chugach National Forest, Alaska

This is a challenging bird to photograph and part of the reason I like this image – plus, it is a cute little guy!

 

Burrowing Owl, near the Salton Sea, Imperial Valley, CA

Burrowing Owl, near the Salton Sea, Imperial Valley, California.

Another really cool bird.

 

An un-named cactus forest, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

An un-named cactus forest, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

I have been asked why I like to travel to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park every winter.  Here is one reason – today in Seward it was 5 degrees, in Borrego, 85.  🙂

 

Rainbow over Kauai, Hawaii.

Rainbow over Kauai, Hawaii.

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Hotels along Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Hotels along Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Two more from our Hawaii trip that I considered.

OK, that is enough!  I hope you enjoyed.

Happy New Year!

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 10 Comments

Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

This is a new one from last night.  If it looks cold and snowy it is because it was cold and snowy.  🙂  I think the temp was around zero and the snow was many feet deep.

Happy New Year everyone!

Na Pali Coastline

Ron NiebruggeHawaii, Photos, Travel 7 Comments

Aerial of Kalalau Beach, Na Pali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii.

Aerial of Kalalau Beach, Na Pali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii.

Greeting!  I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!

We just adjusted a few more images of this dramatic coastline along the North Shore of Kauai in response to a magazine request, so I thought I would share one here.

Bryce National Park

Ron NiebruggePhotos, Travel, Utah 12 Comments

Winter sunrise, Bryce National Park, Utah.

Winter sunrise, Bryce National Park, Utah.

I just realized I have never shared any photos of Bryce National Park – as my visits there predated my blog.  That is a shame – walking up to the rim and looking down into Bryce for the first time is an amazing experience not unlike the first visit to the Grand Canyon.

This was back in 2004 and we were actually in Southern California when news reports predicted  a large winter storm would soon hit the West.  We got up early and drove straight to Bryce barely beating the storm and successfully getting snowed in for two days.  It was beautiful having such a National Park virtually entirely to ourselves with a fresh foot of snow!  But, it was cold for camping with temps in the single digits – still, totally worth it!

This winter I hope to do the same thing with Yosemite.

Over the next two weeks I don’t think I will do much posting here on the blog since since this is such a busy time of year for everyone.  I’ll pick up the pace again after the start of the New Year.

Summit Lake Cabins

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 10 Comments

A couple of cabins on Lower Summit Lake, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

A couple of cabins on Lower Summit Lake, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.

The continuation of an on going video assignment for an visitor center film had me out in the field all day yesterday, and with all the fresh new snow, it was sure a beautiful day!  When I came across this wonderful alpenglow at sunset, I had to grab a couple of “stills” – see I can even talk like a videographer.  🙂

Here is what is looks like in the summer:  Summit Lake.

Winter Glow

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 11 Comments

Winter mountains, Chugach National Forest, from Seward, Alaska.

Winter mountains, Chugach National Forest, from Seward, Alaska.

Well I thought I would give you a break from the Hawaii photos and share something from Alaska.  I captured this from my front yard yesterday afternoon looking across the bay from Seward.  Recent heavy snowfall has the mountains looking (in the words of Tony the Tiger) “just great”!  Well, he says something about great, you get the idea.