Denali Autumn – Denali National Park & Preserve, Alaska

For the past several blogs I’ve been posting photos from Denali National Park from the 2016 trip and this will be the last.

It was a short autumn season while camping and photographing the highest peak of the North America; Mount Denali (formerly named Mt. McKinley). With unusually nice weather during my stay, I successfully captured five stunning sunsets glowing on the mountain.

The photo above is the sunrise glow on the east side of Denali, with autumn colored tundra carpeting the landscape.

The fall is the most beautiful season in interior Alaska. The tundra turns to golden fall colors with vivid red patches… I like the way the tundra glows under the warm evening light. 

Here are some more images at Wonder Lake. When the days are calm, the lake reflects Denali.

The old antlers were shed on the tundra hill. Mount Denali is in the background.

Denali glowed bright orange at sunset. This is the spot where Ansel Adam captured one of his famous black & white images, “Mount McKinley and Wonder Lake” in 1948.

Late August is the peak season for blueberries in Denali! The fully ripened berries were everywhere in the park. After 6 years of living in Alaska, I had never seen so many blueberry bushes. 

Frosted tundra leaves. At the end of August, the temperature drops in early mornings in Alaska. Nevertheless, it is art in nature.

The last image is from the Polychrome Pass area. The hill is turning to autumn colors. 

Interior Alaska, includes Denali National Park, is covered with snow with harsh subzero temperature during the long winter months... 

After this Denali photo project, I moved to Hawaii. After 6 years of living and capturing wild Alaskan nature, I was ready to move on to new subjects. I have been capturing beautiful yet different landscapes in this tropic island since September. I will post some of the photos on my next blog posting. Please check back in 2 weeks!

Denali (McKinley) Reflections, Denali National Park & Preserve, Alaska

 Reflection Pond in Denali Park is a favorite spot for photographers especially when it is a clear and calm day. North America's highest peak, Mount Denali (McKinley) and its mountain range reflects on the small tundra pond.

 During my stay in Denali Park, I commuted to Reflection Pond several times. The pond was usually still in early morning and late evening. This is under morning lights.

 Since the evening lights were the best on this side of Denali, I wanted good sunset glow on the reflection shots. The first night I tried shooting at Reflection Pond but it was too windy... I sat by the shore for a few hours with some other photographers as the pond rippled all evening... So, I returned there the next evening and it was much calmer successfully capturing beautiful reflections.

My 5 nights in Denali Park was nothing less than perfect. I captured 5 spectacular sunsets in a row. I have been busy editing thousands of images from Denali. I will continue posting more Denali images on my next blog. Please check back!

Mt. Denali (McKinley) Northface - Denali National Park & Preserve, Alaska in Autumn

My week long Denali photo project was success. I camped deep inside Denali National Park & Preserve for 5 nights in early fall to capture Mt. Denali (McKinley) at sunrise and sunset. The weather was more than perfect, Mt. Denali was out for my entire stay, which is extremely unusual.

 In late August, interior Alaska is already in autumn colors. The tundra started turning bright orange against the blue sky; the most beautiful time of the year. Nature showed off their its prime beauty before another harsh winter.

 The lake was a little calmer in the morning... Denali reflected on Wonder lake.

 This is the entire Wonder Lake, about 4 miles long, and Denali on a calm morning.

 After a long and challenging bush whack, I made it top of the range... The entire Wonder Lake and Denali was in view on my site with a bright crimson tundra hill! This one of the best views of Denali and Wonder Lake. The midday light was too harsh... I may have to come back there for sunset on a future trip.

 A few hours before sunset, I arrived at the spot where I dreamed of photographing the mountain at sunset. After 4 nights of sunset shooting, I selected this spot where I could capture the perfect reflection of Denali on Wonder Lake. I set up my camera, carefully adjusted it, and waited for sun to slowly shift toward the horizon. As the breeze slowed down, the ripple on the surface smoothed out. The bright white sun on the mountain slowly turned to a warm golden light, then orange to pink... The entire range glowed magenta as the sun lowered. It was the brightest glow during my 5 evenings in the area. The lake was flat at the time, and a perfect mirror image was on! The glow was shifting up to the highest peak the North America, then faded... It was the image that I dreamed of since I first saw the mountain 15 years ago.

When I made it back to the campsite, the northern lights started dancing above the sky. The lights were very active that night; waving, swirling, then spread over the sky. Then the faint light band stretched over Denali...

On one morning, I was shooting the mountain by the lake and a large caribou was found feeding on tundra. He was calm and quiet, I didn't notice him until he came close by... He rose his head and looked at me but he went on continuously feeding. He seemed at ease not caring about my presence.

The 5 nights at Wonder Lake in Denali was amazing... It was nonstop photographing and exploring the area. The place is truly magnificent. I'm deeply in love with Denali...

I will post more Denali images on next few blogs.  Please visit back soon.

Sunset Reflections - Kenai Mountains at Cook Inlet, Alaska

 It was beautiful spring evening in Alaska as I was headed south toward the Kenai Peninsula along Cook Inlet. It was almost 11 o'clock, the tide was low and the mud bottom of the ocean was exposed. The sun slowly settled down seemingly into the ocean.



The rose-colored light glows on the snow capped Kenai Mountains above the ocean. I quickly selected the site and set up the camera gear to capture this special moment. The sky against the snowy mountains were a beautiful lavender color.

The setting sun painted the other side of the sky in bright orange!

The magical twilight sky lasted about a half hour after sunset. Slowly, the tide came in, and darkness descended upon the inlet. It was already past midnight when I packed up the gear and left.

Camera Test at Reflections Lake, Alaska

I had been pretty happy with my camera for the past 7 years and didn't upgrade when the 5D Mark III came out. However, 5DsR is a major spec change. With 50.6 Megapixels, 30 x 40 inch pictures with crispy sharp detailed prints can be produced!! After waiting for a several months, I finally purchased the Canon 5DsR in early May.

I headed to Reflections Lake, north of Anchorage for test shooting. It was a beautiful evening, clear skies with a few clouds, and no wind. I selected the perfect location along the lake shore. The spring was here already with fresh leaves growing on the trees. As its name states, the perfect reflections of Chugach Mountains - Pioneer Peak and Twin Peaks were on the surface of the lake! As I was setting up, I realized that I left the filters at home... oh, well...

The low angled sun painted the mountains with warm orange lights. There was some snow on the higher elevations... Lake is still like a mirror for a long time. Since I forgot to pack the filters, the sky was darkened with post processing... The image came out better than I expected.

As sun set on the horizon, the purple colors enveloped the entire area. This image is HDR, 3 different exposed images combined into one.

Over all, I'm more than happy with the 5DsR.

Autumn Colors – Interior Alaska

 Starting in late August, the Alaskan wilderness gets painted in bright fall colors. After the short summer, trees turn bright yellow and the tundra transforms to orange and red!

 It was early September in beautiful weather as I was headed north to capture the colors. Trees in Anchorage were still green at that time. In interior Alaska, typical Alaskan tundra landscape begins at the south side of Denali National Park. The entire valley was already in vivid reddish autumn colors and full of blueberries! The rain showers over the mountain pass finally stopped… Then a perfect rainbow arched along the Alaska Range! The sun peeked through the clouds and brightened up the fall colored tundra.

 Heading down to Eastern Alaska the next day, the spectacular fall colors continued on… Here is the Tanana River with the yellow fall leaves!

 The mountain pass along the Taylor Highway was all carpeted with vibrant tundra… It was like nature was releasing the entire energy for their season's grand finale!

 Sunset glow on the distance hills… and the northern lights were dancing all night. (The northern lights photos were on the previous posting, please see them too!)

 The beautiful weather continued into the next day. Endless fall leaves cheered along the highway with numerous lakes. This lake was perfectly still and reflected the mountain range like mirror! There are so many places like this in Alaska which are outstanding sceneries but in very remote places and not so many people get to see it. I was lucky to be in the place at that special moment.

The last stop was Chugach Mountains along Glen Highway...  Brilliant colors!

September Aurora - Fairbanks, Alaska

The northern lights started early this year! As soon as the darkness of night returned around the middle of August, the Aurora started dancing. This year seems to be the great year for the northern lights. There have already been several days that the aurora activity has been strong enough to be visible from just north of Anchorage.

When solar activity is high, the bright aurora dances across the sky in the Arctic region. Although the lights can appear near Anchorage, they are much brighter and move vibrant in more northern latitudes.

In early September, I packed up the camera gear and headed north towards Fairbanks. The sky was clearing as I got closer to Fairbanks. Around midnight, the aurora began appearing... It started as a faint straight light across the sky. Then, the lights started moving by the time I arrived at one of the local lakes. The bright moon rose, but the aurora was still bright under the moonlight. The weather was calm, no wind. The arch of lights were waving above the small lake.

The aurora continuously danced all over the sky. The ribbon like lights moved across the sky and disappeared, then the next ones formed above the horizon. 

The intense fire of lights flaming above the lake... The fire created an arrow-like light and ran across the sky!

The northern lights continued on and on for hours... Arriving at another lake, the lights were dancing all over the sky and swirling! The lake was a perfect mirror for the light show. Being able to photograph the northern lights' reflections occur only at this time of the year before the lakes freeze. At one point, the neon green colors spread from the horizon to zenith! It was one of the best aurora I have ever seen!

Wave like lights!

Lights explosion in the sky...

In the green fog...

I camped near Tok, in eastern Alaska the next day... Another great night for aurora! To be continued in the next posting, please come back to see more aurora images!