Four Nights on Kenai Lake

Cabin on Kenai Lake

After a few days off to visit our son in Michigan, I'm back to blogging about our recent Alaska vacation.   I hope you get something out of these posts.   If you want to know more about the places we visited just drop me a note at r.siggins@charter.net

You can view the photos full size by clicking on them.

Kenai Lake

During the second half of our vacation we were blessed to be able to spend four nights on the shore of Kenai Lake at Renfros Lakeside Retreat.  With the Kenai mountains as a backdrop it was beautiful place to spend some relaxing times in the mornings and evenings. Our cabin was situated right on the lake shore with only a handful of other cabins for neighbors.   Most of the time the only sound was water lapping on the rocks and drift wood just outside.  But there were a few times with some excitement.

One day a float plane pilot was practicing takeoffs and landings on the lake just outside our door.  We sat in the chairs with hot coffee in one hand and a camera in the other.  We watched as he made several passes landing on the surface of the lake then taking off again.  It was almost as if we had our own (very) little airshow right there on the lake.

Touch and Go

A couple times we saw a Bald Eagle at the lake flying by just above the tree tops.  I didn't have my camera ready either time.  Later when I went outside to wait and watch for an Eagle, there were none in sight.   I didn't get any Eagle shots but we both have great memories for those magnificent birds flying over our heads.

Renfros Lakeside Retreat is on the main highway between Anchorage and Seward.  In fact, Seward Highway Scenic Byway is the only road between these to cities.   The Alaska Railroad also passed by on the run between Anchorage and Seward.  One day June was outside with my camera watching for the Eagle and captured the train as it passed by on the far side of the lake.

Alaska Railroad

Stars Starting To Come Out

The last day there we noticed the lake level seemed to be higher than it had been.   What had happened is a glacier that had dammed up the Snow River released and all that water that had built up behind the glacier was flowing down the Snow River into Kenai Lake.   This is a naturally occurring process.  In the headwaters of the Snow River the Snow Glacier creates a lake.  Over time precipitation and melting glacial ice cause the lake level to raise.  When the lake is sufficiently filled it causes a small part of the Glacier to lift, thus draining the lake.  It never reached flood stage but it was interesting to see the water rise so quickly.

When we made our travel plans I was excited about being able to photograph the stars out away from light pollution created by city lights.  I even rented a special lens just to take star photos while in Alaska.   I knew I was going to get spectacular shots of the Milky Way and a dark star filled sky!  The anticipation and expectations were running pretty high.

The first half of the trip in Denali National Park was cloudy and I never had a clear night.  When we were on Kenai Lake the skies were clear with only a few passing clouds.  Now's my chance for that Milky Way photo.  An hour or so after sunset I set up my camera, figured out where the Milky Way was going to appear and prepared to make some spectacular photos of the stars.

I had neglected to take the moon into account and within a short few minutes a very bright full moon popped up above the mountains and illuminated everything in sight.  All but the brightest stars became invisible in the glare of the full moon.  After a while it was bright enough to read a newspaper by moonlight.

The Moonlight Scene photo below had a 4 minute exposure time.  You can see the few bright stars became streaks of light as they traveled across the sky in those 4 minutes.   If it wasn't for the stars, this could pass for a daytime scene. It was that bright.

Moonlight Scene

Milky Way in Tennessee

I carried that lens around for almost 2 weeks and never did get the stars or Milky Way photos I dreamed of while we were in Alaska.   After I got home and the day before I had to ship the lens back I took it up to Beauty Spot on Unaka Mountain and got this shot.  I made my Milky Way photo about 30 miles from home instead of 4,268 miles and four time zones away.

The Milky Way and trying to find a Bald Eagle were just two more examples of me making plans for things I have no control over.   I'm sure God was chuckling and shaking his head saying "Here he goes again with his master plan."   I couldn't do anything about the eagles, clouds or the moon, but I got some completely unplanned photos that I'm just as excited about.

It's a good thing I'm not in charge.

Tomorrow we climb a glacier!

What I Learned in 2013

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

― Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods 

I have tried to advance my photography in a positive direction this year.  I've gone new places,  tried new things and learned all along the way.   My experience says Thoreau was right -- "we will meet with a success unexpected in common hours".  I usually go out with a photographic objectives in mind.  I want to try a new technique, photograph a new subject, get that iconic shot, and better yet get the one that no one else has.   Sometimes I meet my objectives, but more often I learn things and have success in unexpected ways.   Of course photography is a passion so I'm going to have a good time.

As I look back on 2013 I have decided to not do a "best of 2013" collection.   I've already shared my best shots on my calendar, on Google+, and on facebook and no one really wants to see them again.  Instead I have decided to share some things I have learned this year and some successes I have had at unexpected times.  These are not my best photos of the year but they can illustrate a point.

If you click on any of the photos below you will get a window with a larger version.  You can then use the right and left arrows to browse through the images.

Here goes.

• If you try new things you'll learn something new.  If I go at it with the right attitude I will have fun, even if I don't get anything worth sharing.   I've tried water drop photography a couple times and done it differently each time.  You never know what you'll get.

 

• You don't always have to go far to find opportunities.   The photo below was taken a short walk from the lodge where we were staying.  We had taken an eagle tour, drove around the lake and didn't find any better opportunities than right next door.

• There are always photographs to be made, if you just look around.   The photo below was shot from an overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway one cold morning when snow was still covering the road.   It's not what we were looking for that morning.

• If you don't try you'll never get the shot.   I shot this photo of a very active bee while hand holding my camera.   It's a low probability shot, but if I didn't try my probability would have been zero.

• Rainy days are great times for photography in the woods.  It was raining pretty hard when I took this.  The rain drops don't show because of the slow shutter speed.  The overcast light was great and the rain made the colors more vibrant.

• Shoot the details.  This is just part of a steam locomotive I shot this year.  Because I shot this detail of a lamp I had a customer buy three large canvas prints of the Shay #4 engine, including this one.

• Don't shoot from the first place  you set your tripod.   My first position for this shot was a few steps to the left and the mountain in the distance wasn't visible between the trees.  All that was visible was blah white sky.  I took a few steps to the right and got a better composition.

• Get away from the crowd.  I took the shot below while on a photography workshop.  I don't think anyone else got this shot because June and I were the only ones that didn't follow the crowd down the mountain that day.

• Be aware of your surroundings.  While photographing a waterfall we noticed this American Dipper (aka Water Ouzel) catching food in the stream. We then noticed a juvenile near by on a moss covered rock.  I put my long lens on, waited and was rewarded.

• Don't be timid.  Just act like you belong there.  At a concert at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville  I walked up to the edge of the stage to shoot this. 

• Don't give up when you're lost.  On the way back home after a weekend away we stopped for gas and saw a sign for a waterfall and took off up the mountain.  After a while we realized there was no waterfall where we were.  It was getting dark and we had a long drive ahead of us.  We could have given up but instead we tried and eventually found the right road.

• Have fun.  This Ibis was perched on top of the bird food dispenser.    He must not have read that is said "Feed the ducks, geese, and swans."  

• Finally, give back and help others.   I volunteer to take pictures at a couple different community events.  They get some free photography and I get to try new things.

I've learned a lot this year and improved a little.  I hope you get something from what I've learned.  

“It's not about what it is, it's about what it can become.”
― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax