Tag Archives: Lynn Canal

New images of Haines and Juneau, Alaska – Summer 2011

by

Adobe Flash required to view slideshow above. Mobile devices such as iPhone/iPad – click here to view.
To license an image, click image. to see our collection of fine art prints, click here

While traveling to and from Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in Alaska this summer, I spent just a few days in Haines and Juneau. The four and a half hour ferry trip up the Lynn Canal to Haines on the Alaska Marine Highway System M/V Matanuska was spectacular due to the unusually warm and clear weather. Travelers on the top deck acted like they were on a cruise ship in the Caribbean, taking in the sun, mountain scenery, and sights like the Eldred Rock Lighthouse, and historic Fort William Seward.

While in Haines, I checked out folks enjoying the recreational activities in the Chilkoot Lake State Recreational Site. Kayakers were enjoying the unusually calm waters of the lake, and while I was visiting between salmon runs, there were some people testing their fishing luck on the Chilkoot River. I had hoped to see some bears on the river to illustrate the troubling bear/human conflicts that I have witnessed in the past at the river but low number of people fishing keep those conflicts thankfully low.

During flight and ferry layovers in Juneau I made quick trips to the Mendenhall Glacier and the Juneau cruise ship dock with its float planes. Tall fireweed was in full force at the Brotherhood Bridge Park so I tried to capture their beauty with the Mendenhall Glacier in the background. That will be location that I’m sure to try again on return visits as I try to top each previous visit.

VIEW PHOTO GALLERY of all my Haines, Alaska photos

VIEW PHOTO GALLERY of all my Juneau, Alaska photos

Don’t shoot the bald eagles!

by

Adobe Flash required to view slideshow above. Mobile devices such as iPhone/iPad – click here to view.
To license an image, click image. to see our collection of fine art prints, click here

It was easy to get caught up in photographing nothing but bald eagles during my recent trip to the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve near Haines, Alaska.  To get a sense of place, I would occasionally break away from the eagles and shoot landscapes . Subjects included the nearby Four Winds Mountain, and Takhinsha Mountains, Mount Jonathan Ward and Takhin Ridge which are popular heli-skiing destinations. All are visible from the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve.

For many of these “landscape” images I used my 600mm lens. A 600mm lens isn’t thought of as a typical lens for landscape photography but I found forcing myself to use it as one provide me with unique images that I might not have seen through more traditional landscape lenses.

During a layover in Juneau I was able to take advantage of a windless day at Mendenhall Lake at the foot of the Mendenhall Glacier to photograph reflections of icebergs. I have found the area to be windy during previous visits so I wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass. The stillness of the wind reflected the stillness of the scene. During the summer, thousands of cruise ship tourists visit the glacier every day. It’s a mad house then. During November, there was nary a sole.

While traveling on the Alaska State Marine Highway Ferry system back and forth between Haines and Juneau, I took advantage of the early evening light and the setting sun above the mountains and glaciers along the Lynn Canal of the Inside Passage. On my return trip to Juneau on the FV Fairweather I was especially lucky to photograph a rising full moon above the Herbert Glacier near Juneau with pink alpenglow from the lasts gasps of sunlight dancing on the mountaintops above the glacier (photo below).

A full moon rises above Mount Ernest Gruering and the Herbert Glacier near Juneau, Alaska as the final rays of the sun at sunset baths mountain tops in alpenglow light. The view is from the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry FVF Fairweather as it traveled down the Lynn Canal from Haines. (John L. Dengler)
A full moon rises above Mount Ernest Gruering and the Herbert Glacier near Juneau, Alaska as the final rays of the sun at sunset baths mountain tops in alpenglow light. The view is from the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry FVF Fairweather as it traveled down the Lynn Canal from Haines. To license image, click image. To see our collection of fine art prints, click here.

VIEW PHOTO GALLERY of all my Haines area landscape photos
VIEW PHOTO GALLERY of all my Juneau area landscape photos
VIEW PHOTO GALLERY of all my bald eagle photos from the Chilkat and Chilkoot Rivers in Alaska