It's Been Awhile

 My last formal post here was a review of 2018's images.  Where has the time gone? 

In 2020, I made a quick trip to the southwest to fulfill a long-wanted goal of hiking The Narrows from top to bottom.  After my buddy and I got lost finding the trailhead (don't rely on Google Maps if you go!), we set out on a two day trek down the river.  The combination of a heavy pack with camping equipment, uneven ground, and just plain cold water made for a strenuous, but very rewarding, couple of days. I don't think we saw another person until we got well beyond Big Springs. Sleeping on the banks of the Virgin River with only the sounds of the flowing water is an experience I will never forget.

From there we spent a night at high altitude in the Great Basin wilderness amongst a grove of gnarly bristlecones.

2021 brought me to Alaska twice.  The first trip in the winter was to the Denali and Church ranges, and I went back in the summer on an expedition trip to the wilderness of the eastern Alaska range with Marc Adamus scouting for future trips. Those of you who know him have likely heard how he lost his footing on a moraine and dislocated his shoulder.  He had to be medivac'd out by helicopter to have surgery and unfortunately was not able to complete the trip.  I and a few friends stayed out there for the week, and it was quite a beautiful and remote area that few have visited. Some images were captured in -25F in the low valleys to 70F at 4500 feet in the middle of summer.  We shot from a helicopter, seaplane and on the land: snowy landscapes with trees covered in hoar frost, icy glaciers, mountains rising above the clouds, and wildflower laden valley. 

In 2022 I went back to the familiar (but entirely different from Alaska!) Southwest.  Its always been one of my favorite lands to explore. I have been many times, and always find something different.  This time I covered almost 3000 miles in a week, chasing weather patterns and returning to the same locations more than once to get the best light.  This time, with a drone, some of the perspectives were entirely new. 

Which brings me up to right about now.  Earlier this month I spent some time in the Canadian Rockies during the peak of fall color. The Canadian Rockies are at least partly responsible for my enthusiasm for photography. I last visited in 2005 with my wife, a Canon film camera and Sony point-and-shoot. The parks were different back then... I remember going before dawn to the shores of Moraine Lake to watch the sunrise. We were the only ones there for at least an hour. Almost 20 years later, the park has certainly changed, but the Canadian Rockies still have a beauty all their own. 

The last image, "Illusion," is one of my favorite photographs ever taken. You have to look at it for a minute, though. I came to this area along a small glacial lake initially looking to photograph water patterns, or clouds and mist clearing from some of the nearby peaks. Instead, I just happened to notice what was one of the most interesting scenes I've ever seen. The rain had caused some leaves at their peak of fall color to fall into the shallow waters of this lake. The patters in the sand and turquoise blue water offered the perfect complements. I used a polarizing filter to cut the glare... this entire scene, including the leaves, is underwater... 

It is being offered as a Limited Edition Masterwork, in a strict edition of 25. 

Once again, I apologize for my recent absence on this platform. I don't spend a whole lot of effort on social media, but I do post periodically in Instagram. My most up-to-date portfolio is and will always be on my website. 

Wishing you the best for years to come, and good light! 

Chris 

www.ExploringLight.com

2018: A Year in Review

I made my first trip to the Ogilvie Mountains in 2012, and for the first time photographed (and watched) the aurora borealis dance across the sky, above some of the most impressive peaks and spires I have ever seen. A still photograph can never capture the dynamic nature of the northern lights. On a good night, one is treated to a 360 degree view of dancing green, red, and magenta hues, all beneath a clear, starry sky. It was fall then, with a beautiful blanket of autumn tundra across the ground. For over 5 years, I had planned to return in winter, when the fall colors had faded, and fresh snow, frozen lakes, and white peaks imported a distinctly different character to the landscape. The area was barely recognizable from what I remember, but it was beautiful. The nights were cold. Very cold. The rivers, streams and lakes were frozen, requiring several hours a day boiling snow for drinking water. I spent 7 nights on a helicopter-in, helicopter out backpacking trip through the range. I stayed up at night in wind chill conditions of -15 watching the most breathtaking natural phenomena display right in front of me. I camped at the base of some of the world’s most visually impressive peaks. I slept through blizzards and hiked through knee deep snow, over slippery talus rock, across frozen rivers and through dense brush. I captured photographs I consider some of my most visually appealing, but that are also more meaningful to me then most I have ever taken. My top ten photos for 2018 are all from my expedition to this area ... a rarely seen landscape dressed in snow, lit by the eruption of the aurora, all while the earth sleeps. 

Number 10: "Apparition"

The blowing snow on the frozen surface of Talus Lake, with soft light on Mt. Monolith, shot on a very windy winter day.

Number 9: "Arctic Eruption"

Interesting patterns just under the translucent surface of this frozen lake wind around the landscape while the northern lights dance in the sky.

Number 8: "Etched in Time"

An interesting array of methane gas bubbles trapped in a frozen lake, complemented by a colorful sky and reflected peaks in Yukon’s Ogilvie Mountains.

Number 7: "Frozen in Time"

Icicles and a frozen landscape frame the aurora exploding in the sky, shot from the base of Mt. Monolith in the Tombstone Mountains.

Number 6: "Subzero"

These leading lines created by freezing conditions and snowdrift just under the surface of a frozen lakeshore provide the perfect foreground to an explosive display of aurora in the sky.  With wind chill, the temperature was near -15F at night.

Number 5: "Total Eclipse of the Night"

A small stream leads through the otherwise frozen landscape, punctuated with icicles and ice bells, towards this unnamed peak in Canada’s far north.

Number 4: "Resurgence"

A natural S-curve created by ice and blowing snow lead to a beautiful sunstar and colorful sky behind Shark’s Tooth, reflected in a frozen lake beneath.

Number 3: "While the Earth Sleeps"

An unforgettable moment as the aurora borealis lit the night sky over this frozen lake in the early morning hours in Canada's far north.

Number 2: "Cold Light of Night"
One of many unforgettable auroral displays over the a frozen lake and majestic peaks of the Yukon Territory in early winter.

Number 1: "Vortex"
In over ten years of photographing the world's most breathtaking and wild landscapes, some moments I will never forget.  This is one of them.

I hope you enjoy.  Find more at ExploringLight.com

Best for 2019,

Chris