Music Monday: Thought Trade on Alaska Live

Black & White, Music, Photography, Portraits

Above: Thought Trade warms up for their performance on Alaska Live in the KUAC studios. Left to right: Daniel Opgenorth, Casey Smith, Travis Burrows, Sabe Flores, and Patrick Mailloux.

Fairbanks band Thought Trade was featured on locally produced Alaska Live on June 26, 2013.Given the right mood their fluid, rhythmic, stream-of-conscinouse style of playing can put one into a trance. Listen for yourself to the Alaska Live podcast, or check out their blog with interesting insight and links to more music.

Thought Trade sound check. Nine people and lots of gear in a petite room.

WPC: Costumed Community of Music Lovers

Alaska, Music, Photography, Portraits

The photos are dated, but the weekly photo challenge of “community” is a good opportunity to post them.

A costumed community of musicians and dancers joined together the Saturday after halloween for some dancing to Steve Brown and the Bailers. These like-minded people – in spirit, enthusiasm and search of enjoyment – joined together for the night to make a very welcoming community.

Hope my fellow wordpress community and beyond enjoy!

Smiles and spins for the honky-tonk rhythms.

From left to right: a monk, skeleton, witch and vampire don’t often form a community.

Music and costumes

This prisión mandolin player is part of a community I wouldn’t want to be.

A furloughed fed and Inspector Gadget come together to have a good time.

Litte Daylight, Cold Temperatures, A Long Ski.

Alaska, Landscapes, Photography, Portraits, Sports, Travel

Above: At 10:28 a.m. the sun has yet to rise above tree line, snow can be seen blowing off peaks in the Alaska Range. Elliott Highway, 37 miles north of Fairbanks.

It was an… ambitious adventure. Nordic ski 14 miles into Colorado Creek Cabin, in White Mountains National Recreation Area, starting about 55 miles north of Fairbanks. Distance wasn’t the issue. The problem at hand was twofold: temperatures around -35 degrees fahrenheit, and less then 5 hours of daylight. Stopping more then 2 or 3 minutes meant quickly becoming chilled, and wasting precious daylight.

It’s fascinating to review the time-of-day pictures were shot, tracing the sun path.

At exactly noon, the sun is already hidden behind some trees, with a frozen lake in the foreground.

At exactly noon the sun is already hidden behind trees, with a frozen pond in the foreground.

At 12:16 p.m. some of the only direct sunlight to be had.

Nick pauses partway into a long uphill on a cold cross-country ski.

Sporting thick fur mittens and hauling a moose skull, the only person we encountered on the 6-hour ski said “you have a ways to go.” Taken 2:21p.m., Nov. 30, 2013.

By the time darkness really took hold Nick and I had just slogged up the final ascent. I was far too exhausted to stop and fumble with my camera, and risk chilling off again.

When not sleeping or eating the cabin was a blast, but the next day brought another 14-mile ski back. Luckily the return was all downhill.

Even two weeks later, as my blisters and frostbite continue to heal I wonder why we thought it would be a good idea. It really comes down to mind over matter, living in Alaska requires perseverance and toughness. Sometimes a little personal reminder is necessary.

iPhone photos – dragonflies, logs and a dog. Oh my!

Alaska, Black & White, Iphone, Photography, Portraits

Time for another iPhone photo collection. For me iPhones are true slivers of life. It could be my other camera is just out of reach, or I need to be quick – dramatic light in a restaurant or a dragonfly landing on my leg. My favorite is attempting to capture the impromptu; that picture that must be shot out of a car window with little time for composition, a logging truck or a man and his dog.

Window blinds slice and dice light entering a restaurant as a little girl plays.

A man and a dog relax outside the corner store.

Afternoon garden help from a smiling dragonfly.

Fishing for silver salmon in Prince William Sound.

Getting passed by one of many logging trucks on the Alaskan-Canada highway.

Denali and Fairbanks at Dusk

Alaska, Landscapes, Photography

Above: Denali – the tallest mountain in North America – is silhouetted at sunset as city lights from Fairbanks begin to shine. A 15-second exposure created the long tail of smoke leaving the power plant. November 20, 2013,

Winter in Fairbanks is a double-edged sword. The clear days with stunning views are often some of the coldest. The low temperature was -32 degrees fahrenheit the night I took this photo, 2 years and 2 days after I took this similar photo.

Luckily one of the grandest sights is easily seen about 7 miles north of town, on the Steese Highway.

Drone photos above Fairbanks

Alaska, Landscapes, Photography

Above: Farmers Loop road cuts across the frame in this view of the hills north of Fairbanks. My friends and I are the three small dots almost in the center of the frame – as seen from Dog Mushers Hall.

A friend of mine has been using drones for research and testing, so we took it out a few weeks ago for reconnaissance. The roughly two-foot wide, four propeller remote control unit is impressive – and difficult to keep track of in flat lighting. A few times we had to chase after it to verify which way the directional beacons were facing.

It’s great to get different perspectives, and drones offer a fantastic vantage point – not just reasons to worry about privacy. With that said, the presence of drones will only grow, and quickly. New laws and regulations must accompany the metaphorical and physical rise of unmanned aerial vehicles.

A colorful drone takes off amid a gray day, Nov. 9, 2013.

Drone and GoPro take off amid a gray day, Nov. 9, 2013.

The view south toward Fairbanks, from Dog Mushers Hall.

The view south toward Fairbanks includes two dogs and two dog walkers, taken above Dog Mushers Hall.

My backyard, Birch Hill in the background.

iPhone Photos

Alaska, Iphone, Photography, Street, Travel

I have been pretentious when it comes to phone cameras. Always the last one I go for, often forgetting I have it.

That’s unfair of me. Camera phones continue to change our world in ways we can’t predict or fully understand. The ease, concealment and wide-spread use share the world more then any medium before. From pets to people, welcome parties to war zones, the game has changed.

“You finally have a video technology that can fit into the palm of one person’s hand, and what the person can capture can end up around the world,” James E. Katz is quoted saying in a 2011 New York Times article.

Here’s an edit of some of my iPhone images.

For only $29 you can look horrible like snooki too!

Broken. Me Too.

Colorful and salubrious bloody marry.

Worker on the tarmac.

Bikers prepare to leave Denali National Park.

Calm Before the Storm

Alaska, Black & White, Landscapes, Photography

Above: A strange system moves in prior to a strong winter storm, seen from University of Alaska Fairbanks.

A storm that blew into Interior Alaska recently brought with it snow, rain, strong winds, three days of closed public schools and left an estimated 14,000 people without power, heat or both. An article from the local News-Miner has more details along with photos of toppled trees.

The dramatic-sounding storm wasn’t as bad as the front that hit western-Alaska towns. And certainly nothing compared to recent Typhoon Haiyan that ripped apart the Philippines, a monumental tragedy.

My photographs are from the night before the storm, and rather unusual for Fairbanks.

A streetlight obscured by trees blends fog nicely into the frame.

A streetlight obscured by trees blends fog into the frame.

End Road

Alaska, Landscapes, Photography, Street, Travel

The scene begged to be pictured. A sign proclaiming the road is about to end with the appearance of nearly-infinite wilderness ahead. Yellow sky blending perfectly with the yellow traffic advisory.

Perhaps I could have included a little more of the road’s imminent end, but the composition’s subtle symmetry would have suffered.

In the end it’s nothing more then a little cracked asphalt, a sign, and a large field cleared for moose habitat. With striking juxtapositions.

P.S. There’s a new drop down “Categories” bar on my blog page. Picking any genre will show all the posts I’ve put in that category.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Eerie Spiders

Alaska, Macro, Photography, Weekly Photo Post, Wildlife

Above: The much smaller wolf spider can be seen in the clasp of an orb weaver.

The weekly photo challenge for Nov. 1 through Nov. 7 is eerie. Of course it was announced just one day after I posted about the Paris Catacombs, which would have fit the bill perfectly. Not uncommon for me to have great ideas ahead of their time.

So for this challenge I’m heading to the archives. In 2010 I was slowly experimenting with digital – and often forgetting to make sure I was shooting RAW files.

I did have some extension tubes to attach to my old Canon Rebel XTi. Extension tubes increase macro capabilities by moving the lens farther away from the sensor. So when I saw a large orb-weaver spider killing a smaller wolf spider I ran to grab my camera.

Spiders are eerie enough when they aren’t cannibalizing other spiders.