Copper River

Above: Expect more of a “fishing perch” than a “fishing hole” when dip-netting the Copper River in southeast Alaska. Spirit Mountain pokes above the big and fast glacial-fed river that’s full of silt and very cold. Copper River Reds, the salmon in the net, are some of the most sought after in the world.

The river is also an excellent of the Weekly Photo Challenge of boundaries. Rivers are some of Earth’s most common boundaries. For the fish in my net it is a boundary of left and death, or for a person if they fall in.

Sometimes sweeping is necessary — a time- and labor-intensive technique during which the fisher sweeps the net with the current, resets and repeats.

Even when fishing is done much work is left to be done. Here a king salmon is butchered.

It’s a subject I’ve talked about before, long Alaskan summer light. Dusk and dawn, referred to as “golden light” in photography, are but a few short hours apart. A fishing trip to the Copper River Valley early June gave me a prime opportunity to photograph both ends.

In the first image: Alpenglow illuminates Mount Drum, left, and Mount Sanford, right. Shot at 11:10 p.m., June 11, 2013.

Alpenglow highlights mountains along the Richardson Highway,11:10 p.m., June 11, 2013.

Before getting on the boat the next morning I walked down to the Copper River to photograph a gorgeous sunrise, At 4:30 in the morning, just over five hours later.