Tag Archives: Chugach Mountains

Watch My Adventure Short Film – Lake George Glacier Hike

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In my brand new video, called Lake George Glacier Hike, I take you along with me during a summer hike out to an Alaskan glacier and give you a virtual adventure tour of this massive and remote ice field in the Chugach Mountains.

As with my film AERIAL ADVENTURE, this video is also set to an original music piece that I scored to add an air of majesty and wonder that the visuals evoke.

The Lake George Glacier is one of large ice fields in the Chugach Mountains of Alaska. I’ve explored this area a number of times over the years, and it’s always an amazing sight to behold.

During this summer’s visit, I was struck at how much the glacier has receded in a very short time frame. Three years ago, I was able to walk right out on the ice, but now, the edge of the ice lies hundreds of feet away from the surrounding hillsides and it’s much lower in elevation. Check out this blog post to see the dramatic difference in the ice levels compared to a few years ago.

All of the photos and most of the footage in this video was shot with the FUJIFILM X-T3 and the FUJFILM X100V. The music was recorded in Logic Pro X and the guitar solo as played on my sunburst Les Paul through IK Multimedia Amplitube software.

Before I bought my first camera, I studied music production and even took an intro to film scoring class at Berklee College of Music. So, here we are, nearly 30 years later, and I’m finally using my degree.

It’s actually quite fulfilling to expand and combine my interests in music and photography in this way, and it’s something I’ve aspired to for many years. I’ll still keep doing my video tutorials, but I definitely plan to add more adventure films like this to my YouTube Channel as well.

Enjoy the video, I hope it provides you with a fun and inspiring jump start to your Monday. And I’ve already got my next lesson planned, so stay tuned!

Watch My Brand New Short Film, “AERIAL ADVENTURE”

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I’m excited to release my brand new short film, “Aerial Adventure – Winter Flying in Alaska.” You can watch it on YouTube here.

In this video, I document my experiences flying around the mountains and shooting aerial photos out the open window of my 1947 Cessna 120 in the middle of winter. The footage is accompanied with original music I wrote and recorded specifically for this project.

Shot during two flights last week, when it was clear and cold, and well below zero, I take you along with me as I preheat the engine, prep and preflight the plane, and then go on a 90 minute flight over the Chugach Mountains at sunset.

If you’re familiar with my work, then you know that I love shooting aerial mountain photos in dramatic winter light. This film gives you a first person look at exactly what I see when I’m up there, flying around with the window open and chasing that magical pink alpenglow.

I’ve wanted to make a video like this for years so that I can share the magic of what it’s like to soar around this magnificent scenery and watch the warm winter sunset light hit these peaks from up close.

As a musician, I’ve also been driven to create a piece of music that I feel reflects these experiences. When I began the editing process late last week, I got a little nervous that I wouldn’t have time to write and record a good enough song to match the stunning footage.

I even considered licensing an outside song for the project, but then realized that this is what I live for. This is why I play music and why I buy guitars and pedals and recording plugins.

I saw this as an ideal opportunity to mesh together everything I’ve learned as a photographer and trained guitar player & recording engineer. I also saw this as a way to push through my own fears and creative blocks, just like I tell you guys to do with your cameras.

As if often happens, as soon as I sat down and started coming up with musical ideas that matched the video, the creativity started pouring out. The entire composition came together pretty quickly, and I finished the basic track in a few hours on Friday afternoon.

Most of the footage was shot during two flights last week, captured with the Fujifilm X-T3 using both the XF 35mm f/2 and XF 50mm f/2 lenses. During the flight, I went back and forth, shooting stills and video, which was a bit of a challenge. Editing was done in Final Cut Pro X and the music was recorded in Logic Pro X.

This is pretty much my first non-tutorial video production, and I’m really happy with how it turned out. It was a lot of fun to watch it over and over again while I was editing, so I hope you enjoy it!

A Magical Photography Evening with Incredible Light

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This past Saturday was a total bluebird day. We’re talking sunup to sundown, with not a single cloud in the sky. No haze, no moisture, none of those thin, whispy feathers that sometimes creep into the atmosphere  during the afternoon. Nope. Nothing but solid blue across the entire expanse above.

After soaking up a few hours of sunshine on my bike, I came home, grabbed my flying stuff and went up to shoot some evening aerials. With the almost certain promise of incredible light on the mountains, I was quite optimistic that I was going to get at least a few worthy shots.

As it turned out, Saturday night ended up being one of the most magical evenings for aerial photography I’ve had in months.

I went wheels-up at around 8:45 pm and climbed straight east towards the Chugach Mountains, specifically to the area around Whiteout Glacier. I knew that some friends of mine were skiing the Eklutna Traverse, which crosses this area, so I figured I’d go see if I could find them.

After photographing a few of the taller peaks at the end of Eagle River Valley for about fifteen minutes, turned east and reached the confluence of Eagle and Whiteout Glaciers. It was right around this point when the light started getting really good, splashing bold pink light on the peaks and west facing snow fields.

I spotted ski tracks pretty quickly, and eventually saw a tent that was set up in one of the high bowls. I circled around the area for a good half hour, snapping about a hundred frames before the sun finally dropped below the horizon and the pink light faded.

Between the gorgeous contrast of pink against shadowed blue, the pillowy, snow-covered mountain faces and the massive cracks and crevasse fields, I had plenty of compositional options to work with. I shot with my XF50mm f/2 lens on my X-T3 the entire time, cranking out frame after frame of saturated, Veliva goodness, all the while, being amazed by the quality of the light.

The only thing I wished I had was warmer gloves. Although it had been 50 degrees in town, up here at 8,000 feet, the outside air temperature was only 10 degrees F, which seeped pretty quickly into my lightweight, Pearl Izumi cycling gloves, which are my favorite cool weather glove.

They’re awesome for 35-45 degrees in the wind. Not so much at 10 degrees. By the end of the evening, my right had was pretty cold and it took awhile for the screaming barfies to finally go away. Oh well. Live and learn. At least I got some pretty pictures.

I hope you had a great weekend as well. What did you shoot?

 

 

Aerial Glacier Photography – Ice From Above

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If you pay attention, you’ll find a multitude of patterns in nature. They exist on all levels, from intricate details that are only seen very close, to giant patterns that can only be seen when you pull your vantage point … Continue reading →

Islands In The Sky – Aerial Photography Above the Clouds

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If you’re a regular reader, you know that winter is my favorite time for shooting mountain aerials here in Alaska. On clear afternoons, the low sun casts warm pink and orange light on the snow covered peaks, yielding magnificent views, … Continue reading →

Finally, The Evening I’ve Been Waiting For…

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August can be a tough time in Southcentral Alaska. By then, the days are getting shorter, and it’s usually the wettest of the summer months. August rarely sees the kinds of long, glorious sunsets that June tends to bring. During … Continue reading →

Playing With The Creative Controls On the Fujifilm Cameras

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The Fujifilm X Series cameras have a variety of creative controls that allow you to vary the look of your subjects, right “in-camera.” This allows you to explore your creativity with a variety of different image styles right there on the spot … Continue reading →