Alaska returns - Walking around Mendenhall Glacier

From the parking lot to the observation deck (click here to see where it is on a map) you walk through some pretty dense forest. We were there in August so things were still very green. Along the path was this footbridge that crossed a pretty wide, slow moving stream.

For the most part Alaska is a very wet state, and Juneau was no exception. The sky was pretty overcast for the days we were there, and we got drizzle and rain on and off the whole time. Luckily the rain held off on our walk through the woods.

Another Alaska shot - Mendenhall Glacier

It's hard to desribe how massive this glacier looks in person. I wish the image below had some reference point to give it a sense of scale.

Even harder is to imagine is that since 1910 the face of this glacier has receded 1.75 miles (see here: http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Mendenhall-Glacier).

On the trail from the parking lot to the glacier observation deck there were stone markers showing the location of the glacial face for a given year. It was pretty remarkable to count them off as we got closer and closer to the deck. I wish I had taken a few photos of them. I'll post images from the trail (as well as an image of a friendly local we encountered while on the trail) tomorrow. Until then, here's a shot of the glacier itself:

More from Alaska (by way of Vancouver)

Getting to Alaska meant a stop in Seattle then a stop in Vancouver. When we hit Vancouver we stayed for a few days before boarding the boat. One regret about leaving the West Coast was that we never went back to Vancouver - I really liked it there. Not that it's inaccessible from Boston, it's just a whole lot closer to San Francisco.

The hotel we stayed in had a nice view of some new glass-encases highrise towers going up. The skyline was pretty enough.

I haven't even seen it, but I know I want it

I stumbled upon this brief book review at the Boston.com RAW website (if you don't visit it already, you really should). It is a collection of 200 candid photos and interviews of jazz musicians compiled by an unsung hero of the American jazz scene - the book is titled Three Wishes: An Intimate Look at Jazz Greats.

Pannonica De Koenigswarter collected the three wishes of roughly 300 musicians over the course of a decade. Those wishes, along with the 200 or so images, make up this book.

I first heard about Pannonica (often cited as Nica in no less than 7 songs written for or about her) while I was watching the documentary Straight, No Chaser about Thelonious Monk. It was at her house in Weehawken, NJ on February 5th, 1982 that Monk died.

If and when I get the book I'll be sure to ammend this post with a proper review, but I am pretty confident that seeing the images alone will make me love it.

Alaska

I went on a cruise to Alaska about two years ago, and was able to make it out on a photo safari for whales as well as a trek around the Mendenhall Glacier. This photo isn't from either of those spots though.

This was taken on the deck of the ship, during the early part of our trip north when the weather was incredible. We lucked out for the week - only getting rain here and there during a usually rainy time of year, so I can't really complain. This day was remarkable though.

I used a circular polarizer to take some of the glare out of the water and darken the sky to puff up the clouds a bit. It was shot at the wide end of a Canon 17-40 at f/11 for 1/500th of a second at ISO 100.

Two more from the midway

Two more shots from the fair, taken with the Yashica Mat 124g. I really can't wait to get a scanner so I can see more of what I've shot with this camera.

Final shot from that day

This is the last shot from my outing on MLK day. Incidentally this is the first shot I took on that day. On my way over to the coast I drove over a little stream that looked quite peaceful. I ended up stopping and taking a few shots on either side of the bridge. The south side of the bridge was definitely more interesting.

Second to last black and white from the cold

This is the shot I took downstream - eventually leading to the ocean. I feel like i am going to be a black and white guy for a little longer. The snow+water+dirty makes for some interesting textures.

Another from the brrr series

Here's a non b&w shot I took on the same day as the recent b&w shots. Same location, this was of the landing dock from lower on the landing.

More winter

Today was a beautiful day, but the one thing on my to-do list went undone. Here's another of the shots I got yesterday.