Photographing Alaska is the dream of many landscape photographers. With its truly wild landscapes and epic vistas, it’s easy to understand why. One thing I’ve learned on my travels, through many locations in the Southeast and Interior of the US, is that being prepared is vital. In a landscape as wild as Alaska, one can quickly find oneself in a precarious position or, if out of cell service and without proper preparation, in actual danger. Now, this is not intended to be a scare story – I have witnessed plenty of unprepared people come and go just fine – but rather an attempt at helping landscape photographers enjoy their time in the 49th state.
Alaska Photography Tips
Clothing
This is supposed to be an article on photographing Alaska. How can clothing come before camera gear? Well, if you’ve spent much time outside at -30F, you’ll know how important clothing can be. And if you want to shoot the Aurora Borealis (more commonly known as the northern lights), you’ll likely be outside in some cold temperatures. Without going into too much detail, a good layering system of clothing and a set of boots that you’ll be comfortable standing on snow with is vital.
Vehicle
Alaska is kind of a big place, more than twice the size of Texas. Now you’re not going to be driving for most of the trip, but having a vehicle to get around is going to really increase your reach. Keep in mind those cold temperatures I mentioned before when leaving a vehicle for long periods. In Fairbanks, most rentals will come with a charge cord. If you’re driving north from Anchorage, you may want to request one. There are also a few interesting local rules regarding driving too slow on certain roads, so if you want to photograph along the way, drive the speed limit and use the many turnouts.
Camera
Finally, camera equipment! The main concern with gear that you’ll need to keep in mind is battery life in the cold. My technique: one in the camera, one in an interior (close to your body heat) pocket, and one charging. If you have more, even better. Another key piece of camera gear is a good bag to carry your equipment. When photographing Alaska, it’s great to get deep into the backcountry, so a comfortable and secure carrying system is paramount. My choice is the F-Stop Loka. Easily customizable based on how much I need to carry, and large enough to use as an overnight pack with camping gear on top of the camera ICU.
Best Photography Spots in Alaska
As I mentioned, Alaska is a big place. That being said, there are many grand locations that you can reach within a few hour’s drive or hike out of Fairbanks, Anchorage or Juneau. Fairbanks is a go-to for all things Aurora. People come from all over the world to try and glimpse the colors dancing in the sky. If, like me, you’d rather go it alone than pay someone to take you out on an Aurora-watching tour, a few great locations that provide dark skies and interesting landscapes are Cleary Summit, Ester Dome Observatory and Chena Hot Springs. But, the main technique: show up. You won’t see Aurora from your hotel room. You’ve got to be out, often in the middle of the night, in the frigid cold, but it’s worth every frostbitten toe to see them.
Anchorage is the jump-off point for most people photographing Alaska, and it makes sense. Four hours in the car to Denali National Park and four hours to deep sea fishing in Homer. Whittier, Seward, Cooper Landing, Portage Glacier, and many others are all even closer than that. The following images show my recommendations of worthwhile spots for when photographing Alaska, all of which can include great short, medium, or long hikes.
Alaska Photography Guide
Slaughter Ridge
A relatively short hike weighing in at only 2 miles, when you reach the summit, some 3000 feet above where you started, you’ll feel as though it was twice that long. While the summer months bring more opportunity for bears along your path (I saw two blackies on this particular day), it also offers the benefit of being wildflower season. Lupines are the most prominent and recognizable for the wildflower novice like myself, but you’d be hard-pressed not to find one of every color along your path.
Finding the trailhead may be one of the hardest parts of this hike, as it’s unmarked and inconspicuous. Coming from Anchorage, you enter the town of Cooper Landing from the west. Just before the bridge, the last paved road is Bean Creek, and the dirt road just before that is your ticket in. Take a right and follow along till it ends, and you’ve found the trailhead.
After the hike, reward yourself with a meal at Gwin’s Lodge, just another 5 minutes west on the Sterling Highway from the trailhead, where the staff are friendly, the food is fresh, and the beverages quench any thirst.
It isn’t always a single defining moment that so drastically shapes a person that their entire future changes because of it, but that is how my life as an artist began. I left my job, picked up a backpack and a camera and spent several months solo traveling the world. I started wheretowillie.com as a way to portray my travels to my friends and family back home. The site became a way to communicate with a large group of people all at once, and a way to depict my interpretation of other cultures and places. My first posts had to do with the subtleties of other cultures and the nuances of long-term travel. But, like all good things, my travels came to an end and I was left with a hard drive full of images that I had captured along the way and the urge to continue sharing what travel was to me. This is where my photography as art was born.
Since that fated expedition a little over 4 years ago I’ve been a traveler at heart. A good friend once told me that I never should have traveled, because now there’s no way to stop, that the soul of a traveller is always on the road. To me, this is how I use my photography. Making photographs calms my soul, while at the same time pushing me to go farther. If someone were to describe me, I think it would be as a dreamer, or ideal- ist, maybe a serial optimist. There’s always great light to chase just around the next corner, and I want to be here and there and everywhere to capture that fleeting moment to share with the world. One fundamental shift has happened since those first shutter clicks, when starting out I took photos because I traveled, but now I travel to make photographs, to collect memories.
My favorite style of image isn’t necessarily street, cityscape, or landscape photography. It’s all of those. It’s an image that captures a moment in time and a sense of place. One that however briefly you cross paths with the scene, you are transported to a memory. Every person has an entire lifetime of memories that shape the way they see and connect with the world, and being able to make a photograph that stirs something within them is a success. So my photography process has developed over these years to try and capture the world as I see it; full of awe and amazement, one that we’re all a part of.