OP – The Blog

Another freakin’ humpback whale breaching photo?  Well, yes, it is!  I normally prefer breaching images at the peak of the whale’s trajectory, because they don’t appear as powerful in the limp-coming back down phase, let alone when the big splash happens.  However, what I do like about this image is that  

By now, my regular readers and social networking followers are probably aware that I had engine trouble last week while using my boat on Prince William Sound for the first time.  The repair bill is pretty bad, but not as catastrophic as I had initially feared.  It’s par for the course  

This past Friday, the second in a row, I woke up at 2:30am and drove down to Mount Rainier National Park to photograph wildflowers at sunrise.  I have sold a lot of images of Mount Rainier over the years, so it is worth taking the time out of my busy travel  

As I have previously mentioned, I will be editing my new humpback whale breaching images for months to come.  This is another graceful breach from the incredibly cooperative whale that I photographed last month in Frederick Sound.  This young whale repeatedly displayed its enthusiasm for the warm sun, good eating, close friends, and nearby photographer  

After spending 3 days photographing humpback whales bubble-feeding near Angoon, I motored my boat down Chatham Strait to photograph Steller sea lions at Yasha Island.  I have been scuba diving with Steller sea lions in British Columbia during the winter, but have never put any effort into photographing them in Southeast Alaska.  Their populations are  

When I visited Tracy Arm a few weeks ago, I was dismayed to see the decrease in ice from my previous visits.  My earlier shoots of the harbor seals took place near the North Sawyer Glacier which has drastically retreated and is now almost out of the water.  In the past, I could not get  

Pictures don’t get any fresher than this!  I woke up at 2:30am today and drove down to Mount Rainier National Park to photograph the wildflowers around Reflection Lake at sunrise.  I have always wanted to photograph the mountain and reflection in the lake with rosy spireas in bloom, and today I  

I have mixed feelings about photographing tidewater glaciers in Alaska.  They are beautiful to visit, but I also know they will never be in the same position in my lifetime because of glacial recession due to climate change.  During my previous visits to Tracy Arm, it was very difficult and dangerous  

After departing Juneau and motoring down Stephens Passage to Frederick Sound, I spent my first night anchored at the Brothers Islands.  Because of the long distance I’d motored the day before, my first priority was refueling.  En route to the Kake fuel dock, I encountered my first breaching humpback whale!   

I hope that my regular readers aren’t getting bored yet of all my new breaching humpback whale photos.  Though I had spent over 20 weeks the last 4 summers cruising Southeast Alaska with my boat, not until 2 weeks ago did I encounter a whale that yielded so many publishable breaching