What Happens When I go Through Old Photos Part 2: Alaska

Most of these photos speak for themselves.  The Alaska Range (forever one of my favorite places) photos are taken on trips that I've guided on Denali or courses I've taught in other parts of the range.  During my second summer up there I had a month off between trips and traveled down to Seward to escape Anchorage and got to try out sea kayaking and had one of the more amazing days of my life.

Looking down the Kahiltna Glacier after a recent storm in early May.  

Clouds roll over the Alaska Range from the west as seen from camp at 17,000 feet on Denali.

My first sea kayaking trip was through Aialik Bay on the Kenai Peninsula.

It is days like these where I wonder if I truly appreciated that day as much as I could have.  Years later the impact of seeing things like this is still setting in.

Traveling through a whiteout on the Ruth Glacier in the Alaska Range.  I hate traveling in whiteout conditions and avoid it whenever I can.  Later in the day we camped in these same conditions and could hear avalanches coming down the mountains all around us.

The train ride from Seward to Anchorage was one of the most scenic trips I've been on.

Working our way up the fixed lines on Denali.

The Ridge up to high camp on Denali.  

The Pika Glacier in the Alaska Range.  This was part of a 12-day mountaineering course I taught a few years ago.

What Happens When I go Through Old Photos Part 1: South America

I've spent some of my free time over the last week or so going through and editing old photos that have been locked away on my hard drive.  I came across photos of places that I've forgotten that I've been and photos that I've been thinking about for a long time.  While looking back on some of these memories made me feel more trapped here, others gave me a sense of accomplishment and excitement for the next step.  Still not sure when that next step will happen or where it will lead.

Here is the first part of these photos.  They are from various trips to South America over the last few years.

Sunrise on the Northern Patagonia Ice Cap in southern Chile.

The town of Castro on Chiloe Island, Chile.

The Northern Patagonia Ice Cap is the 3rd largest chunk of ice in the world.  Only Antarctica and Greenland are larger.

Acclimatization hike on Fuya Fuya, Ecuador

Fishing boats on Chiloe Island, Chile

Pumalin National Park in Southern Chile.

Machu Picchu in Peru.

View of the Andes from Urus in the Cordillera Blanca Mountains in Peru

Views of the Huandoy Mountains in the Cordillera Blanca range in Peru.

A Hacienda built in the 1500s in Ecuador

One of my favorite views of the Andes in the Cordillera Blanca range in Peru.

Saving The Best For Last: Time-Lapse/Star Trail Series during The Antarctic Winter

I'm really excited about how this time-lapse turned out.  It is put together from just over 1200 images from 3:30pm to 4:45pm July 6th.  It is worth a couple of views to focus on the auroras in the background and then check out all the satellites that fly over too.



Scott's Discovery Hut sits about a quarter mile from McMurdo

Click for full screen.  The video of Facebook (link opens new window) ended up being higher quality.

About 1200 images stacked together create these star trails with the southern celestial pole just out of the frame.

Part 2 of a 3 Part Time-Lapse/Star Trail Series during The Antarctic Winter

Since I've been enjoying creating time-lapse videos this winter I was really excited when I walked through Sunday's storm to retrieve my camera that had been out all night.  I was surprised that the battery had lasted 4 hours and captured 3700 photos.  I let my camera warm up and the snow and ice, that had made its way through the many layers of jackets that the camera was wrapped in, melted it was finally time to check out what happened while I was sleeping.  I was disappointed to find that a thick haze had moved in just an hour after I had set the camera up.  This made about 2500 of those photos useless.  

The final time-lapse of 1200 images shows a pretty neat dance of exhaust from McMurdo and the auroras in the distance.  

The light clouds blocked out most of the stars, but this stack of 1000 photos makes it look like McMurdo is exploding, but its just all the directed the exhaust went during the night.

Part 1 of a 3 Part Time-Lapse/Star Trail Series during The Antarctic Winter

Last week I took advantage of the clear skis and calm winds to get a series of three time lapse videos composed of anywhere from 300 to 3700 photos throughout evening and night.  Below is the first one taken on July 4th.

The clear, calm night of July 4th was idea for setting me camera up to endure the night.

Here is the first time lapse of just over 300 images covering the first few hours of the night.

The battery finally died just as the Milky Way was coming into the frame.

A composite of all the images from that night.

The next set of time lapse videos and star trails will be posted in a few days.  Enjoy.

The Night Sky is The Only Thing That Changes This Time of Year

There really isn't much to do around here this time of year so every clear day/night we have I try to get out and take photos.  I've had a list of winter photos that I want to get and with the noontime horizon getting brighter every day I feel like I'm running out of time.  I wanted to get some photos of McMurdo from the top of Observation Hill, but I was hoping to do it on a clear day to get the Milky Way in the shots.  Last weekend was dead calm, but the sky was cloudy, but I figured I'd head up Ob Hill anyway so as not to waste the day.  The sky seemed to clear up just as I walked outside leaving me clear skies and auroras for just about an hour until it started to cloud up again on my hike back down to town.  

The skies cleared as I started up Ob Hill.

Right before I headed back to town I decided to do a quick 360 degree panorama and  ended up with one of my favorite photos ever.  Click to Enlarge.

McMurdo and Saturn from the top of Ob Hill.

Winter in Antarctica has left me with time to work on photos and create a website to display and sell them.  Check out www.benadkisonphotography.com There are galleries with hundreds of photos for sale! And I'll keep adding photos in the coming months of Antarctica and traveling once I leave here.

The auroras give an ominous glow above the incoming clouds and Scott Base.

This reminds me of something out of Lord of The Rings.

The clear skies this weekend left me with many trips out to Hut Point to set up my camera for hours of photos.  There will be at least three time lapse videos and star trail images coming up this week.  In the meantime I have about 5000 images to deal with.