Alaska
In June 2019 I went to Anchorage, AK to go on a 5 day photo shoot in Kenai Fjords National Park.
'Marine Wildlife of Kenai Fjords' was the title of this tour and WOW did it ever live up to it's name.
My website page has many of the images I made on this trip -
www.davidandersonward.com/kenai_fjords
I also have an 11 minute video slideshow - with music - on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXafk_i4wjo&t=2s
Or on your big screen TV search DavidAndersonWard on YouTube and this and two other videos will appear - Canadian Arctic Wildlife and Iceland - with more to come.
We spent the first two mornings in a large lagoon in one of the many fjords in this amazing national park with about 2 dozen resident Orcas feeding on salmon. While none of the Orca breached - which was totally their choice as we had nothing to say about it - they put on a nice show for us.
It's the transient Orcas that feed on mammals and somehow the Sea Otters know the difference.
We saw Sea Otters, Bald Eagles, Humpback Whales, Stellar Sea Lions, Harbor Seals, Orcas, Gulls, Kittiwakes, Cormorants and Puffins and much more, often all at once.
It was almost overwhelming at times as no one ever sees this much wildlife anywhere else.
Everyone should see this beautiful national park in person. But few do because it's remote and has no roads to drive through or boardwalks to walk on. Only 370,000 people visit Kenai Fjords annually - compared with the 5 million people who visit Zion National Park every year.
We also sailed right up to two massive glacier walls at Holgate and Aialik Glaciers. This made everyone breathless both days as there is no way to describe the feeling of being in the presence of a 300' or 500' glacial wall of 10,000 year old ice that carved the fjord we just cruised into. And when chunks the size of small houses calved off - it just blew everyone away. At Holgate Glacier there was a 150' tall waterfall spewing out thousands of gallons a minute from under the glacier.
No one had ever seen anything like this.
And the landscape of these Fjords is just incredible, too.
Aialik Glacier Wall
An award winning 60" x 12" HD Matte Metal Panorama
For $482.00
It's 300' tall at the center!
The large black rock at the bottom is Glacial Till - rock picked up by7 the glacier as it moves along.
This is an 14 image panorama taken handheld on a moving 45' boat - and it was raining lightly, too.
I just had to try and capture this as there was no way to get it all in one shot from where we were.
Photoshop did wonders stitching this together; but getting level photos really helped a lot.
Nothing can compare you for seeing this in person. It's a feeling of complete wonderment - and cold - that's breathtaking.
This is a 60" x 12" panorama enlarged on HD Matte Metal for incredible detail and zero reflections. There were track lights about 2' away along with ceiling light fixtures and skylights - yet there are NO reflections.
This HD Matte Metal really is amazing in person and would be unique on any wall in any home or office!
This is available as a 60" x 12" HD Matte Metal for $482.00 delivered (locally).
This is also available at 45" x 9" for $314.00.
Bird Point at Turnagain Arm
An award winning 60" x 16" HD Matte Metal 5 Image Panorama
For $632.00.
The details in this are incredible (90,000 pixels per square inch!); and again, there are ZERO reflections. The layers of foliage in the foreground with the detail retained in the mountains across Turnagain Arm make this almost 3D and are amazing to see in person.
We stopped at this picturesque spot on our early morning drive from Anchorage to Seward before our first afternoon boat trip into Resurrection Bay. The sun was attempting to get above the mountain on the left but we could not wait for it.
This is 5 images stitched together in Photoshop. But I had to know this would work in advance.
Each image that make up this panorama are also available as 30" x 20" or as 32" x 18" images , too.
The middle image is especially nice as an individual image.
It's on my website in my Kenai Fjords gallery on my website, too.
This is available as a
60" x 16" HD Matte Metal for $632.00.
It's also available at 30" x 8" for $220.00
Or 45" x 12" for $365.00.
Two Horned Puffins
30"T x 24"W HD Matte Metal
For $482.00
They are trying to make a decision as to who should fly out next to get some lunch. These adorable, football shaped birds mate for life and fly 50 mph with wings beating 400 times a minute.
A definite challenge to capture in flight.
This is a 20" x 30" HD Matte Metal in which these Puffins seem to be in 3D.
This HD Matte Metal solution is without question THE superior way to enlarge any wildlife image - especially birds. No framed print could ever compare in detail, 3D effect, or ZERO reflections.
At 30"T x 24"W this is very impressive to see in person and costs $482.00 delivered (locally).
This is also available in other sizes from 15" x 12" for $175.00
All the way up to 50" x 40" for $1,498.00.
Which would be incredible and stunning in the right situation.
On Knik Glacier
An award winning 30" x 20"
Matte Acrylic for $595.00
This image was taken on a doors OFF helicopter trip to, over, and onto Knik Glacier in Palmer, AK; about an hour NE from Anchorage.
Our pilot was a former Navy helicopter pilot who had done two tours in Afghanistan and now flies in Alaska in the summer and Hawaii in the winter - nice. He expertly handled the winds coming off the mountains flanking the glacier and landed the helicopter safely after the 3rd try on this heavily fissured surface - how I am not quite sure, but he did it expertly and safely.
Once we landed, he immediately put Cramp-On Treads on my boots and off I went like a kid in a candy shop. Standing on 300' deep ice 10,000 years old surrounded by 3,000' to 5,000' tall mountains was very humbling and amazing for sure. Indescribable, actually.
When I saw this composition I knew I had to try and capture it. But I also saw the only way to capture this would be to straddle this turquoise blue stream on the surface of the glacier - so that's exactly what I did. This is a handheld image straddling over the creek - there was no time to use a tripod - and the details in the Matte Acrylic are incredible throughout - all the way back to the distant mountains.
Seeing this Matte Acrylic in person, up close, is amazing.
This is a 30" x 20" Matte Acrylic for $595.00 delivered (locally).
www.davidandersonward.com/knik_glacier
Has some unique and amazing landscape images of this very special place.
The video/slideshow on YouTube is 11 minutes with 4 songs - at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXafk_i4wjo&t=2s
or Search DavidAndersonWard on the YouTube App on your TV and it will appear -
along with my Canadian Arctic Wildlife and Iceland videos.
