Glacier Life

Flathead Valley wildfire smoke

Smoke from the Brush Creek fills in the Flathead Valley on July 31, 2007 as seen from Lone Pine State Park.

Cover photo – 2007 Summer Guide

Here are two pages from the 2007 summer guide published by Whitefish Mountain Resort on Big Mountain in Whitefish, Montana. They selected one of my images from their cover story announcing their major name change and market branding from Big Mtn Resort to Whitefish Mountain Resort . About the photo, it was amazing walking 70 feet above the ground floor. The forest has a different ecosystem up high and its fun to experience. The tree tops are a must for visitors to the resort in the summer.

To see more Walk in the Tree Tops photos click here.

The second page displays the new Day Lodge at the resort. It’s going to be a nice addition to the mountain. I’m sure it won’t be long till I photograph a wedding there. I know they have hosted a few events this summer.

Good day.

Glacierdise

Here are a few of my favorite photos from my last trip to Glacier N.P. I just had to shoot tight again on the goats and found a few bighorn sheep that walked pretty close to me. Sure was nice shooting sheep really tight. I couldn’t tell if he was going to ram me or just walk by. The fact that he was just eating, walking slow and would look down without giving a care to me made me feel safer. But you never know…

The one I like the best from this trip is the sheep crossing the waterfall. He took off up the hill and I knew he would have to cross the waterfalls or come back down near me. It took him a while before crossing – seemingly surveying his path across the wet, mossy, slippery and step waterfall. It was pretty cool to watch him cross it and take shots with the falls in the background. That night at camp I shot a 5 minute star field shot over Mt. Cannon.

The gorge is Avalanche Gorge below Avalanche Lake and the waterfalls are part of the Oberlin Falls.

Enjoy the photos and I welcome your comments.

To see more photos visit: www.GlacierStock.com

Cold dreams…

Yesterday was the first day I have not seen it over 90 degrees in long time. This photo wasn’t taken yesterday, I wish. It was taken Jan. 13, 2007 at 8:45 a.m. on Big Mtn Resort. It was -8 degrees when I took it. Just cools me off seeing this photo hanging in the office. When its this hot I dream of winter.

Shooting above tree line to beat the heat

Man it’s been a great past few days of shooting around the valley. It’s been hot, super hot! We have had 18 days over 90 degrees and about half of them over 100. I spent the last couple days shooting in Glacier at or above tree line – so I could beat the heat. Below are a few of the images from this past week of shooting. I have started exploring shooting tight, really tight on animals and seeing the details of their face, eyes, nose and the different lines. It’s hard packing that 400mm 2.8 around, but well worth it. Most of my photo friends say “get the 400mm 4.”

I love the 400 and it fits perfectly into my 6,000+ cubic inch Mountain Smith trekking backpack. Sure the 400’s pack weight is about the same as four gallons of water, but I would rather have the lens then water. Most of time.

Enjoy the photos and I’m eager to hear some comments. The first picture is a shot of me that my wife Amy took while in Glacier last Sunday.

To see more photos from my trips visit: www.GlacierStock.com

Morning sail – First fires of the season

I was invited to photograph the J24 Districts on Flathead Lake with one of my good friends Tony Devoe, owner of a J34 – Whitestar. We motored around shooting and enjoying the race. I opted to shoot the entire time with the 400mm 2.8 on so I could get some tight shots. Sailing is very different up close vs. from a distance. It’s a magical harmony of crew members and amazing to watch. After shooting for three hours I was getting tired of bouncing up and down with only a 4 degree window of view through the 400mm lens.

After returning home from sailing I noticed a lot of smoke on the hill side near our house. I grab camera gear and headed out. I have never seen a helicopter get so close to the ground and fly through the smoke. I should make a slide show of the 30 frames I have to show how the smoke gets pushed away. Quick response by local recourses controlled the fire. The Missoulian newspaper picked up one of the photos in the next days paper.

To see more J24 sailing photos go here: http://www.glacierstock.com/lightbox/index.php?pageId=1000&keyword=J24