Fun Alaska Style

A lot of people ask me how I can stand living through our Alaska winters. I tell them if you can get a couple winter outdoor hobbies it is easy. I love to cross-country ski and last year we adopted a Siberian Husky into our family. That makes it even more fun. My wife's twin sister is a recreational dog musher and we enjoy outings with her and her dogs. On this excursion, we had 2 dog sleds, a pair of skis, 4 Siberians and a black lab.
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This was my first time skijoring with two dogs. I borrowed Totem to help Donner pull...what fun.I included a one minute video from my point and shoot camera. You will see why I don't carry my 5D outside of my backpack at the end.



Fun Alaska Style from Mike Criss on Vimeo.

Photographing Alaska Moose

This is one of my favorite moose images. I show these three moose coming out of the woods as I drove past them. I had not seen a car for miles so we were pretty alone. Fortunately, I had my camera with my 100-400mm lens right next to me in the truck. I jumped out and snapped several photos as they crossed the road. I was worried about the direction of the sun from behind them, but I like the back-lit effect of this photo.

You don't have to go far to find a moose, but they can disappear in a hurry like these did. Other times, I will find a couple moose bedding down in my backyard...only in Alaska!

I just uploaded 20 moose images to my Zenfolio account here.
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Waterfall HDR

I love waterfalls! I love the challenge of getting that smooth silky look of flowing water. When the weather is bad, I look for a waterfall. This is Salmon Creek Falls just outside of Juneau, Alaska. If you can make it outside of the tourist season, you might be the only one there. I have shot these falls several times and never ran across a single person.

I decided to play with Photomatix settings on this one and like the way it turned out.

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Salmon Creek Falls, Juneau, Alaska

Using Backlighting Effectively

Using backlight can be challenging, but when used correctly it can add depth to your photos.

The sun adds some backlight and depth to this musher

You can also use the sun for the classic silhouette

Used a flash behind and above my nephew and girlfriend to separate them from the background

Backlighting is a very effective way to separate your subject from the background. Your camera will try to underexpose though so you have to play with your metering. Try spot metering and exposure compensation the next time you have a difficult shot.

Let it Snow HDR

Sun rise behind Pioneer Peak. 3 exposure HDR. Been getting a lot of snow around here! Love it.

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Pioneer Peak

Canon 5D High ISO

My nephews and nieces were in a production of Scrooge in the Seattle area. I was in town on business, but did not bring my fast 70-200mm 2.8 lens. I decided to try the high ISO capabilities of the Canon 5D mark II. These were all shot at 12,800 ISO except the last one which was shot at 6400 ISO. The lighting was very challenging, but I like how they came out. These are straight out of Lightroom with no noise reduction.

Skijoring in Alaska

My wife and I own a Siberian Husky and enjoy taking him out on hikes, walks and runs. This winter we will be skijoring more. I have done some skijoring years ago when I lived in Fairbanks, but have not skied with a dog since moving to Wasilla. I have tried to include some scenic photos from the trail. These were taken with a point and shoot camera. Since this was the first time Donner and I were skiing together I did not want to take a chance with my 5D. I included a short video to show what fun it is to skijor.

Skijoring in Alaska from Mike Criss on Vimeo.

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