Having a scenic surrounding is a timesink. How often is too often for stopping to take a picture of something pretty and/or cool? I stop a lot less than I’d like, but enough to warrant some extra budgeting on any ETA I give out.

Today continues the string of overcast, rainy days that will apparently extend into the future indefinitely. At least ocean, mountains, glacier and clouds make for some dynamic scenes! I saw this in my rearview mirror on the way home from work, and I had to stop.

I found, while exercising last night, that my right knee is not well. When doing squats, it sounds more or less like pulling apart a wad of plastic wrap under my kneecap. It’s a sound I’ve never heard a body part make before. I stopped doing squats.

Life, Photography Alaska, Body, Mountains, Photography

It’s been really sunny for a couple of days now. I’ve started wearing my sunglasses out in the dog yard, because the sun is reflecting off the covering of ice that surrounds us, and making me constantly squint to see what I’m doing. So bright.

I’ve been learning how to shoot video with the D90, and I’m getting it, a piece at a time. Today I finally programmed a button to lock down the exposure before shooting. My previous attempts all suffered from exposure jumps, as changing light caused a noticeable and annoying shift in exposure. Not good for shooting video. I also apparently need to get a tripod that is made of steel, as mine shifts in the wind, especially with big lenses attached to the camera.

Anyway, here are some shots from this morning’s sun bath.

Photography Mountains, Photography

It finally snowed a bit last night, but not enough to make it any less slippery on the sheet of ice that’s covering everything above 1000′. It’s another beautiful day, and I think we’ve had more clear, sunny days this winter than we did the entirety of this past summer.

Photography Alaska, Mountains, Photography

While doing my dog yard chores, I occasionally look up and watch the mountains. There’s always something different going on, due to weather, sunlight (or lack of), moonlight, etc. Today, the lighting was unlike anything I’ve seen so far, with alternating patches of yellow, blue, and white light falling on the slopes.

It was still happening after I finished, so I ran in and grabbed my camera. The only way to take it all in was to shoot a panoramic, so hopefully this helps convey a little of what I saw!

Open up your browser window as big as it will allow, this one can expand up to 1900 pixels wide!

I have 20+ pictures to post, including stuff I shot the other night under the full moon, so there might be a flurry of posts coming from me in the next few days.

Photography Alaska, Mountains, Panoramic, Photography

We live on the southeast face of a hill, so we don’t get to see the sun set. By the time the sky turns colors, the sun is already gone, and we’re in shadow. But tonight the mountains turned colors, so I had to get out my camera and feed my addiction. The bay was totally covered with clouds, and they started to creep uphill as I was setting up the tripod.

First, the dog yard:

Now, the mountains to the south:

Then, due east:

Now to the northeast:

I managed to switch to my telephoto before the mountains stopped being pretty(er):

Photography Alaska, Mountains, Photography, Sunset