Yesterday I had the day off, my only day off, so I decided to go on a hike to the other side of the island. The weather was beautiful and there were a ton of wildflowers out along the way. Here are a few of the flowers that I saw.
I saw this photo of Dutch Harbor on my way back to the hotel,the sun was getting low ready to set and it cast a nice yellow glow on the water. The hotel that I am staying in is located right above the boat on the other side of the island.
Wildflowers are growing all over the place up here, and there are so many different kinds and colors. Here are just a few of what I have found so far.
Yesterday was beautiful up here in Dutch Harbor, sunny and in the 60's. After work I went out in search of some puffins, I had seen some swimming off in the harbor the day before and wanted to try and get some photos. I was driving out to Summers Bay when I saw some puffins swimming out in the water, I grabbed my binoculars and started to watch them. They were Horned Puffins, there were about 6 of them floating and diving in the water. They were too far out for me to get any photos of so I was just watching them for 5 or 10 min. Two of them started running in the water, when they got enough speed they left the water and flew into the air right toward me. I could not believe it they were coming right at me, I quickly put the truck in park and grabbed my camera and got out of the truck. They looked like they were going to land the the cliff right above me next to the road. But just before they went to land on the cliff, they changed their minds and flew off toward the water. They made a big circle out over the water and started to head back toward the cliff. I got my camera ready and got one sighted up and started firing. They didn't land this time either, they flew back out toward the water and circled again. They did this four or five times before one of them finally landed on the cliff. I crossed the road as far as I could so I could see up the rocky cliff, but the road drops 20 or 30 feet onto the rocky shore. So I was just on the edge of the road trying to find where this Puffin had landed, but I could not see him. Before too long I saw his bright yellow and red bill peek out from the rocks. He wanted to see what I was up too down below. He stood there and watched me for some time. After a little while the other puffin came in for a landing and they just both stood there watching me until a huge raven came by and flushed them out. I was really excited to finally see some puffins this close.
Well I got back in Alaska last night and thought I would post a shot that I took last night while i was driving around. Julia and I hiked back to this glacier back in May, but there was a bunch of snow on the ground, and not much else to look at. Canon 30D, canon 17-40mm lens and SanDisk digital film.
Happy 4th of July! Today I spent the day working down here in Lawrenceville IL, which was not my ideal way to spend the 4th. However after work and several storms the skys cleared up just long enough for the town of Vincennes fireworks. They took place at the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park which is a huge monument and pillars made from granite. After the fireworks mother nature put on a little lights display of her own which followed by pouring rain and me running back to the car. Canon XT, Canon 10-22mm lens, SanDisk Digital film
Well I have been pretty busy with work, but I've managed to find some time to shoot some photos. While I was down in Georgia working I made a little road trip up to Amicalola Falls state park. It is a very cool state park and is also the southern terminus of the 2160 mile Appalachian Trial. I was very tempted to start my little walk! The first photo is of the fall itself, which is 729 foot tall. The other photo was taken on down the river. Canon XT, canon 17-40mm lens, SanDisk digital film.
There were so many Bald Eagles up in Dutch Harbor, I could not believe how many there were. There were more eagles then we have robins here in OH. I spent a lot of time out trying to get some nice flight shots, which was not easy. The shots I got were either blurry or out of focus, but with all the eagles I had a lot of chances to get some keepers.
