Eagle River Nature Center Photography

Black and white of dramatic peaks at the
Eagle River Nature Center

The Eagle River Nature Center is a nature reprieve near the town of Eagle River, Alaska. Resplendent with towering mountains and lush Alaska forest, this incredibly scenic area is shared by a bevy of wildlife such as bears and moose and a strong contingent of hikers, backpackers, packrafters and, of course, photographers. After hearing about it, and seeing photos of it for years, I finally had a chance to see it for myself last weekend and it did not disappoint.

While spending two night in the Rapids Camp Yurt about two miles up the Eagle River Nature Center trail, it was hard to know what to point my camera at. Incredible sights surrounded camp. Low clouds and fog gave the jagged peaks a moody, dramatic appearance, and frequent wildlife casually walked all around us. We had close-ish encounters with several bull moose, a mom black bear with two cubs and heard reports from other hikers about sightings of brown bears as well. When we hiked out on Saturday morning, signs at the Nature Center itself warned that a "small group of hikers" had been charged by a brown bear the day before. Needless to say it is a place where you want to keep your bear spray close at hand at all times.

A smattering of other images. Click for higher resolution

Bull moose at the Eagle River Nature Center

A

Butterflies on the shores of the Eagle River

Dramatic mountains 

Snow capped peaks and low clouds

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Visit THE ARCHIVE: A list of most of my articles and posts sorted by category

Copyright notice: This website and all its contents are the intellectual property of Brian Wright Photography. None of the content can be used or reproduced without expressed written approval.
For information about how to contact us, visit this link

The Magic of Long Exposure: Capturing Movement in a Still Image

At Hogwarts, in the world of Harry Potter, still images come alive with movement. However, most of us are muggles and our photographs must seem dull and boring compared to those wizards. Lucky for us, there is another way to infuse motion (or at least the impression of it) into a still photograph. That secret magic is long exposure....

Long exposure is created by opening the shutter for long periods of time. Whether it's "short" long exposure, like one-sixth of a second (just long enough to give a pleasing blur to moving creeks or ocean waves), or long long exposure that can last for several minutes or more, this technique creates images that have that mystic and ethereal quality that I have come to love in photography.

Long exposure came to me at a time when I was reaching a stagnation point. I felt like I was going to the same locations and taking the same compositions over and over. Discovering long exposure, however, opened my mind to a whole realm of possibilities and I've been scurrying about to all the familiar locations with fresh ideas ever since. Here is a sample of images I have created since discovering a passion for long exposure. Which of these images are your favorites? What do you think of long exposure? I would love to hear your feedback and criticism in the comments.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Visit THE ARCHIVE: A list of most of my articles and posts sorted by category

Copyright notice: This website and all its contents are the intellectual property of Brian Wright Photography. None of the content can be used or reproduced without expressed written approval.
For information about how to contact us, visit this link

All the Light We Cannot See: Capturing the Hidden World of Infrared

 

Lying just beyond the electromagnetic spectrum detectable by the human eye is the infrared.

In my search for new ways to create images unlike any I'd ever made before, I stumbled on infrared photography after watching a Youtube video by one of my favorite internet photographers, Thomas Heaton. Images of dark black skies with white foliage astounded me in their ability to take the familiar and shift it just enough to make a viewer pause and reconsider the common things, like trees and clouds, in a whole new way. Later, I came on other infrared photographers like Shelley Vandegrift and Laurie Klein that were taking infrared into places so intriguing and beautiful that I felt compelled to try to learn

Infrared photography is challenging. Though it has the ability to give your images that extra umpf to make it unique and special, it is quite counterintuitive and it takes time to learn how to spot a composition that works in a spectrum your eyes cannot see. Also, becuase this light is invisible, a great deal of post processing is required in order to create these spectacular images that we, as humans with our limited range of sight, can enjoy.

So here are a few images from my early attempts at playing around with infrared. Some are pure infrared and some are blends with parts of photographs taken in regular light mixed in Photoshop. As always, I love hearing feedback and comments in the comment section.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Visit THE ARCHIVE: A list of most of my articles and posts sorted by category

Copyright notice: This website and all its contents are the intellectual property of Brian Wright Photography. None of the content can be used or reproduced without expressed written approval.
For information about how to contact us, visit this link