My above image, taken in Denali National Park in August 2006, is the cover photo of the 2010 Sierra Club Wilderness calendar!  I’d visited this pond in 2005 but I never got this kind of light, or even saw the mountain.  In 2006 I tried a few times to photograph Denali from this spot, but never got the mountain itself until my perseverance paid off with this dramatic and striking image.  There are hundreds of ponds near the Wonder Lake campground and I’d walked by most of them, deciding that this was the nicest one that framed the mountain.  It is  accessible via a strenuous 1 hour hike southwest of the campground.  I missed the fall colors in Denali this year, but I am flying up to Anchorage on Monday to look for fall colors around the Chugach & Kenai for the next 10 days.  Wish me luck.

Have you ever wanted to photograph Mt Rainier at the peak of wildflower season or travel to Patagonia to capture Mt Fitz Roy ablaze in alpenglow? How about observing humpback whales bubble-net feeding in Southeast Alaska or using your camera for protection while scuba diving with Steller sea lions? Please join Seattle photographer Jon Cornforth for a clinic that will help you take your own photo ambitions to the next level. Jon will share some of his favorite travel locations and what equipment it takes to bring home an award-winning image. Bring your camera gear and up to 6 digital images to be critiqued.

Seattle REI on May 17, 2009 from 11am-2pmCost- $75 REI Members or $100 Non Members. Limited to 10 participants.

Please call 206-223-1944 or email Chelsea Beck at cbeck@rei.com.

I was contacted in July by Nature’s Best and asked to submit 3 of my original slides for consideration for the Finals. I had 1 image in each of the following categories, Art In Nature, Plant Life, and this image of Denali in Landscapes. Unfortunately, they did not choose any of them for this years awards, but it is still quite an accomplishment to get as far as I did.

Please visit my Nature Photography Awards page to learn more about my award winning nature photography or visit my Denali National Park Photography page to see more of my Mt McKinley images.