Open North American Championships

Each March Fairbanks hosts one of the major sprint mushing races of the season. Mushers from across the country show up for the three days of racing. It is also one of my favorite events to photograph. Mushing, like any fast-paced sport is tricky to photograph. Focus is major challenge so I take a lot of photos to make sure some of them have the right subject in focus (generally the musher or the lead dogs). This year I shot for two days, Saturday and Sunday. The image above incidentally is Egil Ellis who has now captured the record for most wins by a single racer. His team is made almost entirely of hounds instead of huskies. Damn fast though. Here are a few images I think worked out fairly well:

A couple more of...What?

Well the lack of guesses on my quiz give me a hunch that I've stumped you all. So here are a couple more. And a hint: think water. I'll provide the answer tomorrow.

Different Directions

As a photographer (and writer for that matter) I have a tendency to get too comfortable. To do what I'm good at, to forget to experiment and play with my art. Last night I didn't let myself get comfortable and instead made some images that are outside of my normal style. And you know what? I really like what I ended up with.


A friend and I went and shot at the World Ice Art Championships that takes pace each March here in Fairbanks. The multi-block competition is underway and the sculptors are working long hours to get their pieces in order. We spent an hour and a half shooting the artists as they worked and it was way too short.


It is good to break out of the norm every so often.

More backyard photos

I'm not in much of a mood to write today so instead thought I'd share a few images from this afternoon, shooting birds at the feeders. Needless to say there isn't a whole lot of variety in terms of species, but the light is getting nice and I've been enjoying standing out in the snow making images.

Common Redpoll. These guys are visiting in droves and devouring about two pounds of sunflower chips a day.

Boreal Chickadee. These are fairly common around the house and a few visit the feeders each day. They've got a thing for peanut butter.

Gray Jay. A family group has been visiting daily. They are something of bullies, scare the other birds off and the then proceed to devour whatever isn't bolted down. You can see some unmentionable disappearing down the gullet of this fella.

Black-capped Chickadee. Everyone's favorite. I had a friend a few year ago who used to say "If Chickadees were as big as Jays, no one would go into the woods." I think there is some truth to that.

Another Common Redpoll. Like I said, they are common.

No real secret to the images. They were all made with my 500mm f4 and Canon 40D. Tripod mounted using my Whimberly Sidekick Gimbal-type adapter.

Hopefully, I'll be feeling a bit more like writing tomorrow.