Tag Archives: Lake

Top Shots 2015

Hello Everyone! 2015 was a great, great year. Traveling took me from the North Slope of Alaska  to the southern coast of Texas. Professionally I am headed back to the “real world” after completing my thesis in December, and will enjoying a married life by mid-summer! The images below are some of my Top Shots from 2015. If there was a blog post associated with the image I included it in the caption. I hope you enjoy.

If you have enjoyed the blog this year please take the time to pass it on to a friend who would enjoy it too, and encourage them to sign up for the emails. Thanks all!

Aurora Borealis

The Aurora Borealis has become an addiction of mine, and these two particular some of my favorites from the season.

Sun-kissed Aurora, Fairbanks, Alaska
Sun-kissed Aurora, Fairbanks, Alaska (https://ianajohnson.com/the-sun-kissed-aurora/)
Aurora and a moonset, Fairbanks, Alaska
Aurora and a moonset, Fairbanks, Alaska  (https://ianajohnson.com/the-negative-40f-aurora-club/)

 

Dog Sledding

Dog sledding in Alaska has been a tremendous treat, and there couldn’t be a better mentor than my friend Jeff Deeter at Black Spruce Dog Sledding.

George, taking a break on the trail. Fairbanks, Alaska
George, taking a break on the trail. Fairbanks, Alaska
"Picket" at the Crowberry Public Use Cabin, White Mountains, Alaska
“Picket” at the Crowberry Public Use Cabin, White Mountains, Alaska (https://ianajohnson.com/by-a-team-of-seven-into-heaven/)

Landscapes

These array of landscape shots capture the beauty and phenomena of Alaska and beyond.

Alaska Range in the pre-dawn. Donnelly Creek, Alaska
Alaska Range in the pre-dawn. Donnelly Creek, Alaska (https://ianajohnson.com/highlights-of-an-alaskan-bird-a-thon/)
Inside Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska
Inside Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska (https://ianajohnson.com/into-the-mouth-of-an-ice-beast/)
Star-trails in a winter wonderland, Fairbanks, Alaska
Star-trails in a winter wonderland, Fairbanks, Alaska
Windy day and a half moon at Polychrome Pass, Denali National Park, Alaska
Windy day and a half moon at Polychrome Pass, Denali National Park, Alaska (https://ianajohnson.com/a-portrait-of-the-great-one/)
Mount Denali Panorama, Denali National Park, Alaska
Mount Denali Panorama, Denali National Park, Alaska (https://ianajohnson.com/a-portrait-of-the-great-one/)
Matanuska Glacier, Alaska
Matanuska Glacier, Alaska (https://ianajohnson.com/matanuska-glacier-peril/)
Summer Solstice on the North Slope, Galbraith Lake, Alaska
Summer Solstice on the North Slope, Galbraith Lake, Alaska (https://ianajohnson.com/solstice-solitude-soliloquy/)
Thunderstorm at the Lake, Minnesota
Thunderstorm at the Lake, Minnesota (https://ianajohnson.com/thunderstorm-at-the-lake/)

Wildlife

From the bottom of tide pools to the tops of mountains, it has been a great year to shoot wildlife!

Breaching Humpback Whale, Seward, Alaska
Breaching Humpback Whale, Seward, Alaska (https://ianajohnson.com/a-whale-of-tale/)
Anemone in a tide-pool. Homer, Alaska
Anemone in a tide-pool. Homer, Alaska (https://ianajohnson.com/on-the-beaches-of-homer/)
American Golden Plover, North Slope, Alaska
American Golden Plover, North Slope, Alaska
Northern Hawk Owl, Dalton Highway, Alaska
Northern Hawk Owl, Dalton Highway, Alaska
Caribou, Denali National Park
Caribou, Denali National Park
Willow Ptarmigan, Denali Highway, Alaska
Willow Ptarmigan, Denali Highway, Alaska
Woodfrog, Fairbanks, Alaska
Woodfrog, Fairbanks, Alaska (https://ianajohnson.com/a-wood-frog-blog/)
Sandhill Crane Silhouette
Sandhill Crane Silhouette
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Green Wing Teal
Green-wing Teal, Porcupine River, Alaska (https://ianajohnson.com/go-when-the-river-says-go/)
Cross Fox
Cross Fox in Fort Yukon, Alaska.

Flowers

Fireweed are iconic to Alaska, and I love how a single stalk seems to stand out above the others here.

Standing out.
A broad field of fireweed where one seems to stand out over the rest.
Single Lily
A single white lily in Minnesota.

Miscellaneous

Dew of Summer
The world reflected over and over in the heavy dew of summer. (https://ianajohnson.com/on-that-misty-minnesota-morn/)

Top Video

Thunderstorm at the Lake

Thunderstorm At The Lake

Stars in the sky, pinpricks of light

Reminders of incomprehensible space

Are veiled by celestial violence close to earth

Huge eruptions of light cloaked by billowing curtains which move to blot the heavens

 

Onward the storm rolls, smothering the sky

The white flashes incessant and blinding like a welder’s torch

Illuminating the windless landscape in rapid succession

Bouncing light off the still water of the lake into the eyes of the beholding humans

 

A distant rolling bass  is finally heard

Informing the watchers of impending impact

A warm breeze riffles the water

Circular discs shatter the still water, and one by one the rain drops push the observers inside

 

A Mirror Lake

This Memorial Day I had a great time with family at our lake cabin in central Minnesota. The night I got there the humidity had dropped from the sky and the stars were intensely clear and beautiful. I walked down to our dock and immediately realized that in the completely still night the earth and sky were the same; the lake was reflecting the stars and lights along the shoreline with mirror-like precision. Not a ripple blurred them. Taking pictures from the dock I did my best to capture the beauty and stillness of the night.

The starry night was reflected perfectly in the lake. The only thing that discerns the the earth is the the dock.
The starry night was reflected perfectly in the lake. The only thing that discerns the the earth is the the dock.

 

I have a tremendous sense of place at our cabin. I’ve been going there since I was a little kid and have helped in many of the building changes, mowed its lawn, ate pancakes cooked by my grandma every morning, fried fish for dinners, and fished its waters. Fish stories and memories have been firmly set in my memory and the lore of the cabin. Bent hooks, broken rods, and big fish are remembered by uncles, nephews and cousins. A walk down the dock is the beginning and end of any fishing trip. Over the years the has changed in length, shape, style, and design. But regardless of how it looks it is ALWAYS there. I took these photos from that dock to capture a beautiful night.

The boat pictured here has been part of many, many fishing trips. It is decades old and has held up through perhaps a dozen different 4-10 horse engines. The night was so still the boat hardly rocked during this long exposure.
The boat pictured here has been part of many, many fishing trips. It is decades old and has held up through perhaps a dozen different 4-10 horse engines. The night was so still the boat hardly rocked during this long exposure.
This image is a single 8 minute exposure. The stillness of the night reflected the spinning stars captured above.
This image is a single 8 minute exposure. The stillness of the night reflected the spinning stars captured above.