Flowers Near the Gilkey Glacier
Five Minutes in Eight Days
Five minutes. That’s the number of minutes of sunshine we had in eight days of wilderness camping during a photography workshop in the mountains near Juneau, Alaska last July. It was also the only time it stopped raining during those eight long days.
My January 27 blog post (https://cderus.zenfolio.com/blog/2023/1/type-2-fun-in-alaska) described Type II Fun. Type II Fun isn’t fun during the experience. It can become Type II Fun only when you reflect upon the experience weeks, months, or even years later.
Only taking two photographs during eight days when it was cold, dark, and rainy was not fun. But as we dried out and warmed up the next week, it turned into Type II Fun!
Getting dropped off by Wally, our pilot, just as the rain started. Note the doors are off for photography. It’s the third week in July in Alaska! We were surprised by how much snow was still on the ground.
Landscape photography is so exciting when the light and the atmosphere are special. The photograph in the January blog overlooking the Gilkey Glacier is one of those moments. And I had the experience of being in nature in stunning locations when the light wasn’t special. It isn’t just about getting the photo.
Friend and fellow photographer Jon Christofersen on his way down to the cooking/eating area (blue tarp in the distance). All the food and anything with a fragrance like toothpaste had to be stored here in bear-proof Kevlar bags 300 yards from our sleeping area.
A typical morning at breakfast. The coffee was always warm, even if we weren’t.
Making the Five Minutes Count
On day six of eight living in a tent in the rain, a small clearing was headed our way. We hiked about a mile to a different glacier overlook and hoped for some much-needed light on the landscape. We didn’t know, but it was our last chance for photography until we returned to Juneau and Petersburg two days later.
The Shot
I was a little slow to arrive at the location. Going downhill on boulders and slippery ground proved to be more treacherous than it looked. My days as a gazelle are long over!
The spot of light was already fading by the time I found a composition and adjusted my camera settings. Because I wanted everything in focus from the flowers a foot in front of me to the distant mountains miles away, I took a series of photos focused at different distances.
By the time I finished my first series, the light had vanished. And the rain wasn’t far behind. I packed up my gear and headed back to my dry tent.
I initially overlooked this image. But I revisited my Alaska images recently and thought it might make a pleasing image and memory.
I’ll never forget that five minutes of amazing sunshine in the Alaskan wilderness!
Thanks for looking,
Chuck Derus