Author Archives: John Thurston

Barbara Over The Glacier

by John Thurston

This is the “peninsula” which has figured in many of my recent submissions to the folio. Scan001101As you look at this, the Mendenhall Glacier is receding up the valley to your left and the newly exposed rock surfaces are below you on the right. We’ve crossed the peninsula at the highest point you see and walked down to the edge of the ice. We’ve traveled along the edge of the ice and climbed this cliff to have lunch and try to get some perspective.

The blue-ice caves we’ve visited are down at the edge of the ice. The hikers in the center of the frame are heading back to the trail after visiting the glacier. The forest service visitor’s center is visible on the far side of the lake in the center of the frame. In the winter, I’ll skate or ski from there to the glacier to try to capture images of its presence.

Twenty years ago, every inch of this peninsula was under ice. The spot my wife is sitting would have been about 200′ below the surface. Twenty years from now, these smooth cliffs will be covered in scrub alder and willow and the contours will be hidden forever.

Tripod mounted TL120-1

Under The Ryndam

by John Thurston

Scan001097In Tight Lines I referenced one of the changes I’ve seen in in the last ten years, namely the prohibition on getting too close to the ships tied to our public docks. While there is now a plastic fence bolted down the middle of the dock and signs assuring us that maritime safety depends on keeping everyone on the correct side of the fence, there is a remaining bit of sanity. Twenty feet from the fence (and where I stood to create Tight Lines), there is a ramp to the tender-float. When there are too many ships in the harbor to dock them all, they anchor out and bring their passengers in by small boat. The float to which they tie is directly under the bow of first ship moored at the dock. From there, I attempted to capture the immensity of the ships which visit us.

The ship pictured here is the Ryndam. At 101 feet wide, it is almost Panamax-width and could well be the same ship pictured in Tight Lines. Some of the ships which frequent Juneau are a bit wider and taller than Ryndam, but few of them moor at this dock. A skiff with two men in it is provided for scale. The building the background is four stories tall.

Tripod mounted TL120

Disappearance of a cavern

by John Thurston
Tl120 on a tripod

Note the rock with white-quartz knob

TL120-55 on a tripod

The top of that rock is in the lower right corner

While I know that all four of my images in the last loop from the Mendenhall Glacier, it is where my camera has most frequently been pointed in the past year.  Experiencing the changing ice and witnessing the emergence of fresh ground is thrilling.

Back in June of 2007, I stood in the middle of a stream which had torn a hole in the side of the ice.  The water was disappearing into the darkness under the glacier as it ran out to the lake. It was a bit disconcerting to make my way down the rock-face so I could stand in the stream of snow-melt and make the image.  It would have been a wet, hypothermic climb had I been knocked down and over the edge 😛

A little over a year later, I stood in the same stream and was stunned by the change.  I attempted another image from the same location as before, but found the composition totally boring.  Instead, I brought the camera forward about eight feet.  This was still in the stream, but my tripod had better footing and the composition had some foregound interest and receding lines.  By chance, a rock from the earlier image is present in the lower right of the later image.  It helps give an idea of how much has changed.

The first image was shot with my TL120-1 while the second was shot with my wide-angle TL120-55.  Both cameras were tripod mounted.

Both images are mounted in 46x52mm (MFW) mounts from Rocky Mountain Memories.  I really like the mount.  The aperture is 2mm wider and 6mm taller than the normal 40×50 (MFL) mount.  Give them a try if you can get your hands on any.

Fresh Stone

by John Thurston
TL120-1 on a tripod

TL120-1 on a tripod

As my previous submission to the folio demonstrate,  I have been exploring the freshly exposed ground left by the retreating Mendenhall glacier.  What I find are features, shapes, textures and colors which have been exposed to us for no more than ten years.  In some cases, the rock has exposed in the previous month and my feet and hands are some of the first things to touch the surface since the ice left.

This is a texture, shape and color study.  I am fascinated by the sparkling mica and quartz, the conflicting contour lines and rock layers, and by the macro-scopically smooth shapes which closer study shows to be an extremely rough surface.

It was shot with my TL120-1 (so 80mm lenses) which was tripod mounted.  I made exactly one exposure, but I’m pleased enough with the results that I want to make more.

Tight Lines

by John Thurston
Sputnik on a tripod - Provia 100F

Sputnik on a tripod - Provia 100F

The Steamship Wharf in downtown Juneau has sufficient capacity to moor three cruise ships.  When the dock is full, others must anchor in the channel and lighter their passengers in. When the ships are able to tie up, they tower over the library (which is immediately adjacent to the wharf); these are big.  Depending on the ship, they may use six, seven or eight hawsers to secure themselves to the dock.  Each of these lines is continually monitored by the ship-board watch and let out or tightened to accommodate the motion of the boat and the tide.

I really like the way the lines radiate out to the ship and disappear into the hull openings.  For a couple of years I was able to make these images and I was starting to figure out what it would take to get everything in focus and have a good composition.  Then “they” rammed a couple of planes into a pair of skyscrapers on the other side of the globe and the Department of Homeland Hysterics took over our docks.  The consequence is that I can no longer get close enough to the lines to again attempt this image.  Yes, the foreground is soft, but that’s the way it’s gonna be 🙁

Tripod mounted Sputnik, Provia 100F

Golden Canyon

by John Thurston

scan001049Golden Canyon is located on the central east side of Death Valley.   My first shot (provia 100f with a Rolleidoscop 100th f11/16) is looking back from Golden Canyon at the mountains on the west side of the Valley. There are many good hikes with wonderful opportunities for stereo photography in Death Valley but you need to be in the right place at the right time for the right light. I will go back again to spend more time as I found 3 days was not enoughscan001050 to get the lay of the land (and light) for all the locations. It helps to have a 4 wheel drive as well (we didn’t this time but will next) as many of the great locations to shoot are only accessible on bad roads.

I went a little farther along the hike into Golden Canyon for another shot (provia 100f Rolleidoscope 100th f16). You could spend days walking all the small side trails that take off in all directions in there. Like I said, I will go back to spend more time shooting and getting to more locations with a 4WD.

The Devils Golf Course

by John Thurston

scan001048Again in Death Valley. The Devils Golf course is part of an old dry lake bed where the elements have heaved up the soil into hard hollow mounds. The white looks like snow but it’s salt from the ancient salt lake. It’s very difficult to walk on and the salt crystals are sharp so you don’t want to trip and fall! My shadow is there on purpose, to give some idea of the size of the mounds.
Provia 100F with a Rolleidoscop 1/100 at f/16

Sand Dunes at Death Valley

by John Thurston

scan001047I shot this between sand storms at the sand dunes in central Death Valley last January. The wind had been up for most of the day but settled late in the afternoon for a short time so I managed to get a few shots off before the sand started blowing again. As soon as the wind came up again I had to cram the Rollei into my jacket and walk the 1/2 mile back to the car through blowing sand. If you’ve never been to Death Valley I highly recomend it. It was much more interesting and photogenic than I had imagined and I plan to go back to do more shooting. But avoid the summer as it can get well over 120F out there! It was around 70F while we were there in January.
Provia 100F shot with my Rolleidoscop 100th f16

Big Sur, CA

by John Thurston

scan001045This was taken from the balcony of a restaurant somewhere on Highway 1 in Big Sur, California. The mist hung over the ocean for while that day as I remember it. I would have liked to have been able to see the water.
Shot with Kodak Techpan with a Sputnik f/22 1/2 sec