Category Archives: a23

Taking a Call on Paul Bunyan’s Foot

by Paul Shay

Taking a Call on Paul Bonyan's Foot

The giant statues of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe must be among the most photographed tourist spots. It is a bit ironic to find this lumberjack in the middle of the tiny remnants of old-growth redwood forest when it was his profession that cut 97% of the redwood forest. Many visitors are impressed when Paul engages them in conversation, although this girl sitting on his foot seems more interested in the conversation on her cell phone. Original slide shot August 13, 2009 with a tripod-mounted Heidoscop with Provia 100P at 1/80th at f18.

Yurok Open Pit Salmon Bar-B-Que

by Paul Shay

Yurok Open Pit Salmon Bar-B-Que This open pit salmon bar-b-que was photographed at the 46th Annual Yurok Tribe Salmon Festival in Klamath, California. A lot of the discussion focused on the collapse of the salmon fishery, central to the social, cultural, spiritual and economic life of the Yurok Tribe. The salmon tasted great.

Original slide shot August 16, 2009 with a tripod-mounted Heidoscop with Provia 100P at 1/50th at f22.

It All Started Right Here

by Paul Shay

It All Started Right Here

I am not a car buff but I am impressed by the huge amount of work enthusiasts invest in restoring old vehicles. The contrast between this 36 Chevy and the magnificent restored cars illustrates how much skill, time and money is required to transform a pile of junk into a winning car. Photographed at the Cool Northern Nights On The Coast 6th Annual Benefit Car Show in Crescent City, California, organized by the Northern Knights Car Club. Original slide shot August 15, 2009 with a tripod-mounted Heidoscop with Provia 100P at 1/50th at f18.

Triple 32 Roadster

by Paul Shay

Triple 32 Roadster

This 32 roadster was photographed at the Cool Northern Nights On The Coast 6th Annual Benefit Car Show in Crescent City, California, organized by the Northern Knights Car Club. The show takes place in the beautiful port of Crescent City, and shows an impressive range of show cars.  I hope you see why I titled it Triple 32 Roadster.

Original slide shot August 15, 2009 with a tripod-mounted Heidoscop with Provia 100P at 1/30th at f25. 

Raining Under The Ice

by John Thurston

Scan001098

This image is made much farther under the ice than Path To The Underworld. It felt, however, much less dangerous and I spent almost half an hour enjoying the space and composing images. A cavern like this this has required months to open and is fairly stable and mature, while the sliver revealed in Path is probably only weeks old and still changing rapidly.

If you have a wide-angle viewer, this would be an excellent time to bring it out. In any case, you will need a bright viewer to reveal the details in the wet floor, but this is my favorite from the set of images I made that day.

This was shot with my TL120-55 on a tripod.

Path To the Underworld

by John Thurston

Scan001099Another image shows what’s going on above the ice, but here we’re down under the edge of the ice. We’ve gone back in time far enough that this section of rock has never seen the light of day. The wear-grooves are visible in the rock as are the gravel and sand which the ice used to make the the grooves. Next August, I may be walking on this section of stone, though I doubt I’ll be able to locate it exactly.

Walking around the cliffs above the glacier can make you feel small. But screwing up the nerve to climb down and place a tripod under the glacier makes me feel mortal (and upsets my wife).

Tripod mounted TL120-1

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