Wildlife Images from Alaska’s Inside Passage from Stephen Lefkovits on Vimeo.

Those of us from Down Below frequently refer to “Alaska” as if it were a single place or eco-system. Alaska is as big as the 11 central plains states and is at least as varied and diverse as the region from Oklahoma to North Dakota. The Inside Passage is part of a coastal system that extends from Puget Sound in Washington state to Anchorage, a 3,500 mile arc along the Pacific and the Gulf of Alaska.

To an outsider, one of the most striking features of this landscape is the profusion of fish – specifically salmon – in these waters. Salmon are a predictor of healthy habitat as they require clean, oxygenated water as well as several different types of food (plankton, kelp, seaweed, insects, and crustaceans) to thrive.

In turn, salmon are a key protein source for mammals (whales, bears, humans) and predatory birds like eagles.

Seen from sea level in an 18-foot fishing boat, the Chatham Strait and the islands like Admiralty, Baranof and Chichagof are of enormous, intimidating scale. The islands are mountains that extend a thousand feet below the clear water’s surface. Without roads, buildings or skyscrapers, the landscape dwarfs man and makes it apparent just how tenuous is our place in this environment.

This collection of images is during a week’s visit in July of 2010 to Whalers Cove Lodge on Killisnoo Island in the Inside Passage. Killisnoo neighbors Admiralty Island. Together, they are south of Glacier Bay National Park and Haines, Alaska. With the help of expert guides I got to see excellent examples of the diversity of life in the area. A week is not enough to gain a complete picture of behavior, but provided a good sampling of the area.

Thank you to the owners and staff of Whaler’s Cove Lodge in Angoon, Alaska for their kind hospitality and guiding. WhalersCoveLodge.com.

For prints and image usage rights please contact steve@pacific-landscapes.com.

On the evening of September 15, 2009 Marcus and I made a quick run to Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay for a good vantage point from which to try out a little time-lapse photography. Using an intervalometer, we fired about 140 frames in 2.5 minutes.

The sun, the orange glow and the Golden Gate Bridge all cooperated famously for this one. The frames were stacked in Photoshow Producer and the timeline was compressed down to 8 seconds. There’s a little jump in the middle where I stopped the sequence to change from JPEG to RAW. It was an unnecessary move. Next time I’ll just shoot JPEG images the whole way through.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

On four occasions I’ve had the opportunity to photograph Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park.¬† The first was canceled due to punishing hail and in the second my images were terrible.¬† The third time wasn’t the charm either.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

On my August 2009 trip, I finally realized that while the name is Rocky Mountain National Park, its scenic power derives in part from the awe-inspiring theater in the sky created by the weather conditions along the Continental Divide.¬† (“Rocky Mountain Skies” park?)¬† As a car-borne photographer, the mountains are difficult to “get close to” and harder still to photograph distinctively.¬† Mountains get lost among the many peaks.¬† I am challenged to answer satisfactorily the “so-what” question of nature photography.¬† Silhouette or side-lit, good photos of mountains as obelisks elude me.

The rapidly changing skies bring noteworthiness within reach.¬† Clouds shaped like jack o’lanterns, heat lightning at nightfall.¬† Cirrus eclipse of the full moon followed by the crack of lightning.¬† A waning moon high in the sky at sunrise.¬† And of course, the daily 4PM thunderstorm that drops rain somewhere – but not always on us.¬† Which brings the rainbow.¬† And on it goes.

This short video (2:24) contains a few handfuls of the best images from my trips.¬† Please let me know how it strikes you, and how it can be improved.¬† I’m very interested in finding compelling ways to present images online and any insights are much appreciated.¬† Any ideas about how to uniquely present images online to an already saturated viewership are much appreciated.

Musical accompaniment is licensed under the Creative Commons from Arnaud Conde’s album Velvorn: The Bladed Druid.