Cantwell Creek

Well it is officially butt cold here in Cantwell, Alaska! I have been going out each night looking to see if I can find a caribou for the freezer but, even the caribou think it is too cold and are not showing their furry little faces. I have been seeing a few wolf tracks and a lot of other smaller vermin tracks. I really hope to see the critters that are making all these tracks.

Since all the animals have been hiding I have taken a little time to shoot a few photos of the area that I have been hunting in up here in Alaska. It really is very beautiful and the light is always low on the horizon this time of year so, it makes for good light to shoot some photos in.

Talkeetna Mountain Range

While I was back in Montana I shot a few photos of the Milky Way when we were at hunting camp. The results were mixed but, I had a few that turned out alright. Let me know what you think of them. I will be shooting some more of these photos and working on some different compositions as I find them. If the snow keeps falling in Cantwell, I will be setting up the Arctic Oven soon so, that we can do some winter camping and should give me some time to do more night photography to share with all of you.

I am already thinking of some ideas for this summer down in Montana. I hope to follow through with a couple of interviews and photo ideas I have here in Cantwell of some really interesting and great people. I will be showing all sorts of photos here on the Blog and hopefully some sneak peeks of some of the projects I have in mind. Please leave me comments here or drop me an email of what you think or what you would like to see more of.

Chat at ya soon,
Justin

The Mason Boys

What a wonderful week in Montana for the Mason family! Memories were made and good times had by all. The weather was great, just what you would expect for a fall trip to Montana, a little brisk at times but, big blue skies for a majority of the trip! 

Ryan posing after making a 321 yard shot with his Kimber 270 WSM!!!

Montana and Alaska hunting and fishing has given me and my family much joy over the years. Both fishing and hunting bring about almost every emotion that a person can experience out at some time or another. There are the obvious happy moments when one is successful and lands that king salmon or harvests an elk to put in the freezer. The emotions that most don’t talk about are those moments when your lungs are burning from the thin air high in the mountains where the critters live hoping not to be bothered by us or when your toes are frozen from standing in glacial fed rivers for hours casting over and over hoping a fish of some sort will tug on the end of your line. These moments bring out a little frustration and pain at times. However, when your successful it is all worth it!

Nice shot, the first of a double.

The thing that keeps me hunting and fishing though is not the success or failure it is the experiences and memories that happen when you are out in the field with family and friends. When you are on the rivers in a raft chasing fish or hiking along the continental divide hunting elk in high mountain meadows you see things that most only dream about or read about and when those things happen they are talked about and lied about in camp or on the river for years to come.

All the way from Alaska to finish up the second half of the Double!

For example, this last weekend my brother stuck his truck in a muddy creek bottom, my daughter shot a 22 rifle for the first time, my nephew scoped himself when he harvested his elk, my other nephew learned why you should not eat a giant cinnamon roll and drink a huge glass of chocolate milk at 5 AM on OPENING DAY, Ryan had a monster smile on his face after getting his buck, Erik had a moment of fear when we got a double while elk hunting and he realized that we had to pack them both out on our backs, mom cooked us amazingly good food and lots of it, Jeni wanted to unleash her feary on us every morning when we woke her up at 5 AM eating breakfast, dad was there to bounce our ideas off and shake his head at us when we did foolish things that he taught us not to do, such as shoot a double when you know it is coming out on your back. The list could go on forever, those are just the ones that come to mind to right now. 

Next year we will return to the same hunting and fishing grounds and embellish the stories from the years past even though they usually don’t need any embellishment. We will make new memories and hopefully the tradition will continue on for many years to come. 

Never seen anything like this before!

I will blog about individual memories, experiences, and adventures in the coming months but, for now enjoy the photos from the opening weekend in Montana. 

The kiss of a 270 WSM is not as delicate as Lexi's kiss! 

Don’t forget to visit a2rphotos.com for more photos. 

Love it when things work out!

Remember get outside and make some memories.

Justin

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Shot a few photos of the Aurora the other night with Jaydyn. She pushed the shutter release button on every photo and was so proud of her self. I have to say that I was pretty proud of her also. It snowed a little down here in Anchorage last night. So, hopefully when we get back we can start playing in the snow.

Hope you enjoy the photos!

Enjoy the photos

Justin

It was a brisk beautiful morning yesterday here in Cantwell, Alaska. As I looked out the window and saw the frost laying on all the tundra plants there was a warm glow highlighting all of it. So, as quick as I could I ran outside with the camera to look at the sky and see what was creating all the color on the ground. As I walked up the the road the sun was creating a bright flame with the clouds while it came over the Talkeetna mountains. A wonderful way to start out the morning. 

Jaydyn and I later in the day walked down to the school to visit the kids at lunch time. However, we got a little distracted on the way down to the school breaking the ice on mud puddles, taking photos of the dogs, and looking for spruce hens along the roads. 

The light in Alaska during the fall, winter, and early spring is great for shooting photography since it always low on the horizon when it shows itself in between winter storms. It can be a little cold shooting photos up here in the winter for shooting photos but, with a little prep and a lot of warm clothes it can be rewarding. 

With all of your optics in the winter if you put wrap them in a towel before you come inside with them it will prevent the warm air of the indoors from condensing  on the cold surface of the optics or camera. If you have them inside of a case just leave them in the case for a few hours until it warms slowly. 

When  I get back from the trip to MT the snow will have flown here and more than likely started to accumulate on the ground. Which will be good so that I can get the snow machine  out which makes travel around Alaska much easier. I will be sure to get out and shoot as many photos of the area as I can so, that you all can see the area I call home here in Alaska. 

Good luck to all of you that are going hunting next week in Montana and be safe.

Until next time 

Justin 

Cantwell sunset. I love nights like these!

Well, we got our wish here in cantwell the last couple of days, the sun came out and has been providing some beautiful scenery in the early AM and late in the afternoons. It looks as if it will be short lived since they are predicting snow on Saturday but, it is Alaska after all. The sun is getting lower on the horizon everyday and it won't be long before it will be too low on the horizon to show any light on our house directly. This is just because we live so close to the mountains on this side of town.

Tractor trailer passing the Alaska range.

Jaydyn keeps asking how long until we can go kick sledding. It is hard for a three year old to understand why the snow stays up on the mountain tops and won't come down to the valley floor so we can run the dogs. It won't be long though and we will have plenty of it here on the valley floor to play with and create plenty of work shoveling it.

I shot a few photos of an interesting sunset the other night when I was out looking to see if there were any bears still moving around the hill sides eating cranberries. Needless to say I wasn't really prepared to be shooting sunsets since, I didn't have my tripod. However, I was still able to get a few decent shots. I will put some of the better shots on my website for you to check out and purchase if you would like. I didn't see any bears but, plenty of moose showed themselves and I saw some wolf sign on the trail.

Jeni and I purchased some prints of our own from our website and they turned out great! I have posted a few more photos on the site and will be adding more in the near future as I go through photos from this fall and summer. Hopefully as the winter continues on I will capture some more beautiful winter scenery that I will post. So, keep checking the website for new photos and slide shows at http://a2rphotos.com/ .

I am looking to shoot more photos of people such as portraiture, weddings, and events of any kind. I am also looking for some interesting architecture and buildings with character to shoot over the this winter. So, if you have any ideas let me know I would love to here from you. My email address is a2rphotos@me.com .

Waiting to go home.

I am excited to get out and shoot some photos in our up coming trip to Montana. I will post these when I return from Montana since I will be out of internet service most of the time. I love being out in the boonies!!!!

Play hard outside!!

Won't be long and we will be back on the sled!!!

Justin

Last night after watching an online training provided by Jason Lanier about how he captured different types of shots I started looking at shots that I have taken in the past. It brought back lots of great memories when Jaydyn was an infant, hunting memories, family outings, and all sorts of exciting times in the outdoors. I want to start sharing some of these photos with all of you so that you may receive some enjoyment out of them like I have. My photography has surely improved over the years and it still has a long ways to go but, that is what I love about it.

I am hoping that the rain will quit soon around here up in Cantwell so that I can get out there and starting shooting some more photos. It has been raining and snowing off and on around here in Cantwell an awful lot  this fall. However, looking at the forecast it appears that we may get a little sun starting tomorrow, keeping my fingers crossed.

The three J's are getting very excited about our trip to Montana to see family, do some rifle hunting with the rest of the Mason clan, and celebrate Jaydyn's 4th birthday. Ryan has a special deer tag for SW Montana and because he is still sort of a youngin according to the state of Montana he can start hunting two days before everyone else. I really hope to capture some more memories on film during this week of fun in the outdoors of the big sky country. Jaydyn is getting more and more excited as each day passes and her birthday approaches. She really wants the pink gun from Sportsman's Warehouse and a pink bow and arrows. There is a spruce hen that we see almost everyday on the way to the Cantwell school to visit Jeni. Jaydyn really wants that bird for dinner one of these nights. It is hard to explain to a three year old that has been raised in Alaska that we are to close to our neighbors house to be shooting guns.

I am looking for anyone that is interested in taking a two day photography workshop here in Cantwell. Jason Lanier will come to Alaska and provide one of his seminars if I am able to get 5 people together that would like to participate. You can look at his website at the following link  www.jasonlanierproductions.com  . He is one of the most honest individuals I have met and his work is amazing. The cost of the two day workshop is $450. If you are interested email me at a2rphotos@me.com . I have been attending some free live streaming events that he has been providing the last couple of weeks while he is beta testing the process to live stream some of his workshops in the future. He will not sell or provide anything unless the quality is essentially perfect.

Keep on playing in the outdoors.





Justin    

After dropping dad off at the Fairbanks Airport and grabbing a few supplies from town we started the 2 1/2 hour drive home. But, on this night it was going to take a little longer to get home since Alaska was showing off all of its beauty. First, the sun gave us an amazing show as it headed behind the horizon of the vast tundra west of Nenana. We stopped and shot a few photos road side. Numerous people and vehicles traveling down the parks highway joined us in watching the free show that mother nature was providing. Jaydyn even got in on the photo op, shooting a few photos of her own with Jeni's I-phone.

If the sun set wasn't enough for us, when we hit the Northeast boundry of Denali National Park just South of Healy Jeni looked up toward the heavens and saw the Northern lights starting a show of their own. We pulled over so that we could try and capture the illusive lights. I had the camera, the shutter cable, plenty of room on the memory card, tripod, but no head on the tripod to hold the camera. Dad and I had taken it off and put it on my window mount to look for caribou a few days before and it had been left home with the hunting gear. So, instead of shooting photos we sat and watched the show for a few minutes.

Now that Jaydyn shot a few photos with Jeni's phone she said that she wants to take pictures with daddy's big camera so, Monday was the day that Jaydyn made daddy proud shooting photos with a canon 5 D. Granted I had to help her support the camera as she looked through the view finder and composed her shot. I set the camera on aperture priority and she started shooting away, taking photos of  the dogs, the Jack River, and the most popular subject bushes. It was great to see the photos that came out of the camera when a 3 year old is looking through the view finder.

Jaydyn's first SLR shoot

Jaydyn's composition

Jaydyn's composition

Jaydyn's composition

If you are interested in shooting the Aurora when it is dark out follow the steps below and you should get some fairly good results. Keep experimenting with how long your exposure times are for different results. Remember to have fun!

1. Place camera on Tripod
2. Point it to the heavens
3. Aperture all the way open (ex. f/5.6 or smaller number)
4. Camera on Bulb mode.
5.Push and hold shutter release for different amounts of time until desired result is achieved. (ex. 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes) This will really depend on how much ambient light is available and how bright the Aurora is. Remember have fun.

Get out doors, shoot guns, bows, and cameras and make some memories!!!!

Justin