April Snow Stroll

 Hey Tribe,

April (snow) showers bring May June flowers...

It just keeps snowing and snowing and snowing here and a lot of people aren't pleased, but we're too busy playing and admiring the beautifully white landscape to care if it's "supposed" to be spring or not.  We have sunshine, but it isn't warm and won't be warm for quite some time.  Typically, Southcentral Alaska doesn't see flowers until June anyway, so I'm ok to keep the white stuff a bit longer.

During one of these many snow shower days, TheMother and I braved the flakes and the roads to take the dogs on a much needed stroll.

Well, the humans strolled while the KBDs ran through the snow like fools.

Not surprisingly, Fly got too close to the riverbank's edge and she plunged completely into the water and had to swim a bit before she found a secure enough footing to haul her sopping wet body from the icy water.  She shook and rolled in the snow for a few seconds and hopped back up just as relatively dry as before she took the dunk.  I tried to have her hold still long enough for me to scan for injury, but she was too impatient and raced away to catch back up with Rex.

Rex, meanwhile, behaved more cautiously around the water and opted to only wade in as far as his ankles.

Typically, there is a view from the bridge that is quite picturesque and it is nearly obligatory for locals to take a photo whenever they visit the place.  So, naturally, I wanted to set my dogs up for said necessary photo - however, Fly had other plans for our pause in the middle of the bridge.

This is the photo I had in mind

Being a highly observant creature that craves high locations from which to better view the world, Fly decided the bridge's handrail would make for a better vantage point.  So, she made the leap.

She absolutely could have stuck the landing and been just fine parading back and forth along top of the handrail, but I wasn't willing to risk it - actually, I didn't really pause to consider the possibility, I just reached to catch my baby from possibly plummeting, again, into the river.

She's probably still thinking about trying it again.

Strolling through the woods felt safer to me for my daring duo and they had a riot hunting and sniffing in and out of the tall trees and then making mad dashes back to me when I re-called them for pork fat snacks.

However, the woods held another agility challenge that Fly found almost immediately and mastered easily.

Rexy very much wanted to be up there with her, but he couldn't figure out how she'd done it until I showed him; then he gleefully joined her up on the log and both dogs looked about them with superior satisfaction.

We found a wide snowy meadow of sorts - it's probably a swamp in any other season - and it was nice to be able to watch the dogs romp in the snow and explore the area.  It was also exceedingly pleasant to have the entire place to ourselves and I felt very lucky to be there right then with TheMother and the KBDs.

The not-currently-a-swamp's snow was several feet deep, but that didn't deter either dog: both merrily swam through and appeared to have a glorious time out there.  They must feel the same way I do whenever I step somewhere I've never been before.

While there, I wanted to see what kind of action shots I could get of the dogs with Little Buddy (our gopro), so I had the dogs sit and wait while I got myself set up with what I hoped was a good camera setting.  Then, on my signal, TheMother called the dogs and they streaked across the expanse of unmarked snow toward her, like very good dogs indeed.

I need to improve my skills.  It will be fun to return here next winter and see if I am able to produce clearer images.  

One more race across the bridge and our journey was nearly at an end, which was good, because I think we'd had enough adventure for one day.

Before we were completely finished, we did take some time to practice a long down stay; the tired but happy Karelians were content to lounge in the deep snow and collect snowflakes on their black backs as I took one more photo for the memory blog.

Little Buddy's First Night Shots

 Hey Tribe,

Little Buddy, our GoPro, finally got to show some night photography skills the other night.  We drove up to Hatchers around 9pm to try to see the Northern Lights that were supposedly going to be good for viewing, but it was too cloudy and too much snow was falling from the sky and I think my timing calculations were off.  No matter.  We salvaged the evening by taking a few test photos in the dark.

Fly made her own northern lights.

Not too bad, eh?  I didn't do anything fancy, just selected the "night mode," pressed the button, and held my breath while Little Buddy took the picture.  Not breathing was the only way I could try to hold still and also prevent my exhalation from clouding up the area.   Hopefully I can clean up a lot of the blur by having Little Buddy be more stable when taking night pics with the tripod that has finally arrived from Nu Bear.  I may still hold my breath though!

Now, if only Fly can remain still long enough to not be blurry - she likes to look around at everything and it messes up the exposure!  My ever observant KBD.

That night sky - so dreamy!

Black and White Photography

 Hey Tribe,

Black and white: my favorite colors!  But wow are black and white dogs challenging to photograph well: either their faces come out looking like dark holes in the universe and they have no eyes, or their white legs are completely clipped in the highlights.  I accept the challenge, because if it were easy there wouldn't be any learning or growth.

Those eyes!

The monthly calendar photo contest theme in one of my KBD facebook groups is "black and white in landscape."  With most of these "b&w photo challenges" people just take their regular photos, pop on a b&w filter, and call it good, but rarely do I think they're really decent images.  There should be more to a really good black and white photo than just removing color, because without color, the shapes, the lines, the contrast of light and dark become more necessary to tell the photo's story.  A good black and white photograph should take more consideration.

I'd like to improve my photography and take more deliberate photos; a little black and white challenge seems like a fun way to get going.  First, I scrolled through the photos I happened to have on my computer and selected a few I thought would transition decently into b&w images.  Here are the results:

This photo started out as a less than clear image to begin with: Fly is not in focus and the noise, or grain, in the photo is immense.  I do like how the glacier's lines and cracks are pronounced and I think snowy mountain peaks always look great in b&w.  But, without the color, you lose the cool effect of the location - you can't really tell that the foreground is ice and that Fly is walking on a glacier.  Glaciers might not be the best b&w subjects. 

This one isn't too bad.  Again, those craggy, snow clad mountain peaks are looking sharp.  However, I would have liked more contrast with the sky, so the clouds could be more prominent and add some drama.  Also, I think the foreground Fly is standing on has too much texture going on and it takes away from the mountains.  What I do love is the light falling across Fly's body and her shadow.  More of that, please.

I saved what I think is the best for last.  I loved this photo in color and I still really like it in b&w.  Shapes play more of a role now that the color is gone: the slope of the mountainside, the bend of the bush from the weight of the thick snow, the angle of Fly's ice coated body, the log that connects the bank to the river and mirrors the mountain slope.  It's all nicely composed.  What we miss is the gloriously soft winter sunlight that is glowing through the trees across the river.  How can I help that ah, shine, through?

I'll work on these points.  Hopefully it will help me become a better, more thoughtful photographer.  I'd like to take photos with a black and white outcome in mind, rather than just slapping a filter on any ol' photo.

Does This GoPro Make My Nose Look Big?

 Hey Tribe!

Guess what we got ourselves for Christmas?!

Yep, a GoPro Hero9 Black. 

It's name is Little Buddy.  

Naturally, we had to take Little Buddy out and give it a literal test run with the kicksled.  A temperature of 1*F meant we had the Palmer Hayflats to ourselves, which was great since the Karelians are out of practice with their sled pulling skills and manners.

Open water from the river across the flats created a thin fog that clung to our faces as we cruised.  Fly and Rex think they look tougher with frost on their bodies. Do you agree?

Wasilla Creek's unpredictable wandering rudely severed the trail, so we stopped for a play session while I assessed the possibility of carrying the kicksled across the ice floes and creek channel.  Would I slip and crash the sled and get wet and frozen?  Yes, most likely.

I decided discretion would be our motto for this trip, so we turned around and retraced our snowy tracks back toward the truck.  As we were navigating a particularly uneven and icy patch along the creek, the kicksled began making a slightly odd sound as it slid across the snow.  Imagine my surprise when I glanced down and saw we were missing an entire sled runner!  How far back had we lost it?!  I looked over my shoulder and to my relief the rogue runner was a mere 15 yards behind us. Whew.

The runner was simple to push back in place and remained obediently steadfast for the duration of our journey, but its attachment will need to be reassessed at some point soon.  Right now though, I'm too busy learning how to use our new GoPro, Little Buddy, and how to edit the movie clips and photos it captures.

Someone is all tuckered out from the adventure.

Expectation vs. Reality

Hey Tribe,

Fly and Rex donned their Easter fancy wear and posed for obligatory Easter photos. 

This is the photo I expected to get:

Expectation

It is such a nice photo, isn't it?  They sit calmly, obediently, and gaze into the distance whilst pondering some philosophical dog mystery.

However, this was my reality:

Reality

Utter chaos. 

Happily, it was all done in fun - they were in really good moods and I laughed a lot.

Often our expectations don't quite match our reality, but that's okay.  Not everything has to be perfect.  Which photo did you enjoy more?  I bet it wasn't the "Instagram worthy" photo.

P.S. These bandanas are from Komaloco and I absolutely adore them!