What Do You Do in the Winter?

This question is aimed at Alaskans and Canadians living north of, say, 6- degrees north latitude. In Fairbanks we are down to less that four hours of daylight, and not yet at the bottom of the well (3:41 on December 21). There's about two hours when there's enough light to be useful. So nature photography is kind of grim.

What do you as a nature photographer do in the winter? Sort slides? Clean your equipment? Daydream through B & H's on-line store? Plan trips to places with decent amounts of daylight?

Granted I'm a bit further south in Wasilla, but I worked last year on the aurora (hey, you didn't say "What do you do in the winter "days"!). I plan on continuing that trend this season and doing some snowshoeing photography. The great thing is, I can still sleep in a bit and make it to sunrise - no complaining here. I basically catch up on all the sleep I lost shooting late into the night and early into the morning during the summer. Plus, I'm an avid snowmobiler (sorry, still used to calling that - being from Wisconsin and all - a snow "machine" is something that makes snow, not rides on top of it). And, I'm always daydreaming of something... kind of my thing.

Hi guys, I may be visiting Alaska (potentially on a cruise, but maybe just flying straight in) around the end of March/start of April. What is that time of year like for photography? I am mianly interested in wildlife but will do the odd landscape from time to time too.

Just checked out both your blogs etc and you have some great images

Hello Richard
Thanks for the kind words regarding our images. In March/April you will probably be somewhat limited in your options. Unless you're into winter sports. That time of year, the days are getting longer, but there will likely be a good deal of snow still on the ground in the lower lying areas, most definitely in the mountains. You could hope for clear skies and head north (Fairbanks). The problem is, most guide services are not operating yet: tour boats (whales/glaciers/sea life) start in late May/June, the same with bear guides going to Katmai, Denali National Park will not be "operating" yet. The good thing is, most tours/lodging that are operating should still be offering their "off-season" rates. You may want to get down to Homer, there may still be a good deal of bald eagles on/around the Spit, but the feeding will end April 1st. Hope this helps, feel free to email me directly if you like, I'd be glad to help.

Jim,
What do I do in the winter? Well, I actually like winter a lot for photography. Being down here in SouthCentral, yes, we have a bit more light than you guys way up there! I like winter, though, there's not all the tourists and people that are around here in the summer. Like David said, you can sleep in and still make it somewhere in time for sunrise. I like that.... Snowshoeing and x-country skiing both can be good ways to get places. There's a pristins beauty in the winter that's just not there in the summer.
I actually end up with more photos in the middle of winter than I do in the middle of summer. I also try to get caught up on going through all my digital files and deleting and organizing. Still, it seems like I just end up buying another back-up hard drive every winter, too.

Submissions!

Richard -

Thanks for the kind words. As Dave says, your options are a bit limited that early, but there are options. It's still winter, outside of southeastern Alaska. But there are dog mushing trips, including some into the deep wilderness. They are expensive, but you can go places and see things that are otherwise impossible. At a number of places, you can see the Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race or the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, depending on when you arrive. In Fairbanks, the Open North American Sled Dog Race is underway. Also in Fairbanks, the Ice Carving competition can be pretty amazing. It's dark enough through mid-March that there can be some excellent aurora viewing opportunities as well.

The light tends to be excellent, but the scenery fairly monochromatic. A lot of nature is still asleep. You are unlikely to find a cruise ship that early, although the Alaska Marine Highway can be fun. But if you are after nature colors, critters, birds or flora, you'd probably be out of luck. Spring really starts in early May outside of southeastern Alaska, and really in early June in the mountains.

Hope this helps.

Guys, thanks so much for the replies. We have since found out, that like you say Jim, it's too early for the cruise ships. So Alaska may go on hold for now, instead we are maybe going to go to Jackson Hole in Wyoming, so I'm now trying to find out what wildlife etc can be had in that area.

Thanks again for the replies, I'll certainly keep my eye on this section of NPN for inspiration when the time comes to visit

Use a tripod! Shoot auroras and other long exposures! Buy more cameras and film! Find out the best cameras and so forth for long -40 exposures. Drink hot buttered rum. I've also been processing a backlog of about 125 rolld of E-6 and doing some B/W printing (in the UAF lab). Oh, scanning 35mm too. Planning my April-May UP (Michigan) bike trip's film types and route.

what is this thing you say... "film"? I am not familiar with the word, is it something that lays on top of the buttered rum when you let it sit for too long?