Himba village, Nambia, October 2021
Looking down from the tram tower on top of Heavenly Resort as one of the cars leaves for the base of the mountain, carrying wedding guests back down at the end of the evening. This was the perfect photo to end on, after a joyous celebration.
I have less than 24 hours left here in Tahoe and I plan to make the most of it. Let's see what magic I can discover before I leave...
We couldn't have asked for better weather and light for yesterday's wedding on the mountain at Heavenly. As far as backdrops go, it's tough to beat Lake Tahoe at sunset. Congratulations to the lovely couple - my good friends Erin and Kate. It was an honor to be part of your special day and a pleasure to photograph such a wonderful event. Best wishes for you on your journey together.
Much love,
Colin
Here is another photo from last's night's stunning sunset over Lake Tahoe. Capturing this required me to wade out into the water and get blasted with waves for a half hour or so, but the results were worth it. If you know me, you know that I always strive for a different angle than what's already been done, and I'm willing to go the extra mile to find it.
On that note, I am off to photograph a wedding on the mountain at Heavenly Resort, overlooking the lake.
Cheers,
Colin
The sun rises on a new day here in Lake Tahoe. This is a big day, a day of new beginnings. My friends are getting married and it is my mission to capture the mood and the moments, to tell the story through photographs. After shooting well past sunset last night, waking up at 4 am and driving over to Emerald Bay to catch the sunrise, I need to rest, focus, and recharge my batteries, both literally and metaphorically.
Namaste,
Colin
There is nothing like experiencing a place for the first time and discovering all that it has to offer. Everything is new – the scenery, the light, the energy, and it will never be that way again. You may go back and explore more intensively, likely adding to your body of work, possibly improving on what you’ve already done, but you will never see it the same as you did the first time and experience the magic of being someplace new.
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Goodnight from Lake Tahoe, and never stop exploring.
Colin
One of my favorite photos of Brian and Sophia from last Saturday's wedding at the historic Kennecott Mine near McCarthy, Alaska. This was taken in one of the old cabins, utilizing the natural light coming through the windows along with a flash bounced off of the ceiling to create the ethereal effect.
As it turns out, the old mining buildings at Kennecott make for some very interesting, albeit unconventional wedding photos. I was really looking forward to photographing here, the possibilities are endless.
Monday morning I was enjoying the simple life in McCarthy, Alaska, a tiny community on the edge of Wrangell St. Elias National Park that has no electrical grid, where drinking water is still gathered from a local creek. Barely 24 hours and 300 road miles later, I was in Anchorage delivering a presentation on my journey through India to the Downtown Rotary Club. My life is often unsettled and chaotic and I’m generally running on a perpetual lack of sleep, but never is it boring, nor would I have it any other way.
I’ve received great feedback from those in attendance yesterday and have also been asked to do this program for another rotary group. Just prior to taking the podium someone asked me if I was nervous. My response was that it’s not nerves, but when I share my images and experiences, especially from a place like India, I do it wholeheartedly. I feel enormous pressure to deliver a strong message to accompany my images, to convey the magic and the feelings I experienced during the moment the photograph was created. I truly enjoy public speaking and sharing what I do, and I look forward to every opportunity that comes my way to do just that.
Cheers,
Colin
This past weekend I drove 300 miles (each way) to the remote Alaska town of McCarthy to photograph a wedding at the Historic Kennecott Mine. The last 40-50 miles is gravel road that intersects portions of Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve, our nations largest national park – almost six times the size of Yellowstone. We couldn’t have asked for better weather or a more idyllic setting for what turned out to be one of the wildest wedding parties I’ve had the pleasure of working with. The bride and her bridesmaids all wore cowboy boots, the couple was transported to the reception in a meat wagon pulled by a four-wheeler, and the fireworks and Fireball Whiskey added just the right amount of Alaskan redneck flare to make it authentic. We topped off the evening by watching the entire wedding party jump into the local swimming hole in full dress. Of course, the only way to properly capture this was to strip down to my underwear and wade into the chest deep water for the best angle. Sometimes you just have to go the extra mile to get the shot, and having such a fun group of people made it that much easier. Congratulations Brian and Sophia, it was an honor and an adventure to photograph your special day.
Well, this put a bounce in my step...I just received word that one of my tiger photos from India made the Editors' Spotlight for the ‪#‎LetsExplore‬ hashtag challenge on National Geographic’s Your Shot page. Out of nearly 12,000 images, mine made the Top 10 as selected by National Geographic photographer David Guttenfelder, curator of the challenge. Every little step is a step in the right direction!
As I write this, my Facebook page currently has 997 likes, just 3 shy of a new milestone. Thank you all for staying tuned and appreciating what I do. Feel free to share this post and let’s see if we can surpass 1,000 likes today!
Cheers,
Colin
Here is one final, parting swan image before I move on to another subject.
Today was a bit more introspective. It seems I've been singular in purpose lately, so rather than carry my telephoto in the hopes of catching wildlife action, I put the big lens into my pack and kept my wide angle and macro at the ready. I hit the trails early, before the light was harsh and the wind started blowing, and took a closer look at the forest to appreciate the finer details it has to offer. The textures of the wormwood flowers and fern perfectly conveyed the mood I was feeling.
Swans, like geese, mate for life, so when I discovered this solitary trumpeter near the Nature Center last week I reasoned that it had probably lost its partner. Yesterday, while I was photographing, I noticed it tilting its head as if it was listening for sounds in the distance and possibly hearing the call of another individual swan. After nearly four hours of observing and taking photos, it began to call and swim back and forth in a pacing manner, which led me to believe it was getting ready to take flight. I positioned myself and sure enough, it beat its wings on the water and took off up the valley, hopefully to find a new mate and breed.
To honor my favorite day of the year and welcome the new season, I spent four hours with this trumpeter swan earlier today. Happy Summer Solstice from Eagle River Valley.
Good morning from Eagle River Valley.
For the life of me, I can't imagine a better way to begin the day than in the grace of a trumpeter swan. Once again, a moose passed behind the swan but they did not line up for me today. I would have gladly stayed longer but I have obligations - I am photographing a wedding at Sheep Mountain today.
There are days when everything lines up for me, quite literally. In this case, it was a trumpeter swan and a bull moose in the same frame. First I saw the swan, which was surprising since I have not seen one here in Eagle River Valley since April 10 of this year. As I was photographing the swan I heard something crashing in the distance, which caught both of our attention. Shortly thereafter the moose came into view, walked along the water’s edge and stopped right behind the swan, setting up a rare photo opportunity. In the midst of all this a pair of greater yellowlegs flew onto the scene but I politely told them they would to have to wait their turn to be photographed.
Fire is one of the most ravenous, destructive, horrific and yet beautifully renewing forces in nature. This is from last night as the sun set next to Mount Foraker in the Alaska Range, through the immense cloud of smoke rising from the Sockeye Fire in Willow. Based on the weather forecast, it doesn't look like Mother Nature is going to offer any assistance in controlling this blaze in the coming days.
We've had no shortage of bear sightings this spring at the Nature Center, both black and brown/grizzly. We see this young black bear just about every day, fortunately he hasn't been a nuisance and generally runs away if you whistle and make noise. 'Bear' this in mind if you are planning a hike, make lots of noise and take precautions but don't let it stop you from enjoying the great outdoors.
What a scorching day we had yesterday for a summer photography class!! This is the crew of wonderful folks that I led around, hopefully they learned a thing or two along the way. I will be offering another course on Saturday, September 19 if you or anyone you know might be interested. It's an all-day class, covering basic camera functions and then putting that knowledge to use outside with the autumn colors. The cost is $95 and as soon as it is on the Nature Center's website I will post it here.
Cheers,
Colin
While out on my morning hike today, I stopped to appreciate some of the smaller creatures of the forest and the following lines popped into my head. Here it is, for your amusement:
Butterfly By
"I paused to rest along the trail today and lowered my pack when I noticed a butterfly by.
Suddenly there was another, and another, and then there were three butterflies by.
I reached for my camera but when I looked up they were gone, there were no butterflies by.
There I was, holding my camera, waiting for a butterfly to fly by.
Within minutes a butterfly flew by, followed by another, and another, and another, and another…
Before long there were one, two, three, four, five butterflies by."
~Colin Tyler Bogucki~
(Steps back, clears throat, drops , fist raised in peace sign...)
