Alaska Magazine Cover (Again)

Check it out... another Alaska Magazine cover! Make sure to get a copy of this one as the story is really exceptional and very in-depth. One of my favorite written lately. Of course the photos helped too.. it was really cold during parts of this shoot and I was quite impressed with Petra's ok-ness with the whole thing. Weaker-folk would have bailed on the idea very soon. -Joe

Sanctuary River Hike/Packraft Trip in Denali

On Sunday, Nathaniel Wilder and Karen Hilton and I drove up to Cantwell where we spent the night on the side of the road and left the car for the beginning of our trip on Monday morning. We hiked about 15 miles on Monday and floated about 20 on Tuesday on the Sanctuary River. The take-out was the park road where we caught a bus that took us back to the visitor center where we were able to hitchhike back to town for pizza and then hitched two more times to get back to the car in Cantwell. Too many stories to list - but the highlight was most definitely spending a couple hours watching a herd of Caribou and a Grizzly Bear unknowingly head right at each other, with the bear finally realizing it's opportunity and chasing the caribou down trying to catch one. Fortunately for the 'Boo, the bear had no strategy or skill, and came up empty handed.

Cordova Wedding - Chelsea & Kevin

On Friday Brook and I flew over to Cordova for Chelsea and Kevin's wedding which took place on Saturday. The location was at an old fish cannery now called the Orca Adventure Lodge and I have to say, it might be my favorite place I've shot at in Alaska. So many cool buildings to work with and great natural beauty as well. Chelsea and Kevin made the job easy and as you can see from the photos, it was a beautiful day, even if they had to have the ceremony in the rain. I'll keep the text limited and just post the goods.

Wasilla Wedding - Elizabeth & Greg

On Wednesday Karen and I were out in Wasilla at the Best Western Lake Lucille to photography Elizabeth & Greg's wedding that took place along the lakeshore. As we were driving in we thought it was going to be rainy all evening, but the sky cleared and it turned out to be a beautiful day to get married. Philip Casey even showed up for a bit on his way home from work, so for a couple hours they actually had 3 of us tag-teaming the photos and we got some pretty cool stuff! One of the cool things I liked about this wedding was that the band was made up of all family members and friends, and one of Elizabeth's bridesmaids even sang a song for them while the band played on.

Girdwood Wedding - KC & Tucker

On Tuesday Karen and I were in Girdwood for KC and Tucker's wedding at the Our Lady of the Snows Chapel followed by a reception at Alyeska. They were both really easy going and we were able to capture some really nice moments throughout the day, including one of my favorites - the bride's dad shedding a tear during the ceremony... it was a happy tear... like this :.)

Girdwood Wedding - Laura & Thomas

On Sunday Karen and I were in Girdwood for Laura and Thomas's wedding at the Crow Creek Mine. They were a very cool couple and this was a really fun one for us to shoot. Lots of rediculousness. The first photo is one of those classic "old time photo" shots we did with some of the costumes they brought just for this purpose. There was a ton of people at the wedding! Check out the ceremony photo to see what I'm talking about. I don't know how many there were but it was a lot. The bridesmaids and groomsmen colors were pretty unique also. Everyone had on a different bright color, which looked great all together. One groomsmen even wore a bright green cast just for the occasion that matched everything perfectly. Thomas makes custom off-road trucks, so we had to get a few with his rig too. Laura was pretty good with making the faces, it's too bad I couldn't put more because she did some crazier stuff! On to the photos...

Girdwood Wedding - Laura & Kit

On Saturday Karen and I were down in Girdwood for Laura and Kit's wedding at Alyeska Resort. There were rain showers on and off all morning and afternoon, but right before the ceremony, it started clearing a little, and no kidding, as Laura began walking down the aisle the clouds completely parted and the warm sun beamed down on everyone. It was perfect timing! Before the ceremony we went on a hike to the hand-tram over Glacier Creek with Kit and his groomsmen. Karen and I both forgot to bring non-wedding clothes so we were out hiking in our nice wedding-wear and dress shoes. Oops! After the ceremony we went up the mountain and got some really awesome photos (as you'll see below) even though it was only 45 degrees up top. I also threw in a cool shot of Karen getting the goods from a precarious perch.