The Wild Blue Wander

Just Before The Clouds Came Rolling In

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

When I returned to Haines Junction in the Yukon a couple of months ago, after a nine-year absence, I was fairly tired after a long highway drive and an Icefields Discovery flight that took me, in part, over Mount Logan, Canada's highest peak.


I seriously considered just chilling in my hotel room at The Raven for an hour or so, but discarded the idea immediately. The last time I was here was in May, in very cloudy weather. This time, I knew the weather was going to deteriorate, so I wanted to get in as much photography as possible.


This clump of about two dozen aspens was right across the Alaska Highway from the front of the hotel, so I headed across the road to get as many shots as I could. Let me tell you something, mate - it ain’t an easy task shooting aspen leaves on a windy day.


You know how they’re called "trembling aspens"? Well, there is good reason for that. Even the slightest breeze sends the leaves a-flutter. For someone like me, who has not grown up or lived in the vicinity of aspen (Darjeeling had birch and pine, but not aspen, to the best of my knowledge) just standing there and listening to the rustling of the leaves was a rewarding gift from Nature.


It was, and I’m concentrating very hard here to paint a word-picture for you, akin to listening to someone rubbing tiny pieces of parchment together. It was a middle-range sound, akin to what Beethoven might have called The Leaf Symphony.


I was blessed, because the incredible blue sky was the perfect backdrop for this sequence of shots. And just a few minutes after I’d finished, the light had already changed and the mountains that form a half-necklace around Haines Junction were already fringed with low cloud.


For other participants in Dot’s concept, go to Sky Watch HQ.

Pentax Branch Office

Twig Or Treat

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Sometimes, just sometimes, a photographer has to put his cameras down. On Monday I had the privilege of being taken on a hike into Kluane National Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Our guide for the day was Brent Liddle of Kluane Ecotours and I reckon that I lagged behind the group for most of the day, simply because I kept stopping to take photographs every few seconds.

This shot was taken on a rocky outcrop just before we turned back and let me tell you, the views were simply stunning. As we sat there, eating our lunch in the silence of the mountainous region, we were truly blessed with our surroundings.

Behind us we had a rocky peak with fresh early-autumn snow. To our left we had a mountain range shielding Canada's highest peak, Mount Logan, from view. In front of us, we had the shimmering expanse of Lake Kathleen.

While the rest of the group sat there, getting their breath back, I simply had to keep shooting because the view were simply priceless. Regretfully, I had to eat too, and the thought of the salmon and cream cheese bagel could not be ignored for much longer.

It was one of those rare moments on this six-day trip organised by Yukon Tourism when I actually had to put both my cameras down. But where's a bloke to put his cameras when you're in the wilderness?

On the wet grass? Naaaah. On the shale? Nope. On the rocks? Never. (My love affair with photography will never be on the rocks!)

That's when I spotted this dead tree trunk on the slope beside me. My Pentax K100D with the 18-125mm lens was soon nestled into the dry bark, suported by a gnarly branch. And the Pentax K200D with my 70-300mm lens soon found an equally inventive place, suspended by its strap from the fork in a strong branch.

But I simply couldn't resist the impulse that soon overtook me. I temporarily (only temporarily, mind you) deserted the delicious bagel and picked up my K100D. I simply had to shoot the other camera, secure in its inventive spot.

I took about a dozen shots, all up. The first one (above) was taken while standing over and slightly to the left of the fallen branch, to make full use of the splashes of autumn foliage. And the shot below was taken from a different angle to make best use of the snowy peak in the background.

The Yukon's like that. You don't have to go searching for a great angle. The real problem is choosing which of the stunning sights you're going to capture.

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