Alaska Galleries

Brooks Lodge and Campground : On July 6th 2007 my best friend, confidant and photographer wife, Lori and I set out for a year long planned photographic journey to Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, Alaska. Brooks Falls is world famous for it's large population of brown bears. For thousands of years they come to the Brooks River to feed on the July salmon run. Our goal is to capture images of these majestic animals up close and personal in their natural habitat. In summer in Alaska between July and September, when the sockeye salmon emerge from Bristol Bay, brown bears ascend upon the waterways of Brooks Camp to replenish their weight. Brooks Camp is located in Katmai National Park and Preserve, a 4,090,000 acre preserve in Alaska. The U.S. government set aside Katmai as protected land and it received a wilderness designation in 1980. The area is known for its brown bears, fish, wildlife and its wilderness frontiers. There are more than 1,500 brown bears living in Katmai. The images you are about to view portray our adventure into what for us, an unknown enviornment. It quickly became a spiritual experience like none we have ever known. To coexist in the wild with these animals at such close proximity and to be tolerated by them, for me was spritual. I can not explain it any other way. In some strange way I felt drawn and connected to this place. Looking at it I knew that I belonged here, I had no fear. It's funny as I look across at the falls, the 23rd Psalm came to mind. I smiled to myself, looked up to the sky and said "Thank you." I hope and pray that Brooks Falls remains as it is for all future generations to enjoy as my wife and I did in July of 2007. Side Notes: If you plan to visit Katmai National Park and Brooks Falls plan your trip at least 6 months to a year ahead. July and September are the best times to go, the salmon are running up the Brooks River which feed the bears. We viewed as many as 10 bears at one time at the falls. If you have never seen salmon jumping up a waterfall, it is a spectacle you will not soon forget. To watch the bears catching them in mid air was a huge bonus. September is a good time to go to Brooks Falls because the bears do look better. They are fat and healthy looking as they continue to feed on spawned out salmon returning down river. If you are a photographer and planning a trip to Brooks, make sure you have rain gear for your equiptment. You'll probably use it. Brooks gets aproximately 82% precipitation annually so be prepared for some showers. It rained pretty good on the night of the 12th. Our 4 man REI rental tent held up great, no leaks. It also showered pretty good on us at the falls in the afternoon of the 13th. Light rain gear is a must if you want to stay comfortable, it does get a bit cool when it rains. We brought along some medium sized trash bags, the ones with the plastic draw strings. They were a life saver. We used them to store our backpacks into during the down pours. They worked great to keep our gear dry. Lenses I used the following Canon lenses, 24-70, 70-200, 400 I did extremely well with my 400 and a light carbon fiber tripod. If you have a 500-600 I highly recommend trying to get it there. Reason, plan a day at the lower platform for those head on shots that look like the bear is coming right at you with water splashing up all around him. I had many opportunities to capture that shot but was unfortunately lacking the reach, a 500-600 with a 1.4 TC is the ticket here. The distance from the lodge to the lower platform is aprox 1/4 mile. A easy hike on flat ground with a big lens, you won't regret the images you will get with that lens in the shallows at the lower platform. Take tons of storage media! I shot up aprox. 40 gigs in 4 days and that was being conservative. You'll get the usual amount of keepers. The lighting can be difficult at Brooks Falls. It might take lots of experimentation until you figure out the correct exposure. Most scenes are backlit from the reflection of the water and this made things challenging at times. Get your speed up as high as you can. Meter the bear or a medium green and the trees foilage are good to meter off. Dropping 1/3 exp comp worked great for me, you'll have to experiment with the ever changing lighting. There are no flashes allowed at Brooks so don't bother taking it, unless you plan to use it on people or macros. I recommend taking mosquito repellent, we used 3M ultrathon and Off. It helped but we still got bites, wearing light gloves helped also. I recommend taking a light headnet. You may not use it but believe me if you do, you'll thank God and the inventor. :>) The mosquitos weren't as bad as the black and white sox, little flies that were really a nuisance for me. I must taste really good to these guys. They get thick in the evenings and can get thick along the river. They seem to come in waves, I quickly nicknamed them little Bastards....lol. Be carefull when using any bug repellent that contains DEET, it will eat any rubber parts on your camera. 3M Ultrathon contains 35% deet, this stuff works good. It was designed for the US Military. After you apply it wash your hands, baby wipes work great. Take lots, you'll use them. Use any DEET product sparingly. Try it at home before your trip to make sure your body can tolerate it. Some people have mild to bad reactions to DEET. If you plan to camp, the lottery for Brooks Campground opens March 1st through the National Parks Department $8 per person per day. I would suggest you rent your camping gear in Anchorage at REI http://www.rei.com/stores/anchorage/index.html rather than lugging it with you. The rental fees are very reasonable and the equipment is top notch, well maintained gear. I highly suggest purchasing or renting sleeping pads, Therrma Rest 2 inch thick pads are a life saver, especially if your getting up there in the years. My bones at 54 don't handle the ground like they did when I was younger. The insulation from the cold damp ground is a big bonus, you'll never regret having one under you, I promise. If you are camping as a couple get a 4 man tent. The extra room to store your gear made getting in and out of the tent much easier. The campsite has gear caches and food caches so you can sore large items such as travel bags there. We had no problems loosing any stored gear. Katmai National Park is available for reservations through the NRRS Customer Service 1-888-448-1474 (within North America) or 518-885-3639 (outside of North America). Note: Availability for Katmai is based upon occupancy and the Brooks Campground can only accommodate up to 60 people per day. You must travel to the campground using boat or float plane. Check in at the visitor center upon arrival. Each person is required to go through bear orientation (approx. 15 min). There is no telephone (other than satelite) or email service at Brooks Camp. Park headquarters are located in King Salmon. There is a 14 day stay limit per year; only 7 day maxmimum per individual may occur during the month of July. July and September are prime bear viewing months. Link http://www.recreation.gov/ak/Brooks_Camp_Campground/Campground/r/campgroundDetails.do?agency=NRSO&parkId=70949 I suggest booking your airfare from Anchorage to Brooks through Katmailand, saves a lot of time and headaches. http://www.katmailand.com/bear-viewing/packages.html We know that you will enjoy the time you spend at Brooks. It is a magical place filled with wonder and splender of wildlife that abounds. Your coexistance with these animals will bring you a lifetime of memories and smiles. There is sheer wonder and joy spending time watching these animals interact and feed as they have done for thousands of years. We are surely looking forward to our next visit and feel truly blessed to have had the opportunity. Steve

Brooks Lodge and Campground

On July 6th 2007 my best friend, confidant and photographer wife, Lori ...

Updated: Mar 03, 2008 12:53pm PST

Bears :

Bears

Updated: Mar 04, 2008 9:32am PST

Eagles :

Eagles

Updated: Mar 28, 2008 6:39pm PST

Seward Highway Anchorage to Homer : Alaska July 07 Driving to Homer there are LOTS of photo ops depending on what you want to shoot and how much time you want to waste -- I mean, spend -- along the way. Heading south out of Anchorage stop at Beluga Point along the Turnagain Arm. Scenic. Farther along, stop along the road just past Windy for Dall sheep on the mountainside to your left. Look Up. And don't run into the rubberneckers in front of you. Watch the mountainside to the left for avalanche chutes. They'll still be full of snow near the bottom of the mountain but may be covered with dirt. Check out Bird Creek. If the tide is in, ther'll be salmon, which guarantess LOTS of fishermen and maybe bears (pretty consistent last summer.) Next is Bird Point. Pretty park. Photogenic site. Girdwood. Alyeska Ski resort. Double Musky Inn. (Best Cajun food north of the lower 48.) Crow Creek Mine - pan for gold. 20 Mile River. Flats to the right will be high with lupine. Eagles common in the area. If the weather is clear watch to the left. Mountains in the back of the valley have great examples of hanging glaciers. Then we get to Portage. Wildlife farm. Turn left and go to Portage Glacier. Touch an iceberg at the visitor center. Ride the tour boat down the lake to see the glacier face (it's receded around the point in the last 50 years.) Over the Pass. Campgrounds, pullouts, lots of stuff to photograph. On the way down the other side you come to pleasant little Six-Mile Creek. Around the corner it drops into a canyon (you drive along the top) with Class 4-6 rapids. Hope cut-off. It'd be nice but you don't have time. Summit Lake Lodge. Stop. Eat. Try the Garbage Grinder. Half pound hamburger. It's all in there... Tern Lake cutoff. Go right toward Kenai. (Tern Lake typically has swans in residence and is named for the Arctic Terns who summer there after flying north from Tierra Del Fuego.) Follow Quartz Creek down to Kenai Lake. (In August you can catch Dollie Varden trout up to 10 pounds in there as they wait for salmon eggs.) Kenai Lake - Blue, blue, blue. (Glacier flour is the culprit.) Travel through Cooper Landing and follow the Kenai River. Stop at the Russian River Ferry crossing for pics of insane fishermen along the bank trying to catch one of the second run reds headed into the Russian River. We call it combat fishing. Reference will be obvious when you see the area. Quiet through Soldotna - lots of fishing references along the river. Guide businesses every 50 feet (exaggeration, but not by much.) As you travel down toward Homer there are a billion places to stop. Overlooks to the Inlet, Deep Creek and the Kasilof River, Anchor River (steelhead territory in the fall.) and Homer itself. Lots of things to do in Homer. Head out onto the Spit to Land's End to get shots of eagles. They're there almost all the time. Watch the water for sea otters. Lots of boat operations in the small boat harbor. At 4p or so the fleet will be coming in with all the happy halibut fishermen. You'll see lots of 20-30 pounders (chickens) and maybe a few really big babes - 200 pound plus.

Seward Highway Anchorage to Homer

Alaska July 07 Driving to Homer there are LOTS of photo ops dependi ...

Updated: May 05, 2009 6:38am PST

"Bear Essence" by Lori Agrella : My husband Steve called me at lunchtime about a year ago telling me of a place in Alaska where you can observe grizzly bears on a platform within 50 ft (more like 10 ft!) of where they fish for salmon. I thought this was a crazy idea that would soon pass. After all, the following year was the time we usually go to Cabo San Lucas for a week of sun & relaxation. Steve continued to research Brooks Falls in Katami National Park and his excitement grew. It became a dream of his to go there and photograph bears. How could I deny him his dream? So I traded in shopping for sundresses and flip flops for North Face gear and waterproof hiking boots =). It took a year of careful planning and he thought of everything we would need to keep us dry and comfortable. One step off the float plane and it became very clear we were in "bear country." This was defintely not "Jellystone Park" and these bears were not "Yogi & Boo-Boo." This was their domain and we were "tolerated guests." We attended our bear orientation video and set out for the lower platform. I could of stayed there all day & night observing the mother bears (sows) and their cubs. The second day we had our 1st close encounter (see the last picture!) with (2) sub-adult (teenage) bears on the trail to the upper falls. I think it took a full hour for the hair on my arms & neck to lay flat again! As the bears charged passed us and looked back, we could almost see a twinkle in their eyes and the smirk on their faces. Steve & I are totally convinced this is a game these teenagers play to see how frightened they can make us vistors! =) To have the privilege to observe these magestic animals in their natural habitat often left me speechless. To see the wrath of a mother bear when an adult male (bull) got too close to her cubs was breathtaking. She would charge him full speed though he was often 4-5 times her size and would give her own life for the safety of her babies. There is a hierarchy on the falls between the males that fish there. There is a "king" bear and God help the bear that is stupid enough to try and remove him from his throne! There is a hierachy even amongst the cubs, who gets first pickens and who gets the scraps that remain. I soon envied the rangers that actually got paid to be in this beautiful country and observe these bears. If it weren't for my family in California and the fact I will be 45 yrs old my next birthday, I could easily envision myself back in school taking "Ranger & Bears 101!" Steve kept saying we were in "God's Country" and we witnessed "His" handiwork everywhere we went. We saw it in the warm, friendly faces of the people we met in Alaska and people from all over the world at Brooks. We saw it in the beautiful skies, mountains, meadows and lakes. We saw it in the animals, especailly the eagles & bears. The bears are numbered and oftened named by the rangers as they make their home at Brooks. I will never forget Holly and her cub, Backpack (he rode on his mom's back as she fished), Cinnamon (her color), Eggberta (her egg shaped head) and her cub, Egbert, BB (bare butt) Snaggletooth (he broke his jaw in a fight), the young brother and sister bears that "played footsie" and held paws (literally) while they watched their mom fish. My favorite and current king bear at the falls is Popeye, named for his massive forearms. I hope through these photographs I have captured the "essence" of these beautiful animals (I've only taken up photogrpahy a little over a year ago so be gentle with your comments =). I truly felt their power, their beauty in my soul. Some of my friends thought I was crazy for making this trip and maybe I was a little. But I knew with all my heart, my safety was always my husband's number one priority and though we had some "hair raising" experiences, I never once felt like our lives were in danger. My time at Brooks Falls was far too short but what a spirtual experience it was! They are memories I will carry for the rest of my life. We can't wait to go back again!!. I have my husband to thank for taking me there & sharing them with me! Thanks Babe! It was the experience of a lifetime. I thank God I have a husband that not only dares to dream but also has the courage to follow them. "Where he leads, I will follow!" Our life together is an adventure and I can't wait to see what lies ahead for us! Lori Agrella

"Bear Essence" by Lori Agrella

My husband Steve called me at lunchtime about a year ago telling me of ...

Updated: Aug 02, 2007 7:43am PST

Prince of Wales Island :

Prince of Wales Island

Updated: Oct 03, 2009 6:36pm PST



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