Alaska Day 1 – Arctic Terns

We started the morning in Anchorage and stopped at the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge to see Artic Terns and other birds. The terns are nesting and bringing food back and forth to their young. They are graceful fliers and a joy to watch. Our guides, Lisa and Alex, gave us tips on how to photograph these beautiful birds that fly much too fast when you are trying to take a picture. It was a wonderful place to stop for a few hours and check out the birds and get some practice with photographing them standing still. We’ll be spending a lot of time on boats this week.

On our way down Seward Highway on route to the Kenai Peninsula, we stopped at some pull-offs to enjoy the view and take pictures of this amazing scenery.

We had lunch at Portgage Glacier but had to eat in the car because it was raining. We didn’t get a view of the Glacier because of the clouds.

We arrived at our lodges in Sterling, Alaska which overlooks the Kenai River. It is a wonderful home base for the next several days.

The long days are disorienting. The sun sets not far from where it rises. Even in the few hours of darkness, there is still some light. This is not the time to see stars!! It’s hard to figure out what time of day it is. We have a great opportunity to photograph many hours each day in amazing light.