Denali Fall colors

Absolutely gorgeous colors, Alex! The yellows and oranges mixed with the green are wonderful.

Alex, A truly beautiful scene lush with color!! Love the cold water! Makes me wish I were there!! But I do prefer to roam ...

Superb shot - same colors as i have up here at the moment. your composition is great and I have no nits! Great to see!

Alex in landscape and not a bird in sight? Love both the composition and the fall color. (Is that a road in the background - right in the middle? I'm just curious having never been there.)

Rich

The Fall colro is wonderful. Good light for it too.

Looks pretty good to me! Not bad for a bird shooter.

Hey Alex, Nice shot! There isn't a better time to be in Denali than the beginning of Sept in my opinion.

As far as "free to roam" goes. I've been there both with a professional photographer pass and without. When without I used the bus system and some of my fondest memories are of hopping on and off of the bus whenever a scene or mountain I wanted to climb looked good. (of course they won't let you off the bus within a certain distance of a bear etc). I know the buses have gotten more crowded but would have expected them to be a bit less so in Sept. Anyway, great place to be and hope that the situation there hasn't changed too much.

If this isn't a great shot I'm having a hard time imagining what a great one really looks like.

This is excellent.

--Kerry

Rich S wrote:

(Is that a road in the background - right in the middle? I'm just curious having never been there.)

Rich, There is no road to be seen in this image, the road is to the extreme right out of the image!!


Jim:
I think you are right about September being the best time, for me it was the first time so I can not compare, but the place is indeed wonderful, I was able to take a few shots in spite the on-bus restrictions, not much has changed there thru out the years, The park will be closing (An all surrounding businesses) for the winter later on this month, they will open again come May 2004!!

Alex,
Beautiful photo. I'm heading there in Sep. '04. I desperately want to photograph a big bull moose, as well as a caribou. Also hoping for grizzlies and wolves and, of course, an unobstructed view of Mt. McKinley. It goes without saying that I am hyped for this trip. Thanks for the photo.
Bill

Alex,

Really nice one. I guess the fall is coming.

Alex,

Nice one! Good use of the stream as a leading line. It really draws the viewer into and through the photo.

Bill

Quote from Alex -- "If you don't have a Photog Permit don't bother coming here"

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Alex - I have to respectfully disagree. As you know, very few photographers qualify and get photo permits...however, if you stay at Camp Denali or North Face Lodge....they are both owned by the same people and are grandfathered for travel within the park. They have their own vans and buses. I have stayed with them 3 times over the years with photo tours led by George Lepp and Pat O'Hara....and have had some wonderful photo opportunies. I have also bicycled from Eilson Visitors Center to Camp Denali. Truly a magic wonderland.

Duke

This is the first fall in years I haven’t been to Denali in the Fall – this photo is making me miss it! I love the colors!

Rich has a good eye, the park road does wind up the left side of the bluff and is in view in the center of the photo.

Although I am fortunate enough to qualify for a propass, I have many wonderful memories from my bus/bike/hiking days so I must admit I was taken by surprise by your “don’t bother coming here” comment. Sorry it didn’t go better for you.

Attractive image well seen and captured.

I will have to agree with Duke and Ron, The place is wonderful in spite of the limitations, A must visit and see place, indeed!!, It was my frustration talking when I posted the image, What a marvelous place!!!

AlexC wrote:I will have to agree with Duke and Ron, The place is wonderful in spite of the limitations, A must visit and see place, indeed!!, It was my frustration talking when I posted the image, What a marvelous place!!!

Hey that is great to hear! I certainly understand the frustration with the bus situation – glad you made the best of it, I look forward to seeing more of your Denali images.

Hey Alex,

Sorry I missed you .. I got back not too long ago from AK.

This is a sweet image, really nice to look at. Ron and Rich are right, the road into the park is in the frame, but it's hardly a concern in this scene. Great colors.

I also agree with Duke and Ron about the park ... Denali can be a great place. It's interesting that you wrote

"If you don't have a Photog Permit don't bother coming here, This is a magnificent place with magnificent animals and colors as well, but you are not free to roam !!!" .. Roaming is the one thing you CAN do in the park. I've walked a good part of it, and managed to get some shots I really like. It certainly can be frustrating however, watching certain photographers (who shall at this point in time remain nameless!!!) sit in their trucks and capture mindblowing wild wolf images as one's shuttle bus trundles away from the scene. However, it's better than the option of having private traffic all over the park.There's already too many vehicles in their, IMO.

I've actually been thinking about jointly putting together an article on shooting Denali without a pro-permit .. I'm still waiting for the same nameless photographer to email me back about the idea! but I think it could be a useful piece.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of your images from Alaska.

Cheers

Carl

As I mentioned earlier, I have had many great experience from the buses when I didn't have a professional pass. A number of years ago LL Rue spent an entire summer cruising the park and used the busses for all but the 10 days his pass was for.

The passes are another point. Even if you meet the qualifications and pay your fee, you pick your preferred dates but are put in a sort of lottery for who gets what. The last week of Aug and the first week of Sept are desired by many! One year when I had a pas for that time frame Rue was just leaving and told me that he had put in for those dates many times and gotten them very few.