The light returns! This image of a mountain peak in the Chilkat Range in Alaska illustrates the month of November in the 2024 Alaska Calendar . Purchase your favorite Mark Kelley calendar in Juneau stores or at markkelley.com. Thank you for visiting and for the gift of your time. Enjoy – Camera: Nikon #D850, Lens 24-70mm, Digital Capture, […]
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Sitka, Alaska #3357
An all-time Mark Kelley favorite! With all the many requests for this photo we just had to bring this Sitka image back. Sitka is a small island community located on the Sitka Sound. This image illustrates the month of August in the 2024 Alaska Calendar . Purchase your favorite Mark Kelley calendar in Juneau stores, at […]
Moon Set, Juneau, Alaska #3443
February’s full moon is known as the “snow moon” due to that month’s typically heavy snowfalls. According to the National Weather Service, on average February is the United States’ snowiest month. This “snow moon” sets over the Chilkat Mountains, Shelter Island and Lena Point and was shot in February 2021. I posted this image back then […]
Bald Eagles, Juneau, Alaska #3440
A pile of bald eagles seek shelter from a raging storm in a large stand of Sitka spruce trees across the road from Western Auto in the Lemon Creek area of Juneau. For over 40 years I have been watching the eagles use these trees. As Lemon Creek experienced growing commercial development, I feared some entity […]
Juneau Morning, Alaska #3439
It is a rare day in Juneau’s typical weather cycle to have heavy snowfall followed by clear skies the next morning. But, forecasters were predicting just such a rare event. I had been waiting for years to shoot just this moment at a secret predetermined spot. It meant getting up at 5am, driving 16-miles into […]
Lynn Canal, Juneau, Alaska #3435
Dwarfed by the Chilkat Mountains, the Alaska Marine Highway’s 235-foot ferry, LeConte, cruises up Lynn Canal on its daily roundtrip between Auke Bay and Haines. Thank you for visiting and the gift of your time. Enjoy – Camera: #Nikon #D850, Lens: # Nikkor 80–400mm, Digital Capture, Hand Held ©Mark Kelley
Aurora Borealis, Brooks Range, Arctic Alaska #3432
In March I spent five days in the Brooks Range above the Arctic Circle photographing the aurora borealis. I shot this image around 11pm while temperatures hovered around minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit. The lights lasted for about four hours and I was in bed by 2:30am. The elongated stars are caused by the combination of […]
Amalga Harbor, Juneau,Alaska #3433
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! This image illustrates the month of December in my 2022 Juneau, Alaska Calendar.
Full Moon, Chilkat Mountains, Juneau,Alaska #3432
The last full moon of the year, also known as the Cold Moon, sets over the Chilkat Mountains in Alaska. Thank you for visiting and for the gift of your time. Happy Solstice – Camera: #Nikon #D850, Lens: # Nikkor 80—400.0 mm, Digital Capture, Tripod, ©Mark Kelley
Aurora Borealis, Brooks Range, Alaska #3431
Getting to experience the northern lights is one of the unique pleasures of living in Alaska. One of the best places to watch the lights, also called the aurora borealis is in the Brooks Range above the Arctic Circle. I watched this amazing display on a frozen riverbed next to the Dalton Highway, the only […]
Eaglecrest Ski Area, Juneau, Alaska #3430
Juneau’s local ski area, Eaglecrest, is opening for the season this Saturday, December 4th. The snow has been dumping on Juneau for more than a week and there are 52 inches of snow on the top and 22 inches of snow at the base. In this image my son, Owen, skis through a forest of […]
Bald Eagles, Juneau, Alaska #3429
Two bald eagles find shelter from a raging storm in the spruce trees across the road from a local store in Juneau, Alaska, called Western Auto. The winter is rough on Alaska’s eagle population. There are no rivers filled with salmon and making a living is tough. Many eagles end up scavenging at the local […]
Lion’s Head Mountain, Echo Cove, Juneau, Alaska #3427
This is one of my favorite images that I have shot in a long time. While I was shooting this huge scene some unknown person over a half a mile away walked into the image exactly where I needed a person. Twenty motor drive images in my camera later the person disappeared into the forest […]
Humpback Whale Breach, Juneau, Alaska #3404
A baby humpback whale breaches in the whale waters around Juneau, Alaska, with the Eagle Glacier and the surrounding Coast Mountains in the background. I, along with Ralph Lee Hopkins, Lindblad Expeditions Director of Photography, and Flip Nicklin, National Geographic Photographer and Whale Trust co-founder, volunteered for two four-day photo safaris out of Juneau as […]
Full Moon, Juneau, Alaska #3393
The locals in Juneau, Alaska, have been feeling like Bill Murray in the movie “Groundhog Day.” The past twelve days we have seen the sunrise at 5am. Meanwhile, the moon changed from a small sliver to a full moon setting over the Chilkat Mountains by this morning. Add in about six nights of northern lights […]
Full Moon, Juneau, Alaska #3389
“Snow Moon” February’s full moon is known as the snow moon due to the month’s typically heavy snowfalls. According to the National Weather Service, on average February is the United States’ snowiest month. I think Texas might agree. Juneau skiers have been blasting through fresh powder every day at the local ski area, Eaglecrest, this past […]
Mendenhall Glacier and Lake, Juneau, Alaska #3388
About two weeks ago a few intrepid glacier explorers found a network of ice caves along the north side of the Mendenhall Glacier. Ever since then there has been a constant daily line of hundreds of Juneauites marching out to check out the caves. Two Sundays ago, I walked out to the caves starting around […]
Juneau, Alaska #3387
Juneau, Alaska, is spread out along the ocean’s edge. Driving the morning commute to downtown or Douglas on the Egan Highway from out the road or the valley is a scenic joy ride. Juneauites have been lucky to be experiencing cold, clear weather for the last two weeks. The night before I took this image […]
Spaulding Meadows, Juneau, Alaska #3385
Each year Lynden produces an annual calendar as a thank-you gift for their customers throughout the US, Canada, and the world. The calendar is an extremely well-designed and beautifully printed oversized calendar, 23 by 19 inches, featuring Alaska. For the 2021 Lynden calendar over 4600 images were submitted by photographers for consideration. I am so […]
Lions Head Mountain, Echo Cove, Juneau, AK #3384
Last Friday, January 22, 2021, we experienced the first sunny day in Juneau in a really long time. I was bound and determined to take a photo good enough for a calendar picture. I headed out to the end of the road, about 40 miles north of downtown Juneau. The road ends in a parking […]
Sunrise, Mt Troy, Juneau, Alaska #3383
Today is Monday, December 21, and the day of the winter solstice. Juneau will receive about 6 hours and 22 minutes of daylight. It is the shortest day of year. Ever since the summer solstice last June, when we were bathed in sunlight for over 18 hours, daylight has been slowly fading away and our […]
Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska #3382
The weather service forecasted overcast skies for yesterday. This was just fine with me because we have been so busy at the office. At around 11AM I looked out my window and saw clearing skies, so I immediately left and headed to the Mendenhall Glacier to get some good reflection shots. While I was shooting […]
Aurora Borealis, Arctic Circle, Alaska #3376
Every March for the past five years I have headed up to the Arctic in search of images of the Northern Lights. I usually travel up the Dalton Highway, the road that was built along the pipeline corridor to support the building and continuous upkeep of the Alaska oil pipeline. My favorite place to photograph […]
Eagle River, Juneau, Alaska #3373
Juneau experienced a 20.6-foot tide yesterday, the highest tide of the year. I spent the day out at Eagle Beach with friends and watched the water completely cover the beach. The tide was still very high while we hiked back to the parking lot on a trail that led through the woods next to Eagle […]
Alaska, Dog Mushing, Juneau Icefield #3362
In the 1880’s Mark Twain was so awed by his first site of a glacier that he wrote, “A man who keeps company with glaciers comes to feel tolerably insignificant by and by.” In this image I was trying to visibly illustrate his comment depicting the insignificance of humans in the vastness of this other-worldly […]
Hogsback, Juneau, Alaska #3348
For a second sunny weekend in a row I found myself hiking up the ski slopes at Juneau’s Eaglecrest Ski Area with some friends. As demonstrated by the two skiers hiking above Heavenly Valley (far left), there is plenty of room to honor social distancing. We hung out wandering around the ridges high above the […]
Chilkat Range, Alaska #3346
The last two weeks have been mostly clear in Juneau, Alaska. The sunny days have picked up the spirits of all of us, while self-isolating and dealing with this upside down, inside out coronavirus world. I shot this sunset last night looking at the Chilkat Range across Lynn Canal from 30-mile on the Glacier Highway. […]
Bald Eagle, Juneau, Alaska #3339
After taking the image that I posted last week in the morning, I went back in the afternoon to see what else our local bald eagles were up to. I found this large group hanging out together in the spruce trees in Juneau’s Lemon Creek area, hiding from the bad weather. According to Google a […]
Bald Eagle, Juneau, Alaska #3338
It has been snowing up a storm in Juneau these last two weeks. Last weekend Juneau’s Eaglecrest Ski Area received almost four feet of snow! Today this bald eagle was hanging out in a spruce tree in Juneau’s Lemon Creek area. I love how the monochromatic and out-of-focus background of snow-covered trees makes the eagle […]
Happy Holidays from Alaska 12-20-2020
This image just shouts “Alaska.” It has all the necessary ingredients: endless pristine white snow, beautiful mountains, northern lights, and a full moon lighting the whole scene. I took this photo of the Brooks Range along the Dalton Highway about 70 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Photographing northern lights around full-moon nights is especially cool […]
2019 Alaska Positive, Alaska State Museum #3131
This image titled “Winter Serenity” was one of two Mark Kelley images accepted in the 2019 Alaska Positive Exhibit. The exhibit at the Alaska State Museum opens this Friday, December 6, during Juneau’s holiday Gallery Walk, and runs through February 15, 2020. Now in its 49th year, Alaska Positive is a biennial exhibition of Alaska […]
Moon-Lit Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska #3126
I have always dreamed of lighting up the Mendenhall Glacier for a night shot. Of course, the only way I could figure out how to do this was to wait for a clear Juneau night sky along with a full moon. At the end of November, two years ago, I was out on a frozen […]
Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska #3127
During clear and full-moon nights, when I was younger, I would ski or snowshoe up Spaulding Meadows, past the John Muir cabin, and then up to Auk Mountain to wait for the moon to rise here in Juneau, Alaska. This night in January it was especially cold, maybe zero degrees Fahrenheit, and the wind was […]
Dog Mushing, Juneau Icefield, Alaska #3111
This summer I spent a full day on the Norris Glacier with NorthStar Trekking. In this image three dog sleds mush their way across the Juneau Icefield. The 1,500 square-mile Juneau Icefield is larger than the state of Rhode Island and hosts three dog camps that are only accessible by helicopter. Visitors can enjoy a […]
Northern Lights, Arctic, Alaska #3104
This will be the last northern lights image that I will post for a while. I say this because starting at the end of May the Alaska night sky is too bright for the lights to shine through. The latest I have every taken a photo of the aurora is May 21 to be exact. Summer solstice is […]
Aaron Island and Chilkat Mountains, Juneau, Alaska #3103
I have said it before, and I will say it again, and again, and forever. We are so lucky to be able to call Juneau home, and so lucky to be able to drive out the road and get these fabulous views of the Chilkat Mountains. This image was taken from the pullout north of […]
Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska #3102
I have loved every cover of every Juneau Calendar since publishing the first calendar 31 years ago. Yet, this cover is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorites. I remember the night well: I was standing along the edge of Mendenhall Lake in late November and it was around 10 degrees Fahrenheit. My car was […]
Aurora Borealis, Brooks Range, Alaska #3100
I spent the last week of March along the Dalton Highway, mainly around an area 72 miles north of the Arctic Circle. I was traveling with two friends, and we were eager to photograph northern lights. We were lucky enough to be greeted by the northern lights three nights in a row. In this image […]
Chilkat Mountains, Lynn Canal, Juneau, Alaska #3096
I shot this photo Tuesday morning. I am so thankful to live in Juneau, Alaska, the winter full moons always set over the Chilkat Mountains. Starting at mile marker 16, there are about 15 miles of road heading north out of Juneau that runs parallel to the Chilkats across Lynn Canal. I can almost always […]
Cruise Alaska Magazine #3098
I was happy to see that Alaska Magazine selected this and two other images for their February 2019 Cruising Alaska issue. This image really defines cruising in Alaska. Wouldn’t you like to enjoy these amazing sights of Glacier Bay National Park, while a group of kayakers paddle by? Pick up a copy of this month’s […]
Lupine, Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska #3092
This photo is of lupine growing along the walking ramp that leads from the parking lot to the Mendenhall Glacier visitor center in Juneau, Alaska. January and February are typically very busy with deadlines as we get our publishing projects out to press. While looking for images for the reprint of the Mendenhall Glacier book, […]
SO HONORED
December 2018 I am so proud and honored to announce that National Wildlife® Magazine selected this image of my wife cross-country skiing through the snowy field in Spaulding Meadows for first place in the “People In Nature” category in their 2018 photo contest. Over 23,000 images were entered in eight different categories. The image was […]
Aurora Borealis, Juneau, Alaska #3089
All of us at Mark Kelley Photography send you our best wishes for the coming new year. I always try to save a really special photo to share on the cusp of the new year. This image is of an amazing night of northern lights I shot across Auke Lake looking up at Mount McGinnis […]
Eaglecrest Ski Area, Juneau, Alaska #3088
This is a photo of my son, Owen, skiing through a field of fresh powder at Juneau’s local ski area, Eaglecrest. Skiers in Juneau are dreaming of days like this for the upcoming season. Starting this Thursday Eaglecrest will be open daily through January 7th for their holiday season, with the exception of Christmas Day. For now […]
Ice Cave, Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska #3087
I first visited the Mendenhall ice caves in the summer of 2009, when my son Gabe took me under the ice for my first time. I was so visually amazed by what I was seeing! One of my images from that day’s shoot ended up in a Patagonia catalog. Between 2009 and 2017 the caves […]
So Honored #3083
I am so proud and honored to announce that National Wildlife® Magazine selected this image of my wife cross-country skiing through the snowy field in Spaulding Meadows for first place in the “People In Nature” category in their 2018 photo contest. Over 23,000 images were entered in eight different categories. The image will be featured in National Wildlife® […]
Auke Lake, Juneau, Alaska #3076
This photo of Auke Lake illustrates the month of November in my 2019 Juneau Alaska Calendar. Besides being a beautiful shot of a classic Juneau scene, this photo defines the fall with fresh snow on the distant mountain peaks and autumn gold coloring both the alpine tundra and the marsh grass in the lake. It […]
Boogey Boarding, Lena Cove, Alaska #3049
A growing number of surf enthusiasts are hanging out on Juneau, Alaska, beaches looking and waiting for just the right waves. This winter has been full of clear windy days, which has been really good for our local surfers. I have seen as many as ten riders at a time at Lena Cove here in […]
Northern Lights, Mendenhall Glacier, Alaska #3048
In early November I spent two cold nights on a northern lights watch in front of the Mendenhall Glacier. I logged four-hours each night and got two ten-minute opportunities of actual shooting time, and what a great twenty minutes! I posted the first image from this shoot during the holidays in late December and named the image “Rainbow […]
Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska #3045
According to the Juneau Empire January 2018 was the coldest January in Juneau for the last six years. Daily temperature averaged 28.5 degrees Fahrenheit. These crisp, cold days brought out many Juneauites to take advantage of the frozen Mendenhall Lake. Having a very accessible glacier in your backyard makes for a very special place to […]
Eagle River and Chilkat Mountains, Juneau, Alaska #3043
This past Monday and Tuesday were beautiful days in Juneau. I shot the sunsets both evenings between 3:45 and 4:20 in the afternoon as in winter the sun sets early in the far north. Eagle River is one of my go-to spots to shoot sunsets this time of year. What makes this image work, besides the […]
Northern Lights-Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, AK #3041
Rainbow Aurora over Glacier Lit by Full Moon During a northern lights’ shoot in Alaska, I usually spend the night in my car at a good overlook, and step outside to shoot if and when the lights appear. For this particular photo shoot in early November I spent two nights outside of my car and […]
Pine Grosbeak, Wiseman, Alaska #3039
This is another image from my trip to Wiseman. After searching for and shooting the northern lights at night I would sleep most of the day. Upon waking I would drag my tired self outside to search around the cabin to photograph snowshoe hares and birds flitting around in the birch and spruce trees. It […]
Northern Lights, Meteor Fireball, Mt Dillon, Alaska-3038
I rented a cabin in the little town of Wiseman, population 11and about 250 miles north of Fairbanks along the Dalton Highway, for a week-long photo shoot of northern lights. With clear skies and a full moon I spent my nights driving up and down the road looking for great mountain landscapes and waiting for […]
Bull Caribou, Denali National Park, Alaska #3036
Two summers ago I was the lucky guy who got to spend a week in Denali National Park. First out of my camera was this image of a bull caribou standing in the shadow of Denali. In photography we talk about a concept called pre-visualization. This image is a perfect example of visualizing a shot […]
Eaglecrest, Juneau, Alaska #2998
Although it is very much spring weather at sea level, there is still a ton of snow at Eaglecrest. It is the area’s final weekend. Eaglecrest will be open this Thursday and closing for the season on Sunday. I shot this image of my son, Owen, tearing up the powder a couple of years ago. […]
Juneau Ice Field, Alaska – Image 2535
Keeping with last weeks theme of people enjoying the Juneau Ice Fields, this week I am featuring a photo my friend, Shannon, defending herself in a snowball fight. In the middle of the summer the first thing people do getting off the helicopters for their visit to the glaciers is have a snowball fight. I […]
Eaglecrest Ski Area, Juneau, Alaska – Image 2773
Even though it is the first week of May, we are still hiking the mountains and skiing on plenty of snow around Juneau. Climbing to the top of Douglas Island just out-of-bounds from the Eaglecrest Ski Areas, a hiker can get an amazing view of Seymour Canal and Admiralty Island. This is one of my […]
Eaglecrest Ski Area, Juneau, Alaska – Image 2771
The official ski season at Eaglecrest Ski Area ended last weekend. We are now what the locals call the “Second Season”. We hike for our runs because there is still plenty of snow left in the mountains and at the area. When the area closed on Sunday, the 15th, it still had 144 inches of […]