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, […]
Southeast Alaska
Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness, Alaska’s Inside Passage #3359
Mountain goats visit the shoreline in Tracy-Arm Fords Terror Wilderness. This image illustrates the month of June in the 2024 Alaska Calendar. Purchase your favorite Mark Kelley calendar in Juneau stores or online at markkelley.com. Thank you for visiting and for the gift of your time. Enjoy – Camera: Nikon #D850, Lens 24-70mm, Digital Capture, ©Mark Kelley
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 […]
Sunset, Out the road, Juneau, Alaska #3356
I am a sucker for sunsets. I always shoot them, yet most fizzle out. But, when the light is going bonkers, I go into a full-throttle rush chasing the light hoping to catch the peak moment with the right background. I got this one overlooking Lynn Canal and the Chilkat Range from the Juneau road […]
Humpback Whales, Alaska #3353
Humpback whales are for the most part rather solitary mammals except for when they are bubble-net feeding. I have counted as many as fifteen humpbacks participating in a bubble-net feeding event. It amazes me how these school-bus-sized mammals organize themselves underwater and are able to create multiple bubble-nets every five to ten minutes. This image […]
Coastal Brown Bears, Anan Creek, Wrangell, AK #3450
One my favorite wild places to photograph bears is Anan Creek, just a short boat ride out of Wrangell, Alaska. Anan is special because it supports one of the largest pink salmon runs in Southeast Alaska which in turn supports a lot of bears feasting in this flowing river of protein. The U.S. Forest Service […]
March Madness Alaska Style #3445
Sunset, Serenity, Lena, Shelter Island, Chilkats
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 […]
Black Wolf, Mendenhall Glacier, Alaska #3442
An image of the wolf who captured our hearts, Romeo. A special moment to remind us of how lucky we are to live with a glacier and wildlife in our very own backyard. This image illustrates the month of February in the 2023 Alaska Calendar. Purchase your favorite calendar in local Juneau stores or at markkelley.com. I will […]
Harbor Seals, Tracy Arm #4041
A mother harbor seal checks in with her pup. Harbor seals birth their pups in May and June and South Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arm provides the perfect maternity ward. There are plenty of icebergs to haul out on for giving birth and the thick pack ice gives the seals protection from their main predator, […]
Black Bear Cubs, Anan Creek, Wrangell, Alaska #3441
Two black bear cubs hang out in a spruce tree while waiting for their mom who is fishing in Anan Creek for pink salmon. What’s special about Anan Creek is that it probably supports the largest wild pink salmon run along Alaska’s Inside Passage. This salmon run, in turn, supports a bear population of 35 […]
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 […]
Mendenhall Glacier and Lake, Juneau, Alaska #3438
After 43 years of photographing Mendenhall Glacier, this photo rates as one of my most favorite images of the glacier. On this fall day, I waited for the sunrise to light up the Coast Range mountains behind the glacier but before the light actually lit the glacier face. Once the sun hits the glacier, the […]
Sliver Moon, Juneau, Alaska #3437
This summer in Juneau we have been enjoying many sunny days that drift into long lasting sunsets. I shot this image on July 2nd at almost exactly midnight when the dying embers of a fading sunset filled the sky and ocean with color. Thank you for visiting and the gift of your time. Enjoy – […]
Auke Recreation Area, Juneau, Alaska #3436
Alaska native canoes arrive at the Auke Recreation Area celebrating the informal start of Celebration 2022. Celebration first started in 1982 and is a biennial Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultural event. Approximately 1,200 dancers will perform during the four-day event at Centennial Hall, the Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall, and the new Sealaska Arts Campus. Events start on Wednesday, June 8th, and run through […]
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 , Juneau, Alaska #3434
Last Saturday night, April 4, Juneau experienced a stunning display of northern lights. The best of the lights happened between 10 and 11pm. I showed up just as the lights started to dwindle away and hung out for a long time south of downtown Juneau next to the Douglas Harbor hoping for some additional night […]
Bald Eagle Nest, Juneau, Alaska #3433
An eagle lands in its nest with fresh nesting materials of dry grass in its talons. Spring is coming fast in Juneau, Alaska, and March is the month eagles start sprucing up their nests to prepare for laying an egg sometime in April. Bald eagles are more abundant in Alaska than anywhere else in the […]
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
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 […]
Iceberg, LeConte Glacier, Alaska #3428
I have always wanted to photograph an iceberg with a sunset background. This is the closest I have come. The cold blue of the iceberg contrasts with the hot evening light breaking though a cloud burst. This lighting lasted for about ten minutes and then was gone. I love giving a scene some size reference, […]
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 […]
Northern Lights, Douglas, Alaska #3426
The Juneau area celebrated some of the most amazing northern lights ever a couple weeks ago and I saw some incredible images on Facebook. I was traveling and very sorry to have missed those nights. A couple of years ago I got a great opportunity to shoot the northern lights over the Douglas Harbor. There […]
Humpback Whale, Inside Passage, Alaska #3425
An adult humpback leaps out of the ocean along the shore of Admiralty Island. This behavior is called “ whale breaching.” This 45- to 50-foot-long marine mammal lifts its 35- to 45-ton body almost entirely out of the water. I am always amazed at the unimaginable strength this must take. To me, this behavior is […]
Seiners, Amalga Harbor, Juneau, Alaska #3423
Purse seiners anchor in the Amalga Harbor area waiting for the annual chum salmon opening. The Douglas Island Pink & Chum (DIPAC) hatchery has a release site at Amalga Harbor. After the hatchery does their cost recovery fishery, DIPAC opens the area for a free-for-all purse seine fishery. The openings usually happen around the fourth […]
Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska #3422
I visited the Mendenhall Glacier with good friends and we found this amazing surface lake on the ice. Glacier streams and sometimes small rivers can be found on the glacier surface in temperate climates. In places those streams can create lakes. These lakes often disappear just as quickly as they were created. Eventually, the water […]
Bald Eagle, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska #3421
I took this photo of a bald eagle on an iceberg across from Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska. It is cool to have an eagle on a glacier but for me the success of this photo is all about the color. I love the cool blue color of the iceberg contrasting with […]
Black Bears, Anan Wildlfie Observatory, Wrangell, AK #3419
A mom and cub black bear sneak by group of clueless photographers who have just left the viewing deck at the Anan Wildlife Observatory near Wrangell, Alaska. I have showed this image to a lot of people, and their reactions range from a small smile or a chuckle to an out right belly laugh. I […]
Johns Hopkins, Glacier Bay NP, Alaska #3417
The face of the 250 foot high Johns Hopkins Glacier dwarfs the Allen Marine catamaran, the Baranof Wind. The Baranof Wind is a day boat that makes daily runs in Glacier Bay National Park. The trip starts and ends in Bartlett Cove. The catamaran travels up and down the West Arm visiting the glaciers in […]
SEAL Trust, Quarterly Report, Juneau, AK #3414
The Southeast Alaska Land Trust (SEALT) is a nationally accredited land conservation non-profit based in Juneau, Alaska, that has been helping local Alaskans preserve local lands in Southeast Alaska since 1995. I have been a proud board member for the past three years. The Southeast Steward is the organization’s quarterly publication. I donate my images […]
Goldbelt Tram, Juneau, Alaska #3413
I wanted to get out to enjoy the stunning weather earlier in the week and grabbed a quick Goldbelt Tram ride up the mountain for a short walk out of the rainforest and into the blinding light of a blue-bird autumn day. I just hung out while enjoying the mountain peace and passed the time […]
Black Bear, Anan Creek, Southeast Alaska #3411
Anan Creek Wildlife Observatory is located in the old growth forest of the Tongass National Forest, the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world. The spawning pink salmon in Anan Creek fill the stream from bank to bank and run into a very steep waterfall blocking them from reaching their spawning grounds. Only the strong, […]
Black Bear, Anan Creek, Wrangell, Alaska #3410
I have been going to Anan Creek Wildlife Observatory, located an hour boat ride from Wrangell in Southeast Alaska, for the past 13 years. The Observatory sits on the edge of Anan Creek, which is packed with spawning pink salmon and supports a large population of black and brown bears. I always get a calendar […]
Killer Whale Breach, Southeast Alaska #3409
A killer whale breaches in Icy Strait. I have spent a lot of time in Icy Strait photographing whales. This particular morning was so very special because of the flat calm waters and wonderful soft blue pastel color of the water. I, along with Ralph Lee Hopkins, Lindblad Expeditions Director of Photography, and Flip Nicklin, […]
Humpback Whales, Southeast Alaska #3406
July and August are usually the best months in Southeast Alaska to find bubble-netting humpback whales. We found these bubble-netters in Chatham Straits. 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 fundraisers […]
Humpback Whales, Southeast Alaska #3407
A bunch of humpback whales swim right past our boat after completing a bubble-net feeding event. We counted twelve individuals in this group. 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 fundraisers […]
Humpback Whale Breach, Alaska #3405
A large adult humpback whale breaches in Icy Strait with the Bear Track Mountains in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, as a backdrop. 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 fundraisers […]
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 […]
Harbor Seal, Tracy Arm, Alaska #3402
Last week I spent a day in Tracy Arm onboard the Captain Cook and photographed this harbor seal limbering up to do some iceberg yoga. As I age, I appreciate any living creature that has a backbone as flexible as a wet noodle. Have you ever wondered how a seal crawls up on an iceberg? […]
Last week I spent a day in Tracy Arm onboard the Captain Cook. I love going to Tracy Arm in the early summer because the harbor seal pupping season starts in late May and goes into early July. There are literally hundreds of harbor seals giving birth on icebergs in the bay in front of […]
Sunset, Juneau, Alaska #3397
This past May was one of the rainiest Mays ever in Juneau. June has been a much more enjoyable month with a balanced mix of sun, clouds, and rain. The sunsets over the Chilkat Mountains and Lynn Canal have been fantastic this past week. I shot this image last Wednesday, June 9th. Thank you for […]
Black Bear Cub, Juneau, Alaska #3396
A black bear cub pauses to take a breather from its ravenous feeding of dandelions along Juneau’s road system. Each spring dandelions line the roadside, what Juneauites call “Out the Road,” starting around mile15. The yellow banquet, although invasive, provides a much-needed food source for the bears. Thank you for visiting and enjoy – Camera: #Nikon #D850, Lens: # Nikkor 80-400mm, […]
Cover, Wrangell Summer Guide, Alaska #3394
My good friend and proud new owner of the Wrangell Sentinel, Larry Persily, chose my photo of two black bear cubs at Anan Creek as the cover of the newspaper’s 2021 Visitors Guide. Wrangell is the gateway community for most anyone wanting to see the bears at the Anan Creek Wildlife Observatory. The trip to […]
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 […]
Northern Lights, Echo Cove, Juneau, Alaska #3391
This past weekend was dreamy. My nights were spent shooting northern lights into the wee hours of the morning. My days were spent skiing Juneau’s Eaglecrest Ski Area under blue bird skies and 70-degree temperatures. Life just doesn’t get much better. I shot these northern lights, reflecting in the still calm waters of Echo Cove […]
Sunset, Juneau, Alaska #3390
Juneau has been blessed with several clear weather days with clouds coming and going. Last Sunday it was mostly sunny while turning cloudy just in time for the sunset to light up the sky over Shelter Island and the Chilkat Mountains. The sky appeared to be on fire. Thank you for visiting and be well […]
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 […]
Aurora Borealis, Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska
This aurora borealis photo is my new Facebook banner image that I took some time ago. This fall/winter I have spent a number of very long, frustrating nights out thinking I was going to get strong showings of the northern lights, only to have no luck. I used to plan on three to four good […]
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 […]
In the News
Today (Jan. 7, 2021), the Wrangell Sentinel ran a photo of mine, of bears and eagles from Anan Creek, across five columns on the front page. My dear friend, Larry Persily, recently bought the struggling small-town paper and wanted to make a splash with the first issue under his new ownership. I have known Larry […]
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 […]
Cohen Island, Favorite Channel, Juneau, Alaska #3381
The pullout off Glacier Highway at Inspiration Point above Tee Harbor has to be one of Juneauites’ favorite spots to watch the sunset as it sets over Favorite Channel and the Chilkat Mountain Range. This pullout is one of my many go-to spots that has many great views as I travel out the road. This […]
Bald Eagle, Iceberg, Holkham Bay, Tracy Arm, AK #3380
Photographing bald eagles perched on icebergs provides a visually striking contrast to their normal hang-out in the dense, rich-green Sitka spruce forest of the Tongass National Forest. Alaska and Canada are the only two places in the world to witness this phenomenon. One of the best and most accessible places in Alaska to go to […]
Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness, Alaska #3379
Is there anyone who does not love the deep blue colors of glacier ice? In this image a small iceberg floats next to a larger iceberg, showing some of the incredible shades of glacier blue. These wonderful blues come from the crystalline structure unique to glacier ice. Glacier ice is not created by water freezing, […]
Aurora Borealis, Juneau, Alaska #3378
This photo was taken from the Mayflower Island causeway next to Sandy Beach looking down Gastineau Channel in Juneau, Alaska. What is unusual about this photo is that I took it facing south. Northern lights usually get more intense the closer one gets to the Arctic Circle, about 570 miles north of Juneau. Northern lights […]
The 2021 Juneau, Alaska Calendar
Give Alaska! To moms and dads and family & friends who have moved or want to visit… Local Outdoor Calendar Signings First Friday, Dec. 4, 1-5PM The AK Grizzly Bar Saturday, Dec. 5, 12-5PM Alaskan Brewing Co. Tasting Room The AK Grizzly Bar The AK Grizzly Bar AKA The Griz Bar – Open Air Bar […]
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 […]
Harbor Seals, Tracy Arm, Alaska #3371
I am honored and pleased to announce my image of a pup and mother seal snuggling together on an iceberg in Tracy Arm is a winner in the National Wildlife Federation 49th Annual Photo Contest. The judges edited through 29,800 images submitted by 3,200 photographers to pick 17 winners in eight different categories. This image won second […]
Humpback Whales, Admiralty Island, Alaska #3370
Bubble-net feeding is a cooperative humpback whale behavior occurring mostly in Southeast Alaska waters. Humpbacks work together to locate and encircle schools of small bait fish, like herring, while blowing bubbles. The fish are corralled into a tight group while the whales’ vocalization frightens the fish to flee toward the surface. With mouths wide open the whales swim up […]
Favorite Channel, Juneau, Alaska #3368
Juneau’s October weather is famous for being windy, wet, and mostly miserable. But, the last four days have been a sheer joy with cold, crisp and clear days with sunsets that seem to last forever. I was enjoying yesterday’s sunset but did not think it was going to go to the next level. Then luck and/or […]
A Tribute to Sherry Simpson
One of my most favorite photos I have taken is of Sherry Simpson disappearing into the fog while walking along the wild outside coast of Glacier Bay National Park in 1999. I had decided to publish a book on Glacier Bay. The first order of business was to hire a writer, and I immediately thought […]
Lost Coast, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska #3367
Along the outside coast of Glacier Bay National Park Rick and Alice Johnson, along with my wife, explore the sea arch at Astrolabe Rocks just south of Icy Point. The part of the Alaska coastline that starts at Cape Spencer and ends at the Alsek River is sometimes referred to as the “Lost Coast.” It […]
Boy Scout Beach, Eagle River, Juneau, Alaska #3365
One of my favorite trees in Juneau, Alaska, is this cottonwood starkly standing on Crow Point at Boy Scout Beach. This tree is the lone deciduous sentinel in a sea of a bazillion evergreens. The trail out to Crow Point follows along a beautiful sandy beach and is one of my favorite hikes in Juneau. Every time I come upon this tree, […]
Brown Bear, Raven, Pack Creek, Admiralty Island, AK #3365:
Bears and birds have a symbiotic relationship at Pack Creek on Admiralty Island. The brown bears catch the spawning salmon, drag the fish to shore to eat, and leave the scraps for the birds, mostly ravens and gulls. As the bears charge up and down the creek to catch their salmon they also stir up […]
Humpback Whales, Icy Strait, Alaska #3364
The Fairweather Mountains in Glacier Bay National Park create a perfect Alaska backdrop for a group of approximately nine humpback whales swimming along the surface after completing a bubble-net feeding off Point Adolphus in Icy Strait. Bubble-net feeding is a particular whale behavior only associated with humpbacks and mostly occurring only in Southeast Alaska waters. […]
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 […]
Humpback Whale Tail, Juneau, Alaska #3361
Last Thursday, on October 1, the skies cleared and the ocean calmed, a rare combination in this part of the world famous for fall storms that soak us. I took advantage of the moment and hopped on a large open skiff with my friends, Paul and Rick, to look for humpback whales. There was plenty […]
Bears & Eagles, Anan Creek, Alaska #3360
Sometimes when I am out photographing, it can be hard to believe what I am seeing. In my wildest dream I could have never, ever imagined a shot with two black bear cubs and two bald eagles in the same tree. To top it off, the clear spacing and unobstructed visibility in this photo is […]
Mt. Juneau Ridge Hike, Juneau, Alaska #3361
The Mount Juneau Ridge hike is one of my favorite hikes. There are dozens of great hiking trails in Juneau, but the Mount Juneau Ridge is really very special. I only hike it on the most perfect days, sunny with light winds which is a rare combination. The Mount Juneau hike is a very strenuous […]
Moosehead Lake, Juneau, Alaska #3360
Yesterday I posted a wide image of Moosehead Lake that we are using as our new Facebook banner. Today’s image is a variation on the same theme. During that same shoot, I used a different lens setting and got a whole new image. It is not very often I can get what I call a […]
Moosehead Lake, Juneau, Alaska #3359
It has been one the rainiest summer I can remember in my forty-plus years of living in Juneau. The joke going around town goes as follows: It has only rained two times in Juneau this summer, one time for 40 days and a second time for 30 days. This may be slightly overstated, but it […]
Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska #3357
Bob Engelbrecht treks along an icy ledge next to a deep blue glacial lake on the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska. Last week Bob Engelbrecht and Reed Stoops invited Jan McPhetres and me along on a photo trek on the Mendenhall Glacier. Bob moved to Juneau in 1981, arriving in a Hughes 500 helicopter. Originally, […]
Jokulhlaup, Mendenhall River, Juneau, Alaska #3356
Since 2011 the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area has been experiencing glacier lake outburst floods called jokulhlaups. A jokulhlaup is an Icelandic word describing a glacier event where a large body of water created by rainfall and glacier melt collects in a big lake behind a glacier ice dam. Eventually the water pressure gets too great […]
Dock Jump, Juneau, Alaska, #3354
This image was taken in the late 1990’s when my sons, Gabe and Owen, were still in school. They would often celebrate the end of the school year by jumping off the downtown Juneau docks and invited a friend to jump with them. Of course, they would only jump on a sunny day and I was usually invited along to document the event. In this particular […]
Margerie Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
Margerie Glacier is probably the most visited tidewater glacier in the world. During a regular, non-COVID summer, over half a million cruise ship passengers cruise up to this glacier and spend a couple hours hanging out. About a mile wide, Margerie Glacier is 21 miles long and stands 250 feet above and 100 feet below […]
Sunset, Juneau, Alaska
I love this view of downtown Juneau, Alaska, shot from the Juneau Tram at that magical hour where the disappearing sunset dissolves into evening. Picking an image for my calendars covers is one of my most enjoyable tasks of the year. My calendars sales are the bedrock of my business and trying to top all […]
Rufous Hummingbird, Gull Cove, Alaska #3353
Last week I posted a collage of four hummingbird photos and asked for your help in picking one to appear in a future Mark Kelley calendar. The response was overwhelming. Between all my social media accounts, 156 friends voiced their opinion. The clear winner was the image of the hummingbird just about ready to land […]
Rufous Hummingbird, Gull Cove, Alaska #3352
I had such a wonderful couple of days photographing hummingbirds at Gull Cover Lodge and finalized my favorite images. Yet, I can only pick one image for the 2022 Mark Kelley calendars. Which one is your favorite? Your opinion is very important to me! Yes, it is calendar season which means we have a hard […]
Field of Flowers, Pt Bridget Sate Park, Juneau, AK #3352
Right now, the field of wildflowers at Point Bridget State Park is stunning. I took this photo last Thursday and the shooting stars and buttercups were everywhere and beginning to peak. The lupine was just starting up with some bunches here and there in full bloom. Chocolate lilies are coming up next in the blooming […]
Rufous Hummingbird, Gull Cove, Alaska #3350
Last week I spent some time at Gull Cove Lodge, operated by my dear friends, Paul Johnson, Tami Mulick and their adult children, Rick and Alice. I spent a lot of time at the three hummingbird feeders on the deck rail. Paul tells me there have been at least eight generations of hummingbirds that annually […]
Lions Head Mountain, Berners Bay, Juneau, AK # 3349
While on a low-tide walk along the shores of Berners Bay near Juneau, Alaska, a birder stops to observe a green-winged teal that just landed in the middle of the mirror reflection of Lions Head Mountain. Lions Head is one of my favorite mountains in Juneau but after photographing it for some 40 years, I […]
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 […]
Hilde Dam Cabin, Eaglecrest, Juneau, Alaska #3347
My wife and our two sons demonstrate social distancing while standing on the snow-covered roof of the new public cabin, called the Hilda Dam Cabin, at Juneau’s Eaglecrest Ski Area. Our sons respectfully stay away from our home during this most unusual period of self-isolation. The last two weekends we have been holding family get-togethers […]
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. […]
LeConte Glacier, Alaska #3345
A small cloud break at sunset lights up the ocean behind an iceberg from the LeConte Glacier. LeConte Glacier is the most southern tidewater glacier in North America. I have photographed every tidewater glacier in Alaska’s Inside Passage and the LeConte is one of my favorites. I took this photo last year while hosting six […]
Bear Cub, Anan Creek, Alaska #3344
Besides having so many adult bears roaming around at Anan Creek, there are usually a bunch of first year cubs as well. I counted six cubs one year, just hanging out around the viewing platform. As much as I love taking pictures, I use my passion for photography as a way to experience the world. […]
Black Bear and Cub, Anan Creek, Alaska #3343
A black bear sow nurses its cub at Anan Creek near Wrangell, Alaska. The US Forest Service operates a viewing platform where I go to photograph and enjoy free-roaming bears going about their daily lives. This year will mark my 13th annual pilgrimage to photograph the bears at Anan. I am often asked why I […]
Black Bear, Anan Creek, Alaska #3341
While leaving the viewing platform at Anan Creek Wildlife Observatory, a group of wildlife photographers missed a momma bear and cub scooting by behind them. As a photographer I try to be constantly aware of everything around me. More often than I care to admit, I can be outfoxed by a sneaky critter. I took […]
Inn with a View, Wrangell, Alaska #3340
In the summer of 2019, I hosted six photographers for a five-day photo adventure based out of the Stikine Inn in Wrangell, Alaska. We spent five days photographing bears at Anan Creek, humpback whales in the Wrangell area, and icebergs and calving ice at the face of the LeConte Glacier. Last year’s trip was an […]
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 […]
Humpback Whale, Alaska #3133
Over my forty-plus years as a photographer in Alaska, I have had the privilege of photographing and publishing thirteen books on Alaska. I love all my books, but my favorite and most fun book to work on was the kids’ book “Once Upon Alaska.” I so much enjoyed reading Nick Jan’s rhyming verses and letting […]
Black Bear Cubs, Anan Creek, Alaska #3132
This image titled “Alaska Eden” was the second Mark Kelley image accepted in the 2019 Alaska Positive Exhibit. The exhibit at the Alaska State Museum opened Friday, December 6, and runs through February 15, 2020. Now in its 49th year, Alaska Positive is a biennial exhibition of Alaska photography sponsored by the Alaska State Museum. This year’s juror, David Michael […]
Black Bear Cub, Anan Creek, Alaska #3130
A baby black bear hangs out in a tree waiting for its mother to finish fishing in the creek below. Bears at Anan Creek are so fun to photograph. It really is a must-do and bucket-list photo destination. I have been traveling there for the last twelve summers and look forward too many more trips. […]
Coastal Brown Bear, Glacier Bay National Park, AK #3129
A coastal brown bear takes a break from feeding in the low-tide zone in Glacier Bay National Park. Salmon season is short in Glacier Bay and most of the park’s coastal brown bears make a living turning over rocks and eating the little critters they can find under the rocks. Bears are wary of humans […]
Humpback Whales, Juneau, Alaska #3128
I love photographing humpback whales, especially in summer’s evening light. On calm evenings a whale’s blow can travel well over twenty feet into the air and hang suspended in the air for a relatively long time, maybe 5-10 seconds. Add in the late evening back light and the blow becomes a translucent plume of vapor. […]
Glacier Blue, Alaska
I have always loved the surreal blues of glacier ice and created this 100% silk Glacier Blue Scarf to capture the essence of glacier ice. Join me at the Juneau Alaska Public Market this weekend to touch, feel, and try it on. Take home a piece of wearable art showcasing Alaska’s glacier blues to share with friends and family near and […]
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 […]
Iceberg, Tracy Arm, Alaska #3125
I love traveling to Tracy Arm, which is just a day trip from Juneau. I think I have visited almost all the tidewater glaciers in Alaska, and in my mind Tracy Arm offers the best glacier blue ice experience anywhere. The light of a cloudy overcast day works really well for accentuating the blue ice. […]
Rainbow, Admiralty Island, Alaska #3123
I love rainbows and I wish I had more opportunities to capture their amazing colors. The best I can do photographing rainbows in the Juneau area is about one great image every four to five years. I wish rainbows were as consistent as northern lights in our area, which seem to happen a good ten to twelve times per year. Before writing this caption I […]
Iceberg, Tracy Arm-Fords Terror, Alaska #3118
The wonderful light in this image makes the icebergs shine like jewels in a sea of black. I shot this image standing in bright sunlight while deep cavern walls cast a shadow over the distant icebergs. By carefully cropping the image in-camera, I was able to isolate the ice in the sea of black water. […]
Bald Eagle, Anan Creek, Alaska #3117
A bald eagle hides under spruce tree boughs along the shore of Anan Creek near Wrangell, Alaska. I have traveled to Anan Creek every year for the past twelve years and plan to keep going every year for the foreseeable future. The place presents such a wonderful mix of brown and black bears, bald eagles, […]
Lena Cove, Juneau, Alaska #3115
Each year, as the fall season approaches, I like to share the images that I have picked for my upcoming Juneau and Alaska Calendars. I shot this photo of the sunset at Lena Cove in June of 2017. Between shooting, choosing, and publishing images in my two annual calendars two years go by! It gets kind of confusing: I am enjoying […]
Immature Bald Eagle, Anan Creek, Alaska #3112
I love photographing bears at Anan Creek, but the added bonus for going there are the too-numerous-to-count bald eagles hanging out in the trees and along the shoreline. This past July, while on a low-tide walk, I stopped counting eagles after enumerating some fifty individuals with no end in sight. Anan Creek is steeped in old-growth trees providing wonderful habitat […]
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 […]
Black Bears, Anan Creek, Wrangell, AK #3110
A black bear sow nurses its first year cub at Anan Creek near Wrangell, Alaska. The US Forest Service operates a viewing platform where 60 people per day get to watch wild, free roaming bears going about their daily lives. This is my 12th year of photographing the bears at Anan, and this time I hosted a group of […]
Tufted Puffin, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska #3109
Alaska is famous for its puffins, but these clown-faced birds are hard to find in Alaska’s Inside Passage. The two reliable places to see puffins are in Glacier Bay National Park and in the open ocean by Sitka. In Glacier Bay I usually see puffins near the Marble Islands. This individual I found in the beautiful water by the McBride Glacier. The glacier silt turned […]
Pelican, Alaska #3108
A year ago I started planning this great trip on board the m/v Delphinus with my friends from Dolphin Charters. We boated from Sitka up the outside coast of Alaska, cut into Cross Sound, and headed to Juneau via Icy Straits. I just came back from the trip about a week ago, and while we had […]
Cunard MS Queen Elizabeth, Hubbard Glacier, AK #3107
Check it out! This summer we were contacted by Cunard’s corporate office in England to conduct a destination photo shoot of the MS Queen Elizabeth as it kicked off its inaugural season in Alaska. I spent about four weeks chasing the Queen Elizabeth around the Inside Passage waiting for the best weather conditions. We were […]
Astrolabe Rocks, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska #3106
At the end of May my wife, Jan, and I were able to spend two days exploring the outside coast of Glacier Bay National Park. The coastline is rugged, seldom visited, and stunningly beautiful with glaciers flowing to the shore. In this image Jan enjoys a skiff ride around the sea arch at Astrolabe Rocks […]
Wild Iris, Point Bridget State Park, Juneau, AK #3105
Point Bridget State Park in Juneau, Alaska, has erupted into fields of wildflowers as far as the eye can see. The wild irises, buttercups, and geraniums are peaking, and the lupines and shooting stars are just past their prime. The riot of color and flowers creates total chaos for a photographer, so I isolated everything […]
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 […]
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 […]
Aurora, Gull Cove Lodge, Alaska #3095
Last week I finished printing the 2020 calendars in Manitoba. Now I am shooting for the 2021 calendars. On the rainy days I look through my digital collection of some 80,000 images, in search of the forgotten treasures to add to the 2021 calendar files. I found this gem from last September when Jan and I were […]
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, […]
Mendenhall Glacier and Lake, Juneau, Alaska #3091
In Juneau the last week of January was unusually warm and wet; rains washed most of the snow away at sea level, and covered the ice on the Mendenhall Lake with a thin pool of water. On Friday the skies cleared and the temperature nosedived into the low teens. The water that had pooled up […]
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 […]
Black Bears, Anan Creek, Alaska #3086
This black bear cub found itself separated from its mother. The cub climbed a tree for safety and started bawling for its mother to return. The mother bear was at the creek catching pink salmon; she heard the baby’s call and came running. This image represents the incredibly affectionate and extremely tight mother-and-cub bond that […]
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® […]
Glacier Blue #3082
Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness near Juneau, Alaska, is one of my favorite places to search for beautiful icebergs. Locals sometimes refer to the icebergs in Tracy Arm as glacier jewels. The deep blue colors of glacier ice are such an amazing, almost unreal sight, and being able to take a piece of nature’s beauty home with […]
Calving, Johns Hopkins Glacier, Glacier Bay NP #3081
I have been shooting calving glaciers for over 38 years, and have been lucky enough to have witnessed hundreds of calving events. Sadly most of the images just do not work. It is terribly frustrating bearing witness to such amazing powers of nature and not being able to translate that moment into a still image. In person […]
Black Bear, Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, AK #3080
One of the most beloved and recognizable bears along Steep Creek in the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area is bear #25, also affectionately known by locals as “Nicky”. In this image I shot on Saturday, she catches a very large coho salmon in Steep Creek and brings it back to her two cubs. Two weeks ago […]
Bald Eagle, Tracy Arm, Alaska #3078
In springtime one of the best places in Alaska to photograph bald eagles on icebergs is Tracy Arm, and especially South Sawyer Glacier. April and May are lean times for eagles. The salmon have not returned to the streams and eagles are hungry. Eagles hang out on the icebergs to get elevation to watch for […]
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 […]
Northern Lights, Auke Bay, Alaska #3075
Last Friday night I photographed the northern lights from Portland Island in Juneau, Alaska. I faced the mainland and my view included the Mendenhall Towers, Auke Bay, and Lena Cove. The light show started around 10 o’clock in the evening and it was still illuminating the night sky when I crawled into my tent exhausted […]
Sea Otter, Icy Strait, Alaska #3074
A sea otter chows down on a crab leg from its chest full of Dungeness crabs. Sea otters were almost hunted to extinction by the Russian, American, and British fur traders between 1741 and 1911. Pre-contact populations were estimated at 150,000 to 300,000 animals and by 1911 their numbers had dropped to 1,000-2,000 animals. By that […]
Juneau, Alaska Calendar 2019
When I developed my first Juneau calendar in 1988 I never imagined that it would still be around in 2018! Here we are thirty years and 360 images later and still going strong. The Juneau calendar has been the rock that has kept my business going all these years. What a great run and I […]
Killer Whales, Point Retreat, Juneau, Alaska #3072
I photographed this pod of killer whales on the last day of a four-day photo workshop I organized with Ralph Lee Hopkins as a fundraiser for the foundation, “Whale Trust Maui.” We spent the last hour of our trip surrounded by killer whales with glaciers and Point Retreat lighthouse in the background. We had such […]
Black Bears, Anan Creek, Alaska #3071
Mother black bears are wonderful mothers. Sows are very affectionate and protective of their newborns. They will care for their cubs for sixteen months before weaning them and sending them out on their own. Anan Creek is one of the best places in Alaska to photograph bears. I have been traveling to Anan Creek every […]
Humpback Whales, Point Adolphus, Alaska #3070
The Fairweather Mountains in Glacier Bay National Park create a perfect Alaska backdrop for a group of approximately nine humpback whales that are bubble-net feeding off Point Adolphus in Icy Strait. The whales cooperatively locate schools of small bait fish like herring and then circle the school of fish while blowing bubbles. This net of […]
Black Bear Cub, Anan Creek, Alaska #3069
A baby black bear rests in a tree while mamma bear fishes in Anan Creek below. Mother black bears send their little ones up a tree to keep them safe while she hunts for food. Born in a den in late January or early February baby black bears are blind, nearly hairless, and weigh under a […]
Humpback Whale, Admiralty Island, Alaska #3068
A humpback whale breaches out of the water along the Admiralty Island shore. I shot this photo last week while conducting a whale photography workshop with fellow photographer Ralph Lee Hopkins. We hosted eleven photographers for a four-day event to raise funds for the non-profit Whale Trust Maui, whose mission is dedicated to the scientific […]
Black Bear Cubs and Eagles, Anan Creek, Alaska #3067
Two black bear cubs and two bald eagles, a juvenile and a mature eagle, hang out in a spruce tree near Anan Creek just outside of Wrangell, Alaska. Starting in 2008 I have traveled annually to Anan Creek to photograph the wildlife. During these 11 years I have never seen bears and eagles in the […]
Indian Paintbrush, Glacier Bay NP, Alaska #3066
An Indian paintbrush flower stands out against a blurred field of blue lupine. I love using my long telephoto lenses to isolate flowers by intentionally putting the background out of focus to give the image a painterly feel. Glacier Bay is often thought of as a frigid land of snow and ice and cold blue […]
Coastal Brown Bear, Glacier Bay, Alaska #3065
At the end of June I spent a week in Glacier Bay National Park with my good friend Ronn Patterson, onboard his 50-foot boat the “Delphinus” to conduct a photo workshop with another good friend and photographer, Betty Sederquist. One morning as we were waking up we spotted this big adult coastal brown bear on […]
Chocolate Lily, Juneau, Alaska #3063
Right now the Point Bridget State Park meadows in Juneau, Alaska, are erupting in endless fields of wildflowers, including chocolate lilies, shooting stars, irises, and buttercups. After years of shooting flowers with macro lenses, I have started to use my extreme telephoto lenses almost exclusively. I have been shooting most of my flowers shots for […]
Lena Cove, Juneau, Alaska #3062
The Juneau weather has been fantastic for the last couple of days with temperatures reaching the high seventies Fahrenheit. Along with this great summer weather mother nature put on a sunset lightshow last night that was off the charts. Enjoy the incredible beauty nature provides. Thank you for visiting, Camera: Nikon D850, Lens: Nikkor 24-70, […]
Celebration 2018, Juneau, Alaska #3060
Terri-Lynn Williams–Davidson drums and sings for the “Rainbow Creek Dancers” in the Celebration 2018 Processional down Willoughby Street before entering Centennial Hall for the Grand Entrance. The fun of being a photojournalist is showing up at an event and having no idea what I will find among a bazillion possibilities. My focus is to wade […]
Celebration 2018, Juneau, Alaska #3059
On Tuesday evening three canoes arrived at the Auke Village Recreation Area in Juneau, Alaska, from Haines, Alaska, marking the unofficial beginning to Celebration. The canoes were filled with Southeast Alaskan and Canadian paddlers dressed in regalia awaiting the traditional welcome ashore from the Aak’w Kwaan Tinglits leader, Rosa Miller. While two of the canoes […]
Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska #3056
A constant problem for photographers is access and opportunity to photograph hard-to-reach places and events. This problem is especially difficult in Alaska because of its remote nature. I really appreciate everyone that has helped me get to locations that make photos like this one possible for the last forty years. I shot this photo of […]
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 […]
Humpback Breach, Chatham Strait, Alaska #3047
A whale breach usually comes out of nowhere, and everything happens so fast that it is almost impossible to frame and capture the breach with your camera. The good news is that a whale will often breach multiple times after its first breach. So if you missed the first jump do not put the camera […]
Ice Caves, Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska #3046
I have some70,000 digital images on my computer and I have been editing like a madman to cut that number in half. During this massive edit I am discovering images that I have overlooked in the past, and some will be included in my upcoming Fireside Chat presentation at the Mendenhall Glacier on Friday, March […]
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 […]
Alaska Magazine Cover, Juneau, Alaska #3042
Happy New Year! I was scanning the magazine covers in the checkout line at our local grocery store, and did a double take when I spied Alaska Magazine. The front cover image looked like one of my photos, and sure enough the credits showed that my photo agent had sold one of my photos to 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 […]
Sunset, Eagle Beach, Alaska #3035
This photo shoot of the sunset over the snowcapped Chilkat Mountain was turning out pretty well, but I felt something was amiss; the upper sky was looking rather blank. Within minutes after contemplating my problem Canada geese flew into the blankness and solved my dilemma. After just five seconds the birds flew out of my picture […]
King Crab Fishery, Juneau, Alaska #3034
FISHING WITH A VIEW – How about going crabbing at sea with the Mendenhall Glacier as your backdrop? Michael Blume prepares to set a king crab pot on the F/V Osprey. Fish and Game opened a red king commercial fishery in the Juneau area for the first time in seven years. The one-day opening started […]
Humpback Whales, Herbert Glacier, Juneau, Alaska #3032
I love images that tell a story. Alaska’s glaciers grind down mountains and dump their mineral loads into the ocean. These minerals hang in suspension and become part of the basic building blocks for phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are eaten by krill, and krill in turn get eaten by small schooling fish like herring. Each year humpback whales, with their 50-foot […]
Bald Eagle, Tracy Arm, Alaska #3029
Many of you know that Tracy Arm is one of my favorite places in Southeast Alaska. I go every spring knowing that eagles are hanging out on icebergs, scavenging for anything they can find while waiting for the return of salmon in summer. Springtime is still a lean time of the year for our eagle population. […]
Black Bear Cub, Anan Creek, Alaska #3028
“Hanging Out” – A black bear cub hangs out in a tree while its mother fishes for pink salmon in Anan Creek. I love this image because the cub looks so comfortable and relaxed in what seems like a very precarious position on a couple of skinny branches. Black bear cubs are great climbers. I have […]
Harbor Seals, Tracy Arm, Alaska #3026
What great luck! A mother harbor seal and her pup cast a perfect reflection in the blue-green glacier waters of Tracy Arm. I have photographed seals with pups on the floating ice of Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm for over forty years and this is the first and only time I have been able to […]
Sitka Black-Tailed Deer, Admiralty Island, Alaska #3025
“A Deer in Gold” Pack Creek on Admiralty Island is famous for viewing brown bears. I have also had great luck photographing Sitka black-tailed deer. I love the wetland grasses in autumn when the vast fields surrounding the creek turn golden. The golden grasses really pop the deer in the photo and offer a great contrasting […]
Brown Bear, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska #3024
The native peoples from Southeast Alaska have a saying that roughly goes like this:”When the tide is out the table is set.” This juvenile brown bear understands the saying well. Brown bears in Glacier Bay spend their time feeding at low tide turning over rocks and slurping up any creatures uncovered. Brown bear cubs stay with […]
Black Bears, Anan Creek, Alaska #3023
A black bear cub got separated from its mother and climbed in a spruce tree waiting to be found. The cub stood in the tree bawling for it mom as you can see my previous posting (Image #3017). The mother bear finally heard its cub’s wailing and came to the rescue. Anan Creek is one of the […]
Sea Otter with Basket Star, Icy Stait, Alaska #3022
Sea otters in Alaska were almost hunted to extinction by Russian fur trades. Sea otter numbers have rebounded in Southeast Alaska after a transplant program in the late 1960’s reintroduced them to the area. Some wonder if the present day populations might have reached a maximum in some places. Sea otters usually consume sea urchins, crabs, […]
Moose with Calves, Chatham Strait, Alaska #3021
Moose are rather rare in most of Southeast Alaska, except in places north of Juneau such as Gustavus, Haines, and Berners Bay. In my 38 years of photographing Alaska I have hardly seen, let alone photographed, a moose in Southeast. What a surprise it was to come around Point Couverden to find a mother moose […]
Sunset, Lena Cove, Alaska #3020
After experiencing one of the coldest and wettest June and July in my memory, August has been a delight with temperatures soaring into the seventies and sunsets galore. I shot this image this past Wednesday at my favorite summer sunset location, Lena Cove. I wanted to share this sunny moment as it has been raining […]
Brown Bear, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska #3019
A large coastal brown bear is an impressive animal, just check out its claws. I photographed this bear last week at low tide in Glacier Bay National Park while leading a photo workshop onboard the M/V Delphinus for Captain Ronn Patterson. It is a wonder me that this powerful animal makes a living eating the many small […]
Baby Black Bear, Anan Creek #3017
Last week I spent three days at the Anan Forest Service cabin in Wrangell, Alaska, with family and friends celebrating my birthday. I had a wonderful time photographing bears, but almost had more fun celebrating, eating chocolate cake, drinking mojitos, and singing a rousing rendition of the Beatles song “When I Am Sixty-four”. I wanted to […]
Humpback Whales, Inside Passage, Alaska #3016
One can never take Juneau’s world class whale watching scene for granted. I just spent four days on the water with good friends hoping for some great whale photography. While the local humpbacks were pretty active the week before our shoot, they were hard to find these last four days. It was not until the […]
Sunset – Tee Harbor, Juneau, Alaska #3011
I am a sucker for sunsets, how about you? This image was shot from the exact same spot as the previous shot, image 3010. The light, the tide, and the use of a longer lens make for a similar, yet very different photo. Once I find a great location I keep going back again, and […]
Sunset, Tee Harbor, Juneau, Alaska #3010
On Father’s Day I spent a peaceful evening with a friend on his porch watching the sunset while eating a delicious piece of homemade strawberry/rhubarb pie. I hope everyone had as wonderful a day as I did. Thank you for visiting. Enjoy – Camera: Nikon D800, Lens: Nikkor 24-120mm, Digital Capture, hand held ©Mark Kelley
Humpback Whale Breach, Juneau, Alaska #3009
What a Show! A humpback whale breaches in front of an Allen Marine catamaran along the shores of Shelter Island. I shot this photo from another Allen Marine cat on Tuesday evening. This single whale put on a show for quite a long while. We lost count of the breaches and fluke dives, and also […]
Pigeon Guillemots, Juneau, Alaska #3008
“Say What!” Two pigeon guillemots squawk at to each other on an island in the Juneau Channel Islands State Marine Park. This marine park consists of 14 islands, which are located between Auke Bay and Berners Bay here in Juneau, Alaska. Some of the islands have an amazing abundance of bird and other wildlife. Pigeon guillemots […]
Sea lions, Midway Islands – Alaska #3007
Sea lions gathered in a group almost always make me smile. When sea lions haul out in big groups you can hear them belch, burp, grunt, and groan. They have no sense of personal space and crawl all over each other growling, barking, and snorting until they settle down in a big pig pile and […]
Lena Cove, Juneau, Alaska #3006
I know some consider sunsets cliché, but after all these years I still get sucked in and love them all. Last Monday evening was just really sweet and I was glad to enjoy this beauty with my wife, Jan. Thank you for visiting, enjoy – Camera: Nikon D800, Lens: Nikkor 24-120mm, Digital Capture, hand held […]
Bald Eagle, Tracy Arm, Alaska #3305
Once again Tracy Arm provides. Yesterday was my first trip down to the Arm this season. This time of the year is great for bald eagles on icebergs and there were plenty of opportunities. I traveled with Captain Steve from Adventure Bound on board the Captain Cook, with flat calm waters and sunny skies all […]
Northern Lights, False Outer Point, Juneau, Alaska #3001
Oh What a Night! This weekend Juneau experienced an amazing show of northern lights. It all started Friday night and lasted through both Saturday and Sunday night and into the wee hours of Monday morning. Each shoot started around 11PM and ended between 3-4AM. I am suffering from what we locally refer to as “a […]
Picture Window Perfection-Juneau, Alaska #2999)
I had planned to shoot the setting full moon at 5:30 AM this morning so got up pretty early. Lo and behold, as I walked out into my living room there was the moon setting right through our picture windows. I quickly walked down to the beach to shoot this image of the moon above […]
Powder Heaven, Juneau, Alaska #2997
If you like winter, then Juneau’s winter of 2016-17 has been pretty perfect with plenty of snow followed by plenty of sunshine. Recently my wife and I enjoyed a cross-country ski adventure through miles of untouched snow in the meadows in Spaulding Meadows just above Auke Bay. Juneau’s Eaglecrest Ski area has over five feet […]
Surfing in Winter, Juneau, Alaska – Image 2991
I apologize for not posting any new images for the past month. We have been enjoying a long and well-deserved break. This past week has been gorgeous in Juneau and there were plenty of sunny days along with some big winds. Although Juneau is not a hot spot for surfing there is a dedicated cadre […]
Oh What a Night! Juneau, Alaska – Image 2985
Two winters ago Juneau experienced an amazing show of northern lights in the beginning of March. After this particular shoot I knew I had a winner. Some years I struggle to find the right calendar cover image, but this image is a quintessential Juneau image and is featured on the cover of my 2017 Juneau […]
Humpback Whale Blows, Juneau, Alaska-Image 2984
Wikipedia lists the origin of the word “photography” as follows: φωτός (phōtos), genitive of φῶς (phōs), meaning “light” and γραφή (graphé), meaning the “representation by means of lines” or “drawing”, thus together the words mean “drawing with light”. The essential word is “light”. The evening backlighting shining through the multiple blows of these humpback whales makes this image […]
Admiralty Island, Juneau, Alaska – Image 2983
I shot this cloudburst over Admiralty Island from an Allen Marine whale watching boat approaching the southern end of Shelter Island. In the photo business we call it God Light. Photographers live for this moment of brilliance. This image illustrates the month of July in my 2017 Juneau Calendar. I will be signing calendars at the Juneau Public Market this upcoming weekend. Enjoy the photo and […]
Alaska Positive 2016 Exhibition
I am pleased that one of my images has been selected for Alaska Positive 2016. Congratulations to Juneau’s own Chris Miller for winning the Juror’s Choice Award. There were 248 submissions and the juror selected 35 photos from 28 photographers for the final show. Some of you may remember that it placed first in the […]
Bald Eagle and Crow, Glacier Bay National Park, AK # 2982
Crows like to harass bald eagles. While visiting Johns Hopkins Inlet in Glacier Bay we came across this crow dive-bombing an eagle. Every once in a while the crow would tire and take a seat next to the eagle, before starting the game all over again. This cycle continued for quite a while until the […]
“Fogged Over” Auke Bay, Juneau, Alaska – Image 2981
Recently, I moved from downtown Juneau (Starr Hill) to out the road about 15 miles. I think I have one of the most beautiful commutes in the world. I shot this sunrise lighting up the fog in Auke Bay just two-miles into my seven-mile commute. Juneau’s new state museum, which opened in 2016, used this image as the wall […]
Brown Bear, Middle Creek, Admiralty Island, AK #2980
Photographing in a heavy downpour is really a low percentage shoot. It is incredibly difficult on the photographer and equipment, everything gets wet. I am trying to shoot more and more in the rain, and I usually shoot under a golf umbrella. Again, it is all very cumbersome and sometimes it makes me want to scream, but when it works… This […]
Humpback Whale Flukes, Juneau, Alaska – Image 2976
Humpback whales spend, I imagine, over 90% of their lifetime under water. The time spent above water is mostly dedicated to breathing and diving. The thrilling behaviors, or what I call the X-games of whale behavior, are really very, very rare. With extreme luck does one get to see behaviors like breaching, tail slapping, or bubble-net feeding. To […]
Black Bear, Anan Creek, Alaska…Image 2975
A black bear sits outside a small cave scratching an itch. I shot this photo from the photo blind that the US Forest Service maintains at the Anan Creek Bear Observatory platform near Wrangell, Alaska. This is one of the very few streams that supports a large population of both black and coastal brown bears. Better known bear […]
Kayaker and Paddle Boarder, Lena Cove, Juneau, Alaska # 2974
Sunset was shaping up to be quite unbelievable in Lena Cove, just a half mile from my home, and when I arrived on the beach just one element was missing to set the scene. Out of the blue a kayaker and a paddle boarder came cruising by while sunset colors were peaking. How lucky was that? It felt like winning the lottery. This image […]
Kayaker, Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness, Alaska, Image #2973
It had been raining on and off for two weeks straight here in Southeast Alaska. The world just outside the entrance to Fords Terror was soaking in rainforest green. Glacier silt, or rock flour, suspended in the tidal waters turned the water yet another shade of green. The waterfalls were swollen to bursting size. And the orange clad […]
Black Oystercatcher, Glacier bay National Park, Alaska – Image #2970
About a month ago, I lead a photo tour for Dolphin Charters through Glacier Bay National Park. I always enjoy my time with my good friends Ronn Paterson, on board the 50-foot m/v Delphinus. This is one of my favorite images from that week-long adventure. Oystercatchers are very noisy, bold shorebirds that have all sorts of ways of […]
Humpback Whales and Eagle Glacier, Juneau, Alaska-#2968
For the past three years my good friends, Rich and Lori, have come up to visit Juneau and they charter Jayleen Beedle to take them whale watching. I am so lucky for being invited along, and for actually getting a calendar photo on each trip. I took this image during their visit this summer. I have known Jayleen since she […]
Tufted Puffin, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, #2967
I spent last week in Glacier Bay National Park onboard Dolphin Charter’s m/v Delphinus. I started visiting Glacier Bay in 1980 and have probably spent over nine months in the park over the years. Last year’s visit produced a six-page spread in Alaska Magazine and an image purchased by the clothing company Patagonia. In wildlife photography hardly […]
Bald Eagle, Chatham Straits, Alaska – Image #2965
I just returned from a full week on board Dolphin Charter’s m/v Delphinus, to work with captain Ron in the “Around Admiralty Island” photo expedition. On such an adventure I never know what we will find and surprises may lurk around every corner. It is all about timing and luck, and having your camera ready. On this trip we […]
Deckhand Dave’s, Juneau, Alaska – Image #2964
This summer our family friend, David McCasland, opened a food truck called “Deckhand Dave’s” on the waterfront next to the cruise ship docks in downtown Juneau. Dave and our son Owen worked together on a commercial salmon purse seiner for three years. Dave was the cook on the boat and took that experience to shore […]
Celebration 2016, Juneau, Alaska #2963
The Git-Hoan Tsimshian Traditional Dancers performed at Celebration 2016 during the welcome ceremony and closed out Celebration on Saturday, June 11. I shot over 3,000 images during the four-day festival. It took me awhile to dig through the pile and decide on my favorites. I love the moment of energy between three of the lead […]
CELEBRATION 2016, Juneau, Alaska #2962
The canoes have arrived, marking the unofficial beginning of Celebration 2016. Join the festivities! It is a great honor to be an official photographer for Sealaska for this four day event. For more information click on the following Sealaska Heritage web links and I hope to see you there! Sealaska Heritage Institute Celebration 2016 Schedule Information Dance […]
Black Bears, Tracy Arm, Alaska – #2962
Tracy Arm is just great and I cannot stop singing its praises. If someone just had one day to visit Alaska I would send them to Tracy Arm. I shot this image of a mom and cub black bear on the same trip I shot the previous posting of the eagle on the iceberg. No […]
Bald Eagle on Iceberg-Tracy Arm, Alaska #2961
I have been to Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness more times than I can count or remember. I first visited the wilderness area in 1979 as a photographer for the Juneau Empire. I have tried to go back every year since then and often have been able to get in multiple trips per year. I love this […]
Contest Winner, Alaska Airlines Magazine- Image #2960
If you are flying with Alaska Airlines this month, check out their May in-flight magazine. Each year the May edition features the winners of the Magazine’s annual photo contest. I placed first in this year’s Showcase 2016, the 24th annual photo contest. The fun news is that the first place prize is two round-trip, first class […]
Alaska Sunset, Eagle Beach-Juneau, Alaska Image #2959
The color of this sunset is unbelievable, and believe me, it was really this good when I shot this photo on March 30. With zero hocus pocus or image enhancements, this is the real deal. The heavens provided all the magic. Enjoy. Thank you for visiting. – Camera: Nikon D800, Lens: Nikkor 24-120mm F/4 digital […]
Auke Lake Aurora, Juneau, Alaska #2958
Last night I went to bed with my world covered in clouds. But I knew the northern light predictions were calling for strong aurora displays. I happened to wake around 3 am and looked out my bedroom window to a star-filled sky. I checked three aurora websites showing current and strong aurora activity. I quickly […]
Bald Eagle, Sandy Beach, Douglas, Alaska #2957
When I leave the office for a photo shoot, I usually have a subject in mind. I almost never go out without a preconceived image in my head, as I don’t like to wander around aimlessly. Sometime this directed approach provides for unexpected surprises, and this is exactly what happed during a recent foggy day in […]
Glacier Bay OMG, Glacier Bay National Park-Image #2955
Another special moment from last summer; you may remember this post from when I returned from Glacier Bay. I entered this and three other images in the Memorial Maria Luisa Photo contest in Spain. All four images were selected for Honorable Mentions. This image is also the cover of the 2017 Alaska calendar. The MML photo […]
Sunset Flight, Juneau, Alaska – Image #2953
The last three days in Juneau have been just drop-dead gorgeous. It is these days that thrill me to be living here. Yesterday I was shooting the sun setting over the Chilkat Mountains at Eagle Beach when a flock of Canada geese flew by. They turned towards me just in time to place the silhouette of their […]
The Faces of Celebration, Juneau, Alaska-Image #2952
Celebration is a biennial festival of song and dance, food, arts, crafts, and fellowship of Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures. Every other year the streets of Juneau fill with Native People of all ages dressed in the signature regalia of clans from throughout Southeast Alaska and beyond. Native Elders created Celebration in 1982 to bring […]
Aurora Borealis, Juneau, Alaska-Image #2952
Last night (2-17-2016) I shot this photo of the Aurora Borealis over the mountains surrounding the valley and the Mendenhall Glacier from the North Douglas boat ramp. Although I spent most of the night and early morning hours looking for northern lights, I only witnessed one powerful display sometime between 11:30pm-12:30am. The northern lights created […]
Our New View, Auke Bay, Juneau, Alaska #2950
Jan and I are celebrating our one-year anniversary in our new home “out the road”, as Juneauites like to call it. We went to an open house on 2-7-2015 and that same afternoon the previous owners accepted our offer. After living in the heart of downtown Juneau for 30 years, we were moving to the […]
Sow and Cub, Glacier Bay National Park, AK-Image #2946
Bears, whales, glaciers, puffins, eagles, and more… Glacier Bay National Park has it all and that is why I keep going back as often as possible since my first ever visit in 1981. In the past three decades I have spent more than eight months total in the park. Glacier Bay has both a brown and a […]
Amalga Harbor, Juneau, Alaska – Image #2945
Happy New Year, I sure hope everyone enjoyed the holiday season. Personally, I received a really fun gift on Christmas Eve: I got Binged! Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, used this image I shot of Amalga Harbor as their homepage image of the day on Christmas Eve. How fun is that! Bing is the second largest […]
Amalga Harbor, Juneau, Alaska – Image #2944
What a great moment to represent the holiday season…a lighted holiday tree on a dock in an Alaskan harbor, with the Chilkat Mountains as the backdrop, and a clear night with northern lights dancing overhead. I could not wish for more… This is the December image in my 2016 Juneau, Alaska calendar, enjoy! Happy Holidays and we will see […]
Alaskan Solstice, Juneau, Alaska #2943
Alaskans love to celebrate winter solstice to welcome the turning of darkness into light. For the past 20-plus years a fun group of locals have celebrated the welcoming of the light with a bonfire on a local beach. This year they carried a sea monster placed in a kayak frame into the bonfire. Let the long Alaskan […]
Mendenhall Glacier Ice Cave, Juneau, Alaska-Image #2942
A frozen Mendenhall Lake made for easy access two winters ago to the now world famous Mendenhall ice caves. All of Juneau turned out for a visit. This particular ice cave has since collapsed. In this image my friend Stephanie is catching the sunlight shining into the cave through a moulin. A moulin is a […]
Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska – Image #2941
Mt McGinnis, Mt Stroller White, and the Mendenhall Glacier reflect in an open-water pond created by the flowing water of Steep Creek in winter. Juneau and Southeast Alaska experience warmer temperatures during the winter months compared to interior Alaska, and we often have open water in the middle of winter. Lucky me, as I am […]
Aurora, Echo Cove, Juneau, Alaska-Image #2940
Green northern lights, or aurora borealis, stream in the sky above Lions Head Mountain in Berners Bay, while casting a mirror reflection in the calm waters of Echo Cove. In Juneau, Alaska, the northern lights do not display as often or as strongly as for our Alaskan neighbors to the north, and of course a […]
Wedding Bowl, Mt Ben Stewart, Juneau – Image #2939
I mentioned last week that I love snow and we just heard that the opening of Juneau’s Eaglecrest Ski Area has been moved up to this Saturday, November 28! Juneau skiers and riders are having visions of knee deep powder. This is my son, Owen, skiing dream powder in Wedding Bowl on Mt. Ben Stewart […]
Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska-Image #2938
I love snow, and the Juneau area has been getting hit with large dumps of snow for the past few days. The world of winter white looks great. Virgin snow and sunshine makes any place look oh-so perfect, yet last year our town did not get much snow, and I missed it. This shot is from the […]
Setting Moon, Icy Strait, Alaska-Image #2936
When I go out on a shoot I almost always have a definite image I am looking for. On the evening when I shot this photo I was camping on Thunder Mountain to shoot a cover image of hikers on the mountain with the glacier and mountains as a stunning backdrop (see image posted on 9-16-2015). Having a specific image to focus on […]
Sitka, Alaska-Image #2935
Sitka, Alaska has one of the most beautiful seaside settings of any town in the state. The evening town lights and the little islands of Sitka Sound disappearing off into the darkening night enhance the beauty of this magical place. This same location shot during the day looks fine but does not resonate with the […]
Coast Mountains, Port Snettisham, Alaska-Image #2934
An important element in a successful photo is design. I like to give the two-dimensional presentation of a printed image a three dimensional feel when possible. The effect is called layering. This image has a natural layering as the mountain ridges pile up on each other with the help of the early morning fog, giving […]
Nugget Falls, Mendenhall Glacier, Alaska-Image 2930
The Juneau 2015 summer tourist season comes to an end this Thursday, September 24th, with the final arrival of the Holland America ship the Oosterdam. The Mendenhall Glacier is Juneau’s number one tourist attraction, and one of the most visited spots at the glacier is Nugget Falls. I love it photographically when I can get […]
Thunder Mountain, Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska-Image 2929
One of my most favorite views of the Mendenhall Glacier is from Thunder Mountain. The Mendenhall is about 13 miles long and from the visitor center one can see about 4 to 5 miles up the glacier before it makes a turn to the left and goes out of site. This view gives you the rest […]
Lesser Yellowlegs, Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge, Juneau, Alaska-Image #2927
To be successful in shooting shorebirds, one needs to get down and dirty. I shot this image of a lesser yellowlegs in the tidal pools in the Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge. To get the good reflection one has to be as low to the ground as possible. For this shot it meant lying flat on my […]
Killer whales, Herbert Glacier, Juneau, Alaska – Image #2926
I am known as the photographer that only takes photos on beautiful sunny days and this reputation is somewhat valid. I have so much work to keep my small business running, I chose to do my office work on the rainy days and save the sunny days for shooting. However, more and more I find myself shooting on the non-sunny days and […]
Brown Bear, Pack Creek, Admiralty Island, Alaska-Image #2925
A coastal brown bear lies down in a field of grasses and sedges right in front of the beach viewing spit at Pack Creek on Admiralty Island. Although you almost always see bears at Pack Creek, a good photo can be hard to come by. I always plan on an eight-hour day at the spit and am […]
Semipalmated plover, Reid Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska – Image #2923
I spent seven days onboard Ronn Patterson’s M/V Delphinus as photo leader for Dolphin Charters with eight other photographers. We had an amazing trip. This is my last week of sharing some of the wonderful images I was able to shoot. I have been photographing Glacier Bay National Park for over 35. I love spending time with […]
Humpback Whale Tail, North Pass, Alaska-Image #2920
My friends, Rich and Lori, invited my wife and I on a whale watching tour during their stay in Juneau. They hired one of my favorite whale captains, Jayleen Beedle. We headed out last Sunday evening, July 12th, for a four hour tour. The whales were spotty, with maybe six individual humpbacks hanging out in the North Pass […]
Humpback Whale, Pt Retreat Lighthouse, Juneau, Alaska-Image #2919
Alaska’s humpback whales returned to Juneau from their annual migration from Hawaii sometime in May. This single whale is diving off the northern end of Admiralty Island with the Pt. Retreat Lighthouse in the background. During the fireweed season the lighthouse is surrounded by fireweed, and the fireweed came really early this year because of the amazingly […]
White Pass and Yukon Route, Skagway, Alaska – Image #2918
The White Pass and Yukon Route narrow gauge railroad links the port of Skagway with Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon in Canada. The railroad has no direct connection to any other railroad and is one of Alaska’s most popular tourist attractions. I like photographing the train in early June because the lime-green leaves of the […]
Humpback Whales, Juneau, Alaska – Image #2917
Humpback whale bubble-netting groups arrived in Juneau waters last week. There are two main groups of whales with a combined total of some 20 individuals. These two whales surfaced after finishing a bubble-net. Humpbacks are mammals that surface to breathe air and their lungs are the size of VW Bugs. When they surface, the water covering […]
Hummingbirds, Gull Cove Lodge, AK – Image #2916
Carly Lehnhart waits patiently for hummingbirds to come to the feeder. Our friends, Paul, Tami, Rick and Alice at Gull Cove Lodge have four hummingbird feeders sitting on the handrail on the lodge’s front porch deck. The hummers were so ravenous that the little thumb-sizes birds would flock around and sometimes even land on a person’s […]
Mendenhall River Rafters, Juneau, Alaska – Image #2915
Houstonia, a Houston, Texas city magazine, chose this Mark Kelley image for their June 2015 cover. The magazine is doing a story on great escapes and Alaska is part of their focus. The design director, Chris Skiles, discovered markkelley.com in his web search and found this cover image. How cool is that! Thank you for visiting. […]
Dandelion Bear, Juneau, Alaska – Image #2914
A black bear along the Auke Rec bypass here in Juneau, Alaska eats the succulent spring stems of the dandelion flower. Black bears are omnivores and spend much of the spring and summer and sometimes all summer just eating plants to sustain themselves. Lucky bears can fatten up on salmon when the fish return to […]
Lena Cove Sunset, Juneau, Alaska – Image #2919
These last three weeks we have been having the most beautiful weather in Juneau, creating wonderful sunsets. My wife Jan and I were in Lena Cove when a paddle boarder and kayaker cruised into view right at the peak of sunset. Sometimes I get lucky! Juneau is on track for the warmest and driest May […]
“Drizzly Bear” or “Reigning over the Tongass”, Black Bear, Anan Creek, Alaska – Image #2913
Every year since 1944, the Missouri School of Journalism has recognized the best work in photojournalism through the Pictures of the Year International (POYi) contest. The contest is the oldest (72 years) and considered by many the most prestigious photojournalism program and competition in the world. This year, I took third place in the Science & […]
Aurora Borealis, Juneau, Alaska – Image #2912
Juneau experienced an amazing show of northern light on Sunday, March 1. For some reason it took me a while to check out my images from the shoot-OMG! I could not believe that I did not post this image sooner. It reminds me of the song, “Oh What A Night.” On another note – PLEASE VOTE for my entry “Silver […]
Snowboarding, Eaglecrest Ski Area, Juneau, Alaska…Image # 2903
I photographed this snowboarder, Sam Buck, during the same shoot with my son (the image in the month of January in the Juneau Calendar). Sam’s colors really worked against the winter white background. For the last two years, I have been shooting with the Nikon D800 camera body. This camera delivers a 36 megapixel image, the […]
Eaglecrest Ski Area, Juneau, Alaska…Image #2900
This is my son, Owen, performing as my model in a ski shot. I am lucky to have two sons (Gabe and Owen) and their many friends who are exceptional skiers and snowboarders. I get to use them as models and ask them to do skiing moves that seem impossible. Owen had to work his way through a […]
Chilkat Moon Sets, Alaska – Image #2898
In Juneau winter the full moon often sets as the sun rises. It was a perfectly clear morning when this full moon set over the Chilkat Mountains across Lynn Canal from Aldersheim Lodge “out the road”. I love how the early blue sky, lit by the rising sun, rolls down seamlessly into purple pre-dawn color layers. The […]
Gastineau Channel Sunrise, Juneau, Alaska…Image # 2897
In November, December, and January the sun rises directly at the south end of Gastineau Channel in Juneau, Alaska. The morning light rising above the channel is simply gorgeous on a clear morning. Many of you know that I have set a challenge for myself to produce a calendar quality photo of the historic pump […]
Aurora Borealis, Juneau, Alaska…Image # 2896
The last two winters in Juneau have been very good for shooting the northern lights. Scientists tell us that there is some sort of 13 to 15 year cycle that controls the activity of the aurora borealis and that we are now on the downward swing of this cycle. For this image I pulled into […]
Fairweather Sunset, Idaho Inlet, Icy Strait, Alaska…Image # 2894
This is one of my all-time favorite sunsets. Some look at this photo, and think I just added a black box below the mountain horizon. Actually, the lighting conditions were such that the ocean turned black. Ask any mariner and they will agree that there are times when such a lighting condition happens. As great as the lighting is over […]
Summer Solstice Sunset, Juneau, Alaska…Image # 2893
On summer solstice the sun in Juneau sets around 10 o’clock in the evening and rises around 4 o’clock in the morning, giving us approximately eighteen hours of daylight. If you like to shoot during the photographer’s “golden hours” in Alaska’s summer be prepared to sleep mid-day! On the flip side, on Juneau’s winter solstice, the sun […]
South Sawyer Glacier, Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness, Alaska…Image # 2891
If someone just had one day to visit Alaska, I would send them to Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness. My other hot spot would be the north end of Wonder Lake in Denali National Park. If the weather cooperates, the view of Denali in the Alaska Range is to die for. But, if it’s cloudy it is just another […]
Sleeping Black Bear, Anan Creek, Tongass National Forest, Near Wrangell, Alaska …Image # 2890
I love to nap and have been accused of napping almost everywhere at any time. Yet, this plump black bear napping in a small spruce seems improbable even to me. He was snoring pretty loud and when he exhaled his lips flapped in the breeze. I have been to Anan Creek every year for the past seven years […]
Killer Whale Breach-North Pass, Juneau, AK – Image # 2887
A large 30-foot (9 meters) male killer whale, or orca, with a 6-foot dorsal fin jumps out of the water. Also referred to as breaching, many theories exist about what makes a whale breach and in reality no one really knows. What I do know is that this breach happened right after this orca’s pod […]
Harbor Seals in Field of Icebergs, South Sawyer Glacier, Tracy Arm-Fords Terror …Image 2883
A rookery of harbor seals hang out on the pack ice in front of the South Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness, Southeast Alaska. The ice affords the seals protection from their main predator, the killer whale. The South Sawyer glacier is one of the most active calving tidewater glaciers in Alaska providing this […]
Sea Lions, Marble Islands, Glacier Bay National Park…Image 2882
One of the best spots to view sea lions in Southeast Alaska is around the Marble Islands of Glacier Bay. Besides sea lions, the islands are one of the best places in the park to find puffins along with a huge nesting colony of gulls, cormorants, and guillemots. The Fairweather Mountain range backdrop makes for […]
Harbor seals – Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness, Alaska…Image 2881
May and June is pupping season for harbor seals in Southeast Alaska. Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arm and John Hopkins Inlet in Glacier Bay National Park are two of the most productive harbor seal pupping areas in Alaska. Here, a mom and her pup rest on an iceberg. This image shows the interesting difference in […]
Facebook Banner updated
April 9, 2014 Time to update the Facebook banner. So many images to choose from!
“Once Upon Alaska” 6th Book Spread…Image 2865
I moved to Juneau in the summer of 1979. The following summer, I found myself photographing whales in a skiff off Point Adolphus in Icy Strait. Before this time, I had not really ever seen a whale. When the whale in this image showed up it started slapping its tail. I slowly moved in to […]
Alaska Marine Highway, Malaspina, Lutak Inlet, Alaska – Image 2774
A long time ago, I did a photo book on the Alaska Marine Highway System for Epicenter Press. The 5,000 book press run sold out. The book never got reprinted. A client needed some ferry shots, so I scanned a few images used in the book for the submission. Most of the ferries have been […]
Alaska Marine Highway, Matanuska, Skagway, Alaska – Image 2772
It seems like summer is upon us and arrived a lot earlier than normal. In March and April, northern southeast Alaska witnessed almost five weeks without rain and plenty of sunny days. In early April, we had some days in the low 60’s and set multi-records for the hottest days ever. With the advent of […]
Alaska State Marine Highway ferry, Southeast Alaska – Image 2454
The ferry, Malaspina, cruises the waters of Southeast Alaska between Haines and Skagway. Built in 1963 for a cost of $5 million, the Malaspina is 408 feet in length and carries over 750 passengers and about 120 vehicles. I shot this photo from a helicopter right at sunset and was the cover a book I […]
Alaskan Brewing Company Ad “Our Crew, Our Brew” – Image 2300
I just love advertising. In September, the Alaskan Brewing Company asked me photograph a guysnowshoeing for their winter ad campaign. Even in Alaska, there is not much winter in September. Thesolution was to fly up to the ice fields locked into perma-winter about 5,000 above Juneau for the shoot. Camera: Nikon F5, Lens: 35-70mm f/2.8 […]
Alaskan Brewing Company Ad “Our Crew, Our Brew” – Image 2299
Living in a small town of 30,000 plus people does not give me many opportunities to shoot commercialadvertising. The local brewery has used me off and on over the years. Their beer is wonderful, and theirgrowth has been astronomical. This shoot of one of their workers running by me with the Mendenhall Glacierin the background […]
Arctic Lupine, Juneau, Alaska – Image 2412
It’s full fledge flower season in Southeast Alaska in May. The Arctic lupine is a very common plant found throughout the area this time of the year and is one of the first flowers of the spring/summer season. Camera: Nikon F4, Lens: 300mm f/4 Nikkor, Film:35mm Velvia (35mm color slide film).-Mark Kelley
Biking the country roads of Gustavus – Image 2003
Not many places in the world would one find a golfer biking to the course with his clubs on his back and his dog by his side. But Gustavus, and the Mt. Fairweather Golf Course, is not your ordinary golf experience. Dogs are allowed on the course. I shot this photo while on assignment for […]
Big Goat Lake, Misty Fjords National Monument, Alaska – Image 2622
I photographed this image in early June while on assignment for my book on Alaska. Located just outside Ketchikan in southern Southeast Alaska, Misty Fjords is a huge land mass cut up by deep glacier-carved fjords and dotted with many high alpine lakes. The outlet for this lake is a very tall waterfall. I photographed […]
Mendenhall Glacier, Mendenhall Lake, Alaska – Image 2583
The air in Juneau is really blue on clear fall days after long periods of rain. On just such a day, I headed out to the glacier on an early morning photo quest to catch the blue-bird sky above the glacier. I had no idea I would find a mirror reflection. I shot this scene […]
Black Bear, Mt McGinnis, Juneau, Alaska – Image 2941
When I look for a cover for my calendars, I am looking for an image that shows the essence of Alaska. Rule one is the image has to have great light. Next the image has to show the essential elements that make Alaska special to me and the world: wilderness, wildlife, mountains and glaciers. One […]
“Hanging Out”, Black Bear Cubs, Anan Creek, Alaska – Image 2832
This spruce tree is probably the single most photographed tree in all of Alaska. It is a favorite hang out for bear cubs at Anan Creek. Being very close to the viewing platform, its comfortable branches provide an unbelievable viewing opportunity. The Anan Creek area has a black bear population of some 40 to 50 […]
Hale-Bopp Comet above Gastineau Channel with northern lights – Image 2031
April 1997 was a month of cloudless skies. Comet Hale-Bopp was our constant companion from mid-March through April. As the end of April approached, I had not taken a photo of the comet. It seemed like I was the only photographer in the world without some shot of this phenomenonal celestrial event. Towards the end […]
Juneau, Alaska – Image 2846
The other great place to shoot winter sunsets in Juneau is along Fritz Cove Road on the southern shore of Auke Bay. The March and April sunsets happen on the northern edge of Auke Bay. This image shows Eric Lindegaard watching the view from his dock. This image is not digitally enhanced. The colors truly […]
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 […]