Pump House, Sandy Beach, Juneau, Alaska – Image 2753

The historic pump house at Sandy Beach that pumped sea water to the Treadwell Mine is a quintessential landmark in the Juneau area. Last year, I self-assigned myself to get a new and different photo each year of the pump house (one good enough for the calendar). This image is my first installment. Hopefully each future calendar will feature a new image of this Douglas classic. During December and early January , the sun rises in the south directly down Gastineau Channel. It is the only time of year you can get kind of light on the scene. What makes this photo for me is the band of red light crossing along the water line. There was a Taku wind blowing when I took this photo, and the gusts must have been ranging up to 60 miles per hour. The red band is the high wind smoke being blown out of the Taku Inlet lit up by the rising sun. I would have never guessed this would have happened, and it is the accent that makes this photo work. This photo illustrates the month of December in my 2012 JUneau Alaska Calendar. Enjoy the photo and thanks for visiting. Camera body: Nikon D300, Lens: Nikkor 80-200mm , digital capture© Mark Kelley