Thank you all for your comments. Every once in awhile I get one right.

Thank you. The blue irises are some of my favorite subjects to photograph.

I shot these beauties. No PP except for the first one, which I cropped as it was off center a bit. These were taken with my Nikon D90, using the kit 18--105 lens.

(Download)


(Download)

Guess I'm just "old school." I've lived up here since 1951, so some stuff is just ingrained in me. Call me an "old fart," I suppose.

Not meaning to be picky or anything, but the mountain is actually still named Mt. McKinley, but the national park is called Denali Nat'l Park and Preserve. However, that is a fantastic shot of "The Mountain," (as we call it up here), with the clarity and contrast between the white snowy mountain and the dry tundra.

I am looking to replace my pocketable camera and the Nikon S9700 has me seriously interested, especially with the 30X zoom lens. This is my take along camera when I'm out on the motorcycle. Does anyone have any thoughts, advice, experience with this camera?

I love the last two shots, especially the one of Turnagain Arm. That is spectacular! I said it before, and I say it again, you really compliment our state well. Thanks for sharing your photos and memories.

Ah, the "good ol' days," when 35mm was king and cameras were manual all the way. You had 3 selections--shutter or aperture priority, and bulb. So, focus, set your exposure, and shoot. What really mattered was the photographer's eye for a picture, and brand preference was whatever you preferred for whatever reason. These days, cameras are digital and so specialized that it's become like motorcycles--there's one for every conceivable intended use. No more "one size fits all" it seems. So the important thing is to go with the camera that most fits your needs, and get good glass, as no matter how good a camera may be, it's the glass that makes the difference in the quality of a photo. Then there's the photog's eye, of course.

My recommendation is to go with Canon, if that is what you truly want, and get the one that is the most "jack of all trades" so to speak. You list a wide variety of types of photography, so you may find you'll need more than one camera to suit your purposes.

Great shot of the fire truck. As many times as I've been through Shaniko, I never noticed it there before.

Good to know. The A10 is probably the most useful aircraft in the inventory to date.

Great shot of the "Road to Infinity." I remember, years ago, we were on a motorcycle trip to Fairbanks, and we got to that exact spot and decided to see how fast our bikes could go. I don't think we ever topped them out, but the spot we saw going up the hill, in the distance, turned out to be a struggling tan Yugo!! It was barely making it up the hill, and we all got a good chuckle out of that.

Long Lake--I have numerous shots of that lake. It always fascinates me. And Saddleback mountain--the most popular and photographed shot of that spot is of the one at the bottom of the photo, popularly known as The Lion's Head. In your photo you can just see the "ear" sticking up. A little farther down you see the whole thing, and it indeed looks like a lion's head.

Here's a shot I took at Long Lake, last year.

The F22 question is much like the A10 Warthog question. The Hog is old and should be done away with, never mind the fact that the "flying tank" is and has been the best piece of air--ground artillery made so far. So our government's answer to that was rather than spend money maintaining and refurbishing the A10's, they would spend even more money to develop something that could be many years in the making before it's put into service. Good thinking Uncle Sam!!

Now we have the Raptor--not a Cold War child as stated in the one article. Sure, it's not brand new, but it's the newest we have, and they want to get rid of it already, and the F35 isn't fully in service yet? Their argument that it's not needed so much doesn't hold water. The F22 is a specialized tool that is invaluable when it's needed to employ, just like that certain tool in your garage that you spent a wad of $$$ on and only use occasionally. But what would you do if you needed to use it, now, and what you're doing can't wait until you go to the hardware store to try to find one?

This is what happens when our government tries to run itself like a for-profit business rather than a governing entity whose purose is to defend its citizens, yet channels great amounts of revenues and resources in the wrong directions. It certainly weakens our country. Or is that its goal? Hmmmmmmm! Jus' sayin.'

Again, you do justice to our state. You certainly did get around. When were you up here to do all that?

OK, I'm getting the idea. Thanks for the quick replies.
Pertaining to 35mm vs. digital photography, it's not the taking of pictures, rather it's the dizzying array of controls on a digital camera. Since I haven't taken any courses in digital photography, the controls and terminology make for a hurtle for me to get over. I guess it's just a matter of time and practice and learning.

Again, thanks. I think that will help.

OK, to start with, I, by no means am anything above a bottom end amateur photographer. I did well with 35mm, but I am challenged by digital photography. But I'm learning. Furthermore, I have had no formal photography education or training. I keep reading about the "Rule of Thirds." Would someone educate me on this, explain what it is and how it works so that I can employ it and perhaps improve the quality of my photos? I would appreciate that very much. And if this has been discussed somewhere else, I have missed it. For some reason, I don't do well with the search feature. Thanx in advance for your input.