Barrow again!

I spent this past Thursday on a location scout for a film that is about to start filming up here. We chartered a plane, which was pretty cool--the pilot flew directly by Mt. McKinley. I was on the other side of the plane so didn't get the best shot, but my view was pretty spectacular, too. The fourth picture down is McKinley, as is the bottom shot, which was taken by our director of photography Peter Collister, who has a much better camera and lots more talent than me! Barrow certainly looked different than it did in April, when the sea ice was in and there was snow on the ground. At the time, I thought that that I'd love to see Barrow in the summer, and I'm happy I got the chance, even though it was 41F!

change of pace

We filmed the rap group Bay Dilla documentary-style, as they opened for Snoop Dogg on Saturday night. Quite a change of pace from Tetlin--I got home from Tetlin that day and then filmed Bay Dilla from 3PM-3AM. They are the biggest rap group in Anchorage and it was a super fun shoot--we filmed at their studio, their stretch hummer, limousine and party bus, a club and of course at the concert. Here are some shots of the night, and some of Snoop, as well! During the Bay Dilla act, I was able to shoot on stage, which was a new experience to be in front of screaming fans. For Snoop, I was still able to get up front, but not on stage--check out his security!

Yesterday we filmed a scene which called for our subject to be dressed in authentic traditional Athabascan clothing. The Alaska Native Heritage Center loaned us a moose skin tunic, adorned with shells, moose antler tips, and ermine and beaver fur. It looked amazing, especially since our subject, Kelly Frank, brought a beautiful eagle feather, which worked perfectly in his hair. His mother made him the mukluks. The stick he's holding is diamond willow, which is commonly used for carving. Overall, I think he looks pretty authentic! For more pics from the day, check out cameraman Zak Melms' blog-click this (Bottom photo by Zak Melms)

Back to Tetlin!

We headed back to Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge today for another week of filming. Here are some shots I took along the way. There never seems to be a shortage of beautiful and different scenery every time I go!

powerline pass

We mountain biked on our next scout, down Powerline Pass to Gray Lake and Green Lake. Powerline Pass is within the city of Anchorage, about a 15 minute drive from my office. It's truly amazing how quickly one can get from the city to amazing vistas in Anchorage! By the way, I definitely see a heart cloud in pic 2!

sheep mountain and hatcher pass

I've been doing a lot of location scouting lately for a feature film that was slated to shoot in Alaska this year. One of the locations they need is a lake, so that means lots of hiking! I can't complain about getting paid to hike to beautiful lakes! Some of these pics were taken near Sheep Mountain, and some up in Hatcher Pass, where we also discovered an old abandoned gold mine, which was pretty cool, too!