Adventures in AK

2012-01-21T16:33:00.000-08:00

Fun with iPhone app filters!

2012-01-10T06:00:00.000-08:00

The moon looked beautiful at 9:30AM on the drive into work from Wasilla yesterday, so I pulled over to take this picture. The sun still doesn't rise until after 10AM, but we have passed the solstice!

2012-01-07T20:39:00.001-08:00

I had a nice visitor this morning!

2011-12-07T07:18:00.000-08:00

My dad came for a visit several weeks ago. We had a great time exploring Alaska in a very non-touristy season! First we went on a dogsledding tour with Dallas Seavey in Willow. Dallas, who is only 23 years old, won the Yukon Quest last year. It was great to meet him and of course the dogsledding was fantastic! We also did a helicopter tour out of Girdwood, which was stunningly beautiful! We saw tons of moose, a few mountain goats and were able to land on Colony Glacier, which was amazing.

2011-10-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a full page ad that's in newspapers across the state, including the Anchorage Daily News, the Fairbanks Daily Miner and the Nome Nugget, in conjunction with my Alaska Airlines commercial that comes out on November 1st! Very exciting!

2011-10-19T22:48:00.001-07:00

Here are some photos from my video mentoring gig for Day in Our Bay. Manokotak is just outside Dillingham in Bristol Bay and has a population of 399. I thought I would just be mentoring teens while they filmed their their life and culture, but I had people of all ages, which was great! First, a surprisingly eclectic magazine rack at the Dillingham Airport. The small plane I took from Dillingham to Manokotak, which was mostly filled with cargo like mail and food. The landing strip in Manokotak.Arline filming her sister teach her daughter how to prepare "mouse food" (otherwise known as Yupik potato) and Emperor Geese soup, stressing the importance of a subsistence lifestyle and passing this knowledge on to the next generation. Also showing off her drying fish. Roy filming a spiritual gathering and potluck at the school.
Bertha and her grandmother displaying some of their amazing craftwork. Her grandmother only spoke Yupik, so Bertha tranaslated.
Diana filming herself and her boys making Akutaq, or Eskimo ice cream.And lastly, a beautiful sunset over the mountains!I met some wonderful people and really enjoyed this job!

2011-10-16T16:14:00.000-07:00

Here I am with a group of Alaskan filmmakers in Dillingham, headed out to our assignments as video mentors to locals in villages all over Bristol Bay. My village is Manokotak, which has a population of 399. I've mentored three people so far, it's going really well! My budding filmmakers have been anxious to show the world their culture, and it's been fun teaching them documentary filmmaking skills! You can read more about this fabulous project at http://dayinourbay.org/.

2011-10-12T22:38:00.001-07:00

We've been location scouting in some beautiful spots recently for the Alaska Airlines commercial!

2011-10-09T16:11:00.000-07:00

I have been pretty busy working lately, so sorry for the lack of posts. This was taken on an Alaska Airlines commercial I did the production coordinating, casting and location scouting for. My partner Zak Melms and I are putting the finishing touches on the next day's plan. As you can see, fall is clinging to life here, but it's still gorgeous out. We the commercial over three days in Anchorage, Seward and Nome. It was a great success and lots of fun!

2011-09-10T21:04:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a hectic yet fun and successful shoot in Nome for my second Modern Marvels, a History Channel show. The weather in Nome is usually pretty extreme, and we got lucky with a few beautiful days. We also saw some not-so-beautiful days!

2011-08-24T18:16:00.001-07:00

I had a short gig yesterday producing a piece for Good Morning America about the Hot Sauce Mom verdict. There was quite a crowd, this story has gotten a lot of attention!

2011-08-21T10:47:00.000-07:00

I worked on a commercial last week, and commercials usually mean super early start times. The good news was I was up for the amazing sunrise!

2011-08-11T21:36:00.000-07:00

I spent a lovely weekend in Wasilla, which is actually a beautiful place, even though Sarah Palin has given it a bad name! I saw the first snow of the season, which was a bit of a shock! I also had some very sweet visitors!

Cosmo!

2011-07-24T15:09:00.000-07:00

I assisted on a photoshoot for Cosmo's Alaskan bachelor of the year. The location was the sand dunes at Kincaid Park which overlook Turnagain arm. I never even knew this place existed! Gorgeous day and fun shoot!

2011-07-12T05:07:00.001-07:00

The Bolinas Fourth of July parade is always a fun time!Fooling around with the pro HDR app on my iphone...I actually didn't bring a "real" camera this year, but ended up taking just as many pics with my phone!Easy Rider meets Toy Story

location scouting

2011-07-09T13:40:00.001-07:00

I took these pics yesterday during a location scout for a feature film. It's near the Eklutna River, which empties into the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet. It's only a 30 minute drive from Anchorage. I had no idea it was so beautiful out there!This beach and grassland is behind a locked gate, accessible only to the tribal council and to the community for subsistence fishing. It was so quiet and peaceful.The Eklutna River is really lovely, but I must bring hip waders next time!

Dewy

2011-07-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

It was a dewy morning my last day in Bolinas, and it looked amazing in the spider webs on the porch! Click on pic to see it bigger, it's pretty cool!

Catching up

2011-07-02T21:53:00.000-07:00

I'm visiting my family in California for a few days, and it's been great to catch up with everyone! My dad pointed out I haven't blogged since May, so I thought I'd do a quick update! My mom and I took a Segway tour in Newport Beach the first day I got to California. It was a gorgeous day at the beach, and super fun to drive (ride?) a Segway, I highly recommend it! While driving up north to visit the other side of my family, my nephew had to pee, so we pulled off onto a nondescript turnoff, walked a few feet into the woods and found this! What a nice surprise, you'd NEVER know it was there from the road!My nephew Uriel's favorite form of transportation! A couple of pics from the beautiful Alaskan summer.My coworker got an adorable puppy! I had to go to Juneau for business (which I'll blog about soon). Gorgeous day with the typical Juneau summer elements-a cruise ship and float plane.My dad and stepmom's incredibly generous birthday gift-an Ipad! Well, a gift card for an Ipad. I'm so excited to get it, I know it will motivate me to organize my photos better and hopefully blog more often!

2011-05-18T19:32:00.000-07:00

I took a little road trip a few hours out of town last weekend. There's still a little snow out there, but it's going quick! I saw this cool old truck parked on in a vacant lot near Hope.Cool looking cafe in Hope

Spring is definitely here!

2011-05-06T23:57:00.001-07:00

I was standing on my porch admiring the beautiful day this morning when a black bear came running out from the backyard of the house across the street. I ran for my camera and then barely had time to yell at the neighbors to watch out, as they hadn't noticed him. He did a cursory investigation of a few trash cans (but no ransacking, this didn't seem like a nuisance bear) and then took off.SO cool! I've never seen a bear in the city before!

2011-04-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

We had a great modeling shoot with Zoya in Anchorage two nights ago. Here is a pic of Zoya with some serious make up, her wonderful pup Ethan and our crew!

2011-04-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

My week in Paxson was great. It turned out there were only about 47 dogs because some were on the Kobuk 440 race in Kotzebue with Zoya and her husband John. It's amazingly beautiful out there! Here are some pics of Paxson and the drive to and from!Here are house dogs Maudie and Ethan enjoying a stroll on Paxson Lake with the Alaska Range in the background.
The sun setting on the kennel around 9PM.It's still winter in Paxson! The last day I was there, there was a snowstorm. I looked out the window and saw this caribou herd on the other side of the lake heading towards the Denali Highway. So cool!

2011-04-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in so long, work has been busy, and I've been working on a side project with Zoya, here's a pic from a shoot the other day!

I will be taking care of Zoya's dogs while she is out of town for one week. She has wireless, so I am able to work from there. I will be taking care of her 60 dogs, which will be fun, I've done it a few times, but not for a few years!

Zoya Facebook fan page!

2011-03-23T18:11:00.001-07:00

I know I have at least a few readers who are Zoya fans--check out and "like" her new fan page, lots to come on it! Click here. Zoya's racing season is not over, she'll be headed to Kotzebue for the Kobuk 440 in mid April! Join the FB page for training, race and family updates and of course, lots of pics!

Iditarod!

2011-03-19T18:25:00.001-07:00

The Iditarod broadcast was busy but fun, of course, because there were dogs involved! Here are some pics from the shoot. The dogs were rarin' to go, it's not easy to hold them back!As you can see, we had great Iditarod media jackets. Unfortunately, we didn't get to keep them! There were lots of colorful Alaskan characters there. I wasn't thrilled about the wolf, but hey, it's AK...

2011-03-11T04:34:00.000-08:00

Here is a pic from Zoya's facebook today, with Miller, the dog she resuscitated.

Great article on the front page of the Anchorage Daily News yesterday about Zoya. There's a little audio clip, too. Check out the comments under the article, too--she is getting a LOT of praise for her stellar dog care!

I got to see her and her husband John in Anchorage and she is in good spirits. In fact, she was on her way to race the dogs in the Chatanika 200 the next day!

Click here to read article!

And here is another article from a few days ago about juggling being a musher and a mom! Click here.

2011-03-08T17:19:00.000-08:00

One of my co-workers took some absolutely amazing pics of Zoya--if you'd like to check them out click here!

Sad news

2011-03-08T12:52:00.000-08:00

From Zoya's husband:

"I am sorry to report what most of you already know-----Zoya scratched in Rainy. She was having a good run to that point. She left Rainy and was in the Dalzell when Miller went down; it was sudden as if he had a heart attack. Zoya gave him mouth to mouth, but he seemed not to recover. She put him in the basket and turned back toward Rainy---and found him with his head up, looking at her. Zoya returned to Rainy. At this time she says that she never wants to risk having a dog die again. Time will tell. There is no doubt that racing puts a strain on our animals and that anything can happen---either in the yard, or while on the trail. Our kennel has been fortunate thus far. At this point we need to sit back and weigh the risks vs. the benefits.
At the time of this writing, Miller is acting normal; eating and drinking. He will be fine. "

Zoya is an amazing person who always puts her dogs first. She will bounce back as she always does!

2011-03-07T13:05:00.000-08:00

I got really busy when I got back from India, so haven't had time to blog. Just got finished producing the live broadcast of the Iditarod start, and luckily my coworker Zak Melms has been taking pics of what we've been up to, so here's a link to his site:

Click here

On the third entry down, click on the pic of me if you want to see more pics of Zoya, a good friend who is running this year for her third time. Zak took the pic of us with her daughter at the musher's banquet, where the mushers pick numbers to decide the running order. Zoya got #9, which she was really happy about--she wanted to pick in the top twenty and she did!

I took the pic on top at the start of the race, about two hours before she took off. She's definitely got a little bit of a 'game face' going!

Hampi

2011-01-23T19:24:00.001-08:00

Hampi was absolutely incredible, and well worth the 9 hour bus ride! I've never been to a place so rich with history. They are countless temples amidst the huge boulders and banana plantations. I'll post more later, but here is the main temple in Hampi, which was built in the 1500's, overlooks the entire city and is awe-inspiring.

Below is me being blessed by Lakshmi, the main temple's elephant. Close contact with elephants was not something I was expecting this trip, I feel so lucky to have had two such experiences!And below, one last sunset in Goa!

2011-01-21T05:56:00.000-08:00

Goa is an entire state, so it was obvious I wasn't going to be able to see all of it, but I spent a few days in the north, a few hours in the center, and then made my way down south. Here are a few pics of north and central Goa, of Vagator, Chapora, Anjuna and Panaji.Central Goa is the home of Old Goa, and some really beautiful old churches. The coastal towns are fishing communities, and there are fishing boats filled with nets everywhere, as well as people clamming and harvesting edible kelp.There are also bustling markets filled with color and beautiful shrines and religious imagery everywhere. It's a sunny, friendly beautiful place and super easy area to travel alone.There are NO supermarkets here, you won't find a Costco anywhere! However, these tiny little mini markets are everywhere, and run by friendly families who usually ask where you're from. Most travelers here are from Europe, so they usually ask if I am. Someone asked me yesterday if I was Scottish!
Next I'm on to Hampi, and then home. Decided against Kerala, as it was really far and hard to get to, with almost a day of travel each way. Now I have an excuse to come back to India!

2011-01-17T20:23:00.001-08:00

Cows are more than welcome to wander the beaches in Goa. It must be so much nicer to be a cow here than in the big city, dodging rickshaws, bicycles, cars and buses!

At the hottest point of the day, they come out for a nap in the hot sand or find some shade in the jungle to hang out. Some go to the local restaurants to beg for some compost. It's extremely entertaining! Of course the baby was my favorite! I also really like the spotted cows, although there aren't as many of those.

Goa and monastery

2011-01-16T06:56:00.000-08:00

I made it safely to Goa to begin the last part of my trip, southern India. Goa is mostly beach and jungle, and mellow and laid back--a far cry from many of the cities I visited in the North!

Here are a few pics I took today. As you can see, the cows are welcome to sunbathe and the dogs are fat and happy! The architecture is heavily inspired by Portuguese style, because the Portuguese ruled in Goa for two centuries. It's a lovely place.

In the third photo down, those are all eagles--amazing! After Goa I will visit Hampi, which is close, and possibly Kerala before I return home.

Below are pics I took while visiting a monastary in Pokhara, Nepal. Another first for me!

2011-01-13T08:04:00.000-08:00

Woke up super early to catch the sunrise in Pokhara, Nepal. It only took a few minutes to rise above the hills and reach the Anapurna mountain range, which towers over the town. It was truly breathtaking and definitely worth the lost sleep!

A new friend!

2011-01-12T08:07:00.000-08:00

Don't have much time to post pics now but just wanted to share this one of a lovely elephant I met in Chitwan, Nepal! A friend and I were just walking down the road in the village taking pics and a man rode by on his elephant. He stopped and let me have a quick hug. SO sweet!

River Ganges

2011-01-09T17:10:00.000-08:00

I spent two days in Varanasi, which is where the River Ganges, India's holiest river, is located. Lots of pilgrims coming to pray, bathe and do their laundry! They send flowers and candles in banana leaf cups into the river as offerings. Many men get their heads shaved on the spot. And of course, there are goats in various outfits. I even saw a cow fight! (it was a draw). Another amazing place. I recently crossed over into Nepal, which was about an 8 hour ride, but am still near the border. Today traveling further up into the mountains, heading towards Kathmandu, with a two day stop at a wildlife sanctuary in Chitwan. Can't wait!!

2011-01-06T00:04:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that I've only been here six days! India is a cacophony of horns honking, dogs, cows, monkeys, trains, smells, more cows, amazingly beautiful and incredibly old temples, Bollywood movies, mustard fields, INCREDIBLY friendly people, kite flying children and sweater wearing goats! Here are a bunch of pics, impossible to do more right now than just post a bunch and let the pics speak for themselves! Yes I have been making MANY dog and cow friends, the group thinks I'm a little nuts but I carry anti-bacterial wipes!

Tourist!

2011-01-04T17:27:00.000-08:00

Here I am in Jaipur with a camel and in Agra at ....well, you should be able to figure out where I was! Having a great time. Have to run now but will try to write a longer entry later. Internet is sporadic.

Jaipur, Rajasthan

2011-01-02T05:02:00.001-08:00

Well, it turns out the hotel in Jaipur has internet, so here are some pics I took today. It's an overwhelming mix of sights and sounds, I hope I captured just a fraction of it!

India!

2011-01-01T17:00:00.000-08:00

Slept the entire plane trip and made it to New Delhi hotel by 2am, only to have to make a 6am train to Jaipur, where we will spend two days before continuing by train to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. Then we will continue by train, stopping along the way in places like Orcha and Varanasi on the way to Kathmandu, Nepal. I do not expect to have internet much but I am safe and sound and can't stop taking pics of this new incredibly different world and I haven't even seen it in the daylight yet!

I'm doing half the trip alone but started with a group. The group is only 14 total and everyone is incredibly down to earth and great, ranging in age from 24 to 60-something. It's nice to start with a group as I get my bearings for sure. There's only one other American, a woman from North Carolina, who works in non profit. Everyone else is from Great Britain, New Zealand and Canada, along with other places in Europe and Scandinavia, which is awesome.

After Nepal, I will travel back to India and head south on my own, hoping to at least see Goa, Hampi and Kerala before heading home Jan. 25th. It's a lot to squeeze in but I want to see as much as I can, within reason!

I don't expect to post much at all until I get back, or even have much email, but all is well!!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T01:21:00.001-08:00

All is well, about to board flight to Delhi. New Years in Amsterdam was fun, as I knew it would be, as I spent New Years there 15 years ago when I was casting for Real World London. The entire city lets off fireworks and the scene it totally chaotic, super loud and visually amazing! Here are a few shots.

Not sure at all what the internet situation will be in India, but suffice to say I will check in if I can!

2011-01-01T01:21:00.000-08:00

All is well, I'm just about to board my flight to New Delhi, not sure how sporadic internet will be there, but I'm on my way!

2010-12-31T07:05:00.000-08:00

I had a bit of extra money after I worked on Everybody Loves Whales, so I decided a few months ago to finally take a trip I've been wanting to take for about 15 years so India and Nepal. I left Anchorage yesterday morning at 6AM, then it was on to Minneapolis and then Amsterdam, where I have a layover. Then it will be on to Paris then straight to New Delhi. The total time in the air is almost 30 hours! Luckily so far I've slept the whole wayHere is a picture I took in Amsterdam today, I forgot how beautiful it was here!

Juneau shoot

2010-12-19T13:24:00.001-08:00

I just got back from producing a Modern Marvels (History Channel) segment in Juneau. I can't post any pics of the marvel until it airs, but here are some pretty pics of my crew and Juneau anyway! Juneau is an amazingly beautiful city, completely surrounded by snow capped peaks. We got lucky with beautiful weather, as you can see. All in all, a great shoot!

2010-12-14T22:15:00.001-08:00

Here's the color photo from the magazine. I thought the magazine was a freebie around town, but nope, I had to go to Borders and buy it for $3.95!

published!

2010-12-13T13:11:00.001-08:00

A photograph I took on location in Barrow made it into Alaska Business Monthly magazine!

another pretty day!

2010-12-12T22:53:00.000-08:00

I took these today at around 1PM. As you can see, the sun does indeed come out in the winter here!

Before and after!

2010-12-12T08:29:00.000-08:00

Here are two pictures I took at the same spot by the Knik River on my way out to Wasilla. The first I took in early October, just as the ice was starting to form and the second, I took yesterday. It's the same spot as the pic taken in the previous blog entry, in November, only yesterday was a lot frostier! After living in AK almost six years, winter is still my favorite season!

2010-11-28T20:46:00.000-08:00

Today was chilly, but beautiful! We haven't been seeing much blue sky lately, so I had to get out and enjoy it!

2010-11-26T09:46:00.001-08:00

I wasn't able to make it back to California for Thanksgiving, sadly, because I was working. But I had a lovely Thanksgiving nonetheless, with a few dogs that were thrilled to lick the plates afterwards!

2010-11-17T09:54:00.001-08:00

I noticed this last week when I was in Fairbanks, and it just struck me as funny! Any claim to fame you can get, I guess!

2010-11-06T12:50:00.000-07:00

Here is a group crew photo taken at the Barrow arch. Luckily we had a polar bear skin around, and two dogs, which makes the pic even more Alaskan!

2010-11-04T19:01:00.000-07:00

The Barrow shoot went 100% perfectly, and everyone was happy! Then it was on to Fairbanks for a sled dog gig. I must be out of practice, as I stupidly led a dog right near a chained dog right before meal time. The dog that was chained reached out to bite the other dog, and got my hand instead! I needed four stitches, but even though it's on the hand I write with, it isn't affecting me at all because of its position. I get the stitches out in 10 days. At least I got a pretty purple bandage!

Sorry for the gross picture! They leave the wound open a bit because of possible dog germ infection.

2010-11-01T04:27:00.000-07:00

I think the temp was about 10 degrees yesterday in Barrow. The crew people are almost all from LA and are holding up pretty great! We have one more day filming here in Barrow, with three shooting days done. All is going well.

The other pics are from a scout we did today. I was taking pics of the shed and my Barrow assistant insisted I go inside and stick my head out the window, so I did! She is a photographer and took several pics, which turned out pretty cool, with the turquoise color against the aged wood. I'm not wearing my coat because I sprinted from the car and sprinted back!

2010-10-25T21:52:00.001-07:00

It's very windy and the temperature is usually about 18F in Barrow, but I'm staying warm in my super fancy movie parka! It's a rental--I wish it were mine!

2010-10-20T22:59:00.001-07:00

It was so kind of these Canada Geese to escort me to my car after work yesterday!

My new hat for Barrow!

2010-10-18T15:22:00.000-07:00

It's blowing and temps are going to be about 10F in Barrow, where I'm going this Thursday. I've been eyeing this hat for dogsledding for years and finally got one for this shoot. It was only 40 bucks, not bad! And it'll be perfect for dogsledding, too! Not a great pic, but you get the idea!

Everyone Loves Whales!

2010-10-12T10:33:00.001-07:00

Today I go back to work on "Everyone Loves Whales," which is a feature film starring Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski that's shooting in Anchorage and Barrow. I am supervising the second unit shoot in Barrow, which will take place at the end of the month. So my blog postings will probably be scare until it's over!

I was checking my sitemeter and noticing some interesting locations that some readers are from. They include Germany, Spain, France, Brazil and even Finland!

Would you mind if you are from a unique place commenting here on how you came across the blog? I'm just curious! Thanks!

Winter's coming!

2010-10-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

I took these yesterday while on a trip to Wasilla. I couldn't believe the ice! I guess winter is coming, after all.

Buddy the Hero Dog reunion!

2010-10-08T08:20:00.001-07:00

A few months ago I produced pieces for NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams and The Today Show about the amazing expoloits of Buddy, the German Shepherd who led Trooper Terrence Shanigan to a fire when Terrence was lost on miles of unincorporated road outside of Willow and had a broken GPS. The fire started in a work shed right next to the house, and the house most likely would have burnt down if Buddy hadn't gotten help there so quickly.

This week I produced a piece on the incident for Dateline NBC, which was of course a lot of fun for me! We spent time with Trooper Shanigan and Ben Heinrich, who is Buddy's owner and the person who acidentally started the fire. He was injured with burns to his hand and face, and told Buddy, "We need to get help," which Buddy did! Buddy led Trooper Shanigan to the fire, then went back to the main road and led a fire truck in. And Buddy is a very shy dog. When his job was over, he hid in the forest until Ben got home from the hospital. His work was done.

Here are some pics from the shoot. The last pic is Trooper Shanigan with the sled dogs he's training for his Troopers on the Trail program, which will be the only State Trooper sled dog team in existence! They will patrol Native villages that are off the road system, of which in AK there are many. Buddy really couldn't have picked a better person to find to help his family!

2010-10-03T17:17:00.000-07:00

The backyard of my petsit in Wasilla has an amazing view of Pioneer Peak, especially this time of year!

Fall migration banding

2010-09-25T12:06:00.000-07:00

Each fall, US Fish and Wildlife Service in Tok does fall migration bird banding for a month. It's an impressive set up. Biologists and techs go out every morning at sunrise (which at the start is as early as 4AM!) and set up several mistnets in a wooded area near refuge headquarters. They check the nets every half hour and measure, weigh and band every bird caught in the nets. This is much different from my past bird tech gigs, where we only had one mistnet at a time and were looking for specific birds, letting the rest go. This is a lot more time-consuming. One tech brought back 10 birds during one sweep of the nets.The process is like clockwork--they are amazingly fast at getting birds processed and released. Several times a season, USFWS invites children from local schools to take a field trip to the site and watch the process. The kids are encouraged to participate by releasing the birds themselves. It's not easy taking a picture of a bird release, usually I hit the button a little too late! Some birds cooperated by not flying off right away. The last pic is of cameraman Zak releasing a bird-I missed the bird but love the look of joy on his face! This definitely took me back to my tech days and was a fun shoot!

2010-09-16T11:06:00.001-07:00

This trip to Tetlin we stayed at the Dept. of Fish and Game refuge headquarters in Tok. They have nice cabins behind the offices, which were perfect for us as we wanted to be centrally located, as opposed to being deep in the refuge.

On Saturday, two hunters came by looking for help. They said they'd been out hunting and saw an eagle sitting by the side of the road near a ditch. At first they thought it was eating, as the wings were completely spread out, as if it were guarding a mouse. But something seemed off, so they approached it, and it was unable to fly away. They noticed some blood on one leg and surmised that it was either shot or hit by a car.

Luckily there is a bird rescue based in Tok, so they were able to pass it off to someone who could help without too much fanfare. I asked to see the eagle, and they took me to their car. There it was, nestled comfortably in the back amongst the wrenches and other random back of the car stuff. It seemed very alert, although the guys said it hadn't eaten any of the ground beef they'd given it. Zak pointed out that it probably wouldn't want to eat anything that didn't still have a pulse! Anyway, it was amazing to see this bird so close up! I hope it makes a full recovery. Speaking of cameraman Zak, he has a new blog post up featuring my pics, if you're interested! Click this. Oh, and some good news...Dateline NBC is doing a piece on Buddy the Hero Dog, and I was hired to produce it! Finally, Buddy's getting the attention he deserves!

Okay, now this is REALLY fall!

2010-09-10T10:09:00.001-07:00

The refuge is in full fall glory right now. Here are a few pics from yesterday.

Fall is here!

2010-09-09T08:01:00.000-07:00

Termination dust and yellow leaves can only mean one thing--my favorite season has arrived! In Anchorage the leaves are just starting to turn, but we drove out to Tetlin NWR yesterday for a quick shoot and fall is almost in full bloom out here. I'm happy to be out experiencing it, since it's such a short season. We'll be out at the refuge for the rest of the week, and then it's a wrap on this project after almost a year! The next step will be editing, and there is a LOT of footage to go through, as you can imagine.

Barrow again!

2010-08-28T15:23:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-18T11:08:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-08-11T16:12:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-08-10T02:36:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-06T11:20:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-07-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

Here's a VERY short video before my card ran out of memory of us arriving at Ten Mile Camp. The elders and youth gathered at the river's edge and sang the Ten Mile Song. We weren't sure how people would feel about us being there, so it was a very nice welcome!

more dogs of the refuge!

2010-07-27T08:17:00.001-07:00

One of the things I learned about filming in a village is the concept of "visiting." Hardly anyone has email and phone calls only get you so far. Instead, you go visiting. Visiting consists of dropping by someone's house and just chatting usually for about an hour. It's a whole different way of life, and of producing! It gave me lots of opportunity to hang with the local dogs of our subjects.

Second pic down is elder Roy Sam (in his cool jeans and "Grandpas Rule" t-shirt), who I did dog chores with on two occasions. Third down is a lucky pup with a piece of whitefish. Fourth is a local pup with a delicious entire moose leg! Even though I was warned on a few occasions that a dog might bite me, ALL the dogs were super sweet and loved the extra attention and affection! Oh, and a reminder to check out my cameraman Zak Melm's blog, as there are a lot of pics from the past two weeks! www.celluloidaffair.blogspot.com.

2010-07-22T12:05:00.000-07:00

We were honored to be invited to Cultural Camp by the Northway Village Council to do some filming. Culture Camp is a fish camp that has been around for generations at a location about 10 miles (30 minutes by boat) down river from Northway at Ten Mile Camp. There are some cabins, and most people bring tents. The entire village comes and goes during the week, including elders, even ones who can barely walk are driven by boat to sit for the day and catch up with their neighbors. Ada, who I posted about before (the 86 year old woman who does beading), actually spent the night.

We first filmed the men picking whitefish out of the nets they had set earlier in the day. They do this several times a day. The fish is cut, smoked and shared with the entire village. The purpose of camp is to teach the younger generation skills that they will use their whole lives, such as proper techniques for cutting and smoking fish. You can see the little girl has a tiny ulu to cut her fish, so cute!

They had a huge feast of whitefish and biscuit, which was delicious. They also drummed, sang and danced. It was another once in a lifetime experience. Top photo by Zak Melms. By the way, the amazingly talented Zak started a photoblog, which you can check out: click this

work!

2010-07-21T17:00:00.001-07:00

Here are few more pics from filming at the refuge, although working is a kind of a strange term, because I'm having so much fun! The top pic is a beaver we filmed while canoeing last night at about 9PM. The third pic is me with two South Koreans we filmed who are biking from Anchorage to Vancouver. The bottom one is pretty self-explanatory, me loving local dogs! All photos except top one by Zak Melms.

Dogs of the refuge!

2010-07-18T11:32:00.000-07:00

2010-07-18T00:50:00.000-07:00

Here is a timelapse video my cameraman Zak Melms shot in the refuge yesterday. As you can see, there were several storms through during the nine hours the camera was up. Amazingly beautiful!

2010-07-17T22:56:00.000-07:00

Last night a moose was hit by a truck on the highway near Northway village in Tetlin. The Alaska State Troopers have a list of people who want to salvage road kill. We heard someone waited three years to get called. The woman on the top of the list this time was Marie Frank, one of our documentary subjects (she makes traditional Athabascan birch baskets). Her son and other villagers towed the moose to the village and skinned and quartered it. Then they hung it in the smokehouse where it will be smoked and cut. It had to be done the same night it was killed because the weather was so warm. So it was midnight when they towed it and we left while they were still working at 2AM. The people who butchered the moose split the meat, and with the other parts they make a huge stew for the entire village, so no part of the animal goes to waste. The guys were working really hard and were fast. It was pretty cool to watch! (top photo by Zak Melms)

2010-07-16T14:05:00.001-07:00

Here's a couple of pics of my cameraman Zak filming in the refuge. He definitely takes chances, like balancing on top of a boat, but he hasn't lost a camera yet! The shot of both of us was taken at Deadman Lake. He is filming a time lapse of a spider building a web. The last shot is of Zak filming a refuge biologist checking out a peregrine falcon nest with a spotting scope.

Back at Tetlin NWR

2010-07-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

I am still producing the Tetlin National Wildlife documentary and am back in the area for the next two weeks. We drove up two days ago, and my cameraman Zak snapped the top photo on the drive there. Then he applied some photoshop magic, although it was nearly that beautiful in person!

Yesterday we went with two refuge biologists to check peregrine falcon chicks still in their nests. They will fledge in the next two weeks. We went to about 10 nests. It's pretty amazing to have access to see peregrine chicks. The adults nest on vertical cliffs and they are not easy to find. Luckily, these nests were all scouted and GPS'd in the spring when the adults were incubating eggs. This was an amazing experience! You can see the chicks clearly, which is pretty lucky, too. Usually, if you are lucky enough to find a nest, the chicks are hunkered down out of the way. You can see the adult, too, she is watching over her chicks closely from a nearby rock. It was a bit hard to shoot without a great lens, but I took these snapshots anyway.

2010-07-04T21:55:00.000-07:00

Bolinas has a great Fourth of July parade, with lots of pup spectators!

2010-06-27T13:52:00.001-07:00

I saw this little guy today on the drive from Seward to Anchorage. My friend and former wildlife tech partner Louis started a water taxi company in Seward, and I finally had two days off in a row so I drove out to Seward to check it out. I saw moose on the drive there and back, how lucky! This is not the first time I've seen a moose kneel like this to eat, and it's really adorable! It was pouring rain but worth getting out to take a few shots. I will post yesterday's moose (three- a mom and two babies!) soon!

2010-06-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a cute squirrel couple I saw in Northway. My guides kept saying, "Look at the squirrels!!" But at first they were completely camouflaged to me in the cabin's walls. Luckily I saw them before it was too late, I got two pics before they darted off.

village dog

2010-06-12T17:54:00.000-07:00

I met this happy village dog in Northway, a village which is in the boundaries of Tetlin NWR. The woman who usually leaves food out for him says she never has to worry when she goes out of town, because others in the village pick up the slack! That's an eagle feather, by the way.

2010-06-10T16:46:00.001-07:00

The Eagle Trail fire was started by lightning and is one of the highest priority fires in the country, having burned over 18,000 acres with a lot of "urban interface" in its path (homes, cabins, etc). At one point it was burning 10 miles from Tok. There are fire crews here from all over the country. Here's a fire crew gridding in burned forest just outside of Tok. They make sure there are no areas that are still hot or smoldering, because with the hot weather, a fire can start up again after being extinguished. I didn't notice until after I took the top pic that the guy had a butterfly on his shoulder, so I then had to get a close-up! There was one girl on the crew who wielded her axe when the guys goaded her into it. She had lovely blue nail polish! In the bottom pic, you can see that in this area, the fire didn't jump the road, but it did in a lot of other areas.

2010-06-08T09:09:00.001-07:00

I took this pic Sunday on the drive to Tok, which is where we're staying while we film the Tetlin NWR documentary. Because of my wildlife tech work, even though I have spent five and a half years in Alaska, this is only my second summer based in Anchorage. I'm usually in far-flung remote places like the northern Alaska peninsula, Prudhoe Bay or Haines (well Haines isn't remote, but it's Southeast!) Summers in those places are chilly, rainy and in the case of Prudhoe, even snowy (it snowed in July). So I'm really enjoying taking pics of a green, sunny summer!

2010-06-06T00:07:00.000-07:00

I am off to Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge for a week of filming for the documentary we've been working on since winter. Not sure how great wireless will be out there, so in the meantime, here's a pic of Choctaw, who has an eye condition requiring her to wear Doggles outside--so cute!

2010-06-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

Today I produced an interview with US Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner for CNBC. He stopped in Anchorage on his way to the G-20 Summit in South Korea.

When I did the location scout, I sent a pic of the Chugach mountain range under a bright blue sky...well, that was yesterday and today it rained! But we set up a tent and as you can see, the satellite truck operator and I stood as a human shield with umbrellas to block him from the wind, which worked great!

He was answering questions live on air for a show called "Closing Bell." I found it interesting that his people said he'd never done an interview via satellite with a reporter in studio. Luckily, it turned out perfectly! He spoke of going fishing in Alaska quickly before heading of to South Korea, but I think he was joking.

The bottom pic is us with the satellite truck operator and the makeup artist.

2010-05-30T12:45:00.001-07:00

I witnessed some extreme cuteness out in Big Lake this morning!

2010-05-24T04:08:00.000-07:00

It took a little time, but William the Scottie and Studs Terkel the cat are now friends!

2010-05-16T23:43:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I was in Fish Lakes Creek, near Skwenta, following a story. It's a tiny community just off the Yentna River, accessible only by plane or boat. We took a 35 minute float plane from Anchorage and stayed with our subjects at their gorgeous Northwoods Lodge, a year-round fishing and hunting lodge. Here are a couple of pics from the trip--as you can see, the best part was the fabulous dog (named Yentna)!

2010-05-09T09:13:00.001-07:00

Yes, spring is finally here, and Fifi is really enjoying patches of sun from her favorite chair and her new summer trim!

2010-05-07T10:48:00.000-07:00

Most photos by Mike Collier

Here are a few pictures of the drive from Anchorage to Valdez. Most of these were taken at Thompson Pass at 9PM. It was right between winter and spring up there. The waterfalls were half frozen, half thawed. The best part was the road was clear and dry!

Since I was driving, I turned over my camera to my cameraman. He came up with some amazing shots, in a stunningly beautiful place! My favorite is the mountain with the clouds, one light & one dark, I never woulda come up with that! I also like the top one because it looks like we're about to go down a steep rollercoaster!

Enjoying sunny skies in Anchorage, it looked like spring finally happened while I was away for two days!

2010-05-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

I'm having a great time taking care of a two month old black scottie puppy, along with his friends--a tortoise and brown lab!

2010-05-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

Valdez went great, but I need to catch up on my sleep before I write about it! In the meantime, here is a picture taken at around 9PM on the way there.

2010-05-01T14:13:00.000-07:00

I got a gig producing for ABC World News a piece about the current oil spill from the perspective of Valdez locals...the fishermen and others who are still affected 20 years later.

I did a Wildlife Tech job out in Prince William Sound for US Fish and Wildlife Service a few years back, where we captured and did liver biopsies on Black Oystercatchers from oiled and unoiled islands of PWS (and then sewed them up and let them go!) The livers of the birds in oiled areas still contained oil residue due to their diet of mollusks and other invertebrates that inhabit an area below the surface oil clean up. As birds are an indicator species for the health of the entire sound, after twenty years, the area and its creatures are still impacted, along with a herring industry that has never recovered, etc...

This is a quick gig, leaving now for Valdez with a cameraman and returning by Monday morning, more later!

2010-04-28T17:18:00.000-07:00

Buddy made the front page of the Anchorage Daily News on Saturday, and I made page 3! Buddy's story was also told by Ellen DeGeneres on her show this week, so I think his fan base is probably growing exponentially!

Here's the link to read more about Trooper Shanigan and Alaska Wildlife Trooper Thomas Akelkok's "Trooper on the Trail" sled dog program, it is truly innovative! click here to read.

Buddy the Alaskan Hero Dog!

2010-04-25T19:51:00.001-07:00

I was so lucky to get a gig producing for NBC's Nightly News and Weekend Today the story of Buddy the Hero Dog! If you haven't seen the video, you can search youtube.com for Buddy the Hero Dog and you'll see! Here is a nice piece from AP: this

On Friday, Buddy was honored in a ceremony for his "integrity and pluckiness," among other things. He received a silver dog bowl engraved with the Alaska State Trooper insignia, and huge bone and plaque. A CBS reporter told me that Buddy's ceremony had the biggest press turnout that he's seen since the Palin days!

That night (really the next morning 3:30AM our time, which is 7:30AM in New York), we prepared to shoot the segment for Weekend Today, which aired live at 8:08 NYC time. It went well, but as you can see, Buddy was very sleepy after his busy day! If you do see the Today video, there is a bit at the end showing Buddy close-up and I was off camera trying to make him look perky! click here to see Luckily, Trooper Shanigan brought a bag of Yummy Chummies!

The coolest thing about the story is Trooper Shanigan's belief that Buddy was communicating with him during the minute and 45 seconds he spent following Buddy in his car. Trooper Terrence Shanigan is Native (Aleut) and has a team of 16 sled dogs that he is training to be the first Alaska State Trooper dog team. Next winter, they will run portions of the Iditarod Trail and visit bush communities along the way.

Most of Trooper Shanigan's team, if not all, is from bush dog lineage, like Iditarod musher John Baker's dogs out of Kotzebue. Bringing attention to bush dogs is critical, especially now that Bush Vet Eric Jayne is no longer practicing in these communities, bringing much needed spays and neuters and just general vet care. We filmed at a girl's house in Barrow who, when her dog got hit by a snow machine, had to put him on a plane alone for vet treatment in Anchorage. And that's in a huge community like Barrow. Most bush dogs would not get that chance. The Anchorage Daily news did a great audio slideshow featuring Trooper Shanigan discussing communicating with Buddy. Click here to see On top of the dog stuff, Trooper Shanigan also works with the rescue of orphaned moose calves in the Willow/Talkeetna area.

The other thing to note is that the town that Ben lives in, Caswell, only has a volunteer fire department, and five houses have been lost to fire in Caswell over the past few years. Ben has decided to join the volunteer force, and there is now talk of creating a true fire station in Caswell with help from the Buddy attention!

Anyway, Buddy now has a Facebook page that Trooper Shanigan started (and they're using my pics, very cool!) and it looks like Buddy is receiving a lot of love! One of the youtube videos of the dashboard cam has gotten over 183,000 hits just since yesterday, and I saw a piece on the BBC! Trooper Shanigan tells me that he, Buddy and Ben will be visiting rural communities in the upcoming weeks to talk about fire safety and public safety.

The family is super nice, mom works at the Lowes in Wasilla and dad is a Sloper (works on the North Slope). Ben is a great guy and it was nice to see how close he and Buddy are, they are truly best friends. Ben said that Buddy has saved his life twice before, chasing bears off while Ben was fishing, and I have no doubt that's true! All in all, this was a hectic but fun 24 hours! And as you can see, Ben has a really cute niece who was way more interested in Buddy's bone award than he was!

Trooper Shanigan's dashboard cam video was described by Moira McLaughlin of dogarttoday.com as follows:

Sometimes great art happens inadvertently. This morning, I watched this video captured by an Alaska State Trooper's dashboard camera and I burst into tears. It is so haunting, beautiful, dramatic, and primal. It is the essence of dog love and it is a masterpiece."

click here to see the raw video. (And for those who suggest that Buddy got spooked by the police car and was just running away from it, note that he stops dead in his tracks when he gets to his driveway!) Here are some pics. The second-to-last one with Ben, Buddy and Trooper Shanigan reminds me so much of a Norman Rockwell painting!

Barrow pups

2010-04-22T20:31:00.000-07:00

Many dogs in Barrow are considered working and are tied to a post in the front yard. Unsurprisingly, I had a problem with that (although we did meet a lot of people who had inside dogs that slept on their beds!) I never saw a dog chained out front that looked hungry, but some of the dogs looked pretty miserable. I had been warned by my coworkers, who know how dog-crazy I am, not to pet the chained dogs! I would take different walking routes sometimes to see dogs that I knew (either the owner told me or it was a puppy) that I could approach. Here are two of my favorites, as you can see they absolutely love the attention.

2010-04-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

Here are our clients in front of one of the many colorful eating establishments in Barrow. We got to visit them all several times!