“On Eagle’s Wings”, 
Wrangell  St. Elias Mts., Alaska
 
 

Alaska’s remote Wrangell-St.Elias mountains soar to a maximum elevation of 18,000+ feet above sea level and rank as some of the most beautiful and awe inspiring in the world.  On the day of my charter flight we had  good weather and mountain light window of just a few hours before overcast conditions set in.  I hired an excellent pilot out of McCarthy, Alaska with a small four seater single engine Cessna. My pilot allowed me to shoot out of an open window and was an expert at positioning the plane and tipping the wings in order for me to get a better shot.  There was only our small plane and the mountain peaks and clouds and of course the amazing light.......the whole experience was nothing short of spiritual and something I will never ever forget.


I have been asked about a “frame of reference” regarding some way to judge size in these images...Honestly there is none...no climbers, no tents, no wildlife, nothing but ice, snow and rock.  What I can say is that our small plane was dwarfed by the enormity of the peaks and glaciers....we were but a “speck” in this grand isolated landscape.  For the most part I used a “normal focal length camera lens” which means the perspective in these shots is what we actually experienced visually from our plane.  Since this was a private charter I was able to “design” exactly what I wanted to photograph and I specifically asked to see “the big peaks” and left the rest up to the pilot who knew the area well.


Thanks to our pilot Martin with Wrangell Mt. Air for keeping us safe, and my husband Dale for making sure the window stayed open and didn’t crash down on my camera!


See also blog:  Photographing from small bush planes in remote Alaska.


Additional aerial images:  Alaska Aerial Images

 

Optional music: On Eagle’s Wings