Joining me on this shoot was Mary Richardson and Producer Clint Conley. We arrived in Alaska in early fall with a twelve day schedule ahead of us to visually capture what this beautiful countryside had to offer, as well as come back with a few interesting stories.

Landing in Anchorage is like being dropped onto a deserted island. I remember looking out my hotel room the first night and seeing the twinkling of the city lights and then there was a razor edge of darkness. It was a little unsettling and peaceful at the same time knowing that the wilds of Alaska, which is something that I read about since I was a kid, was literally sitting at my doorstep.

One of the many magical times we spent together over the two weeks was when we arrived at Denali National Park. We drove out toward Mount McKinley on a deserted road just before dusk. Stopping only a few miles out, we found ourselves in another world. It was completely silent. In fact, you could literally hear your heartbeat. In the distance, mountains that seemed so awe inspiring during the day, turned purple and gold awaiting a cool Alaskan night. A herd of caribou crossed the road to the left of us as bears wondered out on the tundra in front of us. It doesn’t get any better than this.

We did have the chance to fly with a local pilot/guide who took us up to the peak of Mount McKinley. Seeing the pilot with a map on the dashboard, a ledge wall in front of us, and a snow covered mountain below us, made it very obvious that we were either in serious trouble or in the hands of one of the best pilots in Alaska. He was a true bush pilot and could land just about anywhere, which he proved to us. After shooting in an extremely remote location, the pilot informed us that the winds had changed and he could not take us all out at once. We decided that if someone had to stay behind, it was not going to be Mary. With the pilot saying, I’ll be back, we watched our red plane take off leaving Clint and I out in the middle of nowhere. The only weapon we had to protect ourselves was a camera and a tripod.

Being on the road with Chronicle as you can see is never boring. Whether I am looking up at the northern lights in Alaska or shooting a sunset in Barbados, it is all a life experience that I never take for granted.