Featured Print February 2024

Denali from Wonder Lake. Denali National Park. Alaska. 1988

For me, this is my classic Denali photograph. It has lived prominent in my mind for the 35 years since I made it, and lived well.

We had been at Wonder Lake Campground, north of the mountain for the evening and had not seen the mountain at all, as it was shrouded in cloud, as was typical. Near midnight, the clouds opened up and the mountain was suddenly, gloriously, visible, reaching to the sky. I stared at it, photographed, was transfixed by “the great one” for hours. I will always remember the sight.

…watching the sun set and rise from Wonder Lake. After its famed shroud of clouds broke, the whole majestic reach of the mountain could be seen. Photographing was hard. The scenic images were easy and purposeless. But the design possibilities were endless. I must've stood there for hours watching the light change and the clouds drift.

I woke about three times during the night, peering out of my tent hoping to see the northern lights. Apparently I missed what display was happening. Just before six I peaked out and decided the sunrise merited the effort. Everything was blue and silver. Streaks of orange and yellow began to strike the east facing snowbanks but soon disappeared back into the morning silver.

I sat for nearly an hour watching the mountain. The camp was completely silent. I felt like mine were the only human eyes gazing up at the mountain. But there was a sound. I soon realized that I could hear the winds racing through the mountains 25 miles away. It was perfectly still where I sat gazing south, but a torrent of rushing frigid air was moving clouds in the sky around Denali, eventually covering the great one itself. It was extremely cold but a beautiful morning.

This photograph is a film image, naturally as it is from 1988, made with my Mamiya RB67 using a 250mm lens coupled with a 2x extender. The film was a little dusty when exposed, so prints always required etching out the black dust spots. It got to the point that I no longer wanted to sell the print for all of that labor. Little did I know at the time, that a year later I would see Photoshop (then known as Barneyscan XP) for the first time, and only a few years after that, come to own a 4x5 film scanner, the Leafscan 45. I soon realized I could remove those dust spots forever, and make a beautiful black and white digital print on my borrowed Kodak XL7700 dye sublimation printer with its black ribbon. I love those original prints, which still look great, and I guess, are vintage, multiplied. I later realized that I made this photgraph on the 149th anniversary of the announcement of photography to the world.

I’m offering a 14-inch-wide print of this photograph for $300, matted to approximately 16”x20”. Larger prints can be ordered. This print at this price is offered through February 29. I'll be taking orders until then, and shipping them out by March 15. The image reverts to its normal price after that, $800 for an 11x14, $1500 for a 16x20,

Past Featured Prints

About the Program

Each month we offer a signed, original print, at a special price. This is a great opportunity to own a very affordable fine-art photograph. Orders are taken for a 30-day period, then printed and shipped within two weeks after the close. When it's over, it's over, these prints won't be available again at this price.