Meet the Turnagain Arm

As we drove from Anchorage to Whittier and Homer, we drove thru what’s called the Turnagain Arm.  The Turnagain Arm is the body of water that you’ll be seeing, not the road.  Altho I believe it was named after an explorer, I’m not certain about that, so that that with a grain of salt in terms of whether or not it’s true!

 

Here’s the introduction to the Turnagain Arm.  Altho I liked this shot, I wish there had been a train on those railroad tracks…..

 

As I was taking photos of the scenery on the Arm, a woman came up to me and asked me if I noticed the Dall sheep on the rock face directly across the road.  The rock just seems to go directly up at an almost 90 degree angle, but that’s where these sheep are the most comfortable.  I felt really lucky that I was able to capture them in their natural environment.  And, they seemed as curious about me as I was about them!

 

When I took this image, I really began to fall in love with the beauty of this area and actually devoted a posting to several images of a very similar scene, just to illustrate the different ways I viewed it.

 

When we were coming back thru the Turnagain Arm after our visit to Homer, we were lucky enough to pass a train that was passing thru the area.  After we passed it, Jeff pulled off on a turn off area, and I ran across the road to sit on one of the little guard rail posts until the train caught up with us so I could get this shot!  It was pretty chilly and mighty breezy when the bigger RVs and trucks would pass by (the guard rails are pretty much right next to the road with no shoulder), but it was worth it!

Enjoy!

The Many Faces of an Image

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I was really taken with the beauty of the Turnagain Arm.  There was one area in particular that I photographed and then just felt that one image really didn’t and couldn’t capture the many thoughts and feelings I had while standing there, taking the photo and just enjoying the views.

 

Here’s the image pretty much as the camera captured it.  One of the things I loved about this specific view is the series of layers in the image.  The clouds appear to be in layers and the mountains just seemed to echo each other in creating layers to look through and down.

 

Altho the previous image didn’t reflect it, the view felt somewhat monochromatic due to the cloud cover and how overcast the day was.  This image reflects the feeling that the day had – grey, foreboding and a bit stark.

 

This image represents how I felt standing there looking at the view.  Altho subtle, there was color to be seen and wonderful reflections in the water of the clouds.  Plus, it had a sense of mystery that I also loved.

Enjoy!