I can remember growing up there were those days that I learned to aptly call, “A Perfect Day”.  I never knew where exactly this label came from other than the fact that my nose was constantly in a book during my youth so I can only imagine I picked it up reading some book or through someone’s writings.  It later became such a standing joke between some friends that when they would casually drop the question of how my weekend was, it later became the standard question of “Angie did you have a perfect weekend?”  If something had gone right for once, I would grin and say “of course!” and they would of course answer, “Perfect!”.

Now for those of us into photography, there are very few “perfect days” that grace our calendar.  Whether we are up early slugging through the backwoods amongst the morning mist carrying our tripods or sitting out amongst the fields on a hot summer day.  Our time and efforts always seem to focus on one thing.  Finding that perfect shot.  In fact it is not uncommon for me to go through 40 to 50 shots on average just to find one “decent” one.  And if at the end of the day I can get a handful of decent ones, I would say it ends up being a near perfect day.  In all my years of photography there have been very few “perfect days” where I have been pleasantly surprised by the outcomes of the images I have captured. 

One in particular that comes to mind is last fall during a day spent in Denali National Park with Mount McKinley peeking through in all her glory as if to say, “look at me! look at me!”.  As if that wasn’t enough, it was a day I saw numerous animals wandering through the park including bear, moose, caribou, wolves, coyote, etc. So when Saturday morning rolled around and I saw I had a busy schedule ahead of me for the day to including photographing not only the Iditarod ceremonial start here in Anchorage but also the Fur Rondy closing fireworks, I knew there was a chance I would have a few photos turn out.  I was hoping for a handful, maybe more if I was truly lucky.  Maybe 8-10 if I was having a “perfect day” for photography.

The northern winds that had encompassed Anchorage throughout the week making it miserable conditions for being outside somehow neglected to make their appearance that morning, despite the weather forecast.  Not that I’m complaining mind you.  It only added to the spirit of what this day would become for me.  I was layered in my coldest climate gear and set off to drive down to met some friends in downtown Anchorage to photograph the ceremonial start.  With dogs howling and people milling around everywere downtown, needless to say I did end up missing the friends I was supposed to meet.

Now I don’t know about you folks but crowds have never been a part of my repertoire.  I am much more comfortable amongst small groups of people or even by myself.  It’s the way I have always been.  And with numbers approaching the thousands in Anchorage that morning, I quickly knew that location wasn’t going to work for me.  So I decided to leave downtown and head for the Tudor crossing on the Alaska Native Medical Center campus.

The timing was just right.  No sooner had I made it over to the campus and was scouting for the perfect spot and set up my gear when the first honorary musher came through.  Now the Iditarod has always been an important event to me and one I have followed through the years with interest.  I can even remember growing up when there was a time in elementary school where we as a class sewed dog booties for one of the local mushers.  So to see that hororary musher come flying through honoring racing legend Susan Butcher, it was quite significant.  Susan has always been one that I have rooted for and enjoyed and her death is a tragic loss to this sport and Alaska as well.  And while I have my own personal favorites, there were 3 mushers in particular I had hoped to get photos of.  Those being Martin Buser, Jeff King, and DeeDee Jonrowe.

Eventually as the hours past and the bid numers kept creeping up and passing by, more and more people started to arrive and crowd the trail.  It made for an even more narrow trail than usual.  I was having fun getting what I hoped were clear shots of the mushers and dogs.  Martin had just passed by moments before when on the horizon I saw three mushers coming along at a fairly good trot.  I saw one team coming up rather quickly behind them.  Imagine my surprise to ind out that it was DeeDee Jonrowe  As the moments passed and as these teams entered the narrowest portion of the trail, DeeDee Jonwrowe for whom whatever reason at the moment decided she needed to pass all three mushers.

[1] On a very tight turn.
[2] On a trail that was literally crowded with children.

The dogs were headed right for me and even though I was far enough off the side of the trail, I still found myself having to jump back even further in an effort to allow them to pass.  The three dog teams she did pass however ended up in a tangled mess.  It was quite obvious the mushers of those teams were unhappy with the unsportsmanlike conduct that had just occurred.  I felt what respect I had held for Ms. Jonwrowe dwindle a notch or two.  But alas the day moved on and there was perhaps the only negative to it.  Shortly after Jeff King passed by awhile later while waving to the crowd and giving children “high fives”, I decided it was time to wrap up my morning and head over to Eagle River to see if the eagles were making an appearance at the VFW.

After driving out and parking in their lot and pulled out my tripod to shet up shop in an attempt to get a clear shot on the lone eagle that was sitting in a tree above me, imagine my surprise to find numerous car doors slamming.  Apparently my timing was right on once more as I found myself completely surrounded by even more photographers in which a few of them took it upon themselves to feed the eagles.  Tsk tsk fellas - that is illegal!  But I am by no means a wildlife cop, so I didn’t say a thing.  Scraps of chicken breast were laid on the ground and the eagles would swoop down to grab it before taking it off again.

And despite the fact I don’t condone feeding wild animals simply in an effort to get a better shot, I did find myself amused to watch the eagles taking off and then quickly followed in mass by swarms of ravens who would chase them in an effort to grab their food.  In a way it became an aerial ballet.  And the lessons of wildlife - bigger doesn’t always mean better.  Several times the ravens were able to accomplish their feat.  With both the eagles and ravens flying around, I was able to get several shots I was happy with.  And the number of acceptable photos (by my standards) began to creep up for the day.

Perhaps I would end up having a perfect day.  I know I was certainly happy with it thus far.

The next challenge for me that night was my first attempt at taking photos of fireworks.  I’ve always found myself more oriented towards taking photos of animals and landscape photography.  So I decided early on to attempt something outside of my comfort level and head downtown to the closing fireworks for Fur Rondy.  I had just hte location in mind as well and image in my mind of what I hoped to capture.  Quite simply I would park on top of the JC Penney garage and my frame would be the top of the Egan Center with the Anchorage Hilton in the background and fireworks coming up over the horizon of the Egan Center and just to the left of the Hilton.  The challenge was could I actually replicate that image in my mind.  And given I was sing a wireless remote to capture these images, I really didn’t know what the outcome would be until I was home for the evening.  And imagine my surprise to find a few “decent” images for what was my first try.

As the day waned into what did eventually become a “perfect day” for me photography wise and with an upcoming trip to Homer planned this weekend for even more eagle photography, I can only hope to claim more “perfect days” in the hours ahead