“The pristine wilderness and beauty of these lands have yet to be explored by millions of Americans, including fellow Alaskans,” the league’s Jeremiah Millen stated in a news release. “Through the eyes of photographers from near and far, we hope to capture the story of these lands and inspire others to visit and preserve these lands for future generations.”
The Alaska Hidden Gems Photo Contest was created to highlight areas managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management. The areas include the largest surging glacier in North America, the terrain inhabited by the largest caribou herd in Alaska and lands adjacent to Alaska’s longest river — the Yukon.
This was the contest’s second year. Photographers could send in submissions between April 1 and June 15. There were four categories in the contest: Landscapes and natural features, humans and the environment, wildlife and historical and cultural features. An overall winner was also selected from the winners of the individual categories.
Big winner
Jake Schas of Redmond, Ore., doesn’t consider himself a professional photographer, but he takes “tons” of photos. During the northern winter, he works as an Antarctic chef. In the summer, he is a naturalist at the Toolik Lake Field Station. That’s where he took the photo that won first place awards in the overall and wildlife categories.
Lake Field Station. That’s where he took the photo that won first place awards in the overall and wildlife categories.
“It was a rainy, rainy day,” he recalled. He had been sitting inside doing office work all day. “I decided I had to get out.”
He walked to the lake. Around a bend, at eye level, he found a flock American pipits feeding on insects in some bushes. He pulled out his Canon DSL and snapped a shot of a lone pipit on the tundra from about 15 feet away.
“He just let me get close,” he said. “The closer you are, the better the picture.”
He later learned about the contest and submitted the picture five minutes before the June 15 midnight deadline. The shot of the drenched little bird eyeing the camera curiously won Schas a Patagonia coat.
Wide-open spaces
Laura Vines was bewildered by the weather at Eagle Summit on the Pinnell Mountain Trail when she snapped her photo that finished in second place overall and first place in landscapes and natural features. The Fairbanksan had planned to hike at Twelve-mile Summit that day, but rain, sleet and snow urged her to drive the 25 miles to the other end of the trail. When she arrived, the sun shone on the barren hills.
The trail is “one of my favorite places on the planet,” Vines said. “It’s like stepping back in time.”
The image captured fluffy white clouds casting shadows across the hilly landscape.
Susan Stevenson of North Pole won third place overall and first in the humans and the environment category for her photo of the Dalton Highway bisecting a wide valley.
“I am a photographer, so I go out traveling all the time,” Stevenson said. “Believe me, I take thousands of photos.”
She saw a link to the contest online, and noticed that the Dalton Highway qualified as BLM land.
“I thought of that photo right away,” she said.
In her photo, the Haul Road disappears into a valley, traveling alongside a mountain range, parallel to the pipeline. Pockets of sun are captured on the nearest mountain, but blankets of thick clouds cover the rest of the landscape. To Stevenson, the photo evokes the loneliness people can feel when driving the road.
Rusting history
Krystin Bogan makes many a trip up the Steese Highway to a family cabin. On the way, across from the Chatanika Lodge, is Dredge No. 3, an enormous piece of mining equipment that last operated in 1963. Bogan, who works in advertising at the News-Miner, took fourth place overall and first in the historical and cultural features category with her portrait of the dredge.
The Alaska Wilderness League hopes the photos attract attention from visitors from the Lower 48 and Alaskans alike.
Last year’s winners were on display at the Morris Thompson Visitors and Cultural Center; however, a location for this year’s winners hasn’t been determined.
Contact reporter Reba Lean at 459-7523.
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