Jason Soza Photography

Exhibit: December 2, 2011 @ 2nd Street Heritage Coffee Company

It’s been a long, long time since my last photo exhibit, but I’m proud and very excited to announce that I will have a collection of glacier cave photos on display at the Heritage Coffee Company’s location at 216 2nd Street in downtown Juneau.

The exhibit will open for Gallery Walk, this Friday, December 2nd, and will remain up for the remainder of the month.

If you are interested in purchasing a print you see on the wall, the large rectangular (16×20) and large panoramic (10×30) prints are $60/ea, and the square (12×12) and small panoramic (10×20) prints are $40/ea.

Here’s the official show blurb:

“Beneath the Mendenhall”

Glacier caves are formed when water runs through or under a glacier, the warmth of which melts the glacial ice to form an air-filled cavity. Having the Mendenhall Glacier right in our backyard provides a unique opportunity to discover and explore these deep-blue voids, provided you are willing to take the risks associated with wandering around underneath a massive, constantly shifting slab of ice and snow. This show presents photos taken over two trips to the same glacier cave this summer and highlights the cerulean glow and patterns that make glacier caves so mesmerizing.

So if you’re out and about in the downtown area for Gallery Walk this Friday, stop by the 2nd Street Heritage and say hi!

Posted 2 months ago at 12:05 pm. Add a comment

Mendenhall Glacier Cave, Juneau, AK, October 2011

A crisp, clear October morning turned into another hike out West Glacier Trail to the face of the Mendenhall Glacier, then on and under the glacier for a repeat visit to a glacier cave I was last at this past July. The interior of the cave has opened up and is much wider and taller at points, while the arch at the entrance looks significantly less substantial than it did – I have a feeling that this winter’s snow will be too much weight and it may collapse at some point. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see!

In any case, the cave was just as exhilarating as it was three months ago: the colors, the sound of the water echoing off the walls, the temperature, everything. I definitely noticed that upon exiting the cave, my heart rate was up and I had a bit of an adrenaline rush going! All in all, this was an awesome way to spend a sunny October Sunday.

Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago at 1:00 pm. Add a comment

Totem Pole

This is an oldie, but I stumbled across it last night and remembered working on it years ago, so I thought I’d share it… again!

I shot this photo at Sitka National Historical Park (a.k.a. Totem Park) in Sitka, Alaska. This park is Alaska’s oldest national park, created in 1910 to commemorate the 1804 Battle of Sitka, and has dozens of totem poles and other totemic art lining its pathways. It’s really a beautiful park to walk through and I’d highly recommend visiting it if you ever find yourself in Southeast Alaska.

The original photo was shot on medium format film with my old Yashica-MAT LM camera, then I scanned it and added the color digitally based on the original colors on the totem, with a few artistic tweaks here and there.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago at 7:12 am. Add a comment

Seattle, WA, September 2011

Mostly Seattle, anyway! This trip was tacked on to the end of the trip to Washington, DC, and was done so for the sole purpose of taking my 80 year old grandma skydiving*. Oh, and it didn’t hurt that Bumbershoot was happening around the same time and had some bands on the lineup that I really wanted to see. (You can see what I thought of that over at juneaurocks.com!)

The first few photos below were taken during the drive to Portland, OR, and ultimately, Molalla, OR, home of Skydive Oregon, and the rest were taken in downtown Seattle. As you can see, it was sunny. It is hard to beat the Pacific Northwest when the sunshine hits and it warms up – these kind of days make up for so many gray, rainy days.

Enjoy!

* There are photos of both my grandma and me jumping and floating to earth from 13,000′ in the air, but because I didn’t personally take the photos, I don’t want to represent that I did by posting them here. If you’re dying to see them, let me know!

Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago at 7:00 am. Add a comment

Washington, DC, August 2011

If you ever have the urge to be humbled beyond words, just head to our nation’s capital and take in as many memorials and monuments as you can. The scope and sheer size of them, combined with the deep meaning and everything they symbolize, will really bring into perspective everything that’s been done in our country’s history.

This was my second trip to DC, but the first time I really got to see the sights and have any amount of time to really feel the emotions these monuments command. I need to go back. I have a feeling I could spend a week in DC and not cover everything I want to, which is a good thing because that’s a pretty good excuse to keep going back, as if one is really necessary!

(Also… you’ll notice a photo of a veal chop below. That was taken inside Filomena Ristorante, right in Georgetown. Amazing food, amazing atmosphere, amazing amazing amazing. Did I say amazing?)

Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago at 8:24 pm. Add a comment

Outside Lands, San Francisco, CA, August 2011

I attended the Outside Lands festival in San Francisco for the second time this past week. What a blast! So many great bands and TONS of people. There’s a full review over at juneaurocks.com with some video and more photos. I’ll let the photos do the talking here…

Posted 5 months, 1 week ago at 12:15 pm. Add a comment

Southeast Alaska State Fair, Haines, AK, July 2011

Great music, great food, great beer, and great people. What more could you ask for!?

If you live in Juneau and have never been to the Southeast Alaska State Fair in Haines, you’re missing out. Even if you go for just one day, you’ll get it. You’ll see understand why Juneau is so quiet the last weekend of every July – everybody is in Haines!

This year’s musical talent was amazing and of course, the weather helped. On Saturday, July 30, the busiest day of the fair, the clouds parted, the sun shined, and ev

Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago at 9:37 am. Add a comment

Flooding @ Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, AK, July 2011

Strange happenings at the Mendenhall Glacier! Apparently a lake in/on the glacier burst and released a lot of water into the lake and caused a lot of flooding. Read more here.

Enjoy the photos!

Posted 6 months, 1 week ago at 11:03 pm. Add a comment

A Day Around, On, & Under the Mendenhall, Juneau, AK, July 2011

All I have to say is, “WOW.”

I’ve been to the face of the Mendenhall Glacier, but I’ve never been lucky enough to discover a glacier cave until now and I definitely understand why people get so excited about them.

It was amazingly bright no matter how far from the entrance you got. Light somehow found its way through the mass of ice above, which filtered out all but the blue light and gave an eerie glow everywhere you looked. I had a field day snapping photos and constructing makeshift camera platforms from rocks. These are the best in my opinion – enjoy!

Posted 6 months, 3 weeks ago at 1:38 pm. 2 comments

A Day on the Water, Juneau, AK, June 2011

Juneau is an incredible place.

Some people can become claustrophobic given the fact that due to the mountains and water surrounding us, you can’t easily just pick up and leave. However, those same mountains and water provide such an incredible array of things to do and see, with most things being within a 20 minute drive from wherever you are.

Case in point: a halibut fishing trip. Not only did everyone come home with plenty of halibut and enough shrimp for a great dinner, but we saw whales, eagles, beautiful scenery and… a snailfish. It was a completely awesome day. Enjoy the photos!

Posted 6 months, 3 weeks ago at 12:46 pm. Add a comment