Jason Soza Photography » ice

Glacier Trek, Juneau, AK, August 2013

admin — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 03:38:22 +0000

I was lucky enough to go on a glacial adventure this weekend with the help of NorthStar Trekking!

Going underneath the Mendenhall Glacier is one thing, but putting on a pair of crampons and checking out all the features on top of it is awesome… as is scaling the face of a frozen slab of ice. In all, the exploring lasted about three hours. Throw in the helicopter rides and perfect weather and well, needless to say, it was a pretty epic afternoon.

Below are just a sampling of the nearly 500 photos I snapped. I did my best to capture the full breadth of the experience, but I would highly recommend making your own way onto the Mendenhall if you can, even if you’re from Juneau and you see it all the time. There’s nothing like it!

On the Ramp

Fly By

Heli

Mendenhall Glacier + Valley

Suicide Falls

Previous Trekker

Blue Water

Yellow Tent

Glacial Pool

Mt. Stroller-White + Mendenhall Glacier

Crampon Walking

Glacial Traverse

Mendenhall Towers + Thunder Mountain

The Blues

Ice Fall

Glacier Waterfall

Watery Blues

Base Camp

Trek 19

Waterfall + Stream

Ice Climbing

Intent Watching

Summit!

Coat Rack

Ascending

Trek 26

Rappeling

Summiting

Glacier Water

The Guide

Landing Zone

Blue Peaks

Deep Blue

Glacial Stream

Valley

Slowly Decaying Leaf

Water Drops

Sunshine + Stroller-White

Returning

REAL Glacier Water

Moulin Bleu

Glacierscape

Rocks

Yellow + Blue

Juneau Airport

Landed

Barrow, AK, May 2012

admin — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:54:27 +0000

What a trip!

Barrow, Alaska, is a pretty dynamic place this time of year – above-freezing temperatures and nearly 24 hours of sunlight kick starts the breakup of snow and ice that accumulated over a long winter. In just 3 days, lagoons that were buried beneath a layer of white ice suddenly burst into open bodies of water that some locals found irresistible (see the photo below of the snowmachine on the water!). Ditches that were empty were now nearly overflowing with meltwater and driveways turned from great places to park your car into front yard lakes. Again, all this happened in less than 72 hours. Incredible.

I did not have the (mis)fortune of encountering a polar bear, but I don’t think this will be my last trip to the “Top of the World”! Enjoy the photos!

Sun Dog

Naval Arctic Research Lab Housing

Pink Van

Post-Apocalyptic Playground

Two Boats

Bowhead Whale Jaw and Midnight Sunset

Umiaq

Furthest North Mexican Restaurant

Boxer Ocean and Sky

Discarded Bunny

Discarded Scout

Barrow Terminal

Discarded Muktuk

Duke on a Pink Bike

Common and King Eiders

No Kids in this Area

Barrow Snow Bird

Success

Snowbird in Flight

Rippie's Pull Tab

Snowmachine Crossing

Barrow Sunshine

Barrow Lake Fun

Enjoying the Sunshine

Whaler Love

Save the Whales... for Dinner

Polar Bear Escape Technique #23

Black Eye

No Cutting Corners

The Plane has Arrived

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

admin — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 21:05:30 +0000

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!

Mendenhall Glacier Cave, Juneau, AK, October 2011

admin — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 22:00:16 +0000

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.

Hard to stay inside on a Juneau day like this.

Closing in on the Mendenhall Glacier.

Iceberg viking ships!

Standing where the glacier one was.

Looks like fun!

Sunny valley behind Mt. Bullard.

Nondescript ice cave entrance.

Looking into the depths.

The ceiling can be very aurora-like.

Some idea of perspective here. The ceiling was anywhere from 20 feet high at the entrance to less than 4 feet as it got deeper. About 9 or 10 feet here.

Frozen water and rushing water. Oh the juxtaposition.

Ice cave waterfalls.

Ice cave abstraction.

And more abstraction...

Got the blues.

Going towards the light.

End of the tunnel.

Let there be light!

On the glacier looking back towards the valley. Not a usual view.

Jägerbomb Time Lapse

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:15:21 +0000

A few months ago, I bought these little shot glass-shaped silicone molds that let you make shot glasses out of ice. Naturally, I thought about how this could be made into a photo… Well, I ended up making it into a series of about 110 photos, shot once a minute, then compressed down into a 20 second clip. The result? A real Jägerbomb! I was a little unsure exactly how the shot of Jägermeister was going to make its way through the ice, but found out about halfway through – it was a quicker escape than what I thought it would be. It was a fun little project in any case and I’ll be doing more with this idea in the future.