Posted by Florian – July 19, 2009
I realized mosquitoes are a popular subject. I had a little video camera with me on this trip. I am just trying to figure out how to bring you some ”behind-the-scenes” impressions once in a while.
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The background. We had flown back to the spot of the wolf den after having seen the wolves there several weeks before. After we arrived at the location, we were in Mosquito-hell or mosquito heaven, depending from which perspective you look at it. Since we had made all the effort to get out there, I was not going to let the mosquitoes nor the river stop me from trying my luck with the wolves. (Yes I am stubborn about such things….)
In the middle of the river I was thinking however ———- “Hmmm, I am wondering if this is such a good idea. My insurance does not cover water damage on my D3x and the brand new Nikon 600mm f4 is not even insured at all. That be an expensive flush down the river……”
As you see myself there in the middle of the stream…. my speach bubble should read “Wholy Sh*T, what the hell am I doing”…….
To read a little more about sitting on the wolves then check out my post “Mosquito Heaven”
Posted in: Adventure, Alaska, Equipment, Photography, wilderness, Wildlife | Tagged: Alaska, back country, mosquitoes, Photography, river crossing, wilderness
Posted by Florian – July 14, 2009
It is the worst trying to hold the lens still, when you feel the mosquitos landing on your hand starting to sting
Remember this moment, when you peacefully lay in bed on a warm summer evening, you close your eyes and want to finally relax and slip off into dream world……. and then suddenly you hear this single little mosquito flying around your head. You hear the ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii ziiiiiiiiii coming closer to your face and you try to feel where this damn mosquito lands, so you can hit yourself over the head and hopefully smash the little bugger. Most of the time however your face may flinch in anticipation of the oncoming hand, giving this mosquito just enough time to escape its fate.
Well now multiply this mosquito by a thousand, NO! by tenthousand and you may be able to imagnine the kind of hell you might find yourself in on an arctic river in summer. The noise level of mosquitoes resembles a concert of dog wissles that are just within the realm of the human ear.
So you are still with me? – ok; then you imagine my idea to wade through a river and sit patiently in the tundra near a wolf den to see if I might get lucky to get a photograph. Well yeah, this is the thing with me. If I have a glimpse of hope, my will can be pretty strong. ( Read about my story on PATIENCE )
So what was I after? I had know about this wolf den the year before. Together with my pilot we checked the location this year again to confirm that the wolves were actually still present. We did one round over the den and saw a grey wolf peacefully resting on the river bank. I got one image and this observation gave me reason to come back. When we planned to come back in July we thought about mosquitoes; I bought a mosquito net last minute, because I had forgotten mine. Thank god! As we arrived at the river and flow over the den site we still saw a black wolf nearby. That wolf never even looked up but just shook his fir. It was a sign. As soon as we landed, we know what was going on. This poor creature was so miserable, it could care less what we were all about. Aerial wolf-hunters? Who cares! Put me out of this misery!
Grey Wolf watching the den. Nikon D3x, 70-200mm/f2.8
Good thing we were of the other kind! Longer story short: After crossing the river, I sat down near the den for a couple of hours. For some reason the mosquitoes always found away to work their ways to my skin. I tried to stay calm and the dream of the wolf images kept me pretty upbeat. The bigger problem for me was that I saw not much sign of activity on the river bank. The sand seemed not disturbed from tracks of playing wolf pups, nor was there an obvious path where they would emerge. I checked out different angles but I just could not convince myself that these wolves would ever appear in the open, if they were there at all. So I decided to leave, one of the many times where a hope for an image did not result in success.
Maybe it saved my life, that there were no fresh signs! With my stubbornness I may have stayed out there until the mosquitoes would have sucked the last drop of blood out of me and just left my dried up outer shell – mummified; of course with camera in hand.
Posted in: Adventure, Alaska, Expeditions, Experience, Photography, wilderness, Wildlife | Tagged: Adventure, Alaska, Arctic, determination, Florian Schulz, mosquitos, patience, Photography, summer, Wildlife, will, wolves
Posted by Florian – July 13, 2009
Grizzly on the coastal planes in the Alaskan Arctic
Hey everybody…….
I know I have been promising to write about my arctic aerial expedition. To tell you the truth, I am in kind of restless state where my thoughts are all over the place right now. The experience that I had in the arctic was so incredible. Some of the impressions were so profound, that I feel I cannot express it in a blog that I just write in a few minutes. I need to find a little more space first.
To get an idea of the vast arctic landscape touched me deeply. To see caribous by the hundred thousands was a long life dream of mine, that became reality in wonders that I hardly dared to imagine. I am aware that I see the last truly wild and wide ranging animals on this continent. I saw not caribou – I saw a larger organism: The herd as a whole.
I have some very difficult issues to go through right now and it is interesting how the landscape and the ancient rhythm of nature gave me not only a sense of place of being at home in nature and on this planet, but it also seemed to balance out some of the different realities we are living in. Nature is something very grounded, something pure and real. It gave me perspective. Maybe these are my spiritual moments. A friend just said to me: “When you are out there in wilderness – your are at church, Florian!” So much on this planet is full of wonder. I am fascinated to observe the interconnectedness of the natural world and to document some of the special moments I witness. It is a deep passion that seems to guide my life.
In our modern lives we are immersed in a very changed environment. Our realities change from city to city,work place, friends, peer groups and family. It is our sense of perception and those influences. If one spends more time in nature it seems one can find more to one`s self.
Up in the arctic I immersed myself into a world apart. When this grizzly wondered down towards the riverbed he stood tall catching his balance, I felt welcome to wilderness.
So be patient with me. I will write about this incredible adventure of witnessing the caribou, seals on the ice and the polar bear…… hopefully soon!
Posted in: Adventure, Alaska, Expeditions, Experience, Photography, wilderness, Wildlife | Tagged: Alaska, Experience, Florian Schulz, nature, spirituality, wilderness, Wildlife, wildlife photography
Posted by Florian – July 7, 2009
It is been a while since you have heard from me. After waiting for weeks for the weather to improve it suddenly all came together. We headed out on the arctic aerial expedition for the freedom to roam project. I am still in the middle of the whole adventure and just landed at Point Lonely. So how in the world would I have internet access? Point Lonely is a former Airforce Radar site. We had seen the landing strip as we had flown the coastline a few days before and took the opportunity at this point to “sit” the plane down and wait for the weather and especially light to improve.
We had no idea about what to expect or if even anyone was around. But quickly s.o. emerged from the bright red tower building and we were greated by a very nice foreman who turned out to be a bird biologist. The entire camp is being disassembled and a lot of contaminated soil removed by a special crew. We sat down in camp and learnt lots of interesting stories about birds and especially polar bears wondering along the coast.
Anyway, this is the long story behind the reason why I have a few minutes of internet in the middle of nowhere – at Point Lonely. And it is the same story of just having a few moments. Over night the fog rolled in. Now I have to be on “standby” to be ready to jump into the plane any moment the fog will give us the chance to take off. If we cannot, I might have the chance to write for the coming hours (or days) about my experiences.
What I want to share with you in short: I have seen a Arctic landscape come alive with hundreds of thousands of caribou, watched wolves chase across the tundra, thousands of seals on the ice-sheet and a lonely polar bear wonder the pack ice. As we were buzzing along with the plane it sometimes was hard to absorb and process all the impressions right that very second. I am so glad to have the images to come back to, where a single moment is frozen in time. It will give me a chance to understand what ALL I have seen. My expedition is coming to an end in a few days and after a quick edit, I will share with you some of the incredible moments I have witnessed. For now I better step outside and see what the fog does ……..
Posted by Florian – July 2, 2009
Finally,
the weather has changed. I only have seconds to write it between fuel stops. We are out on the extended aerial expedition. Come back to check and I hope to share with you images of thousands of caribou, grizzlies, seals on the ice and maybe a polar bear. It is going to be an adventure!
Visions of the