The final evening of my Artist Residency at Gates of the Arctic National Park, that’s when I made this image. Much of the trip was dominated by gray, and a few long days of rain. I don’t mind the rain so much, in fact one of my most memorable days of hiking was the day immediately prior to this one. It poured, and by the time I reached camp, my light rain-gear was drenched. But the bizarre swings of that day from near-delirious top-of-the-lungs singing of Simon and Garfunkel songs to shivering cold are tales for another post.
The last day was one of dancing sun and passing clouds. A fresh breeze whipped out of the south across the pass we were crossing and its neighbor next door. I was grateful for the wind, it carried the relentless mosquitoes away. It was a short day, just 6 or 7 miles, and by the time I reached our final camp on the shore of Lake Amiloyak, I was still fresh. After dinner, I grabbed my camera and headed up toward a short valley from which the headwaters of the Chandler River spilled. It was 10pm, maybe later, and dark gray clouds played tag with patches of blue sky.
The tundra was bright green in the night-light but it was the contrast between shadow and sun, darks and lights that drew my attention. In fact this image, is all about that. There is nothing in foreground to guide the eye, nothing in the mountains that warrants more than a passing glance. This image, like the brief moment in which I made it, is all about the play between dark and light; the patterns of nature.
That’s good enough for me.