Living the dream back here in Alaska combining two of my passions – surfing the wilds of Alaska and photographing surfing (especially in the wilds of Alaska).

I’ve been enjoying back to back surf trips on the m/v Milo with a bunch of great folks joining us.  We are motoring out of Resurrection Bay as I type for another week of exploring surf on the Alaskan coast. For this trip we’re joined by surfers from Nova Scotia, Hawaii, and California.  When we aren’t surfing there is plenty of photo editing to catch up on!

After our little Helisurf adventure yesterday, I was able to join CPG for a day of photographing Heliskiing. What was looking to be a great day ended quickly after we found some incredibly unstable snow conditions. Our guide, Jeff Hoke, was digging a pit to analyze the snowpack while myself and a group of clients standing by in a safe spot. The conditions were known to be potentially dangerous, but we were still a bit surprised when this avalanche let go right below us. The slope was so easy that it started of slowly. I took one photo, turned around and rand a few steps up the ridge and then started shooting video.

There was about 1-2ft of fresh snow covering ‘buried surface hoar’ which, as you’ll learn in the video below, is bad stuff for anything but watching avalanches.

A few other shots from the day below.

I’m waiting for the helicopter to come back for fuel so I can head out again today and try and actually get some skiing shots this time! Weather looks like it might be deteriorating though so we’ll see. . .

Helisurfing. There’s a word I’ve been thinking about for a while. Just sounds nice. Finally had a chance to do more than just think about it yesterday. Thanks to Jeff Hoke and the Chugach Powder Guides for making this come together. Laying in bed catching up on some sleep from our recent travels down under, Jeff called and said we might have a chance for a helisurf trip. I had been watching the swell and knew this would be good opportunity to live the dream so the scramble began.Two of hours getting boards, wetsuits, booties, mittens etc. together for everyone stuffing everything in the Suby and I was off on the 3.5hr drive over to Seward.

The guys landed in the helicopter just a few minutes after I arrived. The skiing hadn’t been too great that day so the two kiwi surfers (Mike and Jamie) were game for some more action despite the rainy gray weather here at sea level. Wetsuits fitted, we loaded the helicopter up, strapped the boards on and headed out for a short evening session at Bear Glacier. Nice waves and a few angry sea lions were there waiting for us.

Check out the slideshow below for a full photo report from the trip.

I’ve never really been able to stomach the idea of photographing the exact same thing as another photographer, especially not 100 other photographers. But that is exactly what I did recently on Maui in the Hawaiian Islands. We arrived the day before the biggest swell of the 2012 winter season and were fortunate enough to witness some incredible surfing at jaws on January 4th. This, from what I’ve heard, was the first surf session at Jaws for this winter season. Quite a way to welcome in the new year!

For years I’ve heard of this spot and so it was pretty exciting to actually witness it breaking. Stephanie and I found the dirt road/trail leading down the hill towards the bluff overlooking jaws well before daylight. It didn’t look like a good idea to try our luck driving the rental van down the trail so we walked down and caught our first glimpse of the wave just as the first jetski showed up.

The tow-in surfers caught about ten waves before the traditional paddle surfers began getting in position and going for waves. There is an agreement amongst the surfers that once a surfer tries paddling into the wave the tow surfing will stop.

Within an hour of daybreak the bluff above jaws was crawling with spectators. A good percentage of them having the look of professional, or serious hobby photographers. This is normally enough to put me off from even pulling my camera out of the bag – perhaps this is my Alaskan spirit that resists doing anything commonplace or mainstream. But, honestly, watching these waves and the feats of athleticism on display I couldn’t help myself, so out came the camera and I spent half the day happily photographing the action right along with 100 other photographers.

The bluffs above the surf break at jaws wasn’t the only crowded place. There was, from what I heard, a record number of surfers and jetskis in the water this morning as well.

I couldn’t help but think about the likes of Laird Hamilton and the guys that first started surfing this break years ago. It must be shocking for them to see what a zoo of humanity has followed in their wake. For a few seconds I wondered – as I stood there in my flip-flops, shorts and a t-shirt enjoying a rather cool morning– would the surf scene in Alaska look like this some day? I tried to imagine, but couldn’t really picture it. All these people huddled up enduring the cold, probably some mix of snow and rain falling on them. Nope, Alaska is going to be the Last Frontier for a while longer still I think.

You can see a bunch more photos from this day in my online photo archive gallery: Surfing Jaws January 4th, 2012 ]]> http://scottdickerson.com/2012/surfing-jaws-january-4th-2012/feed/ 1 http://scottdickerson.com/2011/new-website-for-the-road/ http://scottdickerson.com/2011/new-website-for-the-road/#comments Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:19:53 +0000 Scott Dickerson http://scottdickerson.com/?p=654

My wife and I are traveling outside of Alaska for a couple months this winter. For some reason I chose the day before we left as a good time to launch an entirely new website here at ScottDickerson.com

Please be understanding if you find some bugs and please let me know about them – Contact Scott.

If I wasn’t standing inline at the airport I’d write more, but as it is, I hope you enjoy all the new photos and layout. I’ll do my best to make some posts from the road, air, water . . . over the next few months. Exciting plans.  Bon Voyage

Over 100 people came through the exhibit that evening and hopefully many many more will see it before the end of June. Thanks again to the World Wildlife Fund for their support of my photography work included in this exhibit.

I’m honored to announce the opening of a collaborative art exhibit between my favorite sculpturist, Maygen Jannetta, and myself. The opening celebration is 5-7pm Friday, April 15th at the Pratt Museum in Homer, Alaska. If you can’t join us then, don’t worry the exhibit will be on display until June 26th, 2011.

I’ll post some more photos and background on this project shortly, for now here is my artist statement for the exhibit:

Bristol Bay is an expansive region that encompasses a remarkable variety of ecosystems. This natural diversity sustains an unfathomable abundance of wildlife. I consider myself one of a fortunate few to have glimpsed a small slice of the natural wonders in this region.

Bristol Bay cradles innumerable stories of nature alive in its most primal form. Of particular interest to me is the way that humans are finding their place in this meshwork of life.  My desire is that viewing the photographs and sculptures will give you an opportunity to develop your own personal connection with the Bristol Bay region.

In composing photographs I aspire to share a compelling story in an artistic way. I hope the images entice your attention and share with you their stories.

I would like to thank Maygen for inviting me to share this exhibit with her, I’m honored to show my photographs alongside her sculptures. These  images could not have been created without the help of countless friends during my visits to Bristol Bay, thank you. A special thanks to my friend and pilot Brad Heil whom I’ve shared well over 100 hours of airtime with in Bristol Bay. He was always willing to go back around one more time for the another shot.

Thanks to the World Wildlife Fund for their ongoing efforts to preserve the natural, cultural and economic heritage of Bristol Bay in sensible and practical ways. And, for their much appreciated financial help framing the photographs.

I had an opportunity on one particularly rainy winter day in Homer to photograph a young moose up close. Very close. It’s not a story that would make a wildlife photographer very proud. . . I walked out of my office to get more snacks from the kitchen and there he was, right outside the kitchen window. So I forgot the snacks and went back for the camera. There was something very alluring about the texture of his hair in the overcast light. Here area few of shots I’d like to share.

It’s cold in Homer this week. The wood pile is shrinking fast. Here are a few aerial photos I took from the paramotor on a winter morning.