Magical Morning
Sunrise comes painfully early in June along Alaska’s Denali Highway. By 4 a.m. I was already on the road, eager to find something worthy of that fleeting first light. This was my fourth visit in as many years, and every bend in the road, every frost heave, every stretch of tundra felt like an old friend. I knew the landscape well, and with its countless lakes and ponds scattered across the tundra, I trusted one would provide me with a moment worth capturing.
As I eased around a bend, a familiar lake came into view, a delicate mist hovering just above its glassy surface, hanging low in the crisp morning air. My heart began to race as I pulled over, reached for my camera and scanned for life. Movement caught my eye immediately, as several Red-necked Phalaropes zigzagged across the water, darting for insects that danced on the surface.
I slipped down to the shoreline and crouched at the edge of the water. The air was cold and sharp, but I hardly noticed as excitement pumped through my veins keeping me warm. Slowly, the first golden rays of sun spilled over the distant mountains, turning the mist into a warm glowing haze that shimmered across the lake. I tracked one of the tiny birds through my lens, its quick movements punctuating the calm, its slender bill plucking breakfast from the surface of the water. Shot after shot, I pressed the shutter, then shifted my camera into portrait orientation to reframe the scene. The autofocus of my Nikon D850 locked on effortlessly as the small bird scurried in and out of the fog, and I felt the thrill of possibility with every click.
Later, scrolling through the images on the back of my camera, I froze on one frame. The light, the mist, the bird, everything had aligned. “This is it,” I whispered, unable to stop the huge grin from taking over my face. A fleeting morning in the Alaskan wilderness, preserved in a single, magical moment.
Nikon D850 | Nikkor 500 F4E
ƒ/4.0 | 1/8000 | ISO 250
