I I love to travel! I have been to almost 40 countries and have only returned to the same place a few times. 5 years ago a close friend was getting married in Alaska and I took a two-week trip up there to explore and experience it. I have been up there to visit three times now, so that should say something about the pure and amazing beauty of Alaska. On my recent trip, I took Mavvy with me, hoping to create some incredible aerial photographs.
I arrived early in the morning and met my friend at the airport where he gave me the keys to his truck and he took off to the north slope for work. Alaska is amazing from the ground, so I was looking forward to seeing it from above! I traveled down to Seward to go fishing and camping next to Resurrection Bay.
Finding legal spots to fly a drone in Alaska can be difficult; however, using Airmaps helps a lot. I managed to find a few spots along the way. Seward is a cool little town about two hours south of Anchorage, filled with fishermen that come up for the halibut and salmon season along with locals that brave the harsh winters.
A couple of cool pubs and restaurants line the main street. I did a full day fishing trip and caught two halibut, one that was 78 lbs and one that was smaller, plus four rockfish. I was able to fly around and get some great video and photos of the beautiful blue running water and the colorful glacier water in the bay.
My 4 days in Seward were filled with flying when the weather was good and fishing.
I headed back to Anchorage. My friend lives in Eagle River, about a 20-minute drive to the city. Unfortunately, he lives in a no-fly zone but after a short drive up the road I was able to fly over Eagle River and capture the beautiful glacier-fed river and green trees. We decided to make the 9-hour drive to McCarthy.
McCarthy is a tiny town in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. The town is filled with nomads that come to the town to work the tourism season and a small group of locals. The park is the largest national park in America and is home to snow-covered volcanoes. It's located next to Root Glacier and Kennicott Glacier where an old copper mine sits.
Root and Kennicott are two of the largest glaciers in North America and they are absolutely spectacular. Since it is a national park I was unable to fly Mavvy, so I decided to take a 70-minute small plane ride over the glaciers, Mt. Blackburn and Bagley Icefield.
There are only a few tour companies that offer flights. I chose Wrangell Mountian Air. (https://www.wrangellmountainair.com) This was such an incredible experience. The weather was great and the captain of the tiny 7 seat plane told me that we were able to get up to 12,000 feet. Normally they only get up to 9,000 feet.
Apparently they "don't get weather like this every day".
The untouched glaciers were amazing and the ice caves and cobalt blue water really put the size and the history of the purest formations on the planet in perspective. It was truly a unique and thrilling ride over land that is untouched by humans. I was able to capture as much of the beauty as I could while still trying to enjoy the flight.
We made the long journey back to Eagle River on July 3rd, missing the crowd that came to celebrate the 4th of July. I was able to fly Mavvy a few times on the way back and was able to capture some of the epic Alaskan landscape. 
I spent the last few days in Eagle river floating down the river and capturing some cool videos and stills.
With The Alaska Collection, I hope to bring the truly beautiful nature in Alaska to your walls. I really hope the black and white photos pop for you as much as they pop for me. Canvas and Fine Art prints are available in different sizes.