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Caribou 2004: Noatak Wilderness Preserve in Northwest Alaska

I recently found an article I wrote back in 2004 while I was going through some old folders saved in my computer.  It is about a trip I took at the Noatak Wilderness in Alaska that I wrote for another site, but may be of interest here.  I could not find an image from that adventure so the image below is from a subsequent trip I took with my friend Jim to the same area.

2006 Caribou Float Hunt on an Aire inflateable raft along the Anisak, Nimiuktuk and Noatak River in the Wilderness of Northwest Alaska (Alex Cena)

Caribou 2004:  Noatak Wilderness Preserve in Northwest Alaska

I recently returned from another adventured-filled float hunt in the Alaskan Wilderness.  My hunting partner was John from Clayton, GA.  He and I began our adventure complete strangers.  While I was ready to abandon him on the river on the third day of our trip, we soon became friends who look forward to hunting together once again someday.

The planning for this trip began a few months after I returned from my 2003 float hunt where I harvested a respectable bull moose in Game Management Unit 21A with the help of my hunting guide Chet Benson.   While I was planning the trip, I was also trying to coerce and cajole a few of my friends to come along with me.  My friends Steve from Duncanville, TX and Dan from Dallas were both daring enough to answer the call to hunt caribou in the upper regions of Alaska.

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April 17, 2012 | Categories: Scenics and Landscapes | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Protecting Your Investment-Be Prepared

Alex at Giants Stadium. Photo courtesy of Eugene Parciascepe, Jr

I spent last Sunday shooting a whole bunch of NCAA college lacrosse games at Inside Lacrosse Magazine’s Big City Classic held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.  There was a chance for rain so I made sure I had all my rain gear with me to stay dry and prevent my photography equipment from getting wet.  Good thing I did because halfway through an all day event, the rain started coming down heavy and non-stop.  I have both the Aquatech Sportsshield and the Think Tank Hydrophobia for my short zoom lenses and long telephotos.  They are a bit pricey but they work extremely well in protecting my sports photography investment during harsh conditions.

There are many economical alternatives to protecting your camera and lenses during rain and snow storms.  In a pinch, some photographers will even use a garbage bag which are easy to store in your camera bag and cost next to nothing.  However, it is not a great fashion statement.  If you do not believe me, just check out the photo below of my good friend John.  He actually has Aquatech rain gear for his stuff, but was too lazy to bring it because there was only a 50% chance of rain so he looks like a bag man on the sidelines as opposed to my more fashion conscious image above where I am donning a Helly Hansen Impertech rain jacket and a leather Barmah cowboy hat that I’ve tested on multi-week un-guided expeditions through the Alaskan Wilderness.

Then you have people like my good friend Vinny who did bring all his gear for inclement weather but laid down on the field turf to pray for clear skies so he would not have to go back up to the press box to retrieve his rain stuff.  When his prayers were not answered, he almost simply shot from underneath the concourse.  I guess sports photographers should take a little advice from the Boy Scouts of America…Be Prepared.

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April 11, 2012 | Categories: Photography | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Like a Good Neighbor Volunteer Firefighters Are There for Us

It was a very bright and clear day as well as extremely windy today when I went to the Triple R Lazy D Ranch to visit our neighbor Ray and to check out his new livestock.  While we were examining his horses and newborn lambs, we heard a large number of sirens blaring from emergency vehicles coming up the hill.  It was unusual for emergency vehicles to come up our mountain top with lights and sirens at full tilt.  We did not think anything of it and resumed our visit.  However, we did not realize a brush fire had erupted on our side of the mountain located near the Delaware Water Gap in the Poconos of Northeast Pennsylvania.

My wife and I finished with our visit and proceeded home only to find our street partially blocked by emergency vehicles.  A quick discussion with one of the emergency responders confirmed there was a brush fire on Turkey Court and emergency vehicles were on their way up the hill but we were free to drive past in order to reach our home.  Our neighbor Ray was still back at the ranch so I gave him a call to let him know there was a fire a block from house.

We did not want to get in the way so my wife and I simply went home to have some lunch.  Unfortunately, the urge to go out and snap a few photos was too strong.  I wolfed down my meatloaf sandwich and headed out with my Canon EOS 1D Mark IV and slapped on a 70-200mm/2.8 to see what I can get.  Since it was the middle of the day, I also threw on an 81A warming filter on my lens to minimize the impact of the harsh overhead sunlight.

By the time I jumped on my ATV and rode the mile over to the fire, all the excitement was over.  What I missed turned out to be a two-acre brush fire on Turkey Court off of Cummins Hill Road in Westfall Township, PA where volunteers and equipment from all over the county including Westfall Township, Dingman’s Ferry, Matamoras and Mill Rift responded.  There were all kinds of vehicles there including brush trucks which have four-wheel drive and carry 250 gallons of water, tanker trucks that carry 2000 gallons of precious water, ladder trucks, ambulances and command vehicles.  And, of course, the all important volunteers.

All was not lost, I got to chat it up with a couple of volunteers monitoring the road and snap a few photos of some great machinery and even better people who offer their services to the community for nothing but the thanks of their friends and neighbors.

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April 7, 2012 | Categories: Street | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Head-to-Head Combat at the 2012 Konica Minolta Big City Classic

01 April 2012: North Carolina Tar Heels vs the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays at the Konica Minolta Big City Classic held at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Mandatory Credit: Alex Cena (Alex Cena)

The fourth annual Konica Minolta Big City Classic was held on April 1, 2012.  Once again, the event delivered the elite names of college lacrosse in an exciting tripleheader on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ formerly the New Meadowlands Stadium.  With top-ranked teams such as Syracuse, Duke, Notre Dame, Johns Hopkins and North Carolina in the lineup, this is always a must-see Inside Lacrosse event for fans of this fast growing sport.  The games were:

I am a bit biased as I shoot for Inside Lacrosse several times a year, but it really is a great event.  The games are usually close, the fans wild and the athletes phenomenal.  On a personal level, I enjoy photographing lacrosse because it is such a tight-knit community from all levels, including the players, the coaches, the magazines and yes the photographers as well.  In fact, whenever I photograph a lacrosse event I am surprised to find so many players that I have shot in high school and in some cases grammar school lax as well.  Enjoy some of my favorites below.

 

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April 3, 2012 | Categories: Sports, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

A Walk Around Times Square

“There is no place like New York” is a comment I often hear from those who live in the Big Apple.  In fact, I often wonder if the phrase was a twist on Dorothy’s “There’s No Place Like Home” incantation in the Wizard of Oz.  While I need a bit more elbow room and feel more comfortable in the woods, I do on occasion visit the city for work or play.  Regardless of the reason for the visit, I do enjoy walking the city with a camera hanging at waist level and releasing the shutter to see what I can come up with though once in a while I do lift the viewfinder up to eye level.

Most of the images I captured were taken in and around Times Square, which always reminds me of one big advertisement.  It wasn’t quite as crowded as previous visits, but just as interesting.  I stumbled upon the Good Morning America studio where the weather guy, whose name I think is Sam Champion, was outside mingling with fans.  I wanted to get up close to get his photo but the police informed me that I was blocking too much pedestrian traffic because of my very large backpack.  Surprisingly, a policeman asked if I wanted to set my backpack down next to the mailbox so I could get closer for a shot.  The second surprise was when he offered to watch my bag.  His offer to help was very nice and worrisome at the same time given we are living in a post-9/11 world.  Maybe I did not fit the profile of a terrorist.

My favorite was seeing Elmo out and about greeting pedestrians and tourists as well as a gentleman walking in a kilt.  There was a photo I captured that would be a proud addition to the people of Wal-Mart site but I decided to spare everyone the image.  The Naked Cowboy who is not really nude to my disappointment was nowhere to be found.  I have yet to capture his image.  If I do not get one in the next year or so, maybe I will don my favorite Stetson hat and Lucchese boots as well as my biggest camera so I can play the role of the naked photojournalist.   Or maybe not though one of these days I will visit this wonderful city for the sole purpose of doing some great street photography as opposed to just snapping my way to and from another destination.

 

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March 31, 2012 | Categories: Scenics and Landscapes | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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