It was a winter of Avalanches in 2022 – more in number than usual and more devastating. Three massive avalanches occurring one after another in Hatchers Pass had the pass road closed for much of the season. Tons of snow had to be removed by heavy equipment and trucked away because there was no place to put the snow on the steep hillsides.
By late May, a good portion of the road was open, albeit barely passable. I could not resist the urge one early morning to go up there to document the destruction and, awestruck, begin to grasp the sheer force of an avalanche. Unfortunately, because Alaska is in the throes of break-up this time of year with wildly fluctuating temperatures, there was a cloud inversion at high altitudes and ice fog above the still-frozen land areas.
Leaving a pull-out from a high point of the cleared road, I managed to amble through the brush to a view of the remnants of an avalanche. The avalanche's path was clear even as it was melting into the river at its feet. It had swallowed up trees, erratics and acres of brush.
A fairly stiff wind was roiling the ice fog surrounding the shrouded mountain. It was cold and damp, combined with cloudy sky and fog; the atmosphere amplified the sense of power and destruction nature can dole out on a whim. I waited for intervals when the fog and clouds would lift enough to reveal the mountain and avalanche before firing off the shutter.
The mood and emotion were apparent in each of the images I took of the scene; my concern, however, was the scale. I played with different apertures and focal lengths, finally settling on a combination that was neither too wide nor too close and of sufficient depth of field, hoping the scale could be appreciated in the end.
Did you know that now we offer a VIP membership? Create your Personal Portfolio Page and let us share your published pictures with over 300,000 members and followers.
Benefits of VIP membership:
• Your Personal Portfolio Page – click here to see a sample
• We promote all your pictures to over 300,000 followers via our social media pages
• Download all new issues of the magazine
• Download all back issues
• Download premium eBooks worth £19.45.
• Your uploaded pictures/posts stay attached to your page for as long as you are a VIP member, which could be forever
• Fast Support – we aim to reply within 12 hours
• Submission Priority – your submission goes to the front of the queue
Dimitri Vasileiou • Editor