The Shadow Proves the Sunshine

Soldiers Returning from Afghanistan

2009-09-21T12:27:00.000-05:00

A few selects from Denali Trip

2009-08-15T18:57:00.003-05:00

More photos will come later. I began watermarking some of these even though they are already at a small resolution. I read an article about a photographer's work that had been stolen from his blog.

Chum Salmon

2009-08-12T21:34:00.001-05:00

These little guys didn't make it.

2009-08-12T21:29:00.001-05:00

Eli is shy.

Sunrises in the Kenai Refuge

2009-08-05T15:37:00.001-05:00

Gotta love those 4 a.m. adventures.

Trip that Mary and I are taking

2009-08-01T17:25:00.003-05:00

5 days, 1300 miles, 2 national parks, Prince William Sound and miles upon miles of unpaved road.

What I do for fun in the AK

2009-07-30T15:33:00.001-05:00

Campground Creek

2009-07-26T14:33:00.001-05:00

Solo Camping - Upper Skilak Lake

2009-07-26T14:25:00.002-05:00

Red Necked Loon

Surf Scoter

All my gear.

Shadows

My site - Skilak Lake in the background.

Shanta Creek Fire

2009-07-26T13:36:00.004-05:00

lightbox site

2009-07-21T19:36:00.001-05:00

http://emilysunblade.bravehost.com/

Nature Photography

2009-07-21T17:37:00.002-05:00

Just working on some portfolio ideas.

More from Loon Banding

2009-07-15T19:56:00.001-05:00

Moose and Calf

2009-07-15T19:54:00.001-05:00

Plants

2009-07-15T19:45:00.002-05:00

Lupine (yay photoshop)

Devil's Club

The Invasive Dandilion

Loon Banding

2009-07-14T20:19:00.003-05:00

Not my best work, but good enough for a one day shoot/edit.

Lunch with the Gray Jay

2009-07-08T20:03:00.004-05:00

Bear Mountain Trail

Juvenile Gray Jay

Adult Gray Jay eating a bumble bee.

Skilak Lookout Trail and the Stick Game

2009-07-08T19:57:00.005-05:00

The high school Student Conservation Association Trail Crew likes to play a game called Stick. This basically entails throwing a stick at each other and seeing if the other can catch it.

They have been assigned to reroute a section of the Skilak Lookout Trail.

Skilak Lookout Trail.

Fuller Lakes Trail

2009-07-08T19:54:00.001-05:00

Young boy fishing.

Mary and Emily

Crescent Creek Trail - Chugach National Forest

2009-07-08T19:51:00.001-05:00

More Random Shots

2009-07-08T19:48:00.002-05:00

Skilak Lake Road

Mary, Dana and I at the Cannery.

The yurt.

This is at the bottom of the hill from where I live.

The road I walk to town.

The end of June

2009-07-07T15:42:00.000-05:00

2009-06-24T14:57:00.003-05:00

It has been raining a lot here.

I saw a Lynx. Some people who have been here for years have never even seen one. I am very lucky.

Solstice

2009-06-24T14:49:00.003-05:00

Went to the beach the night of the solstice.

This picture was taken at 12:30 AM

This picture was taken at 2:00 AM

Russian River and Kenai River Trail

2009-06-19T21:46:00.004-05:00

Fiddlehead ferns on the Centennial Trail.

"Combat fishing" at the Russian River Ferry.

Ptarmigan chick.

Randoms

2009-06-15T23:41:00.006-05:00

Fisherman's Paradise, easy access to the riverbank.

Reindeer Dog.

Cardboard canoe construction.

Our finished canoe for our campfire program.

The visitor contact station where I work a few days a week.

The Russian River Falls

Russian River Falls

Horses need gas too.

More from the Skyline Trail

2009-06-15T23:30:00.005-05:00

Above that snow patch is the top of the trail.

That road is the Sterling Highway that leads from Anchorage to Soldotna.

Chocolate Lily

The trail rose 2000 feet in about a mile.

Columbine

Mary climbing the "trail."

Skyline Trail

2009-06-10T15:33:00.003-05:00

Me at the top of Skyline Trail. I have more but limited time online. I will hopefully add more from this day soon.

June. 1, 2009 Hideout Trail

2009-06-03T15:47:00.006-05:00

Hiked the Hideout Trail Monday with roommate Mary. 1300 ft in 1.5 miles, 3 miles roundtrip. Good Hike.

Dwarf Dogwood

View from the top.

Lupine

wild rose

Lupine

2009-06-01T17:16:00.000-05:00

Also from the trip.

Fox Island

Humpack Whale

Kenai Fjords Tour

2009-06-01T16:11:00.009-05:00

These are photos from a day trip to Seward on the Kenai Fjords Tour in the Kenai Fjords National Park.

Exit Glacier

THE PACIFIC OCEAN

2500 miles from here is Hawaii

Glacier in the National Park

These photos are my attempt to be a wildlife photographer, except I need a personal boat and a much longer lens.

sea otter

puffins

Orca

3-day canoe trip

2009-05-25T18:00:00.002-05:00

My little red boots got me through.

Swan Lake

Cleaning the water

canoes

Trip to Homer

2009-05-25T17:52:00.003-05:00

Cook Inlet

The Famous Salty Dawg Saloon

The Tip of the Homer Spit

Crossing the bridge to the spit.

Saturday May 16

2009-05-17T15:33:00.006-05:00

Day trip to Homer, Ak.

Me on the Homer Spit.

View across the spit

Ninilchik, Ak

Mt. Redoubt

Friday May 15

2009-05-17T15:25:00.003-05:00

Day tour of Kenai, AK.

Pacific Ocean

Captain Cook landed near here.

Russian Orthodox Church and Priest

Female Caribou

Thursday May 14

2009-05-17T14:40:00.006-05:00

Kenai NWR

Lake Skilak

Grizzly footprint

Kenai Mountains

Moose

Kenai Mountains

Black Bear

Pair of Barrow's Goldeneye (duck)

Wednesday May 13

2009-05-17T14:37:00.002-05:00

Kenai NWR

Seasonal Cabin Complex

Moose Butt

(haha)

Tuesday May 12

2009-05-17T14:33:00.004-05:00

Centennial Trail

Kenai NWR

Snowshoe Hare

Squirrel

Alaska

2009-05-12T13:36:00.010-05:00

This blog is going to be dedicated to my internship in Alaska for the next few months.

I arrived in Kenai, Alaska last night around 8:30 pm AK time to begin my internship at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. I took 3 flights and flew 3,000 miles.

I took a couple pictures on a little hike when I first got there, more will come later.

The refuge visitor center where I will be working.

The cabin where I will be staying with 3 other interns. We also have a communal cabin with 2 bathrooms, 2 fridges, a washer and dryer and 1 stove....for about 20 people. Things might get a little cramped haha.

I walked down to the lake behind the visitor center with my roommates. Here are some shots I took on the hike.

The Kenai Mountians

Male Spruce Grouse

Bald Eagle

I officially begin training tomorrow for tasks in and about the visitor center.

YAY!

2009-03-20T18:30:00.000-05:00

I won first place for the entry below.

Watching the River Flow....

2009-02-05T09:41:00.003-06:00

I entered this for the Illinois Press Photographers Association multimedia contest.

http://emilysunblade.webng.com/Cache%20River/

Heading South

2008-12-28T23:32:00.002-06:00

Flooding

2008-12-27T22:04:00.006-06:00

Heavy rains and melting snow caused flooding in areas of Chicagoland Saturday.

Westmont, Ill. - Westmont police told the driver of this Lexus that he acted irresponsibly by ignoring roadway signs notifying motorists of the road closure on Warwick Ave.

This tow truck driver fully submerged himself in icy floodwaters in attempts to retrieve the Lexus, but was unsuccessful.

2008-12-27T12:24:00.004-06:00

Flooding in Westmont, Ill. *more to come.

2008-12-17T13:48:00.000-06:00

Salukis Vs. UMass

2008-11-16T18:29:00.003-06:00

Cairo

2008-11-11T16:50:00.000-06:00

I found some nice light.

Horse Competition

2008-11-09T17:05:00.003-06:00

Little Grand Canyon in the Rain

2008-11-06T17:41:00.001-06:00

Carbondale Obama Election Celebration

2008-11-05T20:19:00.005-06:00

Fall

2008-11-02T23:12:00.003-06:00

Trip to Little Grand Canyon

2008-10-20T19:26:00.002-05:00

SALUKI SURVIVOR!!!

2008-10-06T17:23:00.002-05:00

She just ate a duck fetus egg, see below....

Balloon

2008-09-08T13:38:00.003-05:00

Media ride for Cascade of Colors.

Obama!

2008-09-04T16:17:00.007-05:00

We followed some students to Springfield for the Obama speech two weekends ago.

I like subtle things.

2008-09-02T17:50:00.004-05:00

Praising the struggle

2008-06-20T10:58:00.003-05:00

This is a photo column that ran in the Daily Egyptian on Wednesday.

This is my baby sister. Well, not baby. She just finished her freshman year of college.

Seventeen years ago, at age three, she was diagnosed with leukemia, which only needs the word "cancer" as a description.

Being five years old at the time, I was not told the severity of the disease, her chances of survival or the effects of the treatment.

I was merely told she was "sick."

I actually remember enjoying the time because, for a couple nights a week, even on school nights, I got to sleep over at friends' houses when my parents stayed at the hospital. While I played with friends, she went through chemotherapy, bone marrow tests and losing her hair.

She spent hours, lonely, in a hospital bed with tubes inside her body and making friends with children who didn't have a positive diagnosis.

At age seven, she was put on remission. Remission? I guess it means, "You're cured ... for the time being." A couple times every year since then, she has been poked and prodded to see if everything is going OK. It is; no signs of the cancer remain besides two scars from an operation.

I think there is another scar, however. One that has made her secretive toward friends and has affected her life-changing choices.

We all have scars, this is true - I just find it rare when a scar can be turned into something positive. My sister has decided to become a pediatric oncologist, or a doctor for kids with cancer.

I have never told her how brave I think she is. Instead of trying to bury the depressions of a lost childhood, she is embracing it by using her own scar to help heal those of others.

I have no doubt that she will be able to relate to the children she works with better than most others in the field.

It seems that we are always talking about cancer; ways to prevent it, how many lives it takes and what we learn from the struggles of those who endure it.

I could say something cliché like, "cancer can make all of us learn how precious life is," but basically, cancer just sucks.

But since it happens, I will say that I am proud of all those who have fought the battle, win or lose, and acknowledge the lasting effect that many of us feel from its presence.