Carl Johnson

Name: Carl Johnson
Address: Anchorage, AK, US
Telephone: +19077487040

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Carl explores wild places of the United States, circumpolar Arctic, and Botswana.

10/30/2026

A strong wind storm is hitting Anchorage today and snow is on the mountains and in higher elevations along highways that go through some mountain passes. I am still going to share a few more photos from this spectacular autumn that we had this year.

Today's theme is water. With 100,000 glaciers, some 12,000 rivers and three million lakes, plus countless streams, there is plenty to work with in Alaska. One of my earliest photo exhibits in Anchorage was centered around water landscapes. My book "Where Water is Gold" is about a region full of water for salmon-spawning. I absolutely love water. I hope you enjoy these views, too.

10/15/2026

I do not know how I ever missed these before in Fairbanks, but if you are ever walking around downtown, you’ll see these painted pipes sticking out of the ground. Each is painted by a different local artist. They are utilidor vent and fresh-air intake pipes connected to an underground steam heating and utility network. Just another fun thing to discover during an Alaska Travel Industry Association convention!

10/14/2026

When Michelle and I lived in the Anchorage hillside, I often photographed our views of Cook Inlet, the Aleutian Range, with sunsets and aurora borealis displays. But even living down in "the flats" of Anchorage, we still have great views. (There are great views all over Anchorage!) Here is a recent view of the Chugach Front Range (what we call the part of the Chugach Mountains to the immediate east of Anchorage) from my home office window. Granted, the photo was taken with a 600mm lens.

10/12/2026

We have had a marvelous, extended autumn this year. As I look outside my home office window toward the Chugach Mountains to the east, I still see lots of fall colors in the trees with the snow line about halfway down the mountain.

Michelle and I are heading up to Fairbanks today for the annual convention of the Alaska Travel Industry Association. I will be leading a panel discussion on how to grow dark sky tourism in Alaska.

A lot has been going on, there is a bit of news to share here and there, but for now I am going to be posting some fall color images to share with you what I have been photographing lately. Enjoy!

09/21/2026

Whether during day tours or on my photo workshops, or in my presentations about the northern lights, I always lecture about the importance of composition in aurora photography. It is still, after all, landscape photography. Careful composition matters. It is easy to get excited and just shoot the aurora without thinking about things like foreground elements or leading lines. But we need to slow down and remember that those things still matter at night. During my recent Brooks Range Landscapes & Aurora workshop, we battled cloud patterns that refused to give us a full view of the sky. This compelled me to seek out a spot we had shot during the daytime: a nearby pond with a stream outflow. (Hint: This also reflects the importance of daytime scouting for aurora photography.) The foreground reflections allowed me to expand through reflection the available subject to photograph.

09/20/2026

Okay everyone, where am I tonight? (iPhone photo)

09/18/2026

Alaska is rarely identified as a travel destination for fall colors. Perhaps it is because we lack the oak and maple that adds so much color to the woods. But that's only because those travel writers are just looking to the woods. We have entire mountainsides that turn hues of red, maroon, purple, orange, and gold. Bearberry, blueberry, dwarf dogwood, dwarf birch - all come together to create an insane portfolio of autumn color. And from when colors are peaking in the North Slope region down to when they are in Southcentral Alaska, there is almost six weeks of fall colors. So when you are in Alaska in the autumn, look high.

09/17/2026

Due to lodging availability and moon phases, it had been a few years since I conducted my autumn Brooks Range trip at around peak fall colors. It was amazing to be back in that part of the state for the colors, but also to see the landscapes in between there and Anchorage at various stages of transition. Here is just a sample of colorful landscapes from the area near Denali National Park & Preserve and the Chandalar Shelf in the Brooks Range.

My trip next year has the same dates of September 3-8. Care to join me? https://alaskaphototreks.com/experience-alaska/experience-alaska-brooks-range-landscapes-and-aurora/

Address

Anchorage, AK

Telephone

+19077487040

Website

https://arcticlight-ak.com/

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