Leon Turnbull Photography

One of the shots that I really really wanted to get while I was in Alaska was a shot of Mt. Redoubt at sunset. Mt. Redoubt is a towering active volcano that erupted earlier this year in March (as you can see, it is still spewing a lot of ash). At the time, we were wondering if we would even be able to go to Alaska if it continued erupting (or if we’d have to wear gas masks the entire time we were up there). Mt. Redoubt is visible all along the west side of the Kenai Peninsula from many spots, including Anchor Point (which was about 5 miles from where we were staying in Homer). However, the weather did not co-operate for us the first part of the week while we were in Homer. It was rainy and overcast for much of the week. If it wasn’t overcast, then the mountain was still not visible because of cloud cover across the Cook Inlet.

On this particular evening, although the weather was pleasant in Homer, the volcano was still not visible due to cloud cover across the ocean as I headed out for sunset. I decided to go down to the Homer Spit for sunset. A big mistake in many respects. For one thing, as I drove into Homer, I was not paying attention to my speed and got pulled over by a police officer. Argh! The first speeding ticket I’ve ever gotten in my life, and I wasn’t even going all that fast. If I had been going 5mph slower, he probably wouldn’t even have stopped me. It made me very mad at myself, and it ruined my evening for sure. I went down to the beach in Homer, and I did manage to get a nice sunset shot of the mountains, however, the light wasn’t really all that great. I was disappointed.

On the way back to the cabin, I arrived at the top of a hill and saw for the first time Mt. Redoubt. And it was bathed in glorious sunset light. The sun had already set and I thought, “Crap! I’m too late!” and also, “Crap! I went to the wrong place for sunset!” I continued onto the cabin, and the light was still holding over the mountain. I decided to drive past the cabin, and continue on another 5 miles to Anchor Point, where I figured would be the best place to see the mountain. It was a long 5 miles (and I didn’t want to speed!). But the light was still holding when I finally arrived at Anchor Point. In fact, the color was completely amazing. I quickly got out my camera and took my photo of Redoubt. I did not enhance the color of this photo at all. This is how the scene really looked. Very shortly after taking the photo, the color dissipated. I only took this one shot. I am sure that God was holding the light longer for me, so I had time to get out there and take this photo. The next night, my wife and I went back to Anchor Point for the sunset, and we saw another beautiful sunset behind Mt. Redoubt, but the colors were not nearly as red as this and the light did not hold nearly as long after the sun had set behind the volcano (I will be posting that photo later).

By the way, the bald eagle on the beach in this shot was totally a bonus. I didn’t have time to compose the shot too well because I was in such a hurry to catch the light, and I had no idea the eagle was in my composition until after I arrived back home in California. Cool.