Alaska Stock Photographer to Attend White House Dinner With Obama

Long time contributing Alaska Stock photographer, Johnny Johnson, has been invited by The National Geographic Society to attend the White House Press Photographers Dinner, hosted by President Obama. Accompanied by his wife, Johnny will travel to Washington D.C. to attend the black-tie event on May 30th.

“Johnny is one of our top nature photographers and has been with our agency since it began in 1991” said Jeff Schultz the owner of Alaska Stock Images. “Many Alaskans are familiar with Johnny’s stunning limited-edition prints which have been on display throughout Alaska for over twenty-five years. We also represent images from Johnny’s six expeditions to Antarctica.”

Johnny has worked on assignment for National Geographic and his photos have been published worldwide in magazines, calendars, and books. Included among these are Natural History, Audubon, National Wildlife, Outdoor Photographer, Time and Newsweek. Johnny Johnson’s limited-edition print collection will be on display from May 1st through September 1st at the 600 E. Northern Lights Blvd., in Anchorage, Alaska.

Reduced Pricing! Alaska Stock is lowering prices overall on all rights-managed images and offering an additional 20% "recession-buster" discount. Better than "one-month wonder" discounts, this across-the-board special recession discount is good through August 1, 2009, giving buyers significant lead time to develop and plan new buying strategies for current and upcoming projects.

Contact us for your next project quote.

Alaska Stock is also providing their everyday discounts from these prices for volume orders, non-profits and other non-standard uses.

Mt. Redoubt shenanigans...

Alaska's Mt. Redoubt, a stratovolcano located in the Aleutian Range, has been huffin' and puffin' now for several weeks. Seismic activity at Redoubt increased beginning about March 15th and an Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) observation flight reported that a steam and ash plume rose as high as 15,000 feet above sea level. Since then there has been ash plumes as high as 65,000 feet! The Matanuska-Susitna Valley, Anchorage, Valdez and large portions of the Kenai Peninsula have all received coatings of volcanic ash.

As of April 4, 2009, the AVO has reported a total of 25 erruptions!

You can bet this much volcanic activity has messed with airline travel. Many flights have had to be delayed including public flights, Federal Express, and the US Postal Service.

However, Alaskans seem to just take it in stride. After all, Redoubt is not the first time we have had to deal with ash falling from the sky. As recently as 2002, Mt. Spurr also let loose and delivered a layer of ash over Anchorage and surrounding areas.

Moose on The Loose

Here in Anchorage, the "locals" are on a constant move in the neighborhood.

Yesterday morning we captured this shot of Laurie Campbell (our Marketing Director) talking with a client as she watches a moose head down the street in front of the office.

This young guy is probably about three years old and this is possibly its first year on its own. However, he's not alone in Anchorage. Hundreds of moose make their home in Anchorage and enjoy the easy walking along streets.

It's definitely a "Big Wild Life" here in Anchorage...

Alaska at 50!

It's official. Alaska is now a 50 year old state. Welcome to middle age! Except Alaska is aging pretty darn well. The air is still clean, the tourists still come, the wildlife still hang out, and it's still a great place to get away from it all.

Alaska's Statehood celebration has been a year long event leading up to the official event held on Saturday, January 3, 2009 (Anchorage Daily News article). Alaska Stock has been pleased to contribute to the celebration by providing the photo for the official United States Postal Service stamp honoring Alaska's 50 years. Our own Jeff Schultz provided a great shot of DeeDee Jonrowe mushing in the Iditarod through Rainy Pass (see blog entry on the official stamp).

Other events included a delegate procession and lighting of the official 50th Anniversary Cauldron, public celebration of the Alaska Statehood at Anchorage's new Dena'ina convention center, the Egan Center and the Alaska Center for Performing Arts. Free music, entertainment, kids activities and exhibits. Anchorage Museum celebrated with "Life in Alaska Leading to Statehood" exhibit. Finally, the weekend was topped off with the 50th Anniversary Gala at the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center which included the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, the Anchorage Concert Chorus, Alaska Native dancers, opera singers and Sitka's New Archangel Dancers. Outgoing Mayor Mark Begich, Gov. Sarah Palin and U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski also appeared.

Celebrate Alaska's 50th Anniversary with us by browsing some of our favorite historical photos from Alaska's history at AlaskaStock.com: Statehood

Toughest Race on Earth...IDITAROD!

In the tradition of nitty-gritty reality based TV, the Discovery Channel is offering its latest Alaska-based show titled "The Toughest Race on Earth." This series follows six mushers along the trail during the 2008 race. Tuesday, October 14th, the show kicks off with problems for returning champ Lance Mackey and iditraod icon DeeDee Jonrowe in the series opener:

"The 2008 Iditarod race begins in the crowded city of Anchorage, AK. The dog teams take their starting blocks and being the adventure across the arctic terrain. Leading the pack is returning champion Lance Mackey, whose strategies are hampered by fighting among his canine teammates. Martin Buser and son, Rohn, head up the trail together, and Iditarod icon, DeeDee Jonrowe loses her dog team outside the Finger Lake checkpoint. Then, the mushers prepare to face the dreaded Alaska Range."

Of course we are excited here at Alaska Stock because we get to be "behind the scenes" every year helping the Official Iditarod Photographer, Jeff Schultz, organize, process, and promote the 3,000+ images that he shoots every year!

It's not just the mushers working hard out on the trail. Every year, hundreds of volunteers give up two weeks or more of their lives to go out to remote checkpoints along the trail in order to brave below-zero temperatures, long hours of darkness, blistering wind, minimal & close sleeping quarters with other volunteers to help make the Iditarod race run smoothly.

Jeff is no exception, after 25+ years of photographing the race, Jeff's endurance has paid off with some of the best images covering the race and complete archive of the history of the Iditarod. Jeff Schultz has been photographing in Alaska since arriving in 1978. A native of the Bay Area of California, Jeff moved to Alaska chasing his dream of building a log cabin and living off the land. While that never materialized, he knew he was home when he arrived in Alaska. Jeff has been photographing both stock and assignment photos of Alaska and Alaskans ever since. His images have been published world-wide in books, magazines, advertisements, brochures, annual reports, websites, retail products and more.

Iditarod Musher and Official Photographer Make their Stamp on Alaska History

Anchorage, AK - The U.S. Postal Service revealed Alaska Stock Images owner, Jeff Schultz's photo as the final selection for the new statehood stamp commemorating Alaska’s 50th anniversary. Alaska became an official U.S. territory in 1912 and the 49th state on January 3, 1959. Scheduled to be issued on January 2, 2009, the new stamp features a picture from the Iditarod trail of veteran sled dog racer DeeDee Jonrowe.

This year marks Jeff’s 29th year volunteering as the official Iditarod photographer and sharing images from the Last Great Race with mushers, race fans and other volunteers. He commented, “I'm honored that one of my photos was chosen to represent the State of Alaska on the U.S. postage stamp. I'm just plain ecstatic that it's this particular photo, because it's one of my all-time favorite photos from the Iditarod --- DeeDee Jonrowe mushing in the Rainy Pass area at dusk with alpenglow on the Alaska Range. I couldn't be more pleased.”

Recalling the many times she and Jeff Schultz have traveled the Iditarod trail together DeeDee remarked, “It is humbling to be part of the image chosen to represent Alaska as the U.S. Postage Service recognizes our beautiful states 50th birthday. I have been blessed to live my dreams for over a quarter of a century combining my love of my dogs, my passion for this beautiful state, and to experience adventure beyond my wildest imagination. Thanks to Jeff Schultz's god-given talent for capturing that on film, I now have the honor to celebrate this through this stamp.”

About Alaska Stock Images: Alaska Stock Images is a specialty agency with BIG-time services and world-class images. With an offering of over 400,000 Rights-Managed and Royalty-Free images of summer and winter lifestyles, Alaskan culture, outdoor recreation, adventure, historic, wildlife, majestic landscapes and photos from Antarctica and Canada. Their trusted website, Alaskastock.com, is stocked with handy features: Fully searchable collection, complete lightbox functionality, price and download instantly, comp-use, thesaurus tool plus much more. And the service is second to none. You'll always talk with a live, intelligent person who is actually in Alaska and can handle your request immediately. They've been providing Alaskans and national clients with dependable top-quality imagery for over 18 years.