Carl Johnson

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

Carl explores the wild places of the western United States and the Arctic.

06/18/2026

It's that time of year for bird babies! Songbirds and corvids are fledging, ducks and swans have little ones already swimming, but some birds like the Red-necked Grebe and Red-necked Phalarope are still building nests.

06/10/2026

Beyond that marvelous green that exists during a narrow window of time in May, there are the other aspects of impending summer that are always delightful to explore. The new growth of plants, the willow buds, the first flowers. I have enjoyed photographing these over the last few days, from the temperate rainforest near Seward to meadows in Turnagain Pass in the Chugach National Forest south of Anchorage.

06/04/2026

If you are my age, you grew up with Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. So with that in my history, I had a gleeful response to seeing a mongoose in the wild for the first time during my first trip to Botswana in 2021. They have become a regular part of each trip since then, yet seeing them is always a surprise and delight. They tend to set up colonies in all sorts of places, and you never know when you will find them. During my recent trip co-guiding for David W Shaw Photo Workshops, we saw four species of mongoose: common dwarf, yellow, banded, and common slender. Of course, our local guides with Early Kingfisher Safaris were always quick to spot them!

06/03/2026

"Let's go surfing now, everybody's learning how, come on and safari with me." - The Beach Boys

People really do not think of Alaska when they think of surfing destinations, but we have something that you cannot get in Hawaii - a wave that you can ride for miles. That would be the "bore tide" that we have on Turnagain Arm. While a bore tide technically occurs every high tide (twice a day), the surfable ones only occur during a five-day period around the new moon and full moon.

On this particular bore tide in late May, I saw something I had never previously seen on the Turnagain Arm - a kayak. The paddler was there to ride the wave along with ten surfers and a guy on a paddle board. The high winds added an extra interesting element to the photos.

06/02/2026

I have been enjoying seeing the small birds this spring. We get a variety of songbirds that tough-out our winters, but spring brings so much abundance. It's also been fun getting to know these birds and identify them. Here's a collection from just a couple of outings in the last week.

06/01/2026

Spring is finally in full swing here in the Anchorage area. We are at that stage where the deciduous trees are leafing out, but not mature, where the ground plants are sprouting, and the spruce tips are budding. There is a wave of vivid green of varying hues exploding through our wooded areas and creeping its way up the lower elevations of the mountains. This green is one of my favorite colors. I often struggle each year to capture the essence of this color. This green wave is short-lived and I have to find the time in my schedule to get out and photograph it before it's shifted to the darker green of mature plants and leaves.

05/30/2026

During the Discover Botswana photo safari I co-guide guide for David W Shaw Photo Workshops, we give the clients four photo assignments to work on during the trip, with a winner of each category at the end of the trip. One of the assignments is to capture a lilac-breasted roller in flight. There are two reasons for this. First, it is a very pretty bird that gets even more stunning in flight. Second, it is great practice to continue working on birds in flight. It challenges composition as well as the technical mastery of your camera's exposure and auto focus settings.

Of course, to get photos of lilac-breasted rollers in flight, you have to take many photos of them sitting on a branch. Sometimes those shots are also interesting in the right light or with some prey insect (or amphibian) in its beak. Here are some of my favorites from this year's trip.

05/28/2026

Aside from the awe and wonder of seeing wild animals in their natural habitat, wildlife photography is often about the harder things, the tough life cycles that are difficult to watch but still part of the experience. During my recent trip to Botswana guiding for W Shaw Photo Workshops, we were out in the morning in the Okavango Delta in Moremi Game Reserve when we came upon a pride of lions feeding on an elephant. The elephant had not been predated; it appeared to die of natural causes. Our guides with Early Kingfisher Safaris estimated that it had likely been at least two days since the elephant had died; maggots were starting to work on the eye sockets and the body was starting to steam from decomposition. This is normally not a preferred diet for a lion; they favor fresh meat. Looking at these lions, you could tell they were quite lean. The recent, heavy rains in northern Botswana had altered available food sources for these lions, making them more desperate. It was fascinating to watch how hard it was for these predators with their large canines to break through the thick hide of the elephant. On the second day when we found them still working the carcass, which was steaming even more and being even more consumed by maggots, they still only managed to expose small areas of flesh to feed. The vultures maintained vigil on nearby trees to wait their turn.

Address

Anchorage, AK

Telephone

+19077487040

Website

https://arcticlight-ak.com/

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