Violet Reveries, Anaktuvuk, Alaska

@williamleong: howdy Leong, it's an easy answer really -- i just mounted a separate (and newly bought) fish eye lens to front of the original 18mm lens. :) thanks for the comment!

@Erik: Thanks heaps mate! :) I appreciate your comments! Thank you!

@Laurent: Thanks Laurent! Yes, i took quite a few shots at this time... but this was my favorite as i loved the bending of the telephone lines... :) Merci a toi!

@Kylie Greenan: Thanks Kylie -- and i can tell you, it was the longest night of my life! (i will explain more in Monday's posting!) Hope your weekend is great! Thank you kindly for your beautiful comments!

@dan: Merci a toi, Dan! Yes i agree -- we really do need to be careful and not destroy these lands... it would have terrible consequences, indeed! :) Thanks again!

@Linerberry: Thanks Liner! I was just looking at photos my boss took of NZ when she was there last December. Of course that made me think of you! :) Have a great weekend!

@Mirko Herzner: Thanks Mirko! Yes, this was my first time shooting with a fisheye lens...! I actually want a lens with an even more pronounced curve if i can find it... to give me some really spectacular 'full moon' landscape shots! :)

@Lorraine: Thanks Lorraine! I wish this color had lasted a good deal longer... but for that i would have had to go even further north! ;)

@Thomas Griffioen: Thanks Thomas! Cheers mate! :)

@Paco Díaz: Muchas Gracias Paco! Hope you are enjoying your vacation! :)

@marianne: Thanks Marianne! :) Cheers.

@grouser: Thanks mate -- yes, because i put the horizon at the edge of the pic, this shot has a much more pronounced curve... the middle part of the lens is also just slightly curved... but it is the edges that give most of the circular effect! Thanks again! :)

@Monique: Thanks Monique! Yes, the cold did effect the camera somewhat, but it wasn't severe. I would air it out during longer periods inside... so any condensation it accumulated from the indoor outdoor traffic would evaporate. Thanks! And have a great trip!! :)

@Monique: Thanks Monique! I think you mean 'snow-globe' right? :) Thank you! As soon as i read your comment i then saw exactly what you meant and now i agree completely! Thanks!

@Evelyne Dubos: Thanks Evelyne! Yes, i imagine it would be very hard to get used to... but these people were very kind and very happy too... there must be some sort of amazing secret!! :)

@Richard_Irwin: Thanks Richard! Thank you kindly! :) I had just bought this lens and was trying it out -- i actually had hoped it would give me even more of a curve than it did... but i was pleased enough and it did the job nicely! Cheers.

@Fliss: Thanks Fliss! It was so hard to drag myself out for this photo when i was sooo warm next to the heater... but i am glad i did -- otherwise i would have missed this wonderful moment! :)

@hugo poon: Thanks Hugo! It was strangely an emotional moment -- not so much sad in my case... but surrounded by all that cold, it seemed that light and warmth were indeed leaving me behind. it was more of a 'lonely' feeling... strange that it felt like that... i was being left behind!

@Graham Russon: Thanks Graham! :)

@willow: Thanks Willow! I wasn't originally going to post this... couldn't decide between this and another... although i do love this shot myself -- and it takes me right back to the moment! And yes -- i think the fish-eye adds a kind of insularity to this location and the cold... a perfect snow-globe world! :)

@Observing: Thanks Mike -- harsh but stunningly beautiful! I can only imagine if i had gotten up there and it was just awful... in terms of beauty... that would have been awful! Lucky for me that wasn't the case! :)

@Jeffster: Cheers Jeff! And thanks for the comment! :)

@Alun Lambert: thanks Alun! :)

@Ina: Thanks Ina! Thank you kindly! :)

@bluechameleon: Thanks BC! I took a few of these -- but i didn't want to overdo it too much by posting them all... :) but i do love the silky violet of this sky!

@Stephen Phillips: Thank you kindly Stephen, and yes -- most of it was a big 'unknown' for me. in fact, i didn't really know what to expect -- i really wasn't able to find any pictures of Alaska online -- at least not of the deep and cold winter. of course i knew that National Geographic and adventurous society groups of the same nature had probably covered similar type areas before... but i wanted a non 'professional' take: a privately funded and personal take -- without fancy equipment, teams, tour guides and the rest. i really wanted to see what it would be like to show up in the arctic -- one simple person -- and experience it for what it was and could be on one's own. it is quite naive in a way -- but much more 'real' in that sense to me. it was an unexplored place for us 'normal' people... and that is why i went -- to answer some questions i had always had and to see how i would feel about places that are so exotic to most of our rather conventional society. it was really about man vs nature -- or me vs nature i guess... and the fact that i was able to satisfactorily capture my visual experience was above and beyond my original intentions -- a beautiful bonus of another kind! and i too, am very very happy i went. it was certainly mind blowing on all accounts! this pic does speak a beautiful truth for me, one i won't likely forget. thank you again Stephen! :D

@Francesc B.: Thanks Frances! Yes it was mighty cold! :) But it was so beautiful it was worth it!

@Marhilde: Thanks Marhilde! Yes, i did experience a bit of condensation within the lens which gave me a bit of warping and blurred some edges of the pictures... but overall it wasn't anything serious i had to deal with. I just aired the camera when i was planning on spending longer periods inside. Thanks!

@Marion: Thanks Marion! :)

@Ron: Thanks kindly Ron! :) Cheers.

@akarui: Thanks Olivier, and yes -- in fact all the photos where taken with this fish eye lens -- they all have at least a small amount of gentle curving on the edges -- but depending on whether i zoomed in or out, sometime you see the black edges (and get a good amount of curve) and sometimes not so much. Thanks again! :)

@Makoto: Thank you Makoto! Yes, if you get a chance do it... it is wonderful! :)

@saeed: thank you Saeed! :) and no worries, it is a pleasure! cheers to you! :)

@Laurie: Thank you kindly Laurie! Cheers! :)

@Mandy Provan: Hello Mandy, thanks for the comment! :) And yes -- i am thinking about trying to get work as a travel writer! Wish me luck! Thanks again!

@shadebox: Thanks mate! Cheers! :)

@Michael Skorulski: Cheer Michael, thanks very much!

@dominik: Hello and Merci Dominik! Many thanks for the comment! :)

@gbe: Cheers mate -- i am glad i posted the pic after all... I do love it regardless, but felt it was quite a bit different to the others. Thanks again, always great to hear from you! :)

@Terre Mavix Chartrand: Thanks Terre -- but yeah, i can ask you: So how do you do it? Every winter is very cold for you... What gets you through? Why not move somewhere else? Somewhere warmer, more temperate? I bet somewhere within your answer lies the key to withstanding cold... :)

@Khorshid.~: Thanks mate! Thanks kindly! :)

@amy: Thank you Amy! Thanks kindly! Cheers! :)