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Arctic Afterglow (From Dawn til Dusk)

Posted by
dj.tigersprout (New York City, United States) on 7 August 2008 in Landscape & Rural and Portfolio.

it was getting late in the short winter day and the dim arctic light was beginning to fade. i had already made a good number of forays from the bunker, canvasing the small town as best i could in every direction. on this pass i had headed out to explore the deserted airport grounds -- but there really wasn't much to see. besides a small closed-up arrivals building with a tiny outdoor porch, the rest was just open space that stretched east and south, ending in the long landing strip. i decided to explore the perimeter of the airport, relishing a slight feeling of disobedience and public negligence. there wasn't actually any danger in this as i had come in on the only flight of the day just hours before. after all, most days there was only ever 1 landing and 1 take-off... and on a really special day, maybe two!

i walked to the north-eastern edge of airport property which was far enough away to be out of the deep blue shadows cast by the line of mountains due south, and here i eventually shot the previous post, 'road to nowhere'. i then meandered my way back, at first avidly tromping through the frozen reeds and weedy tundra before boldly changing course and walking directly along the middle of the taxiing path of would-be cargo planes. midway down the strip, slightly heady with excitement, i stopped to mentally savor the moment: it was a strange and beautiful feeling to be standing on a runway... how often is that possible?!? just the thrill of being somewhere spacious and flat that was used for air traffic landing was exciting!

i seemed to forget the cold for a few minutes as adrenaline streaked through my veins fueled by the irrational fear that someone would instantly come running out of the mini control center, arms waving wildly above their head, yelling for me to leave the property. i waited in full alert, frozen still for a minute or so, but there was no sound or movement, and no-one came... the airport was closed and there was simply no-one around! my fear dislodged, i rejoiced inwardly in this new found freedom and elation and so began scuffing the hard, unrelenting ice rebelliously w/ my boots -- possibly in proof to the world that i had been standing upon a landing strip, this landing strip -- and feeling quite mischievous, indeed! :)

at some point soon there-after, the adrenaline rush faded and along with it my satisfactory moments of rebellious joy. after all, it wasn't like i had been standing on an active runway! it was just a wide and flat icy surface, streaked with uncountable tire marks, but otherwise completely unused until the next day's cargo delivery was due to arrive... and there were many many hours left in the forthcoming cold winter night before then!

of course i couldn't dispense with my exhilarating conquest without taking a picture for absolute proof. here is a shot of the icy airport runway as the thin and golden halo of the unseen sun begins its quick fade behind the mountainous horizon -- the deep shadow of which casts a frigidly beautiful blue hue across the landscape. if you look closely, you can see the small light markers (that would shine bright blue if on) that guide the planes in for landing. even though i knew the night would bring even colder temperatures, the departing light of day was just glorious to see. i stood there, alone on the landing strip, shivering but happy and rejoiced in the contrasting hues of yellow and violet. it was certainly pure magic. the time was 3:40PM... within 25 minutes the light would be entirely gone and the long, pitch-black arctic night would begin.

Canon EOS REBEL XT 1/30 second F/5.6 ISO 100 35 mm

all work protected by Creative Commons

Canon EOS REBEL XT
1/30 second
F/5.6
ISO 100
35 mm

winter
alaska
twilight
anaktuvuk-pass
arctic-circle
eskimo