fbpx

Alaska Magazine

Exploring and sharing authentic Alaska since 1935.



Read More

Latest

Photos & Videos

Make one-of-a-kind creations During the second pandemic winter, I began dabbling in a new hobby: photo painting. It goes by many names—digital painting, digital photo art, mixed media, etc. Rather than simply enhancing the original image using the usual settings like brightness, highlights and shadows, or color saturation, photo painting creates an entirely new piece of art. Alaska’s winter colors lean blue and white, but this snowy ridge glows after a good editing session. There are apps for transforming your photos into pieces that resemble, for example, a Renaissance painting or a watercolor or a vintage illustration, but since I was only tinkering for my own pleasure one long, dark, December evening, I didn’t bother finding new software or reading up on technique. In fact, I stumbled upon this pastime by accident. The leaves that launched a hobby. Reviewing folders of images from the fall, I opened a slightly blurry…

Sponsored Content

Gear

I love my gas lanterns, but I don’t love that they can be a fire danger especially as a dad of a couple of rowdy little boys who have an appetite for destruction. For a lot of camping trips, I switched to using a battery-operated lantern, partly for safety and partly because they are easier to use. I’ll never say goodbye to my Coleman lanterns, but there are some real perks to not playing with gasoline and fire. This fall I tried out Cascade Mountain Tech’s LED Camping Lantern. This thing is a beast of light—you don’t want to stare directly at it. Powered by eight D batteries, it is the brightest lantern I’ve used. At its lowest setting it shines for up to 250 hours, which is much longer than lanterns of a similar make. It does weigh nearly five pounds, which isn’t surprising considering the light and hours…

Puffins cover of Alaska magazine

Start exploring Alaska today

Want more tales of adventure, details from history, in-depth features on people, industries, events, wilderness, places to see, and complex matters affecting Alaskans and those who love the state? Plus colorful photos that take you to national parks, fishing holes, wildlife sanctuaries, remote communities, and more.