Denali From the Train

Denali from the trainDenali from the train to Anchorage.

It's hard to believe that it was nearly 19 years ago that I got to join my family on a trip to Alaska. We traveled by ship, train, plane, and bus. We traveled, literally, from one end to the other; through the inside passage all the way to Prudhoe Bay and back to Anchorage.

They say that only about 30 percent of visitors get to see Denali or Mount McKinley since it's usually shrouded in clouds. We got really lucky. We saw it on 3 different days from the plane, the bus, and finally, from the train. "Denali From the Train" was captured while heading back to Anchorage from the park. The train cars had a small observation deck at the rear of the car with room enough for two observers. Alaska was suffering from near-record heat and several wildfires while we were there. I was the only person using the platform for photos since it was over ninety degrees outside. I don't remember exactly where we were along the route but the view was spectacular.

I rarely have high hopes for successful images when I travel since I don't have the option to stop the car, wait for great light, or to cruise around looking for better compositions. This is why I usually travel alone but this was the trip of a lifetime and I love traveling with my family.

I really like the river in the foreground and that I was able to create a photo from such an unusual vantage point, one I had never seen before. I used a Nikon D800 with a 24-120mm lens. This is the lens that lives on the camera because of the incredible wide-angle to short-telephoto range. It also has a vibration reduction feature that helped keep this photo sharp. I was only able to capture a few frames since we were usually traveling through dense forests.

I hope you enjoy this unique view of the iconic Denali.