Tom and I celebrate great images from workshop participants by selecting a Photo of the Month. For March we chose an image taken on our Iditarod and Northern Lights Workshop. The image was taken by Nancy Lehrer on the frozen Chena River at the Fairbanks start to the Iditarod. Nancy is a California street photographer who uses creative inspiration when she tries new genres.
Congratulations to March 2025 ‘s featured photographer – Nancy Lehrer
The Story…
I looked at my pictures from the ceremonial start two days before and they were lousy. I said, “I have some practicing to do.” In many of the photos the whole bottom part was just snow. The focal patterns weren’t working. It was good practice for the next session.
The first few mushers that came through hadn’t decided where to pass us on the river. We kept running back and forth, from one side of the river to the other. It was just like the 50 yard dash. This was good for me. I had to think about where I wanted to be every time I changed positions.
With each musher going through I got more dialed into figuring it all out. I set up a button for “start tracking” on my Sony and it was finally working for me. By the time Dane Baker came through I was getting more comfortable with the settings. I knew it was Dane Baker because of his big red beard. Cree had told me on the first day to study the line up and learn who was who.
Dane had a great big dog in the front. Most of the dogs came through with their ears back and this dog had it’s ears straight up. That’s the way photography is. If you are working at something, all of the sudden just the right sequence will happen. The dog had the right coloring, his ears were up and he was out in front.
It was the perfect day for this kind of photography. There was never too much direct sun like in Southern California. The sun came out and then clouds would move through and cover everything up. We did not have to deal with high contrast.
We were belly down in the snow. This made it easy to hold a 100-400mm lens. I don’t often shoot with big lenses. We were right next to the tracks from the dog sleds. It wasn’t an outrageously cold day. You could not have asked for a better set -up for first time Iditarod shooter. It felt like we had the place all to ourselves.
EXIF Data:
Camera: Sony A7R5
Lens: 100-400 mm
Aperture: f5.6
Shutter: 1/4000
ISO: 1600
Aperture Priority
About Photographing in Alaska in Winter
First of all, it could have been a whole lot colder. If you aren’t from a cold climate, you have to guess what kind of clothing, gloves and shoes will work. The cameras seemed to be just fine in the cold. There used to be a day when cold was an issue for cameras but it is not anymore.
I had been to Northern Japan in the winter the year before. I knew that most of my gear would keep me warm. That was comforting. We were fine. The biggest challenge is trying to move with all the clothing on. You feel less agile.
You have to compensate for the fact that everything is white around you. I ended up using positive exposure compensation on overcast days.
You can’t step off the trail two steps to your right or you will go from hard packed snow to waist deep in the snow. The zoom lens got a little more use for me because of this.
Nancy s Tips for Photographing the iditarod
Tip 1
I asked myself, “How do I document this activity, that is so unusual”. Most people never see a dog sled race. That was one of the things that was so unique about going to Ruby. We were the only people there who were not locals or involved in setting up the race.
I was surprised about how open the mushers were to us being around them and the dogs even during the race. At first I was afraid to get close and used my zoom lens. I started getting closer and nobody told me to get back. That was surprising to me. They were in the thick of the race but chill about it.
It is a lot like street photography. Be where you want to position yourself. If they are accepting of it, keep doing what you are doing and assume it is going to be okay.
Tip 2
The Mushers’ Gala was the funnest thing I did on the whole trip. I heard from Cree that there would be a Meet & Greet. I thought that it sounded boring so wanted to make it more fun. I wanted them to sign something more personal than an autographed poster. I decided to buy an Instax Camera and have them sign their portraits. It was fun for me. I got a lot of great feedback from the musher when they saw their pictures. They all got a kick out of it.
I am going to make a book out of my photos. The Instax photos will be a big part of it. It is hard to recognize the mushers on the sled aside from things like brainds for Anna Berrington or Dane’s red beard. The Instax photos show them having fun and has details of their faces. They all have big smiles in their portraits.
Tip 3
Don’t be afraid if you don’t know anything about dogs. I think it helped me experience what was going on around me. I didn’t have pre-conceived notions of how dogs behaved. I didn’t try to pet them. I just noticed what they were doing.
On Nancy’s Horizon:
Japan – Cherry Blossoms
Eastern Europe: Ukraine, Latvia, Poland
China & Russia
What’s coming up?
Where are Tom and Cree? We are at home in Palmer, Alaska after a week full of colorful birds and wildlife in Costa Rica. Next they will be heading to the cactus forests of Tucson, Arizona and then on to South Texas for bird photography.
Workshop Openings?
Join us for the 2026 Iditarod! We have space available. Photograph the Last Great Race and fly into the remote Iditarod Checkpoint of Rainy Pass. Read more
We have one last minute opening for our popular Louisiana Bayous Workshop May 7-11, 2025. Cruise through the cypress swamp on a flat bottom boat photographing beautiful swamp scenes. Photograph Great Egret chicks at a private photo session at a remote rookery. Read more
Happy Spring!
Tom and Cree