Robert Jennings: Winter at Alyeska Hotel

It happened that he was sharing a room with people who brought their children.

“If I recall, they started to watch Sponge Bob, so I had to get out of the room,” Robert says.

While others had spent the day skiing on the slopes of Alyeska Resort, Robert had been “lazy in the hotel,” where he took advantage of the hot tub and other amenities. As darkness deepened, he had gone out to try nail some photos of stars sparkling in the clear sky. But the shots had not worked out.

Now, with cartoons on the screen, he says, it seemed like a good time to tackle a bit of night sky photography again.

It was 11 pm. A few weeks before Christmas. The temperature had plunged below zero. Quiet and cold. Not many people around. As he walked around in search of a good scene, Robert realized that he wasn’t really dressed warm enough to be spending time outdoors at that temperature. So he headed directly back to the hotel down the access road.

And there it was: A shot worthy of a holiday card.

“Only thing I can add is I shot the photo in HDR (a process that reveals details from shadows and bright spots), and that is why it has a cartoon look to it,” he says.

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