Jeff Schultz’s Alaska Photo Blog

Featuring tips on outdoor photography, the inside scoop on new workshops & tours, and more.

Let My 38th Year Begin!

Let my 38th year of photographing the Iditarod begin! It was a wonderful morning to take some photographs of dogs and their mushers. Keep following me as I photograph the…

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Icons of the Iditarod :: Update

For those of you who don’t know, I’m currently working on a new Iditarod book.  It’s called “Icons of the Iditarod”  Iconic mushers, volunteers, dogs, places, events and even gear…

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Year of High-Fives

This year during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod it seemed to me it was the “year of high-fives”. Every year as the mushers run down the streets and bike…

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Eating Pie in Takotna

    We are in Takotna for the night.  Jeff just came back from an aerial shoot with Iditarod Air Force Pilot, Jerry Wortley.  The hospitality in Takotna is great.…

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In the Alaska Range

Deroy here, on the trail assisting Jeff again this year.  We are at the Rainy Pass checkpoint for the moment.  We stopped here to use the internet and upload some…

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And they’re off!!

  Today was the Ceremonial Start of the 2016 Iditarod Trail Race.  All the mushers and their dogs started in downtown Anchorage this morning to make their annual trek through…

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2016 Pre-Race Vet Check

This morning was the pre-race veterinarian check of the dogs.  The check was held at the Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla.  The veterinarians check over the dogs to make sure that…

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Iditarod Recap

The 2015 Iditarod was an interesting race and photo shoot opportunity for me. The good trail conditions combined with the amount of teams entered (78) made for a shooting frenzy…

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Adios Unalakleet

We left Unalakleet this morning and are making our way towards the Burled Arch.  This morning was a beautiful morning with the Northern Lights putting on a purple show around…

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Windy in Unalakleet

Last night we arrived into Unalakleet with winds over 30mph with blowing snow.  Our Iditarod Air Force Pilot, Jerry, did a flawless job on landing in those conditions.  Once we…

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Making our way to the coast.

We left Huslia this morning around 11am and just landed in Kaltag for a quick stop before we head to Unalakleet this evening.  Aaron Burmister was the first one into…

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Good night from Huslia

It was another beautiful day in Huslia, Alaska.  The sun was warming and the sky was blue.  The mushers endured another cold night to make their way into the checkpoint. …

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Welcoming Arm in Huslia

Welcome to Huslia.  Huslia is a small village located on the banks of the Koyokuk river, which is a tributary of the Yukon River.  This is the home town of…

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Still in Galena

Galena is a checkpoint that is usually only used when the trail runs the northern route on even years.  Since last year, 2014, was an even year the mushers, dogs,…

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Trading a Ruby for a Galena

The mushers are making their way further west on the Yukon River and where ever they are going we are sure to follow.  Today we followed them from Ruby to…

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Out of Tanana and into Ruby

Most of the mushers have left Tanana and are running the frozen Yukon River.  They will take 119 miles of the Yukon to get to the village of Ruby.  Some…

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Tanana in the Morning

Another cold morning in the bush.  We spent the night in the Tanana Teen Center.  First thing you do when you are sleeping with others who are also trying to…

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Leaving Manley Hot Springs Behind

Most of the mushers have checked in at the Manley Hot Springs checkpoint and are back on the trail to Tanana.  Here are a few more photographs from this afternoon. …

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Moving through Manley

The mushers have reached Manley Hot Springs.  This is their second checkpoint for the 2015 Iditarod.  This is the last checkpoint on the road system.  They are mushing through sub-zero…

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Nenana Here we come.

Today is the re-start of the 2015 Iditarod.  Due to the lack of snow the re-start was moved from Willow to Fairbanks.  The last time the trail started in Fairbanks…

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And they're off!

Today was the Ceremonial Start of the 2015 Iditarod.  Mushers new and old gathered downtown on 4th Avenue to start The Last Great Race in front of thousands of elated…

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March 4, 2015

Today was the mandatory Veterinary Check for this years Iditarod.  Mushers brought their dogs to the Iditarod Headquarters so that volunteer veterinarians can make sure that the dogs are healthy…

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Food Drop 2015

We’re 17 days away from the Iditarod Anchorage ceremonial start day. More and more preparations are going on. Last night I photographed a pilot planning meeting. Today a group of…

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