Beyond Alaska Photo
Multimedia journalism in the Last Frontier

Our mountains are better than your mountains.

All Saints Epsicopal Church, Anchorage

The new Anchorage convention center opened earlier this month and completely changed the nature of the surrounding streets.

But across F Street, at the foot of the 20-story tall Robert B. Atwood Building (home to the State of Alaska’s Anchorage offices), is All Saints Episcopal Church. No moose but I think there’s a lot of Alaska in this picture. (Canon G9, October 24, 2008)

I frequently complain about commuting to Anchorage from the valley but I doubt there’s a more beautiful drive anywhere. I shot this picture of Pioneer Peak last night from the shoulder of the Glenn Highway about four miles from my house.

I watched the governor’s acceptance speech last night with several hundred rowdy locals at Tailgaters Sports Bar and Grill in Wasilla. I was surprised by the number of media, not the size of the crowd.

I counted more than 25 media types (a conservative estimate), including photojournalists (5, including me), videographers, reporters, producers, video sound techs. Publications from around the world were represented, including the New York Times and the London Times, and while I saw a couple of reporters snapping pictures, and more than a few hand-held recorders, I don’t think too many journalists were working the multimedia angle.

Not that I was either, really. I just plugged a mic into my M-Audio and let it run for an hour to capture the noise of the room. While there was cheering, some of the biggest lines played referenced Wasilla like this one about her early career:

“And when I ran for city council, I didn’t need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters and I knew their families, too.”

I think of that line and the reaction as the heart of the very quick audio slide show I produced later Wednesday night. The room’s reaction wasn’t partisan but personal and I felt like it gave my audio track sense of place.

There was so much build to the speech I thought there would be some return to normalcy when it was over. No chance. Gov. Palin’s speech was like a false summit on a long hike: you get to the top only to realize just how much more there is to go.

Early November at least, in this case.

I drove past this sign today on my way back from covering a Palin-related press conference called by Dianne Keller, the current mayor of Wasilla.

More Gov. Palin news from the Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News.