Sometime ago I signed up for Truphone. It’s a service that works with specific cellular telephones that have wifi capability. What Truphone does is link your cellular telephone to the Internet and then allows you to make telephone calls for free, or for substantially less than you would pay your cellular service. In other words, VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol).

How does it work?

If you happen to be near a hotspot, such as a hotel, or even at home, you simply link your wifi-enabled phone to a wirless router and then place a telephone call to a regular telephone somewhere else in the world. In most instances such calls are free. Yep, free. You can also place calls to cellular telephones in other countries as well, but the charge for that is a tad higher, around $.10 per minute, but heck that’s really cheap.

But things just got better. Now you can place a VOIP call from anywhere your cellular telephone has a cellular signal. Yep, anywhere. There is a charge for this service, again around $.10 per minute.

I own the Nokia E61 phone, it is wifi-enabled. So, when traveling internationally, in the past I have called my family for free, mostly when I was in a hotel with a wireless Internet service available. As well, many Internet cafes offer the same service for free, if you buy a cup of coffee.

Recently I was in Scotland, staying at a hotel, I called my family using my E61, talked for 47 minutes. What did it cost me? Nothing, zero, zit. The call was totally free. Now, let me compare what the call would have cost if I had used T-mobile, my cellular carrier. It would have been $1.85 per minute or $86.95!

I hope you get the idea here, if you travel internationally, the Truphone service can save you a bundle.

But, now things are even better. I can make such a call from anywhere my cell phone has a cellular connection. So, let’s say I am at a friend’s house and he wants to call his sister who is in the United Kingdom. Not a problem. I just dial the International telephone number with a + sign and use the country code for that country, it is really quite simple to do, and walla, my cell phone connects to a router somewhere in the United States using my T-mobile service, the router then places the call through the Internet to my friend’s sister in the United Kingdom. It will cost me about $.10 a minute for the call, but heck it’s worth a buck or two to see my friend happy. BTW, I can also call a cellular telephone number in most countries of the world the same way. As long as you have the correct phone number it works seamlessly.

So how’s the quality? Just as good as any other call. Yep, just as good.

Currently, Truphone only works with selected Nokia phones, you can see a list here.

And, for those of you who have iPhones, the Truphone folks are currently at work developing software that will do the same thing on the iPhone.

I like technology and I really like it when it saves me money. You might go have a look at the Truphone service, especially if you travel Internationally or you have friends or family who live in other countries, it’s a great way to stay in touch, sometimes for free.

In 2006, I traveled to Alaska seeking the opportunity to photograph Bald Eagles. During that trip I had the opportunity to photograph Brown Bears at Hallo Bay. The experiences of 2006 were heavy on my mind in planning my most recent trip to Alaska, this time I wanted to have a longer opportunity to photograph Brown Bears and to explore more areas of the Kenai Peninsula in search of Bald Eagles. The two goals came together in my planning.

Now that I have returned, I want to provide a very detailed and long post about the trip, including some recommendations about where to go, where to stay, and what equipment I found useful during my journey. This post will also be published at Photo Travel Review. And soon I will announce a Photo Travel Review Seminar next year at this same place and in late May and early June. The seminar will be made available to six photographers. Details and costs for the trip will be posted when completed.

This article will take a long time to write, because the experiences were so vast, and the images I have captured both as still photographs and real-world videos will require hundreds of hours to process over the weeks ahead. Thus, this article will be continued from time to time as I process what I captured and my thoughts about the journey spring forth in words.

One of my goals in doing photography has always been to capture the soul of the land and the animals I find in my journeys. This trip brought that goal to me in a dynamic and wonderful way, as is shown in this photograph of a Brown Bear which I have titled “Contact.”

It was Chris Day who taught me how to approach Brown Bears and to have no fear of them. My guide Drew, on this trip, taught me even more about their behaviors, their dependence and interaction with the environment, and yes, the dangers of interacting with them. Despite the concerns of my family and friends about approaching Brown Bears, and the admonitions of my guide Drew about the dangers of such experiences, at no time during this journey did I experience fear. And, frankly, I think the bears I met could sense that from me.

Philosophically, this journey confirmed my belief that all that exists is one living soul; interdependent and interactive, with unique and individual perceptions of the life experience. Yes, indeed, Brown Bears are individuals, with unique personalities, just like the human species. And yes, their life experience is unique to them, and their need to survive is not unlike what we consider each day. And how one interacts with them must be based on mutual respect, for like us, they too fear what their experiences have taught them is dangerous to themselves.

But I digress.

Let me start again and talk about how I got to within 15 feet of Brown Bears in Alaska.

Time of the year is important if one wants to photograph both Bald Eagles and Brown Bears. Late May and early June are ideal for lots of reasons. First is the opening of fishing season in Alaska. That is important because fishermen/women often clean their fish on Alaska’s beaches and leave the remains there. And Bald Eagles flock to the beaches to enjoy the fresh carcasses. And this time of year is when Brown Bears leave their dens in the mountains to find food along the coastal regions of Alaska’s magnificent bays. Early June is just prior to tourist season, so there are fewer people around, and accommodations are generally less expensive than one will experience in July or August. It is also the perfect time to visit Alaska because the winter is ending and temperatures are generally milder with splendid days of sunshine (not always true, it rains constantly in Alaska). So, the time was set for late May and early June.

My experience in 2006 took me back to the Kenai Peninsula and the Homer, Alaska, area. I again booked a cottage with my friends Marti and Rick at Raspbeary Hill. And, after considerable research, I booked a week at Silver Salmon Creek Lodge, which many photographers had suggested was an ideal place to photograph Brown Bears. I flew into Anchorage, rented a four-wheel drive vehicle, drove to Homer, then spent a week exploring the beaches just north of that area using the vehicle to traverse the rugged coastline. I flew from Homer to Silver Salmon Creek Lodge via a small aircraft operated by Homer Air and landed on the beach near the lodge. That experience was special, and later in this blog post I will post a video of that flight both in and out of the area.

The general area is seen in this Google Map. I have place-marked four areas mentioned in this post.

One of the delights was my first day at Anchor Point Beach. Fantastic light greeted me as did two very cooperative Bald Eagles. The shot below was done with the Canon 1Ds II and the fabulous Canon 200mm f/2,.8L lens.

This next shot was done with the Canon G9. That’s right, the Canon G9! Who says you can’t do good photography with a point and shoot camera.

Then the weather got wet. Really wet and cloudy. And it affected my photography both good and bad. Good because the light was diffused and bad because I was constantly having to wipe rain off my lens. And, combined with wet, it was cold, in the 40s most of the time along with a hefty wind. Thus the wind-chill affected my movements along the coastline. Here is a shot done with the Canon 1DIIn and the Sigma 50-500mm lens.

I did find some excellent results, as is shown in this photo of a juvenile Bald Eagle, which reminds me of a portrait of an old man.

One of my major goals was to photograph Brown Bears on this journey. For those of you unfamiliar with how to do this, I have prepared this short video, which you can view below. BTW, this is a tongue in cheek video, so don’t forget to laugh a little.

In fact, I got so wrapped up in doing bear photography that I thought it would be a good idea to put together a seminar next year and invite some other photographers to join me. Besides, it’s a good way to pay my expenses for the trip. If interested, you can find out all about the seminar at Photo Travel Review by clicking on this link.

Yes, I know, it’s expensive, but one must remember that everything is expensive in Alaska, and especially travel to a remote lodge where everything must be brought in by airplane or boat. But, despite the expense, the trip will be something you will remember for the rest of your life. If you like adventure, I promise you this trip will be one unlike any other you have experienced.

One example happened to me one morning at low tide. My guide, Drew, took me out to the beach during the early morning fog and we found this bear that was digging clams just at daylight. The diffused light made this photograph something special. Some have described it as both surreal and ethereal.

I know that the shot is one I will always treasure for no other reason than simply to make me recall that magical scene. Such is the stuff one finds in places less traveled.