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Ryan Aw

@rawcaptures.net

3.4K followers 850 following 1.8K posts

Environmentalist, Adventurer, Cat parent, Outdoor Photographer 🔗 www.rawcaptures.net/links Conservation Through Composition

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · Apr 27

Hi BlueSky, I’m Ryan!

I’m an environmentalist, adventurer, photographer, and full-time cat parent that’s hopelessly in love with Earth

While I spend most of my time advocating for the polar regions, there isn’t a single ecosystem on this planet that escapes my interest
🧵 👇

A self portrait of me looking at the night sky, with the southern Milky Way reaching across the Antarctic night sky while standing on the bow of the M/V Ortelius

Sony A1 ii, Sony 12-24mm GM - 3s, f/2.8, ISO12800

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1h

I guess I should include a link to my store as well:

www.rawcaptures.net/shop/alaskan... #smallbusiness #indieartist #independentartist #photography #nature #wildlife #protectthekobuck #conservation #alaska #indigenousrights

A field of red flowers blooming in the Alaskan tundra

Sony A1, Sony 24-70 mmm f/2.8 GM ii - 1/250s, f/4, ISO50 - 5 image bracketed exposure

An ICM of the boreal forest in the Alaskan Tundra

Sony A1, Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GM ii - 1s, f/22, ISO50 - 3 stop ND Filter

Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1h

You can read about what’s happening in #Alaska here:

- alaskawild.org/blog/america...

- brooksrange.org/the-issue/

- noamblerroadaction.org

A three peaked mountain and its reflection in Alaska

Sony A1, Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GM ii - 1/4000s, f/5, ISO100 - 5 image bracketed HDR

A mushroom surrounded by mosses on the forest floor of Alaska

Sony A1, Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM ii - 1/250s, f/5, ISO 50

The Alaskan tundra partially covered in snow

Sony A1, Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GM ii - 1/800s, f/4.5, ISO 80 - 5 image bracketed exposure

Aurora Borealis in Alaska

Sony A1, Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 GM - 8s, f/2.8, ISO 4000

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1h

Alternatively, you can:

Contact your reps using the link below to let them know - No to the Ambler Road Project!

Donate directly to both the orgs mentioned.

Defend the Brooks Range and Protect the Kobuck are great ones as well!

act.npca.org/page/88394/a... #alaska #publiclands

13 Million Acres of Public Lands at Risk

Dismantling the Central Yukon plan through a congressional resolution would throw our entire system of managing public lands into chaos. Urge your senators to vote No on S.J. RES 63. We must protect...

act.npca.org

Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1h

I’ve just released 10 prints for sale on my site

ALL profits go to Alaska Wilderness Alliance & Native Movement to support conservation & indigenous rights

Click through the full post - which would you have on a wall?

#photography #publiclandsinpublichands #noamblerroad #alaska #landscape #nature

The Alaskan Tundra in the fall

Sony A1, Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GM ii - 1/160s, f/10, ISO250 - 5 panel vertical panorama

A mushroom surrounded by berries and mosses on the forest floor of the Alaskan tundra

Sony A1, Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM ii - 1/100s, f/2.8, ISO 50

A closeup of a mountain in Alaska

Sony A1, Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM ii - 1/1600s, f/3.2, ISO100

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 2h

Oh I bet. The feeling you get just walking out of Anchorage airport and seeing all the mountains around…you already know you’re in for something special

Less than a year after my first visit, I went back immediately for a second haha

Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 2h

Thank you!

Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 2h

Thank you, Amanda!

Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 2h

Shoshone ice caves are very high on my list of places to visit! Too many I’ve not explored yet haha.

Thank you!

Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1d

If you’ve made it this far down, please consider sparing a minute more to write to our senators

Let them know that we cannot allow this absolutely horror of a road be built through this sacred land

It’s never too late

#publiclandsinpublichands #noamblerroad

act.npca.org/page/89143/a...

A photo of the Alaskan tundra in the autumn. Image made by Ryan Aw

Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1d

If something like this can happen to a place like Alaska - this needs to be a wake up call for all Americans.

This can, and will happen to the rest of our public lands if we stay still.

We can’t let billionaires and this joke of a govt bribe, lie, and cheat their way into filling their wallets

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1d

For an administration that claims to be “America First,” I can’t see how any of this could possibly benefit any American citizen.

It’s greedy, it’s evil, it’s disrespectful, it’s disgusting, it’s unforgivable to want to ruin this land.

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1d

This road would also run along many critical regions

Destroying #salmon spawning streams, cutting off #caribou migration paths, endangering indigenous food supplies, polluting water supplies for ALL Alaskans

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1d

This is a PRIVATE road, that ONLY heavy machinery can use, for the specific purpose of drilling and mining copper to be sold to a CANADIAN company, which will then sell the materials to CHINA, which Americans will then have to buy back at a 125% #tariff, all at the expense of Alaskans.

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1d

As #beautiful, unrelenting, and harsh as Alaska can be, it’s equally fragile and precious

The Gov’t wants to build a 200+ mile road that cuts through land of over 60 #indigenous tribes

It will pave a road through Gates of the Arctic, the only National Park without a paved road

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1d

Alaska’s unique composition makes it an incredible carbon sink, storing easily over 30 billion metric tons of CO2

If released, through the melting of the permafrost or draining of the #peat bogs through mining and oil drilling operations, we wouldn’t live to tell the tale

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1d

The Alaskan #Arctic itself is home to over 200 recognised tribes, and probably a LOT more that have been buried in history

Alaska holds history of over 10,000 years old for these peoples, long before any Russian or American colonisers took over the land

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1d

Alaska is a lot more than “a really fkn cold place” or a “great cruise spot” or a “nice visit.”

It’s so much more than a bunch of resources for us to mine and drill into

#Alaska is a source of unimaginable beauty

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1d

People often say “leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but pictures”

But Alaska is different

The tundra is so diverse, so complex, and so fragile. Each step springs back with the bounce of mosses, lichen, and #fungi off the ground beneath

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1d

People think Alaska is this like, mystical wintery wonderland - and it is. But it’s so much more than that

Under the snow, is layers of #permafrost, thousands of years old. Beneath that, are peat bogs, marshes, wetlands of all kinds

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1d

We shared many laughs, beers, and hours on the road, even more hours running around in the #tundra

Most importantly, we were there over our shared love for this planet, to explore, appreciate, and understand this unique ecosystem

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1d

The Brooks Range is a place I had the extreme fortune of exploring on my first ever group photo trip, in 2024 (no seriously, that’s how new I am to non-solo travel).

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1d

Just because it’s fall and it’s critical to be discussing Alaska right now:

Some of my favourite images from this absolutely staggering slice of Earth

From my last visit - Sept 2024

Peep the full thread; which are your favourites?

#publiclandsinpublichands #alaska #noamblerroad #publiclands

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1d

It really is!

Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1d

Oh man, wish I knew haha. These images were from a roadtrip this past summer. I’m sure we stopped by that gas station, but never went inside for tamales 😭

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1d

Ahh would have been good to know! These were from a road trip this past summer. I’m a long ways from the west now haha.

Will have to keep that in mind the next time I’m in the area, which I’m hoping is soon!