The Seward Pheonix Log
Cinthia Ritchie
April 16, 2009 at 12:17PM AKST
When Rhonda Rogalski of Cooper Landing glimpsed a lynx while driving out to Tern Lake to walk her dog last year, she grabbed her camera and peeled off a few shots.
She had no idea her efforts would win the 2009 TelAlaska phone book cover photo contest. She didn’t even know the animal was a lynx at first.
“I thought it was a wolf or a coyote,” she said.
When she realized her mistake she rushed out of her car and slowly followed on the opposite side of the road “so I wouldn’t freak him out.”
She missed the best shot, when the lynx looked directly at her, while she was busy turning on her camera.
“He was huge. His head would probably have come up to my belly,” she said.
She was, she admitted, a bit nervous though the lynx showed no sign of aggression or fear. Still, she made sure she had a clear path to her car.
It was the first and probably last time Rogalski would see this lynx.
“I could have gotten more (shots) but he kept walking and I didn’t want to appear as if I were stalking him,” she said with a laugh.
As soon as she got home she uploaded the photographs to her computer and took them up to a high resolution.
“The composition was nice, with the snow along the bottom and the trees,” she said.
She submitted the strongest in the telephone cover contest, which she had been entering for the past three years.
“This time I decided to do things differently,” she said. “I did a mock-up of the cover with their headings, so they would see what it would look like on an actual phone book.”
Rogalski, who works as an administrative assistant on the North Slope, wasn’t home when TelAlaska called to request a higher resolution. Her husband later called and told her that he thought she’d won.
“I was so relieved,” she said. “I had been trying for so long.”
According to TelAlaska representative Heather Morinitti, about 40 entries were received in this year’s contest. The new phone books, sporting Rogalski’s lynx, should arrive at area homes sometime in June.
Rogalski grew up in California and came to Alaska as a “rebellious teenager” in 1979 to stay with her grandparents. She’s been interested in photography for years.
“I remember the first time I picked up a camera,” she said. “It was like ‘wow,’ this is really cool.”
She makes sure she has her camera with her whenever she hikes or walks the dog.
“You might see something you’ve never seen before,” she said. “You might make time stand still.”
Rogalski shoots mainly nature and wildlife scenes, though she’s slowly evolving toward more artistic shots.
“Lately,” she said, “The shadows on the trees look so incredible.”
Cinthia Ritchie can be reached at 907-342-2428 or 800-770-9830, ext. 428.
Alaska Digipic ~ Rhonda Rogalski Photography http://alaskadigipic.synthasite.com
www.myphotoart.etsy.com
The article can also be viewed at http://www.thesewardphoenixlog.com/news/show/5681
