It’s the middle of winter, and for many that means snow. When it impedes driving or piles up in great drifts that need shoveling, it’s hard to remember how exquisitely beautiful each tiny flake is. But Marion Owen’s photos are a vivid reminder.

Snowflake

An Alaskan snowflake, as photographed by Marion Owen.

Marion Owen is a photographer based in Kodiak, Alaska, who not only shoots amazing images of the natural world, including Kodiak’s famous brown bears, but shares her talent and insights with fortunate Natural Habitat Adventures travelers.

Marion Owen

Kodiak photographer Marion Owen

On Nat Hab’s Grizzlies: Kodiak to Katmai adventure, travelers enjoy a day with Marion and her husband aboard their private 42-foot yacht, exploring Kodiak’s coastal waters and rocky shorelines. Passing tidal pools and offshore kittiwake rookeries, guests are likely to spot sea lions, otters, puffins, bald eagles and, frequently, whales. A picnic lunch is served ashore with time to wander a coastal trail beneath big Sitka spruce trees. Later, guests savor a gourmet home-cooked dinner on board before stepping ashore for the night. Marion is an accomplished cook and sources much of the fare served on board and at her Cliff House B&B from her own organic garden.

Brown bear suckles cub in Geographic Harbor, Katmai National Park, Alaska

Brown bear sow suckles cub in Geographic Harbor, Katmai National Park, Alaska.

If you’re an especially avid photographer, you won’t want to miss Nat Hab’s new Grizzlies: Kodiak to Katmai Photo Tour — essentially the same trip, but with a strong photography emphasis including a highly lauded workshop with Marion. Marion, whose work has appeared in TIME, National Geographic Traveler, Audubon and Alaska magazine, to name but a few, has more than 25 years’ experience photographing coastal Alaska and its famous brown bears.

Alaskan Snowflake

A snowflake as captured by Marion Owen.

Find galleries of her photos on her website, which can be purchased online or through AlaskaStock Images in Anchorage. And check out resources from Marion on photography, organic gardening and cooking, including her Kodiak Island Granola recipe, on her blog.

Enjoy the snowflakes this winter, and come see the grizzlies in Alaska this summer!

Wendy