Anchorage itself can be pretty photogenic for street photography, especially downtown. The drive to Girdwood on Turnagain Arm is beautiful.
Denali is "close" in the sense that it's in the same state, but it's about a 2-3 hour drive to get to where you can see it from the highway and 4-5 hours to the National Park entrance. They say the top of the mountain is only clear of clouds about 33% of the time, so it'll take a bit of luck to see her and that's assuming there aren't any forest fires making visibility nil. I feel like I see her more often than that, but I'm looking from the north and on a clear day the mountain is visible from Fairbanks.
If you do plan to go to the NP, the bus tour on the Park Road is worth it for seeing wildlife and beautiful landscapes. I've only ridden the camper bus out from Kantishna after flying in, but despite a wet cloudy day I saw a good amount of critters. It's an all-day affair, but completely worth it imo. Plus on the drive to the park you'll pass the best restaurant in the state, 229 Parks.