Just the name sounds cool, “The Nighthawk”. Years back when I started spending a good amount of time on the prairies and would stay until after sunset I recall hearing this bird for one of the first times just as the sun was setting, the land was darkening and all seemed quiet and still. From what seemed to be coming out of all directions a deep mysterious sound began to emanate from the quickening darkness. If one does not know...

Please refer to the Licensing agreement for proper use of images How about a little backwoods imagery for this months wallpaper. This image was made during a recent visit to Arkansas along the Buffalo National River. If you have never been to the Buffalo National River and are a nature lover you better get to moving it is truly a wonderful place. Note about the images: Images are formatted according to the original image as captured by the...

Thought I would provide a little insight and examples of what is most commonly refereed to as a cardinal sin in photography and that is shooting in bright sunlight. I don’t necessarily advocate doing your shooting in the middle of the afternoon on a bright sunny day but that alone shouldn’t stop you from practicing and refining not only your photography but your digital darkroom skills as well. Experiment and see what works what...

I’ve been out and about on a regular basis lately attempting to do justice to the lands that move me namely the Flint Hills. It’s a wonderful time to enjoy this unique landscape. The annual burns have been taking place at a feverish pace due to the mild winter and recent very warm weather, I suspect they will be wrapping up in the next couple of weeks. I shared some of my finds the last few weeks on my facebook page if you not a...

Please refer to the Licensing agreement for proper use of images In the spirit of springtime I thought I would offer one of my favorite springtime woodland wildflowers, “Dutchman’s Breeches.” Typically blooming in April and May I have spent many hours in the woods in search of these small illusive beauties of a wildflower. Extremely delicate they can be a challenge to photograph if there is any breeze blowing. Sometimes...

“You can not depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus” ~ Mark Twain How are you inspired? Just what is inspiration anyway? Well, to get a little technical about the subject we could examine one definition to start. The description I find most appealing is,”Inspiration refers to an unconscious burst of creativity in a literary, musical or other artistic endeavor”. Literately the word means...

I probably should begin this with a well known fact about myself, I am definitely an introvert and must say glad of it. What exactly is an introvert you might wonder? Well, I watched this video from TED and it described my take on it very well and hope you can take 20 minutes to watch it. This isn’t a 50 year synopsis of my life but simply my view on what I do and why. From the begging of my photography being taken seriously by myself...

Please refer to the Licensing agreement for proper use of images March wallpaper has me once again going back to Flint Hills, I might be a little early for the springtime image but hey, I don’t think anyone can get enough of this lush landscape which has become a true home away from home for me over the many years. Plus I think it’s time we start warming up our outlook for the pleasures of spending time in nature! Enjoy the...

Seems to be a slower time of year for me at the moment, not that my photography ever really takes a break it is a vital part of my everyday life but there are times that the flow seems to move much slower than other times. I always feel the need to be producing or creating, it’s the constant burning embers that keeps the kettle warm. I haven’t produce much in the way of new work over the last few weeks but this has given me time...

Please refer to the Licensing agreement for proper use of images With much chill in the air and a newly fallen light snow on the ground I spent the afternoon on a winters day exploring one of the newest and most beautiful National Preserves in America, The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve nestled in the Flint Hills of Kansas. Among the natural beauty of the lands stands the famous Lower Fox Creek School. Back when school was about...

Wanted to get a couple more images of the Snow Geese on here as a follow up to the previous post. These image were taken on my return trip I had mentioned that didn’t quit turn out the way I had planned. I had heard of an area that approximately 70,000 geese have been spending some time in, an area managed by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. I had initially made plans to be in this area during sunset with hopes of creating...

Every once in a while I get an urge to go after some wildlife shots, it’s usually based on a specific time of year (like now) and for a specific subject like geese. OK I’m sure you had already figured that out. Every year during the annual migration of our worlds great waterfowl hundreds of thousands of geese Canadian and Snow make their way through the plains great fly ways. Some years produce more than others but they are...

The title of this post reminds me of when I was a kid and we had a whapping 2 tv channels to chose from. When one would go out for some unknown reason on the stations end the dreaded “Technical Difficulties” screen would come up, do I dare say, the good old days? The prospect of technical difficulties is much more apparent these days, everything we do, have, consume has some sort of technology attached to it. We aren’t...

Please refer to the Licensing agreement for proper use of images. Time to get the new wallpaper up and out to everyone, this shot happens to have been taken in January one cold early morning while over looking a section of Lake Shawnee. I was up early in hopes of capturing the setting full moon and wasn’t disappointed. I have found the setting full moon to be much more easily photographed then the rising full moon the evening...

Time again to cull through my images of 2011 and choose 10 top favorites. I’m going to let you in on a little secret, when I began to do this I didn’t spend a whole lot of time picking and choosing mainly because like most photographers, I can pick way more than 10 that have special meaning to me. I did ponder over several more that deserve to be in this list but it would have just been like changing 4 quarters for a dollar...