Winter Colors,Textures and Patterns: Frosty Trees and Grass

This gallery contains 6 photos.

On a recent trip returning from Kansas I had a very  productive day photographing frosty grass and trees. The earth toned colors of the grasses combined with heavy frost and ice on the grass and bare tees made for some … Continue reading →

Slow Down and Look: The Joy of the Intimate Landscape

One of my absolute favorite photographic subjects  are intimate compositions of grasses. Finding and making  these “Tapestries of Grass” is a joy but also a challenge to extract an image from an environment that at quick glance may seem mundane or  even chaotic. The secret I believe in making any good intimate landscapes is to slow down and really look at the environment around you. When I am out I will often just stop and stand still for several minutes, scanning the surroundings and watching the light. More often that not something will catch my eye.  I look for patterns, textures, and colors and if it strikes me I set up the tripod and precisely fine-tune the composition.  If it all comes together I make the photograph, if not I move on.  The following image made in Kansas at the Webster Wildlife area is a good example. It was made from spending at least  30 minutes wandering and looking in an area of  prairie less than acre in size.

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More from Kansas: Monument Rocks

Monument Rocks Arch and Earth Shadow

Last week on my way to attend the opening of the Kansas Park Trust show in KC  I included a stop  at Monument Rocks to photograph them in dawn and sunrise light. Monument Rocks are a collection of pinnacles composed of the the Cretaceous Niobrara Formation located in Gove County south of the town of Oakley. Lithologicaly they are composed of chalk, a very fine grained limestone formed from accumulations of the shells of  tiny microscopic marine organisms.  The down cutting of the Smokey Hill River has eroded away most of the formation leaving the 70 foot high pinnacles. As a photographer and a geologist they make great subjects and over the years I have often photographed them.  Last Friday morning the sky was absolutely clear with no clouds which is often not the best for spectacular  sunrises, but very nice for the development of a nice earth shadow, the subtle pink and blue band visible on the western horizon in this photograph of the Monument Rock Arch.

The next image was made just after the sun rose and illuminated one of the other pinnacles. By blending three exposures I was able to maintain detail in the shadowed pinnacle without over exposing the sunlit pinnacle.  The new digital tools we have today have greatly expanded our ability to capture the natural world as our eyes see it!

Monument Rocks Sunrise Light

Tall Grass Prairie Autumn Colors

I have  been processing more images from the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve. This image was made in the afternoon before the image I posted on Monday. A storm system was building to west and the soft cloudy low contrast  light  made the colors of the Indian grass and Goldenrod almost glow. The interesting sky and clouds provided a good contrast to the layers of prairie grass and flowers.

Goldenrod blooms among the Indian Grass in the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve, Kansas

Tall Grass Prairie Morning

Late last week I traveled to Kansas City to drop off my two prints for the Kansas Park Trust art show I talked about in my previous post. Not wanting to travel to Kansas without doing some photography, I made my way to the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve near Cottonwood Falls,  Kansas and was able to make several new images there in the late afternoon and following morning. Conditions were particularly interesting for the morning because there was a blanket of fog covering the prairie which made for some very evocative images. As the sun rose  the fog started to clear and the early morning light was particularly pleasing as is presented in the following image:

Morning light as the fog clears on the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve, Kansas

2009 Visions of the Flint Hills: Preserving the Tallgrass Prairie Art Exhibit and Sale.

I am very pleased to announce that two of my photographs have been juried into the  Kansas Park Trust -2009 Visions of the Flint Hills: Preserving the Tallgrass Prairie Art Exhibit and Sale. The show will be held at the Buttonwood Art Space in Kansas City, MO from Oct 2 to December 5, 2009. The two images are Kansas Summer Prairie Sunrise and Kansas Winter Prairie.  I will be present at the opening on Oct 2.