Falls at Willow River State Park, WI
Nikon D810 + Nikon 18-35mm G

Close to Home, Summer 2016

August 24, 2016 in August 2016

You know that little ditty by Johnny Cash? The one that begins with “I’ve been everywhere man, I’ve been everywhere, man…?” Well, there were times this summer when that song could have been my anthem.

Barred Owl *(Strix varia)* - North Central Minnesota
Nikon D500 + Nikon 200-400mm f/4.0 VR

June belonged to Iceland where I spent nearly two weeks photographing the southern coast and midnight sun. Home for only a day and suffering from sleep deprivation, I boarded another plane, but this time it was pointed to New York.

Just a Pastoral Landscape under Stormy Skies, MN
Nikon D810 + Nikon 18-35mm G

July began with a camping trip to the headwaters of the Mississippi River and ended with seven days in and around Santa Cruz, CA. By the time I was home long enough to re-established my position in the pecking order with the dogs, it was time to leave for Munich, Germany. Ironically, this trip was via Iceland; so, should you need advice about the best restrooms in Keflavik International Airport, send me a note… I’m your man.

Deceptively Small Falls
Nikon D810 + Nikon 105mm f/2.8 Micro VR (9 image focus stack)

Despite the travel and opportunity to make images in some fairly exotic locations, I do enjoy practicing my craft close to home. While I still have thousands of photos to edit and process from my Icelandic adventure and paddle throughout the Elkhorn Slough, I can’t suppress the urge to shoot the places that I know best. So while it’s likely the next few blogs will focus on the flora and fauna of Iceland or California, this gallery is all about the upper Midwest.

Sunrise Over the St. Croix River
Nikon D810 + Nikon 300mm f/2.8 AFS II

Notable Moments from 2015

January 01, 2016 in January 2016

2015 is a memorable year for many reasons, but my photographic exploits will not be at the top of the list. While my year in photography included trips to Costa Rica, the Olympic Peninsula, Moss Landing, Badlands National Park and multiple locations throughout Minnesota, these travels are insignificant when compared to the loss that defines the previous 365 days. Watching a parent age and succumb to an aggressive cancer is the seminal memory that now haunts me at unexpected times. While I was fully prepared for this loss at an intellectual level, I failed to grasp the emotional impact this event might have. To date, a day rarely passes without experiencing some fleeting thought about a mother who challenged me to live life as if it were the ephemeral thing that it is.

Image #2: Sunrise Over Lake Superior, MN

Loss and aging are like fraternal twins; two peas in a pod that seem the same yet maintain their unique characteristics. In this year that I said goodbye to a mother for the last time, I also bid farewell to my forties. The decade where I hit my professional stride in teaching and grew as a photographic artist ended with an abrupt and somewhat anxious invitation to join AARP and purchase term life insurance

For this post I scanned my 2015 folder to find ten memorable or transformational images. In the year where I joined The Arcanum as a way to grow and refine my vision, I challenged myself to make images that were something more than technically accurate, well exposed and composed nicely. My goal was to see nature for the story it tells. While I intended to share only ten photographs, the astute observer will see that there are fourteen. To save face, I have labeled the last four as honorable mentions, but this is a bit disingenuous; in truth, I am a lousy editor and have serious difficulties when it comes to defining favorites.

Image #5: Morning Reflections, MN — Image #5: Morning Reflections, MN

Image #6: Gray Tree Frog dressed in Green, WI — Image #6: Gray Tree Frog dressed in Green, WI

Image #7: Los Tres Amigos, CA — Image #7: Los Tres Amigos, CA

Image #8: A Pensive Spider, Costa Rica — Image #8: A Pensive Spider, Costa Rica

Image #9: Bison Dreams, SD — Image #9: Bison Dreams, SD

Honorable Mention #1: After Dinner Stroll, CA

Honorable Mention #2: Watching Mom for the Signal, SD

Honorable Mention #3: Me and My Better Half, CA

Image #1 (top of spread): The Wind, SD

Sweetwater Sunrise - Sweetwater Reserve, KenyaCanon 5D Mark II + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS — Sweetwater Sunrise - Sweetwater Reserve, Kenya
Canon 5D Mark II + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

Did You Know (26)?

February 04, 2015 in February 2015

While the sun near the horizon might seem to be larger than when overhead, its distance and size never changes as it moves across the sky. One hypothesis suggests that the atmosphere acts to magnify the rising sun along the horizon, but data actually suggests that the atmosphere makes the celestial body about 1.5% smaller. What we see is an illusion of the mind. The specifics behind the illusion continue to be up for debate, but make no mistake, your perceptions about the setting sun is not reality.

"Why Does the Moon Look so Much Bigger near the Horizon?" HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com, n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2015.

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