Hi, and welcome to my blog. With the majority of my photography devoted to scenic and wildlife, I love sharing favorite places with others, and especially the stories beyond the photographs (both my own as well as other photographers). Nothing is more fun than a discussion about a favorite place, a memorable nature experience or a chance wildlife encounter.
In the end, it's usually the story about how the photograph came to be - what was happening at the time, the struggle it took or sometimes just the happy coincidence of everything coming together in one magical moment. Photography for me is about discovery. Some places I've been to only once. More often, I return to favorite spots to explore and to know a place deeply. So, please share your favorite places and your own memorable experiences!
So, when you're 800 feet above Lake Powell, Arizona with a 50mph wind whipping, an SUV makes a pretty decent windscreen. There's something to be said for smaller cameras, too!
The 90-Minute Photographer
I wish I could say that I spend 3 days in the same spot waiting for that “exact right moment”. The reality I find more typical is a 2-week vacation jam-packed with many places to visit. Although I’m photographing that entire time, I rarely have the luxury of many days in a single spot.
Case in point…I had planned an autumn day in mid-October out photographing. But this was a year where the fall colors were 3 weeks late. Instead, I had time for a 90-minute outing at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois. Driving in very long lines through the beautiful settings, I bolted from my vehicle to take what amounted to snapshots. I refused to miss the rich autumn colors that had made me miss my day out in the woods.
Ultimately, the experience was rewarding because I found numerous visually inspiring scenes in that short time and was reminded that how we see the world is more important than how much time we have to see it.
Enough!
I rarely get on an environmental soapbox, but....
I just returned from a very short trip down to Lexington, Kentucky. It's been nearly 30 years since I had been to Cumberland Falls, the largest waterfall in the U.S. south of Niagara and east of the Rocky Mountains. The last time I visited, the landscape was nearly pristine.
Now, as you can see in the photo, the base of these beautiful falls is littered with thousands of plastic bottlers and other garbage. State funding cuts have made it impossible to keep the area free of waste, and it feels like a return to the 1970's when we trashed the beautiful places around us.
Wolf and Elk, Lamar Valley
Prior to arriving in Yellowstone, Sheryl and I had the shared goal of seeing a wolf in the wild even if it was from a quarter-mile away. Just to see this animal in its natural habitat would be rewarding. While driving east through the Lamar Valley, we came up over a small hill and had to brake strongly as a female elk ran at full speed across the road, toward the Lamar River. A couple seconds later, a beautiful, black 2-year old female wolf of the Lamar Canyon pack sprinted after the elk. What unfolded before us was more than an hour long confrontation between this lone wolf and the elk.
While we expected an unfair fight, the elk proved to be a formidable fighter, and quite skilled at fending off the wolf’s attempted attacks. 20 minutes into their strategic positioning, both animals took a 20 second break, as if the first round bell had sounded. After a second round of back-and-forth, the wolf had had enough and left the river, retreating to the northwest. With its injured right leg, the elk pursued the wolf for a couple hundred yards – at which point, the wolf turned and chased the elk again back toward the river. Halfway into this new chase, the elk planted both front legs and kicked the wolf with both hind legs. Another round in the water … and a final retreat in opposite directions by both animals.
With the birthing season in full bloom, bear and wolf activity increases dramatically in the valley with the abundance of young and vulnerable prey.
To witness this interaction was a gift - and an experience we’ve not stopped talking about…
Just when you think you know nature...
With a dozen others, we were watching with a grizzly bear in the Lamar Valley, closing in on a sandhill crane. Instinctively, we all wanted to warn the crane that the bear was approaching... When the bear caught up, we watched with amazement as the grizzly and crane walked through the marshy grounds side-by-side!
Spring is here!
This image was taken about 5 miles from the Villa Rosa in Tuscany Italy while on a photo tour of the region. Heading back to our villa after a day of shooting, we passed this bank of beautiful trees and pursuaded our driver to pull over at this unscheduled stop. Every photo from the series has this same combination of enchanting twisted limbs and bright green spring foliage. Always worth stopping to enjoy a scene that catches your eye...
