The last ray of sunset feels even more precious when you can sense autumn waiting in the shadows.
Beautiful Evening
Pokeweed
Folks, this plant (pokeweed, or Phytolacca americana) looks like Dr. Seuss’s fever dream and I love it! The colors alone make them stand out in the ditches right now and it is so worth stopping to take a closer look. I took some cuttings of […]
An Education in Water Lilies
I spent some time with water lilies in August and it was a far different experience than photographing forest plants or wild weeds in ditches. In my mind, lilies had been the stuff of Monet; pastel, subdued, domestic, a little blurry. Nope. Nothing of the […]
August Sunset
O Beauty, out of many a cupYou have made me drunk and wildEver since I was a child. -Sara Teasdale, from “August Moonrise” The photo is of an August sunset, not moonrise, but Ms. Teasdale’s words (published 100 years ago this month) are still eloquently […]
Cell Phone Photography Hike
On Thursday, August 19, I’ll be sharing some tips at Waubonsie State Park about how to make the most of your cell phone camera. Almost everyone carries one and they’re incredibly powerful, and the have a bunch of new features (along with some quirks) that […]
Great Nature Photo Hike
Feel like a nice summertime hike? Then join me for a photography hike at Waubonsie State Park at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, August 4 – we’ll explore the scenic Ridge Trail and talk about nature photography, which is a wide, WIDE subject! I certainly don’t […]
The Green Season Paradox
So I spent the winter thinking about the photos I wanted to make when spring came. The good news is that I made a lot of those photos! But then came summertime busy-ness and very few of them have been shared. So here — belatedly […]
Wondrous Frost
The new year began with a few days of hoarfrost, and the morning of January 3 in particular was just glorious — delicate, icy sculpture that fringed the trees and grasses, and sparkled like treasure when sunlight finally reached it. Every leaf became art in […]
Can You Feel It?
Talk about a feast of texture! Can’t you just feel the plush softness of the moss and the cold, grainy snow on this old log? Winter softens our landscape’s colors, but this moss still held on to its vibrant green — a beautiful contrast against […]
Humble Jewels
Proof that the common can be sublime! Coral berries and goldenrod grow just about everywhere in southwest Iowa, but this patch turned into something special when it was wrapped in hoarfrost and sunlight.