Crooked Horizons

Light

2012-02-18T18:28:00.000-08:00

I've got a big backlog of photos I need to organize. I've started doing that recently, and I hope to start putting photos on the blog that catch my eye as I go through all my old stuff. Here's a light from a couple of years ago.

Water

2011-11-13T17:47:00.001-08:00

I've been pretty lucky this year to go to a couple of really nice places to take pictures. Different places sometimes yield similar pictures as is the case with these. These first three, I shot last month in Spearfish Canyon in South Dakota's Black Hills.

This next set, I shot in June in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park.

I have to give a nod here to my (occasionally) patient traveling companion. He has to put up with more of me shooting blurry water pictures than anyone should have to. He does complain, but he's also very susceptible to bribes which is a good thing.

Trees

2011-11-06T17:37:00.000-08:00

A few more pictures from Wyoming... I was loving the yellow/gold aspens.

Dance Gallery

2011-10-30T08:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to a gallery of dance photos I did for work.

Dance is hard to shoot. It would probably be a little easier if I knew more about it.

Blurriness

2011-10-21T09:11:00.001-07:00

I heard my fans were getting restless, so here's another picture from my trip west. Sometimes when the light is bad, I had to resort to breaking all the rules to get a picture I liked. Since I like blurry pictures, I can always shake the camera...

Grand Teton National Park

2011-10-12T07:18:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about using this spot again.

Here's a recent photo from a trip to Grand Teton National Park.

A little work project

2009-08-21T19:03:00.001-07:00

To save a few bucks, and a few trees, The University of Iowa decided to put their annual report online this year instead of printing a traditional report. This is how I spent a good chunk of my summer. Take a look. If you have a minute, let me know what you think.

Click here to get to it.

Camera day

2009-08-13T18:52:00.000-07:00

It was camera day at Henry's gymnastics class the other day. This was my favorite picture...

More bean

2009-08-05T20:18:00.001-07:00

This thing was fun to shoot day or night...

More Chicago

2009-08-04T04:32:00.000-07:00

A few more pictures from Chicago.

Chicago

2009-08-03T19:21:00.000-07:00

I'm always looking for a pattern...

Chicago

2009-08-02T19:33:00.001-07:00

I'm just back from a weekend in Chicago. Like everybody who goes there, I shot "The Bean."

Custer State Park

2009-06-21T08:17:00.000-07:00

A few pictures from the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park. I thought these looked better in black and white...

Bridal Veil Falls

2009-06-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of Bridal Veil Falls in Spearfish Canyon.

Badlands

2009-06-20T07:13:00.001-07:00

I'm just back from a trip to South Dakota. I didn't get a chance to do much "real" photography, but I got a couple of pictures that look nice. Here's one from the Badlands.

Chalk the Walk

2009-05-04T18:19:00.001-07:00

We went to one of the neatest small town festivals I've been to in a while on Saturday. It's in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, and it's called Chalk the Walk. People were painting pictures on Main Street using sidewalk chalk. The festival ran through Sunday, so when we were there, the pictures were still in progress. I wanted to go back on Sunday to see the finished product, but we didn't have time.

There was a huge picture from Where the Wild Things Are that anyone could contribute to. It was huge. Here's a very small part of it.

Back to California

2009-04-28T19:35:00.001-07:00

I've about run out of pictures from the California trip. Here's a panorama I stitched together of one of the historic bridges along Hwy. 1. The limitations of my blog template don't really do this justice.

Blurry Bikin' photos

2009-04-27T08:15:00.000-07:00

I went downtown to watch the Old Capitol Criterium yesterday. I wasn't really shooting it, but I took a few photos. When it comes to things that are moving, I just can't help myself, so I shot a bunch of blurry photos. Here are three...

These are what they are. Not great. Not horrible. Something about that last guy's front fork caught my eye. I just love the spoke gets less and less sharp, and then twisted, the farther you go from the hub. It's a combination of the slow shutter speed, me panning with the bike and the wheel rotating. I like it. I just can't figure out how to crop it. I'd be curious what you think? And feel free to tell me the picture is lame if you think that's the case. This very well might be one of those pictures that looks pretty good at first glance and three days later makes me think, "What was I on when I was liking that shot?" Believe me, that's happened on more than a few occasions.

More coast

2009-04-24T17:18:00.001-07:00

Here's another picture from the coast south of Carmel. This is probably my favorite picture of the coast.

Surfin'

2009-04-22T19:44:00.000-07:00

On our way to the airport, we stopped briefly in Santa Cruz. Unbeknownst to us, a "big swell" was coming in. The local surfing community was ready and waiting. From what I could tell, most of them wiped out but had fun trying.

Lighthouse

2009-04-19T18:31:00.000-07:00

Here's another lighthouse. This one in Santa Cruz. Ya, I needed a longer lens. I'm almost done with California pictures. I promise.

Pacific Coast

2009-04-15T18:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a few more pictures of the Pacific Coast along Highway 1 south of Carmel. It's an amazing drive. Looking at these photos now a couple of weeks after we were there, I'm a little bummed about all the haze. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to go back sometime.

If I had to guess, I'd say the bird is a golden eagle. I know birders get really testy when birds are incorrectly identified, so if I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will correct me.

More California critters

2009-04-14T19:14:00.001-07:00

A few more pictures from our recent vacation. Boats and sea lions. Spring is going to hit Iowa very soon. I'll have flowers and green stuff to shoot here, so I better finish up these California pictures soon.

Pebble Beach

2009-04-11T21:07:00.000-07:00

Here's a tree on the Pebble Beach golf course. It's not the famous tree, but that's ok.

Lighthouse

2009-04-06T17:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a lighthouse in Pacific Grove. If I remember right, it's the Point Pinos lighthouse. We didn't get a chance to go through it, but it looked pretty cool just after the sun went down. And, as you can tell, it's still a working lighthouse.

California Coast

2009-04-05T18:23:00.000-07:00

Here are the first two of what could end up being a lot of pictures that I shot along Highway 1 between Carmel and Big Sur. I knew it would be pretty, but it took my breath away.

Aquarium

2009-04-02T18:41:00.000-07:00

After whale watching, we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. As it turns out, it was probably a little too much fish for one day. Either that or the Dramamine was working a little too hard. We both felt a little sleepy and a little wobbly while we were there. It had some cool exhibits though. I found the jelly fish to be especially appealing. Here are some pictures:

Whale watching

2009-04-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

On our first morning in California, our ship set sail on a three hour tour. We were hoping to see some whales. After about two and a half hours, I was thinking we were going to get skunked. While we didn't see any whales, we did see what seemed like hundreds of these dolphins. They're Risso's Dolphins, and they were fun to watch as they swam through the swells and jumped out of the water from time to time. I'd still like to see a whale, but this was a pretty good consolation prize.

Carmel Beach

2009-03-31T18:29:00.001-07:00

A couple of dogs had fun playing in the water while we were watching sunset on Carmel Beach.

Finally

2009-03-30T17:54:00.001-07:00

I've finally got some new photos to post. I just got back from a short trip to the California coast. I took a lot of pictures, but it wasn't truly a photo trip. I'll start with the view from our hotel room.

Blast from the past

2009-03-11T18:48:00.001-07:00

It's been pretty quiet here in the land of Crooked Horizons. I guess I've been busy with other stuff. I hope to have either some new pictures or something taken out of the files to put up soon. In the mean time, check out Dakotagraph. It's my friend Chad's blog. He has what has to be one of the best jobs in the world. He's the photographer for the South Dakota Department of Tourism. I spent two summers working as an intern in his office. Little did I know that 15 years later, he'd dig up a video of me and put it on his blog. I guess I'll have to go looking for some old photos of him now.

Dance Marathon

2009-02-16T17:17:00.000-08:00

Here's a project I just did at work. This photo gallery went up today:

http://www.uiowa.edu/~fyi/issues/issues2008_v45/02162009/photos/photofeature021609/index.html

It's from Dance Marathon. The students danced for 24 hours and raised more than $1 million for kids with cancer. It's a great event. It's fun to shoot, but the lighting (or serious lack thereof) makes it a tough shoot. I tossed out hundreds of photos, but I'm happy with this final selection. I'd be curious to know what anybody else thinks of them.

Long time

2009-02-14T20:16:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the long delay. Here's a sunrise from a while ago that I just downloaded tonight. Pretty amazing sunrise. I just wish I could have shot it from somewhere other than my driveway...

It's Show Time

2009-01-12T13:00:00.000-08:00

I've been neglecting my blog for the past couple of weeks, but I have a pretty good excuse. I've been getting ready for my very first show! Never have I framed so many pictures in such a short time.

Starting on Thursday, January 15, Larry Mendenhall and I are having a photo show at the Ankeny Art Center. Larry is a good friend, a good photographer, and the guy who finally convinced me to put a show together. The show is titled "Seen in Iowa." Like the title suggests, it's a collection of photographs we've taken over the past several years in Iowa.

If you want to check it out in person, here's the address: Ankeny Art Center, 1520 SW Ordnance Road, Ankeny, IA 50023. Here's a map.

Here are two of the 12 pictures I've included in the show:

News Flash!

2008-12-28T19:04:00.000-08:00

CNN is reporting that the Obama's are thinking about getting "a little Westie."

Our Westie, Maggie, supports this move wholeheartedly. She's been suggesting how good a white dog would look in the White House ever since she heard the Obama's were looking for a first pet.

Here's Maggie showing how good a dog she can be (for a full 1/125th of a second) at our annual holiday card photo shoot.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T14:08:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

Happy Holidays

2008-12-16T19:08:00.000-08:00

Click here for a little audio slideshow I did for work a couple days ago...

Jingle Cross Cyclocross

2008-12-08T01:56:00.000-08:00

Here are the rest of the pictures from the Jingle Cross Cyclocross race. I found it hard to narrow the selection down, so there are probably more here than there should be.

First, one from the women's race. Sunglasses weren't helping anyone, especially after they were covered in mud.

The start of the men's race with eventual winner Todd Wells (number 1, GT sleeves) already leading the field.

Wells, who competed in Beijing on the US mountain bike team, handles the first jump with ease.

The big downhill was a muddy mess for everyone. Mountain biking legend Steve Tilford handled it better than most.

Even Wells wasn't always totally smooth on the descent.

But he handled it better than this guy who hit hard near the bottom.

Nothing like having the snow pick up a little bit mid-race to add some interest to the photos...

The winners of the elite men's race on Sunday, from left, Andy Jacques-Maynes, Todd Wells and Steve Tilford.

This has to be one of the coolest events I've photographed. When I worked for newspapers I would have killed for an assignment like this one. What's not to like about shooting some of the best bikers in the country riding in the mud, cold and snow? Throw in a couple of good crashes, and it's a great assignment. That's why I can't understand why none of the local papers sent a photographer to cover the race.

Cyclocross

2008-12-02T19:49:00.001-08:00

I do intend to put a more complete set of pictures from Sunday's cyclocross race soon, but until I have time to really weed through all the pictures I took, here are two more that show just how rough the conditions were.

Crash

2008-12-01T19:21:00.000-08:00

I don't have time to put the whole set up from Sunday's cyclocross race, but here's one of my favorites. This is from the elite women's race. Before anyone comments about the women not being able to ride as well as the men, I have to point out that the woman who won this race took this steep, treacherous descent better than any of the men. More pictures to come soon...

Cyclocross

2008-11-30T18:31:00.001-08:00

For the second year in a row, I went out to watch the Jingle Cross Rock cyclocross race in Iowa City today. For those who don't know, cyclocross is kind of a cross between road and mountain biking. A cyclocross bike looks like a road bike with fat tires, and the races are run off-road, but not on courses as technical as you'd see at a mountain bike race. It's a fun sport to watch.

Throw in a little snow and a lot of mud, and it's a really fun sport to watch. I can't imagine how hard it would be to ride through the mud like these guys did. They didn't exactly make it look easy which shows just how tough the conditions were.

Here's a picture of Todd Wells, today's winner. I've got a lot of fun pictures that I'll put up soon, but this is all I have time to work on tonight.

Windmill

2008-11-27T16:22:00.000-08:00

I shot this last night at a big family Thanksgiving get together. Too bad there weren't some more clouds to catch that last bit of light...

Cool patterns

2008-11-18T18:09:00.000-08:00

I was all set to have several more days of fall colors pictures on the blog, but they're going to have to wait a couple of more days.

Any idea what this is?

It's the frost on my car this morning. I was determined to leave the house on time. Henry and I were walking out the door at 7:30. I got him buckled in the back seat. I started scraping the frost off the car. The whole time I'm scraping, I'm thinking, "Wow. This is really cool. I should really take some pictures."

After pestering Henry all morning about leaving on time, I knew I'd be in trouble if I was the one who made us late. I got about half the windows scraped off when I gave in.

I stuck my head in the backseat, and told Henry I'd be right back. I came out with my camera and shot for about five minutes when I heard, "Daddy, you better hurry up."

I probably could have kept shooting these cool frost patterns until they melted, but Henry was right. I got my five minutes in, put my camera away and went to work. With any luck, it'll freeze like this again tonight. I know I'm going to check my car first thing in the morning.

Fall colors

2008-11-17T19:30:00.001-08:00

Henry and I went out to Lake McBride when the leaves were still on the trees. We did some "hiking," and I shot some photos. I can't resist the chance to shoot blurry photos anymore, so that's what I did. Here's the first of what will probably be several blurry pictures.

Happy Birthday

2008-11-07T19:51:00.001-08:00

Five years ago tomorrow, my favorite photo subject of all time was born.

Happy Birthday Henry!

Endorsement and a prediction

2008-11-03T17:00:00.000-08:00

This is obviously not a political blog, but since I took some pictures of the guy I'm voting for about a year ago when he was still campaigning for the Iowa Caucus, I thought the night before the election would be a good time to put them up.

There was never any doubt that I'd end up voting for the Democratic nominee regardless of who it was, but I was never a big Barack Obama supporter. I've seen him in person three times, and he never lived up to the hype for me. He's grown on me a bit lately though, and I think he's clearly the better person for the job than his opponent. You're here to look at my pictures, so I won't go into the reasons as to why I think that is.

I will say that when I shot these, I got really frustrated with his campaign people. They did everything they could to keep the photographers from doing anything interesting or original. There were just a few spots where they'd let us sit or stand. Every time I moved to where I thought I could get a more interesting picture, they came and kicked me out of that spot. I tried waiting in the hall for him to come out afterward, and they kicked me out of there too. I ended up waiting for him outside the building. I waited by the big, black SUV with security guys around it. I figured it had to be his. It was. He eventually came out, and I got some pictures of him shaking hands with a few students who were also hoping to get the chance to meet him. The same campaign people who had kicked me out of a couple of spots inside didn't look too pleased that I was outside either. It was a public sidewalk though, so there was really nothing that they could do. None of my pictures from that day were great, but if things go well tomorrow, they'll be pictures of the next president of the United States.

I'm also a bit of a political junkie. I thought the extended Democratic caucus season was great. I love watching election returns on tv, and with so many primaries that mattered, I got to do a lot of that this year. I'm really looking forward to watching the returns tomorrow night. To make it a little more interesting, I made a map with my predictions. I think it's going to be a little closer than a lot of people are saying right now, and I also think there will be a couple of surprises. Here's my map:

Last of the cave pictures

2008-10-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

Here are the last three pictures I'll post from last week's trip. I guess it's time to go find something new to shoot. These are a little more traditional than all the blurry stuff I've been putting up. I'm anxious to go find some more trees to blur. I'm pleasantly surprised at how well those turned out.

More blurry trees

2008-10-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more blurry trees. I'm pretty sure the tripod legs didn't move between these two exposures. The only difference is how much the camera moved during the exposure. Which do you like better?

Just like with the last couple of pictures, there's isn't much Photoshop done to these beyond some basic color correction, sensor dust removal, etc.

I thought yesterday's post was my favorite picture from the trip. Now I'm not so sure. I really like the looks of the bottom picture here.

I'm pretty sure this is the end of the blurry tree pictures from this trip, but I need to go shoot some more of these. I've been pleasantly surprised at how well these turned out.

More blurry trees

2008-10-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

I just keep getting blurrier and blurrier. Here's another picture of blurry trees from Maquoketa Caves State Park.

The funny thing about all these blurry pictures is that I found that they all looked better when I used a tripod.

Blurry trees

2008-10-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

Another picture from Maquoketa Caves State Park. I just keep getting blurrier and blurrier. I like it though.

Trees

2008-10-26T15:31:00.000-07:00

Another image from Maquoketa Caves State Park. Again, it was an attempt to get something interesting despite the bad light.

Cave

2008-10-25T18:09:00.000-07:00

Here's another picture from my trip the other day. This time a panorama of one of the caves at Maquoketa Caves State Park. I had never been there before, and I thought it was a pleasant park. I'll be posting more pictures from this trip for the next couple of days.

A choice

2008-10-24T18:19:00.000-07:00

Here's the same picture. One in black and white. The other in color. I'd be curious to know which you like better. Leave a comment and let me know. I shot it thinking color. Then I saw Larry's version in black and white, and I thought that looked pretty cool too. At this point, I'm liking the color one of mine a little bit better, but I'm really curious what anyone else thinks.

Fall Colors

2008-10-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

I took a day and went shooting with my friend Larry. The weather wasn't the best, so I spent some time trying some new things. I'll be putting more pictures up in the coming days. Here's the first:

I was right

2008-10-20T19:08:00.001-07:00

That thing I said a week or two ago about being a pet photographer. I was so right. Here's four pictures from literally a five minute photo shoot in my basement with an uncooperative dog. She did NOT like those horns on her head. But good grief, isn't she cute? Surely somebody out there would pay me to make their obnoxious dog look cute.

I should really be a pet photographer...

2008-10-13T15:36:00.000-07:00

There are days I think I should really just be a pet photographer. Everything I'd shoot would be cute, at least in it's own way. I've never met a cat or dog who complains about how they look or asks to have their face thinned or their double chin removed. They'd never want to see the pictures of themselves before they get published, and while they might think we're done with the photo shoot after the first three pictures, a milk bone would keep them interested for far longer than that.

Here are two pictures of our dog, Maggie. The one on the left was shot this morning. The one on the right, this afternoon.

Yarn shop

2008-10-06T19:29:00.000-07:00

After two weeks with nothing, I thought I had better put a new photo up soon. This is a photo I shot in a yarn shop in Galena, IL a year and a half ago. It doesn't totally work for me, but it has some things I like. I'll try to come up with something new again soon.

Work project

2008-09-22T19:19:00.001-07:00

I try to keep work stuff out of this blog, but with the help of a colleague, I just put together an audio slideshow from the Iowa-Iowa State football game. You can check it out here.

I'd be curious to know what anyone thinks of it.

Clarification

2008-09-22T19:12:00.000-07:00

I had a reader comment about what sorghum is, so here goes:

Sorghum cane grows in a field. When you pick it and squeeze the stalk really hard, juice comes out. If you filter and boil that juice long enough, you get sorghum. It's sweet and has the consistency of honey. It tastes great on corn bread, and it should not be confused with molasses which comes from sugar cane. If you live in Iowa, you can buy it at Hy-Vee. Everyone else can order it here: Maasdam Sorghum Mill.

It used to be that a horse would walk in a circle to run the mill that squeezed the juice out of the cane. The mill where Henry and I went, started by my grandpa and still run by relatives, is quite a bit more modern. It's run by a steam engine.

Sorghum mill

2008-09-20T19:05:00.000-07:00

Corn cobs are one of the main fuel sources for the sorghum mill...

Sorghum mill

2008-09-19T18:58:00.000-07:00

Another sorghum mill photo. This time in color...

Sorghum mill

2008-09-18T19:32:00.001-07:00

Henry and I went to the sorghum mill yesterday. Here's the first picture from that trip.

Cedar Breaks

2008-09-12T19:27:00.001-07:00

Here's an old one. I don't remember how old exactly, but I'd guess spring of 2001. I was sent to Cedar City, Utah to cover the launch of the Shakespeare Festival there. They'd just won a Tony, so they were sort of a big deal in Utah. They wouldn't let me shoot any of the plays though. Equity actors are so full of themselves. Instead of shooting some lame play, I drove up the canyon to Cedar Breaks National Monument and shot this stuff. I remember liking these pictures at the time, but I really like them now. Might have to make a print of one these sunsets...

100th post

2008-09-09T18:34:00.000-07:00

According to Blogger, this is my 100th post. If I remember right, I started this blog off with a picture of my old dog Ansel. I thought it would be fitting to put another picture of Ansel up for the 100th blog post. Here he is shaking for a treat back in 2002.

Old photo

2008-09-06T18:18:00.001-07:00

In trying to get my basement cleaned up (never ending process) I stumble across things I'd completely forgotten about. So when I found a CD full of pictures of a long-ago trip to Dallas, I was delighted to find this photo of Henry at the Dallas Museum of Art. He didn't seem to find the floor, which was really some art installation, nearly as cool as I did.

Sky

2008-09-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

The clouds over our house were amazing a couple of nights ago just as the sun was going down. I couldn't help but go out and take a few pictures. Here's what it looked like looking one way.

And here's what it looked like looking the other.

Pastels

2008-08-31T18:49:00.000-07:00

I love shooting patterns and textures, so when I saw Amy's new box of pastels, I couldn't resist. I took two pictures of them. This is my favorite. Hopefully, she'll put up the picture she drew with them over on her blog. It's really very cool. I'd think that even if I weren't part of the inspiration for it.

Door County

2008-08-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

Yet another vacation picture. They'll end soon. I promise.

Henry at sunset...again

2008-08-29T20:31:00.000-07:00

Here's at Henry again. I think he could throw rocks into the water for hours...

Door County

2008-08-28T20:29:00.001-07:00

I'm reverting back to the sunset, but don't worry, I think I'm nearly out of vacation pictures...

Door County

2008-08-27T20:06:00.000-07:00

The last of the arches...

...and another photo from the lighthouse on Rock Island I thought went well with it...

Door County

2008-08-26T20:04:00.001-07:00

A couple more arch photos from the boathouse on Rock Island.

One more arch photo coming tomorrow.

Arch

2008-08-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

Here is the first of what will likely be a couple days of arches pictures...

Door County

2008-08-24T20:13:00.001-07:00

This has to be the most interesting tree I've ever seen. I'd love to know how it managed to grow like this. It was growing in a county park in Door County.

Door County

2008-08-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

I'll come back to the sunset again, but in the mean time, here's a shot from Sister Bay.

Vacation

2008-08-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

I'll take a break from sunsets today. This is the very first picture I took on our vacation. It's inside the Wisconsin capitol building.

Door County

2008-08-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more sunset pics...

Door County

2008-08-20T19:33:00.001-07:00

A couple pictures from vacation. These are from different sunsets over Green Bay.

Vacation

2008-08-17T21:14:00.001-07:00

Here's the first non-kid vacation picture. I know. It's a bit abstract. Deal with it...

Vacation

2008-08-17T20:55:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the absence. I've been on vacation. We went to Door County. I shot something like 20GB of photos, and I'm not sure if more than four or five of them will be any good. When I get done going through them all, I'll try to post one or two that pass muster. In the mean time, here's one of the kiddo skipping stones into Green Bay...

Another flower

2008-07-27T18:26:00.000-07:00

Here are two slightly different photos of the same flower. I can't decide which I prefer.

By the mailbox

2008-07-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

Here's one I'd forgotten I'd taken. It's from earlier this spring. This stuff grows by our mailbox. I have no idea what it is...

Evening stroll

2008-07-21T19:19:00.000-07:00

I went out for a walk the other night intending to shoot wildflowers growing along a bike path near my house. The flowers were pretty tattered. Try as I might, I couldn't get anything that really worked for me except maybe this one...

Good thing I wasn't so fixated on flowers that I missed any of this...

Flowers

2008-07-19T19:39:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more flower pictures from the other night. I think I like the first one and the last two the best. I also think I like all of them better than the one I put up a couple of days ago.

I did a blurry version of this too. I kind of like it. I think I'd have to look at these two for a while to decide which I like better. I'd be curious to see what anyone else thinks...

I had planned on going out and shooting these flowers again tonight, but a big thunderstorm blocked all the late-evening light I was going to shoot with. Now we're under a tornado watch. Maybe I'll get a chance tomorrow...

Flower

2008-07-14T20:09:00.000-07:00

I braved the mosquitos to shoot some wildflowers tonight. Here's the first...

Is this not perfect?

2008-07-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

At a library no less...

Sparklers

2008-07-06T20:07:00.001-07:00

I suspect every photographer with a kid and a sparkler shoots this. Here's mine...

Other flower

2008-07-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

The roses are all gone, so I shot these tonight. I'm not a big fan of white flowers, but these were convenient... That's about all I can say about them. Maybe they'll grow on me.

Rose

2008-06-29T19:56:00.001-07:00

My pink rose is just about done blooming. I've got a couple pictures of it that I haven't looked at yet, so don't be surprised if the next couple of days look like a variation on this...

Clouds

2008-06-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

It's the year of the flood here in Iowa. All that rain has to come from somewhere. The floods are ugly, but wow, the clouds are worth watching...

Questions answered

2008-06-26T18:48:00.001-07:00

The two people who commented were close. It was a rose petal. The tricky part was that it was frozen in ice. I tried this once before with no luck. I'm still not real happy with the results. I like the abstractness in a way, but in another way, these pictures look a lot like animal tissue in a lab jar. Maybe if the rose were a different color it wouldn't look so creepy. What do you think? Am I the only one who finds these creepy?

Ansel

2008-06-23T20:07:00.001-07:00

He was left on the doorstep of a friend of a friend in a box with a note that said, "Find me a good home." We ended up being that home.

This is what he looked like as a pup...

This is what he looked like the day before he died...

His name was Ansel, and he died four years ago today.

I still miss him.

Two questions

2008-06-23T18:47:00.000-07:00

1. What is this?

2. Do you like it?

Details to come...(Amy, you're not allowed to answer question 1)...

Still blooming

2008-06-18T19:39:00.000-07:00

My roses are still blooming. I haven't had much time to shoot them, but I went out for a couple of minutes tonight just as the sun was going down...

Rainbow

2008-06-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

My town is flooding. I've spent most of the last several days shooting the flood or people's preparations for it. You can see some of those photos here.

But I'm tired of storms and flooding, so how about something a little less ominous...

I saw this after a big thunderstorm earlier this afternoon.

Roses

2008-06-11T19:20:00.000-07:00

A few pictures from my first attempt at shooting roses this year.

I'd forgotten a few things since the last time I did this: Don't walk around rose bushes barefoot and shooting flowers in the wind is a pain in the butt.

Storms

2008-06-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've put anything up, but I'm trying not to use so much old stuff. I haven't shot anything new in a while. I did shoot this tonight of a big storm that rolled through not long ago. Iowa has been getting a lot of big storms recently. This is nothing compared to what a lot of people are getting.

St. Louis

2008-05-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

A few pictures from a recent trip to St. Louis...Two from the zoo, and one from a flower bed near where we were staying.

Another bridge

2008-05-25T06:57:00.000-07:00

This is the Roseman Bridge.

That might be it from the bridge trip. I'll take one more look in a couple days to see if I missed anything.

The Bridges of Madison County

2008-05-24T06:48:00.000-07:00

In case you hadn't figured it out, I went to shoot the covered brdiges of Madison County, Iowa. Don't laugh. It was a nice night. What I've put up so far I've found to be pretty nice. The rest are a little more literal, but there's nothing wrong with that. These are all from the Hogback Bridge. If you look closely, I think you can see Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep having a picnic at the end of the bridge in the fourth picture.