Each year when I get my calendars online for sale, I usually get a few questions about the locations of where some of the photos were taken. This year I thought I would put some information about each of the photos on a blog post.
The photo I selected for the cover this year was made in Wabaunsee County. The lone tree in this view caught my eye and I had started initially shooting here to the left of this view. I started walking to my right along a fence watching the tree and the clouds. I was looking for a composition that placed the tree in balance with the interesting clouds. Just when the tree was lining up with the clouds with a composition that felt balanced to me, I came across the rocks visible in the foreground. The rocks added more of a sense of depth to the photo and helped to guide the eye into the photo to the tree and clouds.
January’s photo is a scene from Stockdale Cove at Tuttle Creek Lake from a cold winter evening. The cove was frozen and a recent snow had covered the ice. I visit Stockdale Cove a lot, especially in the Fall and Winter, and had noticed the tree along the shoreline and thought it would make an interesting photograph.
The next photo featured for February is a late winter view of the tallgrass prairie in Pottawatomie County. The prairie was in really good shape this winter and had retained some of the luster that the grasses have in the Fall when they change color.
March’s photo is a spring view from Wabaunsee County. The prairie was glowing with that vibrant green it gets when coming back from the controlled spring burns. The clouds were moving fast across the sky creating a great show of light and shadows chasing each other across the prairie.
This photo for April was a peaceful spot along one of the trails at Pillsbury Crossing. I thought the bench in this photo would make a nice place to sit and just enjoy a nice spring morning…maybe with a good book.
At one point this year the spring rains had the local creeks flowing which created some wonderful peaceful scenes at every bridge over a country road. The photo above, featured for May in the calendar, was made in Geary County. The light coming through the trees was beautiful and the sound of the water flowing down the creek was the only sound I could hear….so peaceful.
June’s photo is a late evening view from Geary County. I really liked how the light brought out the textures and details of the prairie in this photo. This spot has become a new favorite of mine and I’ve been back here several times to enjoy sunset.
July’s photo was from a beautiful summer evening with a colorful sunset in Pottawatomie County. I liked the view of the prairie and the sky framed by the two trees on both sides of this view.
I take almost all of my photographs from country roads, and I enjoy incorporating the roads into photographs whenever I can. August’s photo is a road from Pottawatomie County that I’m on often and was out with some family on this particular evening. The storm clouds moving in gave the photo a bit of an ominous feeling…what’s ahead?
It is really fascinating to watch how light and shadows work together to reveal the shapes and textures of the landscape. This photo for September is from Pottawatomie County and is one of my favorites from this area. This photo really taught me to pay attention to the conditions and watch for special moments when the light is changing quickly and how that can alter how the landscape looks.
Fall is definitely my favorite time of year for many reasons and of course the new colors that show up are one. The prairie takes on a beautiful color palette in the fall and the grasses have a luster that is hard to get across in a photo. This view from Pottawatomie County is one of my favorite fall locations.
Last year I set up a small portable reflecting pool, where I could photograph birds in my backyard. It was nice being able to move the set-up reflecting pool around and I was able to move it to reflect the beautiful fall colors of trees in the backyard. It was great to have a chickadee visit the reflecting pool (I love watching them!) when the pool was really lit up with color and I selected this photo for November.
I really like photographing trees in Winter when you can see more of the structure of their branches. This lone tree on a snowy winter day really grabbed my attention and made for a nice photo to feature for December.
My 2022 calendars can be directly ordered online. The calendars are printed on demand, so please allow about 2 weeks for delivery. Thanks for your interest in my photography.
