Wild horses in the Flint Hills of Kansas
When I first learned that the Flint Hills are home to several thousand wild horses, I knew I had to try and photograph them someday. These horses are in Kansas as part of a program run by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and are in areas called “Long Term Holding facilities” where horses are […]
Changes in the Flint Hills – Blooming of Wildflowers on the Tallgrass Prairie of Kansas
One of the many gifts I have received from getting involved in landscape photography is being more attuned to what is happening in the natural world around me. Before I picked up a camera, I only really noticed the large changes going on in the natural world, mainly the change in the seasons. Since picking […]
Early Spring in the Flint Hills
(5 shot stitched panorama, each frame ISO 100, 24mm, f/8, 1/20) Each year portions of the prairies in the Flint Hills of Kansas go through a fascinating transition, literally ‘rising from the ashes’. This is due to the controlled (sometimes referred to as “prescribed”) burning of the prairie in the very early spring. I love […]
A Couple of Late Burns in the Flint Hills
The controlled burning of the tall grass prairie in the Flint Hills for this spring is over and the vibrant greens of the grasses and the varied colors of the wildflowers are making their appearance now on the hillsides. I always love it when the color seems to just explode back into the world after […]
My First Trip of the Spring to Photograph the Waterfalls at Pillsbury Crossing
This past Saturday I was up and out the door before sunrise to do some photography, with my initial plans being to head to the Pottawatomie County Lake #2. As I was leaving Manhattan, the pre-dawn sky was showing a light pink color that was really pretty. I didn’t think I had enough time to […]
Photographing the Spring Burns in the Flint Hills
Each spring, large sections of the tall grass prairie in the Flint Hills of Kansas are burned off. If you don’t know what is happening this can seem like a strange (and maybe scary) process. The fires you see in the Flint Hills each spring aren’t “wildfires” though…these are intentional fires that are normally well managed […]
Photographing a sunrise with the birds
A couple of weekends ago I made another trip to the Pottawatomie County fishing lake just outside of Manhattan, Kansas to photograph sunrise. I’ve visited this lake for my first sunrise of 2014 and for some reason I’ve been drawn to visit it again. On this particular Saturday morning I almost didn’t venture out with my […]
Strange Photography Opportunities for the First of Spring
It seems like winter really didn’t want to leave this year with several late snow storms coming through the area. I know I’ve complained about the snowy weather (who hasn’t) which was a largely wasted effort on my part. The weather will be what it will be (this summer I’ll be complaining about the heat […]
Wandering the shoreline of Tuttle Creek Lake….again.
This past Monday I was feeling the need to get out somewhere with my camera and photograph something. Last weekend I didn’t make it out and was starting to go through withdrawal. The temperatures were not ideal (it was cold, cold, cold) but I had a partially cloudy sky to work with and the […]
Front Yard Birds
With the recent snow storm in my area and the gloomy cloudy days I haven’t made it out to the countryside for a while now. I can’t say I’m going through withdrawal or anything like that (it hasn’t been that long) but I have missed spending some time outside. I did get a bit of […]