Prairie Sunset Quotation

 One of the joys of donating images is seeing them put to use and learning how someone else has interpreted the image. This image was donated to the MN DNR Scientific and Natural Program for use on its Facebook page.

Grassland Sunset

I'm struggling to get out in the hot, humid prairie as I always do in August. When I do get out it is usually in the evening when the wind has calmed and the light is sweet. The western fires have been great for red sky prairie sunsets.

Technical: HDR processed in Lightroom

Happy Easter!

An early start to prairie color, this pasque flower is living up to its name. They should open up over the next few days.

A Wily coyote?

 

We tend to give animals human characteristics, frequently based on fictional stories. Think about the wily coyote in the Road Runner cartoons. Native Americans give the coyote supernatural properties. As with  humans generalizations can be misleading. This guy looks anything but wily or supernatural.

First Snow

The first snow of the season has a different meaning to each of us. For me it is the beginning of a season of simplicity. The jangle of grass stems and twisted leaves will soon be covered leaving a clean palette of white and contrasting lines on the prairie. There is also a peace and tranquility with only sounds of the snow hitting the blades of grass and wildflowers. 

September Dawn

I went out to Cottonwood Prairie last week in hopes of catching early morning dew and ground fog. However, a light breeze and crystal clear skies greeted me. 

Technical: Sky brightness was balanced using both  3 stop and 5 stop graduated neutral filters. I tried to do HDR in Lightroom but did not bracket a wide enough range.

At the Rock

This small puddle has intrigued me for the last several months so I put a camera on it for most of the month of June. I was hoping for some small critters but was pleasantly surprised by the pheasant rooster.

Any softness in focus is due to me putting the camera too close to the rock. The camera has a minimum sharpness range about 40 inches and I crept in a  little to close. All sounds with still images were recorded at Cottonwood Prairie using an iPhone6 Audio during the video was recorded on the Reconyx.

King of the Hill

This is another in the series of recent camera trap images from Cottonwood Prairie SNA. The camera was set up at a fresh dig with the hope of capturing a badger family.  No luck but this wet pheasant rooster did stop for a portrait as it looked over its domain. Technical: captured from video clip.

How much wood would a woodchuck. . .?

For some reason this tongue twister has stuck since childhood. While growing up I would frequently see woodchucks (groundhogs) but it has been years since I saw my last one. This camera trap was set up over a hole hoping to get a skunk with young. This was almost as good as what I was expecting.

The Bond

I recently collected memory cards and was surprised to see this doe cleaning her new fawn in the water. I have an image of her (?) pregnant the afternoon before this was taken. She came into the water twice during the morning but has not returned since. My video camera trap was at a likely badger den which only captured a wet pheasant. A video would have been precious. Technical: the tilt is from slippage of the camera on the tree, cropped to remove camera info

Night Walkers

The variety of animals that come out at night is amazing. It reminds me how little time we spend in the wild where these animals live their entire lives. This is an older version of a Bushnell trail cam and the animals see the red "near IR" light that is emitted during the recording, hence their awareness of the camera. Newer models also have much better picture quality.

Curious Raccoons

This family of raccoons has been active all winter. The camera trap was set up at the end of a log crossing Mound Creek at Cottonwood Prairie SNA. Food is a little scarce with the creek frozen over so they decided to check the camera for anything tasty.

Winter on the Prairie

Warm light is expected at a January sunset, a warm breeze is not. A great afternoon was spent exploring Cottonwood Prairie SNA enjoying the fresh air and open space. My eyes need to be stretched to the horizon every now and then.

Prairie Trail

Winter is a great time to see animal signs on the prairie. It may a longstanding deer trail or you may find a story in the snow showing recent wildlife activity. Unfortunately the only thing warm about the prairie in the winter is its color. The wind can be brutal!

Winter Light

I was back in snow for the first time in several weeks and loved it. After my eyes stopped watering from the wind I settled down to record a few images. The clear sky and afternoon light provided some welcome color to the prairie. This image pushes the boundary of the concept of positive and negative space. I think it works because of the bright area on the left of the image.

Prairie by Moonlight

I was walking back when I noticed my shadow, time to pull the camera back out of the bag. It is not always over when the sun goes down as this 90 second exposure shows.

Technical: local highlight reduction of the moon, WB 5500k

Color & Lines

As much as I like to avoid the presence of man in my images it is a reality and sometimes inevitable. The distant town also gives a sense of scale to the grandeur of the sky. 

Technical: 3 stop graduated ND filter, WB @7000k

Prairie Sunset

Life was suspended and only light existed while shooting these images, a photographer in heaven. There are not many evenings when it all comes together leaving only the limits of you and your camera to capture what you are seeing. 

Golden Light

Light on the prairie was spectacular last Sunday evening. I pulled out a couple rusty graduated ND filters and put them to use after they had been idle for the last few years. For me the filters are the easiest, most efficient way to deal with HDR situations.  I rediscovered this technique when listening a class by Ian Shive on CreativeLive

Technical: 2 stop hard edge graduated ND filter. WB @ 7000k. Basic adjustments in LR

Sky Glow

Night brings a whole new perspective to the sky.  During the day we marvel at the clouds with an occasional jet intruding into our vision but at night we cannot escape the influence of man.  The nearest town of about 10,000 people is over 30 miles away. 

Technical: no local adjustments were made to the milky way