ESTABLISHED 2010 - Beyond The Campfire was created to encourage readers to explore the great outdoors and to observe it close up. Get out and take a hike, go fishing or canoeing, or simply stretch out on a blanket under a summer sky...and take your camera along. We'll talk about combining outdoor activities with photography. We'll look at everything from improving your understanding of the basics of photography to more advanced techniques including things like how to see photographically and capturing the light. We'll explore the night sky, location shoots, using off camera speedlights along with nature and landscape. Grab your camera...strap on your hiking boots...and join me. I think you will enjoy the adventure.

Monday, November 2, 2015

A Country Road Drive About - Just What the Doctor Ordered

A difficult week just transpired, one that fell in the middle of the peak fall color season here in Kentucky. During that week I was unable to get out spending most of my time at the Medical Center checking on Kris's mother's condition. By the time we got her home, wind and rain had knocked most of the color to the ground. As tired as I was, I needed to get away for a short time so I grabbed the camera bag and tripod to find what color remained.


On a spur of the moment idea I decided to travel down a country road I had neglected for several years. It's amazing how revisiting a old haunt after so long makes it seem like a new location.

My reward was to rediscover old bridges stoicly spanning clear running creeks, rustic weathered old barns and freshly painted bright red ones. Charming fields rolled beneath treelined ridges, and pockets of color continued to splash their brilliant flavors across the landscape. Crimson reds, golden yellows, rusty browns, and splashes of green greeted me a fair hello. It was just what the doctor ordered.




Monday, October 26, 2015

"Be Still..."

The fall season carries on its shoulders a melody of color, clear brisk evenings and a night sky filled with countless points of light. It is a time to refresh and recover before the cold months arrive. Here in Kentucky the fall colors tend to hesitate for weeks providing just a hint, just a tease of what is to come, waiting, waiting, then almost overnight the color explodes with a burst of energy that engulfs the visual senses.

During this time, it is easy to lose time when a gentle fall breeze sings to you as it searches through the tree tops. Maybe that is why fall is one of the favorite seasons, certainly it is mine. As much as I enjoy hearing the wind carried across the fields and thru the trees, nothing else soothes the soul quite like the serenade of a lively creek on refreshing fall afternoon where the dappled sun lays across the shadows and all the sounds and vibrations of the season bid an Indian Summer welcome. It is a time special made for photographers.

One of my favorite places to get lost is to simply find a creek where the clear waters roll and dance around softly rounded stones, over casual drops, to create an unending echo of natures music. When the fall colors turn in earnest, these small creeks reflect golden light to provide an art exhibit beyond compare. Combined with its musical concert, the visual effects will suspend one above the trials of the day. I suppose that is why God created these small creeks, to remind us to slow down, to reflect, to listen so we can hear him and know who he is. There is wisdom in those immortal words, "Be still..."