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.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Time on the Prairie

I’ve had numerous people ask me why I ‘waste’ so much vacation time running up to the Tallgrass Prairie. Well…there really is no answer that would satisfy everyone who ever asked me that. The best answer that I can give is simply this: By taking time to slow down and leaving behind all other distractions..even if for just a few hours…I begin to hear the song that the prairie sings as I stand on a high point and survey the rolling landscape. To some, the prairie is just a big pasture full of weeds. To me, well I see a grand vista that has a life story to tell and a life song to sing. Sit long enough and both of those become clear and distinct. Photographing this wonderous sight is secondary to simply being there and experiencing it. No photo or series of photographs have yet truly captured what I feel and experience while there…that’s why I keep returning, because I know there is that one defining moment…that one image that awaits me…I just have to find and be ready to capture it.  


Keith Bridgman

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