Know Your Territory - Being In The Right Place at the Right Time

 Many times I have adhered to an old Dewitt Jones axiom "Be willing to place yourself at the point of greatest potential". As a nature photographer I try to follow that bit of wisdom on a regular basis because capturing exceptional photographs requires I make exceptional efforts to capture exceptional quality light. There are a number of things that help that process along, one of the most important is to know your territory. By doing so you automatically create a ready resource of potential opportunity to be in the right place at the right time.

Just the other day I applied that theory to a spur-of-the-moment photo outing and managed to stumble into a fantastic photographic moment. The week had been quite summer-like with hot temperatures and high humidities along with a lot of clear skies and sun. Photo ops were limited as a result. However, by late afternoon on that one day the sky became filled with broken clouds some rising to great heights and carried with them textures and drama that serve a photographer's purpose.

I had just recently replaced my malfunctioning main camera with a new-to-me new-used camera upgrade and had not yet taken it out on a real photoshoot. Stepping outside I recognized the potential for the sky conditions and headed out. I have a good grasp of my home territory not only in the lay of the land, but in the season as well and with it being close to mid-June I was pretty sure there would be a wheat field or two still standing and I had just the place in mind.

I took about twenty-five minutes to make the drive and as I was heading over that way, I noticed the darkened sky to the southwest clearly indicating a thunder head was forming and possibly moving in my direction. Although I was not sure if there would be a standing wheat field where I was going, I knew it did not really matter as the location provides a rolling landscape bordered by wooded areas. As I rolled around the last curving rise leading up to the area, a bit of luck was with me for spread out across this undulating landscape was a beautiful golden field of wheat. Just beyond it the sinister darkness of a summer thunder head loomed across the sky and the wheat field was still filled with golden light from the late afternoon sun.

I pulled into a now familiar widespot off the country road offering a high vantage point overlooking the wheat field. I had to work quickly for the storm was rapidly approaching and that golden light across the field would soon be gone. A dozen or so quick captures along with a series of vertical overlapping images for panoramic stitching shots, and the storm closed in and with it the light disappeared. Five minutes was all I had to capture the moment, but those five minutes offered just enough time and quality light, I knew I had been in the right place at the right time.

Knowing your territory and the potential of a location is key to placing yourself in the right place. Reading the conditions and having a solid grasp of the capabilities of the camera provided the right combination of being able to capture place, conditions, and light. Sometimes luck plays a roll, most time though, intuition and experience will often rule the day.

A Short Day on Nolin Lake + Another Hilarious Zippo Lighter Moment

 Spent a few hours up on Kentucky's Nolin Lake exploring the Dog Creek Recreation Area and canoeing the Dog Creek arm of the lake. With temperatures only reaching up to 78 for the day, light breezes, and blue skies it was an almost perfect day to be out on the lake. Managed to see two Bald Eagles and other wildlife. Being a short day I only covered about 6 miles, but it was an enjoyable first day canoeing on Nolin Lake.

As part of this feature, another Zippo Lighter moment is included. It is by far the most hilarious misadventure moment within the annals of all the Zippo Lighter Moments that occured way back around 1989 or 1990 on a backpacking trip into the Ponca Wilderness Area inside Arkansas' Buffalo National River area.

Please join me on another summertime canoe outing and the telling of a classic Zippo Lighter Moment.

A Zippo Lighter Moment - When Nature Wins

 It is fascinating to me how an aroma.or a simple sound can trigger nostalgic memories from years ago. There is one sound that has over the years become an iconic trigger of memories for me...the clink and zip of a Zippo Lighter. 

Whenever I hear those two combinations I am taken back into a world from my past when my old friend Ralph became not just a friend, nor a mentor, but a creator of memories. He used his old Zippo Lighter to fire off his classic pipe that was always with him on every outdoor adventure we shared. The sound of him flipping it open...clink...then spinning the spark ignitor...zip...and the sweet aroma from the smoke drifting from his pipe...well, at the time I did not realize it, but those moments became ingrained as anchors to cherished memories from those days afield.

Zippo Light Moments will be a series of short videos where I remember back to those early days afield with my good friends Ralph, Rocky, Curtis and my brother Ken as we explored the adventures of the outdoors...and how Ralph's old Zippo Lighter and pipe became the point of reference for all of those memories.

So join me as we take a look back. First up is a classic moment I call 'When Nature Wins'. 

(https://beyondthecampfirebykeith.blogspot.com/2010/12/when-nature-wins.html)

Another Ansel Adams Kind of Day on Barren River Lake

 Exploring nature from a canoe offers an almost endless volume of opportunities. Even familiar locations can provide new levels of insight and photographic moments with every visit and every entry into your canoeing log, higher levels of insight and revelations from the natural world provide the words and storylines. It is no secret I love black and white photography and Ansel Adams is my best inspiration with each framing of scenic value I make. Thursday May 16th became another Ansel Adams kind of day as I once again loaded my canoe and worked my way along the tall bluffs that stretched toward the blue skies and soft rounded clouds. 

Wind has always been my worst enemy when it comes to canoeing. So, when a day presents itself with light and variable breezes, clearing blue skies stretched with formations of summer clouds, and a desire to et out, well, it's just almost inevitable I'll find a way to spend the day with paddle in hand and my venerable Old Town canoe gliding across the calm waters.

The day started out rather overcast but the forecast indicated partly cloudy skies by mid-day and through the afternoon. Air temperatures hovered in the upper 60's when I shoved off with indications the temps would rise into the low 80's by early afternoon. The partly cloudy skies was what intrigued me as they will often provide wonderful Ansel Adams style photo opportunities.

I also took advantage of the moment to introduce my first official "Zippo Lighter Moment" with a video clip I captured as I glided along. Zippo Lighter Moments are personal outdoor adventure memories from my past and are intended to secure the memory of my good friend Ralph who is the inspiration for these stories. He and his old pipe and Zippo lighter became iconic anchors tied to many stories and served to place emphasis on each one. The stories are so connected to his old Zippo Lighter and Pipe combination that every time I hear the 'clink...zip...' of a zippo lighter being fired off, well...the memories of all those countless moments flood back to life. (Working on a short Zippo Lighter Moment video...so stay tuned.)

Ralph fishing Honobia Creek

Across the day I ran into and talked with several Old-Timer personalities briefly sharing a few moments of insight as part of the beautiful day.  Three guys were fishing from the bank where I put in and about five miles later where I turned around I ran into three other old-timers fishing from a private boat dock. Moments such as those offer special anchor points for any given trip by providing a unique moment in time that can be attached to the day. 

As the day progressed the Ansel Adams opportunities became more alive and I found myself catching glimpses and angles and landscapes that clearly spoke to me saying.."take this one...". 

Through the day I ran across several wildlife moments. I spotted an immature bald eagle soar overhead and dive into the water to grab a fish and then a few moments later I spotted him sitting on a bare branch not 25 yards from me, but as is so often the case, I had the wrong lens attached to my camera and by the time I swapped it out, well...off he flew. But just seeing him so close was reward enough.

Later on I drifted toward a small waterfall and near its base an otter climbed out of the water and scurried up the incline. Countless herons protested my presence, and a couple of Osprey's provided a distant accent to the wildlife moments. Never got a single photo of any of them. But, that is just fine as I have the memory of greeting them on this day.

Turned out to be very good day on the water as I paddled almost exactly 10 miles...it felt like a lot more for some reason. Needless to say, I'll be doing this again soon and hopefully if I can secure three good days of weather and wind in a row, I will be making an end to end canoe trip on the lake, a distance of about 40 miles with day two covering almost 20 of them.

Yeah, it was another Ansel Adams kind of day on the lake and yeah...I do love taking black and white photographs. thanx for the inspiration Ansel.

After the Storm - A Hike to the Shanty Hollow Waterfall

 Strong storms blew through Kentucky in recent days dumping a lot of rain across the landscape. After dodging strong winds and heavy downpours my first instinct was to head up to Shanty Hollow and hike into the waterfall ravine which was sure to be flowing at full throttle.

I was not disappointed. The morning was still overcast which made for that soft diffused light photographers always crave and is best suited for a place like Shanty Hollow. Although I have witnessed the waterfall flowing at a high pitch in the past, this day's flow was certainly well inside the top five flows I've encountered there. 

Shanty Hollow always offers a wonderful respite...so come along with me as we hike into Shanty Hollows waterfall ravine. Please enjoy...'After the Storm.'

Day 2 - Back to Back Canoe Days on Barren River Lake - Plus 1

 Day 1 was characterised by troublesome headwinds. Oh it was a great outing for the first canoe day of the 2024 season, but by the end of that first day I was pretty tired. Ended up paddling just shy of 11 miles on that first outing, so on day two I opted for a more leisurely 5 to 6 miles and did more fishing along the way. Those 5 to 6 miles lead into an area I had not paddled before and I discovered some amazing bluffs and beautiful skies. The wind moderated on day two to light and variable making the trip all the more relaxing.

Photography became the main emphasize on day two as the skies were characterised by high wispy clouds against a dark blue backdrop. When combined with the scenic value of the tall bluffs, well...Ansel Adams would have recognized the photographic moments.

A few days after Day 2, I made a third outing to explore that new area in more depth and distance. It became a day of discovery, so as part of this video, I've included some bonus footage from that amazing float. Come and Join me, Beyond the Campfire, as I continue my exploration by canoe of Kentucky's  Barren River Lake.

First Canoe Outing of the 2024 Season - Back to Back Days on Barren River Lake (Day 1)

 The weather for 2024 here in Kentucky has been an up and down experience. I've been chomping at the bit to load up my canoe and head out for a first outing, but the wind this season has been rather troublesome causing me to delay that first outing. This past week the wind moderated enough to allow me to give it a try. As it turned out, what was forecast fell a bit short of what was experienced.

Five to ten wind speeds was what the weatherman said. Low enough to be manageable but could still present a few issues, but none so big as to cause another postponement, so I loaded up the canoe and headed over to Barren River Lake. My launching off spot was 'The Narrows' and I headed north up the lake planning on doing maybe eight or maybe ten miles or so. At first the winds were light, but as the day progressed, the wind kicked up well beyond what was forecast. By the time the winds became bothersome, I was well into my trip and managed to cover some distance beyond what I had managed in previous trips. By the time I reached the Beaver Creek camping area, I planned on paddling a bit further up the lake, but at that point the lake narrowed significantly enough to compress the wind squeezing it between the heights on either side creating a wind tunnel effect and I could make no further headway.

Murphy's Canoeing Law suggests that no matter what direction you are paddling, the wind is almost certain to be in your face. Most of the way back I struggled against those headwinds but managed to complete the circuit covering almost 11 miles...not bad for a first outing. Needless to say, I was pretty worn out.

The next day proved itself a far better day as the winds lay down to become light and variable and I managed to make a leisurely 5 mile float through a part of the lake I had never paddled before where magnificent bluffs, calm waters, high wispy clouds created an Ansel Adams kind of day. The story of day two will be posted soon...but for now, please enjoy this video about my first day out canoeing in 2024.

Coming soon after the Day 2 post, I will be making another overnighter, then shortly after that, I'll be doing what is possibly the most ambitious flat water canoe trip I've ever attempted. That trip will be a three day, end to end paddle of the lake covering close to 40 miles with the second day covering almost 20 miles. Just need the weather to cooperate, but I am up to the challenge and looking forward to the attempt, so stay tuned...

The Story Behind the Image: Sandhill Cranes at Sundown

 For a good number of years now I have enjoyed photographing Sandhill Cranes. A few thousand of them migrate through Kentucky and will winter over around Barren River Lake. Photographing them has been hit and miss the last several years as their patterns have changed somewhat. However, there is a location about a three hour drive from where I live where somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 Sandhills winter over. That location has provided numerous photographic opportunities to capture these amazing birds.

 Not far from Seymour Indiana are thousands of acres of farmland where soy and corn and wheat are grown. These fields provide an abundant source of food for the migrating Sandhills and late December and well into January it is possible to find huge flights of Sandhills using these and other surrounding fields. On one remarkable outing a few years ago, I encountered an estimated 30,000 (probably more) of them and spent an entire day from before sunrise to after sunset photographing them. Although I managed to capture hundreds of photographs that day, a single image captures the essence of the experience. I call the image Sandhill Cranes at Sundown. Here is the story of how the photograph was captured.

A week or so into January 2020, word came down that a huge flight of Sandhill Cranes had been using the fields west of Seymour for the past couple of months and I made plans to journey up there and hoped to capture a few good images. My plan was to leave very early, about 2:30ish AM so I could be on location before sunrise and maybe capture images and video of the morning flight off their roosting area. I did not know for sure what to expect, but with a sleep deprived fog hovering around my eyes I headed out that morning and arrived a little while before official sunrise. The sky was overcast at that time, but forecast indicated partly cloudy skies as the day progressed. 

Only a few minutes passed after I had pulled into an area I could park off the road, an area about midway across a large expanse of cornstubble, when I stepped out of my Jeep to survey the situation. Within a minute or so, I heard the high pitched, chattering roar of thousands of Cranes lifting off their roost probably less than a mile from where I was.

I grabbed my Nikon camera that I often use for shooting video, and made a quick exposure adjustment. The light was very low, but I simply pointed the camera hand held toward the rising cloud of Cranes and followed them as they flew overhead. I was simply awestruck at the sight. In the past I had witnessed several thousand snow geese rise like that and even had seen a couple thousand Sandhills rise over near Barren River Lake, but nothing prepared me for what was playing out in front of me at that moment. I simply cannot put what happened into words, so I'll let the video speak for itself.

 It seemed to take half the morning for all the birds to pass over, but eventually they did, but it was not long after the sun came up they began to return in huge numbers and set down in the corn fields. I spent pretty much all day driving around the area looking for photo ops and managed to shoot hundreds of photos and shot a great deal of video footage as well that was eventually placed into a BTC video production called, Ancient Migration.

By mid-afternoon many of the cranes had exited the area with just a few stragglers hanging around. The cloud cover was broken and as the sun lowered toward sunset, I realized there would be a magnificent sunset to end this already incredible day. I hoped the Cranes would return before then and head back to the same roost from which they lifted off that morning. As the day began to wain, there were but a few Cranes drifting by, but maybe 20 minutes of so before sundown, the Cranes began to return. Wave after wave of them drifted over my location and I began to shoot photos and video wishing I  could clone myself into a group of three people to capture everything that seemed to happening all at once.

One large group flew across the fields and headed directly into the setting sun, and I fired off several photos. Most of the images were shot at f/22, 1/3200 of a second shutter, ISO 200, and 500mm, using a 10 frame/sec burst, from a tripod. I thought my camera was going to wearout from all the shooting. I had no idea if I was capturing anything of value, I simply fired off photo after photo and captured video footage as I could.

Eventually, although Cranes were still flying, it grew too dark to capture anything and I called it a day and began the 3 hour journey home. It wasn't until the next day I was able to truly see what my camera held and I was simply overwhelmed by the footage. It was truly a remarkable day afield and this single image, as pleased as I am with the results, does not come close to capturing just how awe inspiring that single day afield truly was.

Canoe Season is Almost Here

It was a productive fall and winter with several canoeing trips and backpacking trips. The last couple of months I've been in a holding pattern as I wait for the seasonable weather to settle down.

Looking forward to the new canoeing season for 2024. I've got several local adventures planned including an end to end multi-day trip on Barren River Lake, Exploring Nolin Lake among others, some underwater photography on Trammel Creek and Long Creek...plus other overnighter and single day trips.

Hope you join me as Beyond the Campfire sets off on another season...Here's a quick preview and look back...

Spring: The Hardest Season to Photograph

 Here in Kentucky we experience four distinct seasons. I'd venture to guess that Spring is likely the season most look forward to. As a photographer I tend to photograph all year round, however, over the years I've come to the conclusion that the Spring season is the most difficult to capture. 

For some reason I've never been able to capture the impact of the Spring season very well. I've tried, but seems like I am always disappointed with the results. Spring is the kind of season your eyes see all kinds and splashes of color scattered across the landscape, but somehow, all of that color simply does not translate well into photographs.

 I've come to the conclusion that in order to photograph Spring you have to get in close to the subject and use depth of field and a blue sky to frame your subject. Sometimes getting in close means to get down low. There are a myriad of small spring flowers that cover the lawn and they bloom pretty much all through the season and well into the summer. But you gotta get right down on the ground to capture them in a way they do not become a cliched image.

This is where depth of field comes into play. By using a long lense and a large aperture, then focusing on the main subject, the foreground and background blur, and the small blooms suddenly become isolated to stand out against all of the clutter surrounding them.

If I were to collect all of my photographs by season, Spring would contain the fewest images. Most of my Spring images pretty much look the same with very few appearing as a unique image moment. Even so, as mentioned above, the most effective Spring images I've made tend to be close in shots. One good thing about the Spring season is how volatile the sky can become. Thunder storms roll across the landscape, cloud formations vary from high wispy clouds, to strong fluffy rolls, to dark and foreboding, to brilliantly lit filled with color. I believe the trick to photographing the Spring season is to focus on the weather using the blooming landscape as the accent.

Many times dark clouds infiltrate across the sky after the sun has warmed the earth and created a caldron mix of humidity and heat that feeds the stormy conditions. This will often lead to an end of the day breaking up of those clouds where the sun suddenly breaks through and lights up the sky. 

Some of the best combinations of conditions and light will occur during this time and provide for some interesting if not downright unusual lighting. 

There is one location not far from home where the Spring bloom offers a wonderful backdrop. It's a campground, near the lake, that is covered in dozens of mature dogwood trees accented with redbuds. The dogwoods create a canopy of white blooms that are simply spectacular and I will often visit the location in mid-April for that reason alone.

Dogwoods I believe make the best subjects. They come in white and various shades of pink and when planted together make a lovely sight. Closeup, dogwood blooms offer a powerful yet delicate blend of aesthetic nature at her best. You can as a photographer do so much with them and they convert well into black and white. 

If I were to choose a single Spring photograph I've made, one I actually like, it is the one I made some years ago of dogwood blooms growing next to a split rail fence. I added a bit of blur to the image yet focused on the central blooms and converted it into a black and white image. Compositionally it is strong and aesthetically is offers a blend of softness and an enduring Spring-like moodiness.

Spring can be an amazing time of year for the photographer and at the same time a challenging time. Capturing it as a single context of photographs is not easy, but when taking the time to actually see what is there and focusing on the details, well, the hardest season to photograph can become one of the most productive.

 

The Canoe: A Sense of Unspoiled Freedom

 The sunrise lingered that morning yet presented itself as a token of light spreading across the sky. A few clouds hovering above the ridgetops caught some of the first light of the morning and began to softly glow casting their reflection across the almost still water. Just a gentle ripple rolled across the surface of the lake, and that motion was barely enough to distort and provide movement to those reflections. All I could hear were a few birds greeting the morning and the rhythmic soft splash of my paddle as I glided along in my Old Town Camper canoe. The once silent morning started to stir to life and I experienced a satisfying sense of unspoiled freedom as I became one with the first moments of the day.

Internet Photo

The canoe is perhaps the most versatile watercraft ever devised. Having its roots going way back to the Native American birchbark canoes, known from the history of the northern latitudes of United States and Canada, it is today mostly a recreational craft made from modern materials. Even so, the birchbark canoe, in areas where horses and wagons were virtually useless, was most responsible for opening up the interior of North America. Some of those early canoes ranged as large as over 30 to 35 feet in length and 4 to 5 feet in diameter to the smaller single man canoes of similar construction. 

Shooting the Rapids (Internet Photo)

Known as freighter canoes, the larger ones could carry several tons of cargo yet were fast, durable, easy to portage, and provided an effective means of carrying goods deep into and out of the wilderness of Canada and the northern United States. Hearty voyagers manned those freighter canoes and lived a rugged and dangerous life often covering over 50 miles per day for days on end. 

As a nature photographer, my canoe has provided me with a lightweight and capable craft I have used to place myself in locations that offer a higher potential for quality photographs. 

The only real limitation I have with it is the wind. You must avoid open water trips when it is windy. But over the years I have spent many hours paddling and canoe camping on rivers and lakes. In more recent times I have concentrated on paddling across lakes and have managed a good number of overnight and multi day trips.

My canoe is an Old Town brand Camper model. Sixteen feet in length it offers an almost perfect blend of versatility; large enough for two and small enough for a single paddler. 

It's hull design is better suited for flat water but is more than capable of handling moving water including light to moderate whitewater. More than anything else, it provides me a means to experience the outdoors, maybe not so much like the voyagers of old did, but in a way where I can imagine myself heading off into the wilds of Canada. In deed, someday I hope to travel to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota. But, until that time, I will explore the local bodies of water near my home here in Kentucky.

When I am out paddling, I become an unfettered spirit, one with nature and my craft. The hours seem to drift along with the clouds and my time on the water becomes a purposeful activity where I am physically and mentally exercising my desire to simply get away. Nothing can compare to, at day's end, pulling off onto a gravel beach and setting up a stealthy campsite, then gathering firewood and cooking a hot meal using a cast iron skillet. Once filled with good camp food, I can lean against an old piece of driftwood and watch the setting sun write across the sky, its epath for the day. 

Paddling into the sunset offers a surreal blend of moment, time, and place. When the air grows soft and the breeze slumbers, the warmth of an end of day paddle lifts one spirits far more than most moments and eventually, when stiff muscles are allowed to relax, the mind is allowed to refresh itself, and the heart is filled with memories I can recall any time. Then, when morning breaks the stillness of the night, a chill in the air can often generate a fog that drifts across the waters. Paddling during such moments is certainly one of the great pleasures of being there.

Being retired has its rewards and each time I witness a blue sky filled with summer clouds reflecting off the water, I am grateful for the moment and the physical ability to be there, and as long as I am still able to do so, I will continue loading my canoe and spending time on the water with the breeze at my back, the warm sun in my face, and a sense of unspoiled freedom lingering within my heart. 

Although long since separated by time, I feel as one with those voyagers of old, a kindred spirit of sorts, where in my imagination I sing the old songs they used to sing as they journeyed into the wilderness...

Ho! for the tumbling rapids' roar!

Ho! for the rest on lone lake shore!

We live beneath the old canoe,

and sleep beside as the rivers roar...

Other Values: Memories for a Lifetime

 The sleepy fog that hovered around my eyes all but evaporated once I started my hike across the Oklahoma Tallgrass Prairie. The going was rough with the tallgrasses brushing against my now damp pant legs --- dampness from the early morning rain and heavy dew that filled the prairie with a fresh aroma. Early I had arrived, seeking to observed the sunrise --- No legendary sunrise this morning, just a prevailing heavy overcast but one filled with textures and various shades of blue gray. As it almost always does on the prairie a stiff breeze cut across the morning touching the tops of the tallest of the blooms and grasses exciting them into a prairie dance. A carpet of countless blooms extended deep into the shallow ravine. Their soft and gentle undulations from the wind brought the prairie alive with subtle movement as song birds kept time with their morning musical serenades.  

About every twenty steps or so a Meadow Lark would take to wing, sometimes two or three at a time --- fly about thirty or forty yards, spread their wings, and set down again. They appeared just a small, brown and yellow speck when observed within such an open expanse.  After about a quarter mile or so of hiking I arrived at the rocky outcropping that overlooked the arroyo spread out and below. It was a familiar place, one I discovered a good number of years before. I stopped for a brief rest and stepped up on the largest rock formation. When I did, a single bobwhite quail burst from a clump of grass a few yards away and flew just above the grasses like a miniature, brown missile to finally disappear beyond a shallow rise. I was here, again, to take from this place a few photographs. What happened turned out to be something entirely different, for this throwback prairie from another era offered me something far more valuable than a simple photograph or two --- it offered, and I received from it other values: A new memory added to the already extensive collection of memories --- another one that would last for a lifetime.

I write and share many stories and photographs about the Tallgrass Prairie. There are reasons for doing so I suppose, but there are never enough words nor fine enough photographs to convey the full impact of such a place. The experience of being there is such a personal moment and not one that can easily be conveyed to others --- others who unfortunately may never develop the same level of appreciation for such things. I guess the most valuable lesson I have been gifted by exploring the prairie, is understanding the importance of the other values imparted by doing so. 

The prairie is a natural theater best observed not from the edges, but when fully surrounded within it. You cannot truly experience the magnitude of the prairie by simply driving through, and no quantity of photographs can capture the depth and impact of being there. They serve only to touch the surface and provide humble, visual shadows of the proper nature of the prairie. To gain the most inclusive measure of what it has to offer requires exploring it up close --- the deeper the better --- for when you do, the prairie not only invites you to listen to its story, you actually begin to hear what it has to say.

I have photographed the Tallgrass Prairie off and on for a good number of years and have yet to capture that one single photograph that speaks of the essence of what it really means. Nor have I been able to put into words the full extent of the feelings and emotions I experience while standing within its embrace. What I have stored instead are countless lifetime memories --- the other values --- that only reside deep within my personal convictions and even though down deep I understand what they mean, extracting from those thoughts the best combination of words to express them verbally has proven difficult. Even so, the only ones that truly matter are the ones stored most deeply inside for they are the ones that define most clearly why I love this place so much.

The tallgrass prairie has a rich and almost tragic history. Once covering over 400,000 square miles ranging from southern Canada through the heartland of America all the way to the gulf coast, very little of it remains --- almost destroyed by the most dramatic transformation of a natural landscape in human history. Of the three major prairie regions across the central United States (Shortgrass, Mixed Grass, Tallgrass) The tallgrass prairie was by far impacted the most. It's own diversity and rich soil became its downfall as it was transformed into farmland that feeds America and a good part of the world. At one time somewhere around 60 million American Bison roamed across its landscapes and most of them were slaughtered in a misguided desire to corral the Plains Indians and for profit. Only a few dozen survived and from that small remnant, today there are about 600,000 that are kept in preserves, national parks, and private ranches. The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Oklahoma is home to around 3000 or so and they roam free and wild across its almost 40,000 acres of original tallgrass prairie landscape.

That preserve is the largest protected area of original tallgrass prairie that still survives and is one of two locations where you can experience seeing unbroken horizon to horizon tallgrass prairie. The other is in the Konza prairie preserve in southeastern Kansas. Although somewhat smaller, it provides a unique and impressive preserve. Other locations fall within the ownership of private ranches and knowing for sure how much remains is difficult to determine, but what is known is that around 95% of the original Tallgrass region was lost between 1840 and 1890 --- in some places over 99% has been lost.

In more recent times, efforts to restore lost areas have been initiated, but these represent but a fraction of what once was. What once was --- Think of the State of Iowa as a 1000 piece puzzle. Iowa at one time was almost all Tallgrass Prairie, about 60,000 square miles, and that 1000 piece puzzle represents what the prairie once was. Today, only one piece of that puzzle remains --- and it is not connected but broken into smaller pieces. That is the extent of the loss of this once amazing ecosystem.

I have been asked several times why I keep returning to this landscape as I have taken thousands of photographs there already. It is a difficult question to provide an answer to someone who does not fully grasp the totality of what happened to the Tallgrass region. There is more to it than photographs, more to it than scanning the landscape from scenic overlooks, and more to it  than simple words can explain.

 It has to do with a connection to history, but a deeper connection than just word knowledge, but a connection that permeates well inside your personal vision of what that history represents. Never would I denigrate farming of the prairie or the people who make their living from the land. They have provided resources that have helped to make this country what it is today. However, understanding what once was and what is now leaves an empty space within my desire to experience what the prairie used to be. 

I have spent the better part of an afternoon sitting atop a high rocky knoll and watched hundreds of bison meander across the preserve from a distance. From there in every direction all I could see was tallgrass prairie, a landscape filled with prairie blooms and grasses swaying in the wind. No man made objects were in sight, nor sounds save for the occasional high flying airplane. There prevailed a calmness of spirit across the land and at times I could imagine seeing a hunting party of Plains Indians sitting on their painted ponies atop an adjoining hill as they watched the herd of bison (tatanka in Lakota, iinniiwa in Blackfoot...among others) meander across the landscape. It is an image rendered only within the imagination now, but one that sums up the loss of this amazing place.

Over the years as a photographer I have captured a good many images of various locations that inspire strong memories from within myself. I can recall within a moment the memories made when I captured them --- some stronger than others, most locked and stored down deep inside. Almost like when an aroma or a sound can rekindle a specific emotion, a single photograph will often reveal again the events surrounding its capture. Some humorous, some dramatic, many chance happenings, only a few truly remarkable, but most are forever embraced by fond memories --- memories locked inside for a lifetime.

Other values are the driving force behind why I keep returning to this place. It has been a few years now since I was last there. I suppose it is time to once again make time to return --- maybe soon if I can, yet even if I am unable to do so the connection to the memories generated by those other values serve me well and as a result I can return there as often as I prefer...from within the heart.