Quivira National Wildlife Refuge

A few of my photos from sunrise taken at the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge in central Kansas are online here. This is another major wetlands in Kansas not far from Cheyenne Bottoms.

The photo shown above (you can click on it for a larger view) is a 5 shot panorama that was stitched together using Autopano Pro. When shooting a pano it is a good idea to make sure you have your camera in manual exposure mode...unless you are sure the light is even other the entire scene. If the light isn't even and you are in an automatic or semi-automatic exposure mode (like aperture priority) your exposure will change as you move through the scene, resulting in bands or stripes in your pano. To avoid that, put your camera on manual exposure and set your exposure on the most important part of the scene. It is also a good idea to put your camera in manual focus. If you haven't ever shot a pano before, give it a try...it is a lot of fun!

Enjoy.

Trip to Cheyenne Bottoms

Here are a few photos from a recent trip to Cheyenne Bottoms. If you haven't been there before, this is a unique place and worth a trip to see, especially during the peak times for the bird migrations through the area.

This was a beautiful evening and I was hoping to catch a nice sunset across some of the open water at Cheyenne Bottoms. The picture shown at the left was one of my favorite from the evening. I really liked how the water was reflecting the colors of the sky and the little "islands" in the water. I placed the horizon down low in the picture to emphasize the sky and included a strip of shoreline in the foreground to add some depth to the photo. I set my camera at f11 to hold sharpness in both the foreground and in the little islands and my exposure was based off a spot meter reading from the sky in the center of the scene. I didn't make any adjustments to the meter reading, the scene I was reading light from was close to neutral toned (maybe slightly above), and I wanted the scene dark so I was able to just shoot at my initial meter reading.

Hope you enjoy!

Pillsbury Crossing

If you follow my photography at all you'll know that I like to shoot at Pillsbury Crossing a lot. I love the sound of running water, it is so peaceful, I think that is what draws me back to Pillsbury. There is usually enough water running to drawn out the rest of the world, which is a good thing sometimes. If you haven't ever visited Pillsbury Crossing you should if you get a chance. Late winter is probably the least of my favorite times to go, but even now it is pretty. Hope you enjoy and find some peace in these shots.

Twin Mound Road and Olsburg Marsh area

Here are a few shots from this past February I took on Twin Mound Road near the Carnahan Creek Area and around the Olsburg Marsh. Twin Mound Road turned out to be a great place to get some nice shots of the Flint Hills.

Enjoy!

Olsburg Marsh

Here are a few photos from tonight's sunset taken around the Olsburg Marsh area at Tuttle Creek Lake.

Enjoy.

Website Reviewed

My website was reviewed in the February issue of Shutterbug Magazine. The review can be read here.

NPN outing

A few people from the central states forum on the Nature Photographers Net got together to shoot the Flint Hills recently. It was a bitter cold morning, but great to meet everyone.

Here are a few photos I took that morning.

Peace.

Amazing Sunset

Here are a few photos from a recent sunset that was absolutely amazing. These were taken just outside Manhattan, KS at the outlet area (the "tubes") of Tuttle Creek Lake.

Enjoy!