Lamoni Middle School Football

Posted on by

Korbin Nall (25) scores a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage.

As usual, when I photograph an event for the weekly Lamoni Chronicle, I create a lot of images and select about 6 to 12 to send to the paper. The paper usually chooses from 2 to 6 to publish. On really rare occasions a dozen might get published. If it is a slow news week, more of my photos get published so I always hope for a slow news week. The photos in this article are my “selects” from the October 7, 2024 middle school football game between the Lamoni Demons (red helmets) and the Melcher-Dallas Saints.

Continue reading →

Why (and How) You Should Optimize Your Digital Images!

Posted on by

Lamoni’s Annual Fall Festival. Before and After.

This article is about why you should optimize your digital images, with a brief example as to how to do it.

No camera, no matter how expensive, can capture the full range of light and dark tonalities that your incredible eyes can see. No camera, no matter how expensive, can capture the full range of colors that your eyes can see.  But you can make up for some of the differences by optimizing your images using Adobe Camera Raw (ACR).

Continue reading →

Lamoni’s Annual Fall Festival (LAFF)

Posted on by

Lamoni’s Annual Fall Festival (LAFF)

Every year in the fall, Lamoni Iowa has it’s annual fall festival, commonly abbreviated LAFF. I wander the street that is blocked off for vendors and take random photos. Sometimes people specifically ask me to take pictures of them. Out of the dozens of images I create, I usually pick 9-12 to send to the local newspaper and they pick a handful or more to publish.  Click any of these images to see a larger version.

Continue reading →

Colorado is Gold! Go Now!

Posted on by

iPhone snapshots.  Click image for a larger version.

It is not too late too catch the spectacular fall colors in Southwest Colorado. All of these iPhone snapshots were taken on a September 29 trip over Marshall Pass with a side trip to O’Haver Lake.  At each stop (there were many) I took a photo or two with my phone and I took a variety of images with a DSLR.  I framed different parts of the overall scene and I often did horizontal and vertical versions.  My photo excursion took 3 1/2 hours.

Continue reading →

Two Photographers and Eleven Outdoor/Travel Writers Pick the Best National Parks for Fall

Posted on by

Long’s Peak and Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park

Fall is a fabulous time of year to visit the national parks. Crowds are usually smaller than in the summer, temperatures are cooler, and some of our national parks have glorious fall colors. With so many to choose from, where should you go? Which national parks will provide the best photographic opportunities in the fall?

Continue reading →

The Best National Parks for Fall Photography

Posted on by

Hallett Peak and Flattop Mountain, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

What are the best national parks to photograph in the fall? Here are my choices, grouped by state and province from west to east. This list includes the favorites I have been to, plus the ones I most want to see based on the recommendations of the photographers I trust, like Tim Fitzharris and QT Luong. More about them later.

Continue reading →

Colorado Fall Color Photography and Travel Guide – 2024

Posted on by
Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake. Mid-morning. September 24, 2015.
Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake. Mid-morning. September 24, 2015.

Headed for Colorado this fall (or any other time of year)? Welcome to my complete Colorado fall color photography and travel guide with 133 photos, 18 maps, and over 100 pages of information (if you print it all out). I cover some of the best known fall color locations in Colorado, and most of these locations look great any other time of year. Spend anywhere from two days to two weeks exploring the beautiful Colorado Rockies at a gorgeous time of year.

Continue reading →

23 Years Ago

Posted on by

I remember it like it was yesterday.

I was working in my office. The family/TV room was right around the corner. The phone rang and I picked it up. “Stop whatever you are doing and turn on the TV.” I walked around the corner and turned it on.

Continue reading →

Chip East Reflects on the Last Photos of His Friend, Bill Biggart, Taken on 9/11

Posted on by

Photographer Chip East was staring intensely at his laptop screen.

It was two weeks after two jetliners had plowed into the towers of the World Trade Center. His good friend, photojournalist Bill Biggart’s body had been recovered from the rubble. His personal effects, including his cameras had been released by authorities to his widow, Wendy.

Continue reading →

9/11 – Let Us Pray

Posted on by
“Towers of Light”

LET US PRAY

On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, four planes were hijacked and ultimately crashed.  Two crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City and one crashed into the Pentagon. The fourth crashed in Pennsylvania.

LET US PRAY.

Dozens of people in each of four airplanes living in terror as their hijacked planes are flown to destinations unknown to them. Each ends in a terrible fiery crash.

Continue reading →

Remembering 9/11

Posted on by


Photo by James Nachtwey for TIME magazine.

I will never forget staring at the screen. I was stunned. It was just a few moments after I got the phone call to turn on the TV. Then the second plane hit.

On this date, twenty-one years ago, we experienced a great national tragedy in the United States. 2,977 lives that were lost in the terrorist attacks. So many  families were torn asunder. The way we view ourselves and our world changed. Emergency responders continue to suffer terrible health problems as a result of working at the scene. The way we view ourselves and our world changed too. Over 2,000 first responders have died of health issues related to 9/11.

In remembrance of that day, and to honor the lives that were lost, I am posting some tributes.

My Great Horned Owl Adventure

Posted on by

Great Horned Owl on the roof of Tess Morgan. iPhone photo from the parking lot.

Yesterday my dog and I were on our daily tour of our local lakes. We got an unusually late start and it was after sunset when we left the first lake. We were in a hurry to get to our second lake when I spotted something out of the corner of my eye on a rooftop corner of Tess Morgan, a college campus building. From a distance it looked like a vent pipe, but a vent pipe should not be located at the corner of the roof. To get a lot closer, I pulled into the parking for a better look. I am so glad I did. It was an owl (photo above).

Continue reading →

American Artist Appreciation Month

Posted on by

Andrew Wyeth, “Christina’s World”, 1948

I love all kinds of art, including paintings, sculpture, photography and music.  Since August is American Artist Appreciation Month, I am sharing some of the most famous paintings by American artists. Do not be surprised if you recognize many or most of these paintings. Click on any of these images to see a larger version. Enjoy!

Continue reading →

Create A Lot Of Images!

Posted on by

Screen Capture: Adobe Bridge. Click to see a larger version.

When you are photographing a lovely and talented model (or anyone else) at an interesting location, create a lot of images. This is a screen capture of most of the images from a photo shoot with Anoush. If she looks familiar to you, I have shared images of her before (see the links below).

Continue reading →

Saving An Overexposed RAW File

Posted on by

Anoush, Point Betsie Lighthouse – Overexposed JPEG

On this photo shoot I made a dumb mistake. (It can happen to any of us.) My first few clicks of the shutter were overexposed. When I checked the first few images on the back of the camera I immediately saw the mistake. The overexposed images were shot at f/9, 1/100 second, and ISO 100. They were 1 2/3 stops over Basic Daylight Exposure (BDE). I changed my settings to f/11, 1/200 second, and ISO 100 which is equivalent to BDE. After that my images had good exposures.  The first lesson from this mishap is: Don’t get so wrapped up in the energy of a photo shoot that you forget to stop periodically to check your images.  To learn more about BDE, see the article linked below.

Continue reading →

When Your GPS Leads You Astray!

Posted on by

Adobe Bridge window and Google Earth Pro window. Click the image for a larger version.

It started today when I was using Adobe Bridge to go through some sunset photos I had taken out my car window on a recent trip to Michigan. I wanted to know where I was at when I created these images. (I knew approximately where I was but not exactly.) Finding a photo location is usually a quick and simple procedure.  My Canon 7D Mark II records the GPS coordinates of the images I take. I clicked on one of the sunset images in Adobe Bridge. Then I opened Google Earth Pro and placed it on top of the Adobe Bridge window.

Continue reading →

How to See and Photograph the Perseid Meteor Shower Tonight

Posted on by

Perseid Meteor photographed from Rose Hill Cemetery west of Lamoni, Iowa. 4:55 am CDT, August 13, 2018. Cropped from the original image.

Tonight, August 11-12, is the predicted peak night of the Perseid Meteor Shower this year. But you can also look for the next few nights. This article will tell you what you need to know to see and photograph the most popular meteor shower of the year.

Continue reading →