Max, Before and After ACR.
In this tutorial I will show you how to change the color balance of a RAW or JPEG file, and how to remember those changes to make the same exact changes to other files shot in the same lighting conditions.
Graceland University: Ag FFA and Business Simulation
In a prior article I shared 11 photos from a project for Graceland University. I was in the process of choosing selects. Years ago a photo editor said, “Take lots of photos and send me the very best.” Most editors don’t want to go through all of your images. It is the photographers job to go through the photos from an event and choose the best images for the editor. They are called “selects”. The editor goes through the selection and makes the final choices as to which image or images will be published.
Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6) over Home Lake, Lamoni Iowa. October 10, 2025.
Comet Lemmon was not particularly bright compared to other recent comets that caught the attention of the public. Here are two views of the same image. The first image above shows you the whole frame. The comet is below and to the right of the two bright, side-by-side stars that are near the center of the frame. The tail of the comet is hard to see. This image was taken with a 50mm lens on a tripod mounted Canon 5D MArk III digital camera. The ISO was cranked up to 10,000. The exposure was a 15 seconds at f5/6. Even at that the comet is not very bright. This comet was better suited to long exposure telescope images that track the comet across the sky. Click the images to see larger versions.
High school teams work on their designs.
It was a fascinating day. Hundreds of high school students from across Iowa gathered for a fun day of activities and competition. The students were divided into teams and each team was guided by a Graceland student or professor from the business and agriculture departments.
Kaylyn
Kaylyn is a regional director for Growing Hope Globally (see the third link below) and I was taking pictures of her addressing a local church group.
Aspen grove, Marshall Pass, Colorado.
Autumn is by far my favorite nature photography season. I take more pictures in the fall than any other season of the year.
Autumn leaves, Lake LaShane. November 17, 2025.
Here in southern Iowa most of the deciduous trees have lost their leaves, and the leaves in the trees at Lake LaShane that were pretty and colorful just two days ago are turning brown. The fall color season is pretty much over. It was great while it lasted. In my head I can hear the Mamas and the Papas singing “All The Leaves Are Brown. . .”
Mercury and Venus northeast of Lamoni at 6:01 am. November 16, 2020
Exposure Data: Canon 5D Mark III, Canon EF 50mm lens. f/4, 2.5 seconds, ISO 800.
For quite some time I have wanted to photograph 8 planets in less than one 24 hour day, along with the sun and moon. It is not always possible due to one or more of the planets being lost in the glow of the daytime sun. Cloudy weather can get in the way too. Five years ago today, November 16, 2020, was the day. I finally had my chance and I accomplished my goal in 12 hours and 27 minutes.
I began with Venus and Mercury early in the morning. Click any of these images to see larger versions.
Autumn leaves, Lamoni Iowa. November 16, 2025.
Most trees in southern Iowa have dropped their leaves but a few are hanging in there.
Autumn leaves, Lake LaShane. November 15, 2025.
Fall is still hanging around at my favorite lake in southern Iowa.
Autumn leaves, Lamoni Trial. November 14, 2025.
Most of the trees on the Lamoni Trail have dropped their leaves, but this tree is still looking good.
Autumn leaves at Lake LaShane. November 13, 2025.
Fall colors are fading in southern Iowa, but there is still some color here and there.
Autumn Leaves, Lake LaShane. November 12, 2025.
A lot has changed over the last two days. The fall colors are fading in southern Iowa. The prettiest trees are starting to lose their color. A lot of trees are bare and trees with leaves are turning brown. I am still finding patches of color and a few trees that are hanging in there with some nice color. Like yesterday, two of those trees were at Lake LaShane.
Northern Lights, Home Lake. November 11, 2025.
The Northern Lights over southern Iowa were the brightest I have ever seen. A long row of cars showed up at the lake as people came to watch. The lights filled so much of the sky that I used a 15mm lens that has a 180 degree diagonal angle of view to take most of it in.
Autumn leaves, Lake LaShane. November 11, 2025.
Autumn Leaves, Lamoni Iowa. November 10, 2025.
Lamoni Iowa is alive with fall colors.
Autumn leaves, Lamoni Iowa. November 9, 2025.
Autumn colors continue to flourish in Lamoni Iowa.
Autumn Tree, Old Old Path Park, Lamoni Iowa. November 8, 2015.
One by one, beautiful trees are showing off their fall colors.
Autumn trees, Lamoni Trail, Lamoni Iowa. November 7, 2025.
Autumn trees, Lamoni Iowa. November 6, 2025.
Mother Nature shows off on the Graceland University campus, Lamoni Iowa.
Trunk or Treat, Graceland Enactus program. October 31, 2025.
I recently sent a bunch of Trunk or Treat photos to the local newspaper. I generally shoot pretty close to how I want my final image to look, and then do a bit of cropping before I send the final version of each photo to the newspaper. Most photos benefit from a bit of cropping.
Fall color, Lamoni Iowa. November 5, 2025.
Here and there trees are beginning to turn.
Fall color, Lamoni Iowa. November 4, 2025.
Autumn is arriving in southern Iowa!
Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio. November 3, 2017.
I had never been to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, so a friend and I decided to go there for the day
Sunny, autumn leaves, Columbus, Ohio. November 2, 2016.
I was walking our dog on Sugarmaple Street, which is lined with maple trees and definitely the prettiest street in our neighborhood in the fall.
Fall leaves in Columbus Ohio. November 1, 2016.
The Barbie Trunk, Trunk or Treat, Graceland Enactus program. October 31, 2025.
Here in Lamoni Iowa, it is a Halloween tradition for the Graceland University Enactus program to sponsor Trunk or Treat in the community center parking lot. Graceland and various civic organizations combined to have a dozen trunks. Each “trunk” (or the area nearby) had a different fun activity for kids to participate in and win a treat. Whether it was golf, soccer, twister, stuff the pumpkin, feed the cookie monster, scare the witches, or any of the other trunk activities, every kid was a winner at every trunk. Well over 500 people came out to enjoy the event. Click on any of the photos to see a larger version.
Fall in Columbus Ohio. October 30, 2016.
I was out walking our dog and taking pictures of the autumn leaves.
Horseshoe Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. October 29, 2012.
Trip with John, day 3. This overlook on deer mountain has a nice view of the valley (“park”) below.
Arkansas River along U.S. 50 between Salida and Cotapaxi Colorado. October 28, 2012.
Trip with John, day 2. When we were growing up, several times a year our parents would take us along the Arkansas River to get to the mountains in the west.