Out and about this weekend

Fall colors have probably been at the peak around Manhattan this past week. I managed to get up early Saturday morning before sunrise and headed out to the Carnahan Creek area on Tuttle Creek Lake to see if I could get some shots before all the leaves were off the trees.

As I drove out across the dam at Tuttle Creek Lake I could see fog coming off the lake so I went first down to the boat ramp at Carnahan to try some shots off the fog coming off the water. The fog wasn't as thick as I would have hoped for but it was a beautiful morning. Quiet, only a slight breeze and all the plants were covered in a light frost.The sun wasn't high enough to be shining into the cove when I first started shooting which left with a nice cool blue color to work with. I was able to frame the fog on the lake with some interesting rocks in the foreground.

As the sun came up and started lighting up the trees on the opposite shore I drove around to the over end of Carnahan to get some front lit shots of the trees. Front light (where the sun is shining on the front of your subject. which means the sun is behind you) is great for showing off colors. The colors were excellent. After I was finished in this area, I drove up to Wildflower Road, which is an excellent place to get photos of the Flint Hills, here again I was able to photograph the fall colors front lit by the sun and had some great colors to work with .

On my way home, the skies clouded over and diffused the harsh light as the sun continued to rise so I stopped below the Tuttle Creek dam and took a few more photos of fallen leaves.

My favorite shot of the morning came from Carnahan though. While shooting the sun lighting up the far shoreline I noticed that behind me a single cloud was reflected in the stream feeding into Tuttle Creek Lake. I really liked the shape of the cloud and the symmetry produced by its reflection in the water (this is the second photo shown above). Photos from this outing can be viewed here: Fall Photographs on Tuttle Creek Lake, Kansas.

Bogg's Landing, Sunset and Sunrise

I recently had the pleasure of shooting photos together with a couple of friends and fellow photographers from Nature Photographers, Wayne Rhodus and Angela Classen. Both of Wayne and Angela are amazing photographers and you should check their websites out when you have a chance.

We decided to shoot the sunrise on Saturday at Bogg's Landing on the Kansas River just outside of St. George, KS. None of us had been there before so I went over on Thursday evening to do some scouting and photograph the sunset. It turned out to be an amazing evening with fantastic color in the sky. The sunrise on Saturday was good, but the sky wasn't quite as spectacular as the Thursday evening. The pre-dawn light was great though...a good lesson for me (I don't like to get up early in the morning!). It was a fun outing and great to shoot with some fellow Kansas photographers. My photos from these 2 trips to Bogg's Landing can be viewed below.

My Sunset Photos
My Sunrise Photos

Fall color is coming - Wildcat Park

Ahhh Fall, my favorite time of year. Fall colors are on their way, I can't wait! Here are a few photos from this past weekend taken at Wildcat Park just outside of Manhattan, KS.

Saturday morning sunrise

After hearing from friends about how beautiful the sunrises have been the last few days, I decided to try and get up early Saturday morning to do some photography. I'm not a morning person and I got up later than I would have liked (and missed the really spectacular color) but still managed to catch the end of great sunrise. After shooting the sunrise, I headed down to Tuttle Creek lake to try and get some shots of the fog rising over the outlet area.

A few photos from this morning's trip can be viewed here.

Enjoy!

Pillsbury Crossing

Here a few pictures from Pillsbury Crossing taken on 11-15. Despite being chilly and windy, it turned out to be a nice evening with some beautiful light.

Enjoy!

Road Trip in IR

Here are a few photos of my recent trip to northeast Kansas in infrared (IR).

Enjoy!

And Thanks to all the Veterans out there!

Road Trip to Atchison

Last week my wife and I took a quick overnight trip up to Atchison to explore northeast Kansas. A lot of trees in the area had already dropped their leaves so we missed a lot of the fall color, but it was still a good trip. Here are some of the photos.

If you haven't visited Atchison it is an interesting town, lots of history there.

Infrared Photos from this fall

Here are some recent infrared (IR) photos from this fall. These were taken in various places around Kansas, Wildcat Park, Konza, Pillsbury Crossing, Elk City Falls, and Cross Timbers State Park.

Hope you enjoy!

Wildcat Park

I was back to Wildcat Park recently. I had just 'discovered' this park a few weeks ago (despite living in Manhattan since '88!). I had hoped to find more color in the trees, but it was still a nice visit. A few snaps can be viewed here.

Enjoy!

Marshall County Fall Colors

October 24th was a busy day for photography! After shooting around Tuttle Creek lake that morning (see my previous post) I went to Waterville and took some photos with Dad out around the Alcove Springs area. We were hoping some water would be flowing over Alcove Springs, but no luck there. However the trees were really beautiful and we had great light. The photos can be viewed here.

Enjoy!

Pillsbury Crossing

I've always wanted to photograph Pillsbury Crossing with some fall color, but never have managed to get what I've wanted. I knew I would need a morning shot to get some light on the trees above the falls. On the 18th we had some really heavy fog in the morning so I thought I would go out and take some fog pictures around Pillsbury and then when the fog burned off shoot the waterfalls. When I got out to Pillsbury though the fog was gone, so I shot the trees around the waterfalls and my timing was great, there was one nicely colored tree in the perfect location and a nice blue sky to go with it. When I got back into town that morning though, Manhattan was still in heavy fog, so I headed out to Marlatt Ave and was able to get some fog pictures. Maybe mornings are not so bad after all...
The Photos can be viewed here.

Enjoy!

Road Trip Day 1

My wife (who graciously put up with me stopping frequently and taking pictures) and I went for a short overnight road trip early this month. The first place we stopped at was Lindsborg, KS which is a neat little town. Our next stop was Coronado Heights Park, which was built in 1932 by the Works Progress Administration. This was the first time I had been to Coronado Heights and I took several photos, which can be viewed here. It was an interesting place, I'm sure I will be back. From Coronado Heights, we drove over to the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge to take some more photos, which you can view here. Enjoy, more on Day 2 to follow...

Old K-18 Road

I was out recently on Old K-18 road to try and get some morning fog pictures. I didn't get up quite in time for the fog (imagine that!) but it was a beautiful morning.

Photos can be viewed here.

Enjoy!

Carnahan Creek Area

Earlier this month I was out around the Carnahan Creek area checking on the fall colors. Some of my photos from this trip are here.

Enjoy!

Detour Tree

target = "" blank
These are some photos I took earlier this fall along the new detour around the Fancy Creek Bridge between Manhattan and Waterville. I thought this neat little tree growing out of a small pond was a great subject.

Enjoy!

Stockdale Area at Tuttle Creek Lake

Went out to Stockdale Park on Tuttle Creek Lake this past Saturday evening with my wife Jill. We caught an awesome sunset and enjoyed how peaceful it was out there. My photos from the trip can be viewed here.

Hiking at Lake Kanopolis

I was recently hiking with some friends at Lake Kanopolis in Kansas. This has to be my favorite place to hike in Kansas. Absolutely worth the visit. The photos are online here.

Road Trip

I took a road trip down to Coldwater, KS with my Dad earlier this fall. It was a good trip. We took photos at Council Grove lake, an old stone bridge built back in the 1880's, the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge, around Coldwater, KS, Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, and Lake Kanopolis. Some of the photos are online here.

And back to Carnahan

Some photos from another trip back to the Carnahan Creek area at Tuttle Creek lake in Kansas and some back roads nearby.

Back to Marshall County

Here are some photos from another trip shooting in Marshall County, KS.

Konza Prairie

Some photos I took while hiking with some friends on Konza Prairie, just outside of Manhattan, KS.

Carnahan Creek

I went to the Carnahan Creek area this fall hoping the oak trees would have the color that they did last year here. The trees weren't that spectacular, but the sumac was really pretty for a few days. Click here to view some of the photos I took.

Swede Creek Road

I've been out several times this fall shooting with Dad, on this trip we went down the Swede Creek road and found lots of interesting stuff to photograph, including some Bison in the area. Photos can be found here.

Marshall County Fall Photos

I'm behind in getting my news page updated with where I've been shooting, so this is the first of several quick updates. Here are some photos I took in Marshall County, KS earlier this fall. Some storm clouds were moving in and provided some nice shots.