Well, it has been quite a while since I updated this! I spent the day in downtown Kansas City, Missouri at the parade celebrating the Chiefs Super Bowl LVII win. It was crazy, but we had a good time. Here are some shots, more to come.
Still getting to know the Sony A7Riii, so I went to a local park with my camera and the Tamron 70-180 f/2.8. I love these shots!
After some long thinking and research(and too little sleep), I’ve decided to give Sony a try. I am very impressed so far. See below :)
We enjoyed this rainy day in Black Hoof park in Lenexa, KS and tested the weather sealing of our new Fuji X-T3. Check out the photographs we got!
We were happy to share an afternoon with Esther and Aaron in Shawnee Mission park, KS. Looking at this couple you understand that love is beautiful!
Who lives in the park and likes to eat flowers off a flower bed? This beauty!
We had the pleasure of working with local actress and model Breunna Franklin this past Tuesday. Bre is a total professional, managing to look cool and collected, and be fun to work with despite the July heat in Kansas City. The Kansas City skyline, and our lovely model, combine both modern design and a more retro look, to great effect.
TJ and Michela have been together for 5 years, and he decided to propose to her on the 4th of July by the World War 1 Museum in Kansas City, KS. She had no idea this was going to happen, and these are candid shots of her reaction. We’re so excited for both of them! Congratulations and thank you for letting us be a part of this memorable day for you guys!
We spent this morning in the picturesque Black Hoof Park in Lenexa, KS.
What a wonderful peaceful morning on Frisco Lake in Olathe, KS.
Roses are my favorite flowers, and knowing that Brent had a series of rose shots. They turned out looking gorgeous!
The red rose whispers of passion,
And the white rose breathes of love;
O, the red rose is a falcon,
And the white rose is a dove.
John Boyle O'Reilly
Today was really rich in wildlife encounters. Here are some lovely creatures from our local park in Shawnee-Mission.
Now that the weather is warm and things are growing again, we’ve been out of the house to enjoy spring!
Local ravens practically scan tourists moves and know the sound of a snack being opened. Unfortunately, it is prohibited to feed them, so we couldn’t do it. We did witness them cleaning each other’s feathers, which was very cute.
Bryce Canyon has the largest concentration of hoodoos (irregular columns of rock) found anywhere on Earth. The park's high elevations include numerous life communities, fantastic dark skies, and geological wonders that defy description. It is absolutely breathtaking!
We spent a little more than a week in February out west in Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. These are just a sample of the sites and experiences out there. I know travel can be expensive, both because of the cost of driving or flying somewhere, finding accommodations, feeding yourself, etc. but also because of missed wages if you don’t have paid time off, however… If you can save up some money, I highly recommend seeing these places. Pictures really can’t capture being there.
This is a shot from part-way down the Bright Angel trail. You can see the packed snow/ice in the fore ground. Fortunately, we did our research and came equipped with traction spikes to keep our hike safe.
I’m not sure why, but ravens are everywhere out there. They were plentiful in Colorado, as well, when we visited back in 2018. These two seemed to be a couple, or perhaps siblings, as they would occasionally groom one another. It was pretty adorable.
Anther common site on the south rim of the Grand Canyon: mule deer! I find it fascinating that such relatively large animal can survive in an area that doesn’t seem to have all that much to eat.
This one took an interest in the humans with the strange devices. It seemed to me that most of the plants were either evergreen trees or cactus, but somehow they find enough food!
At a scenic overlook near Hover Dam, we saw a lot of these little ground squirrels, or chipmunks, or… something of that sort. We were happy to find they didn’t approach us, which makes me think people haven’g been feeding them. This is a good thing!
This one, however, ran RIGHT up to us! Truth be told, I thought it might run up my leg. After a moment of staring at me, I imagine waiting for food, it started chewing on this discarded orange peel. At least it’s getting some vitamins, I suppose!
Not only are there mule deer(named for their large ears), but, of course, actual mules! We didn’t take the ride down into the canyon, but did stop by their barn to say hi and take some pictures of these beautiful animals.
Although they are native to both areas, we didn’t see any bighorn sheep until we got to Zion. This young one was already a master of the steep, often slick, mesas and canyons.
Here’s an adult a little farther down the slope near the road. After a moment of taking us in and making sure we weren’t causing trouble, she went back to grazing on the sparse vegetation.
Not all the birds out there were black. I also saw a lot of these little blue birds. Not… ‘blue birds’, like the state bird of Missouri, but, you know, birds who are blue. I’m not certain what species there are, but they are photogenic!
Although we have a LOT of pictures, and may never get through them all, I’ll leave you for now with this sassy elk!
I had the chance to visit another photographer’s studio Sunday, and meet a lot of great people in the local photography and modeling crowd. These are some of my favorite images captured during the evening!
Large birds definitely look impressive, but more skill is required to capture small ones in photographs. Now it’s here - and the next fraction of a second it’s gone! Brent challenged himself and focused on tiny birdies today. He used Fuji X-T3 camera and 50-140 mm lense. See what he’s got!
