Life: Through the Lens

First in Rocky Mountain State Park, then in Yellowstone, as well as points in between, we noticed a great number of pine trees had died; tall, brown tree trunks and branches standing on the hillside, or sliding down the mountain slopes. We quickly became educated about the pine bark beetle, currently found from Montana through New Mexico. From our own experience we noticed more damage in Rocky Mountain National Park than we did as we traveled further north, though the pine beetle had definitely moved north ahead of us. These beetles burrow through the outer bark of conifers, lay eggs which hatch into hungry beetle larvae, which then consume the living inner bark of the trees. Currently western pine forests are affected, especially lodgepole pine. There are 17 species of native bark beetles in Rocky Mountain National Park alone. Hard winters can kill beetle eggs and larvae which winter under the outer bark, but it has to be bitterly cold to work. Unfortunately the average winter temper...

What's the difference between a bison and a buffalo?

We spent a couple of days inside Yellowstone National Park, staying in a Pioneer Cabin at Lake Lodge. Beautiful country, with a fabulous 1920's lodge on pristine Yellowstone Lake, with snow-capped mountains forming a back drop. The interesting "drawback" was the lack of access to technology. No Internet, and no towers to receive or send cell phone signals. So we truly enjoyed a couple of days of no noise, no stress and no distraction...almost. As I said, we stayed inside the national park. And the national park allows animals to roam free. And when they say "roam free," they mean it! Here is a photo taken from the doorway of our cabin as we prepared to go to breakfast one morning: Yes, that's a bison passing through. Actually, it's the second bison to pass by the cabin across from ours...it took a minute to grab the camera for this shot! Bison truly go where they want, and you need to stay out of the way. Just a few weeks ago a teenage boy was thrown by ...

Driving I-80 across the flatlands of Iowa and Nebraska is a rather tedious experience, at times. Lovely for it's fruitful fields of wheat, and rolling pastures complete with grazing horses and cows, the highway just seems to keep going, and going, and going. Then you enter Colorado. And you finally get that view of the Rocky Mountains. Still snow-capped in June, they are a beautiful and awe-inspiring site. Exploring Winter Park (the ski resort), and Rocky Mountain National Park, is a wonderful adventure. The mountains of Colorado are abundant with wildflowers. They are also abundant with wildlife! It's so much fun to take two-track "roads" into forest and field. This is an adventure for all your senses.

We love traveling. And the United States is a perfect place to do this! I used to dream of traveling in Europe, but the more I explore our own country the more there is to see here! A couple of weeks ago we started a journey to the West - crossing the Mississippi River, swollen from the recent flooding. What a fantastic site. You can't help but think about Mark Twain and his wonderful river tales. Do you remember the real name of this author? From there we crossed Iowa and Nebraska as we needed to meet up with friends in the Denver area on a certain date. We were fortunate enough to have an after-hours butterfly shoot at a beautiful butterfly house and didn't want to miss it. And now we're high in the Rocky Mountains at a beautiful mountain house, spending time in Rocky Mountain National Park. The wildlife is magnificent. One particular moment stands out from yesterday's adventures. We had stopped at the park entrance to take a photo of the park sign, and Daryl was hea...

A day set aside to give you a reason to get outdoors and share your love of photography with someone, and enjoy all that the natural world has to offer. Do we need a "reason?" Probably not. But some of us need a push now and then. "The Curious One," we've named her. A few years ago we would sit outside near the back of our property, hidden in the trees, waiting. Waiting. And waiting! A hunter knows what this is like. You are waiting for the opportunity to bag your prey. We feel the same way, but we shoot with a camera. The photo above is one I took just a couple of weeks ago, from our back window. There was something familiar about her so I sat and watched as she crept closer and closer to the house. Then suddenly...something startled her and she ran to the brush. Only to return not a minute later, curiously looking around, and heading back to our yard area. This is the exact same behavior we remember seeing in the doe we dubbed "The Curious One." S...

Camera Clubs are a great place to learn, and have a chance to explore new ideas. The St. Johns Camera Club recently attended a workshop we would not normally have signed up for. Being primarily outdoor and natural light photographers, we seldom stretch ourselves to try new things - unless slightly nudged. This was one such experience. We met at Perspective2 Studio, in Lansing, for a still-life and model shoot set up by the studio iteself. The business is actually "creative studio space for photographers and special events," renting space to those who either don't have, or don't want, their own studio. In our case, we wanted to stretch our skills with a little guidance, and the studio agreed to put on the workshop for us. What a great time, with the learning curve raised a bit high at times. There were wonderful staff photographers there to help us with set-up, lighting, and advice on settings and angles. The studio set up the lights to go off with a hot-shoe device, ...