Aug 18, 2008

r and r

I got to enjoy some much needed R&R this weekend. My twin brother Dan and I just happen to have the same birthday - so we celebrated with my parents in our hometown of Ellinwood, KS. It was fun spending time with just the four of us. We played golf with my dad on Ellinwood's unique, little 9-hole course (4-holes actually cross each other - no kidding), told old stories, had birthday dinner, and I taught my mom how to use iTunes for her iPod.

Today my folks and I headed out on a quick road trip to the cool, little Swedish town of Lindsborg, KS. I wanted to see Jim Richardson's photo gallery. He's a photographer for National Geographic and a contributing editor for National Geographic Traveler. Jim was in the gallery today, and he was kind enough to talk photography with me for 15-20 minutes. What a terrific and interesting guy who was eager to share so much. And seeing his photography displayed in the gallery was a real treat, too. Maybe someday I'll get to attend one of his workshops or seminars.

My weekend roadtrip included a lot of photo wandering to some of my favorite spots in Kansas - the Flint Hills and the Smoky Hills. If you've made a trip west on I-70 through Kansas lately - you've seen the new wind farm near Ellsworth, KS. It really is an amazing site. But it proved to be a real challenge to shoot. There are very few "drivable" roads with up close access to the gigantic wind turbines - but I still got a couple keepers. I also stopped by my favorite "lonely tree" spot in the Flint Hills. I've been to that same spot probably 7-8 times, always hoping to capture a good frame, and always failing. I stopped on my way west and struck out. So I stopped again today, and finally got a frame that captured the beauty of the view. I guess the 10th time is the charm. But I'm sure I'll go back many more times hoping for something even better.







5 comments:

Bruce L. Snell said...

That first frame is killer. Hey, you know what? You should have a gallery show, maybe at the Muchnic or something!

Sounds like a great weekend and your images are cool as usual.

-Bruce

Anonymous said...

Lovely blog...
I particularly love the two 'big sky' images.

Anonymous said...

Great work, Doug! Looks like the Smokies and the Flint Hills are still pretty green for this time of year. And you managed to get a bird ON a wire! Was his mouth too full to fly?

Looks like a weekend well spent.

Dr. Bill (William L.) Smith said...

Great photos!
Positive mention of the Flint Hills always gets my attention! Thanks!
So happy it brought me to your site.

Our 22 county Flint Hills Tourism Coalition, Inc. promotes visits to the Kansas Flint Hills – the website is: http://www.kansasflinthills.travel/

Best wishes!
Dr. Bill ;-)
Personal Blog: http://flinthillsofkansas.blogspot.com/

Doug said...

I'm pretty darned happy on lonely roads with a camera. I have to figure out how to make a living doing just that.

That's a terrific idea Bruce. What if four of us had a collective show? That would be cool.

4Mike: It was incredibly green in both places. Looked like early June. The bird was a nice surprise. I was waiting for him to fly away - instead he caught a bug. He moved it around in his beak a couple times, then swallowed it whole. It was pretty impressive.