This year’s highlights are revealed through nature in a way that not only creates heart-pounding moments but sparks a sense of joy in your soul.
Driving down the road in search of wildlife, I glance over and see a deer standing in the river. Fifteen years of photographing wildlife have me turn around in a heartbeat. I know for a fact that a deer is not just going to stand in icy cold water for no reason at all. Even though I didn’t make out the wolf on the first pass, it was certainly there when I pressed the shutter!
As I walked back to the car to get my long lens, the wolf slipped away. The deer stood there for another hour before making her way to the shore.
As I sprawled out along the frozen shore of Lake Superior, the colorful shards of ice seemed to create architectural beauty in every direction. At just about 30˚ above zero, it was a comfortable way to generate intriguing images.
Where the resident American Bison comes face to face with the migratory White-faced Ibis. Photographing these two species in the same frame would have never crossed my mind, but as the scene played out, it was a fantastic find to see the two standing side by side.
One of the main reasons I spend so much time in Wyoming during the spring! These tiny creatures emerge from their dens, and with mom’s help, try to navigate the world around them. “Survival of the fittest,” they say. Most of their little lives are short-lived, so capturing adorable moments like this one is a treasure in my book.
More than likely, this female grizzly was doing double duty as she is scent marking a favorite tree to communicate with other bears. A couple of weeks later, I watched two different male grizzlies follow her around with hopes of breeding. Fingers are crossed that we’ll see her emerge with new cubs this coming spring.
With a few patches of snow remaining on the spring landscape in Yellowstone National Park, this sub-adult grizzly found the perfect spot to do a little stretching.
Excitement ensued as the bands came together. With storms looming on the horizon, I realized that the advanced planning of this adventure was rewarding us with dozens of horses in a variety of scenes! Ambassador Horses of the McCullough Peaks Herd.
This image shows one of fifteen Wood ducklings that jumped from a nest box at just one day old. As I sat in a big camo blind several yards away, this little duckling stopped for a split second before taking that leap of faith and throwing itself into the world of the unknown. Within two minutes of the first jumper, mom and siblings were swimming off to the far end of the pond.
This Ram’s-head lady’s-slipper is a rare orchid in Minnesota. I am beyond thrilled to be able to photograph this threatened plant species in our boreal forest.
When a red alert comes across the phone at 12:45 a.m., Country Club Road is generally the first place I head to get a full-frame shot of the northern lights. This go-to spot, just a mile from home, is dark enough to see ribbons gliding along the horizon even during the faintest of shows. This night, however, I was treated to more than a glimpse. The clouds were parting as I headed toward the dock, allowing me to capture not only manmade structures but a bit of the heavenly sky as well.
While driving home on an August afternoon, I passed a field of flowers blooming with color! Working the scene from a variety of directions, with an array of lenses, I found the one that catches my eye the most is this sunny delight that makes the sunflowers look a little larger than life, popping out in front of the cloudy sky.
From the shore of Burntside Lake in Ely, MN, I was able to capture this stunning display of northern lights while my in-laws were in town visiting.
As the rising sun burned the morning mist, I nestled down among the riverbank to capture the subtle hues of color developing before my eyes.
On an icy cold day, when most of the roads were closed to travel, I laid my fleece blanket on the ground along the snowy shore to create a buffer between myself and the cold. Luckily the otters have a built-in system where their underfur has a scaly surface that locks together to keep the water out. And that’s in addition to their hollow guard hairs! I went back to my vehicle cold and wet, but it was worth the extra heat my car needed to pump out for the one-of-a-kind shots this scene provided.
Having photographed this bear for at least the past nine years, I’ve gotten to know her territory and how she moves through the area. Even at that, she’s still a bear and has a mind of her own. I took my chances by moving away from the crowd of people and setting up with hopes she’d walk through the thermal feature just behind the colorful foliage. With fingers crossed and a racing heart, I was filled with delight when she did just that!
All in all, it was an incredible year of photography. Connecting with nature in a variety of ways and expressing my art of the natural world brings completeness to my life. I appreciate your following along.
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