Daniel Ruf

Learning Can Be Fun

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength..."  John Muir

This past week found me at South Dakota's Badlands at a five day photography workshop given by Tony Sweet and his partner, Susan Milestone, and what a week it was.  Both of these master photographers were excellent in knowing where to be and when and I can still hear Tony calling to all of us "here comes the light" while many of us were facing the opposite direction waiting for the sunrise glow to paint the eastern facing escarpments of the Badlands area.

The blog image was taken during a 3 minute period of luxurious light at the Big Badlands overlook area.  Just below my feet is a large expanse of air which I was trying not to be blown into by the south westerly winds of the morning.  While we all stood in awe of the special lighting effects I somehow managed to get the camera reset, shutter speeds and f/stops dialed in to fire off this three image file for HDR processing later in my motel room.  While making such a capture is a real thrill, being in the very presence of this changing light in a vast open landscape such as the Badlands, is indescribable. 

Both instructors fulfill the word "work" in workshop with a fairly non stop schedule of activity.  By 4:30am most of the attendees were loading their vehicles for departure at 4:45am to parts unknown in the Badlands National Park near Wall, South Dakota, our home for the five day photographic event.  We usually were on site long before the actual rising of the famed fireball, our sun, but the dawn light can be some of the most delicate pastels that any artist can imagine, and this morning was no exception...except for the gala event shown above. 

After about a four to five hour shoot at various locations, we usually gather for our only feast together at a local restaurant and fill up on carbs.  After breakfast we had about 4 hours to ourselves to process our previous work (or nap...so they tell me) and then we would meet for a two hour critique/instructional session with Tony and Susan.  It was a growing experience for me that involved learning about how various color or design nuances can elevate an "o.k." picture to a full fledged image of quality.  After 5 days of this instruction we all were surprised that, while we were all in the same location for a shoot, there were no similar images shown at the meeting.  Could it be that 9 photographers of equal ability proved that vision IS in the eye of the beholder?

When the class was over, we grabbed a bite to eat and loaded our gear again at about 4:30pm for the evening shoot, which took us to new venues and scenic lands within the park.  Usually, and this applied to morning an evening shoots, if the skies were partly cloudy the shoot would last longer since that golden light would spend more time bouncing around the cloud banks making us scurry around for new locations for different lighting situations.  By and large our day would end at about 8pm and we would head back to our rooms to ready ourselves for the next day.

For those of you that are longing for a fulfilling workshop experience and are willing to invest yourself in your artistry, take the time to check out Tony Sweets website, http://tonysweet.com , and click on his workshop tab.  Also, take the time to check his blog and get to know this amazingly gifted artist.

For more views of my work visit:

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa  http://www.apieceofworkinc.com

"Art On 16th"  http://www.hankhallarton16th.com

Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com  

http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V1

Trippin'

"A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art."  Paul Cezanne

When the outer world doesn't cooperate with photographic opportunities then I always go grab a batch of flowers from some local florist and start shooting.  It's a method I've used many times to keep the brain cells oiled and even sparkle a little bit.  It doesn't have to be flowers, it can be hub caps, bottle tops or dripping water, but whatever one chooses after a few minutes it will become the new challenge.

While I've been in my cranky mood of late I have also received a few junk mail advertisements about photo excursions or voyages with different photo workshop groups.  I look at the catalogs, like looking at a Christmas wish book, but the prices are so out of sight that I would have to get a couple of day jobs to get a low rent cabin on one of these junkets.  I never really could figure out why the big expense until I really looked at one of the "come on" photo ops...a well set table of fine silver with people dressed to the "nines" while clinking champaign glasses.  Then it hit me...this is not my idea of a workshop or photo op.  I think the price would slide downward a bit if someone rented an old Russian (no offense intended) fishing boat, loaded it with sleeping bags and canned spam and headed to the prime location intended.  And the workshop would entail being up before dawn with tripod and camera in tow in search of opportunities.  After about 10am it would be editing time, group discussions and chasing the learning curve before heading out at 4pm for some great evening shots.  The bed roll would see us crawl in at about 10pm, but only if we could withstand not looking at the evening shoot results.

I'm headed to the Rowe Sanctuary to photograph sandhill cranes this weekend and this will be my second opportunity in as many years to do this shoot.  I'm excited, probably just like I was last year, and I'm nervous, just like I was last year.  You know...the anticipation thing, but the thing I'm looking forward to the most is falling to sleep at night while listening to the chatter of cranes outside my photo blind.  Nothing better, except for maybe the times I've heard wolves howling in the north country.

The informal table in my 6 x 10 foot blind will be set with the finest cuisine...some cheese sticks, a few canned vienna sausages, bananas, water, crackers, etc.  All high on the food triangle!  The point is I'm not interested in food, mattress size or room service, but the moments that will make this experience one of the bookmarks of life...and of course a few good shots wouldn't hurt either!  There were some good images from last year, but I'll not soon forget watching my first "crane dance" or the sunrise on a Platte River that was covered in cranes.  Those mental images are as sharp now as they were last year and I'm so glad that I checked off one of those bucket list items by heading to Nebraska.

My advice when you get done playing with the flowers?  Dream a little and then get your map!

Thank you all for taking the time to visit my site and for any comments you might offer.

For more views of my work visit:

 "A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa www.apieceofworkinc.com

Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com  

http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V1

"Gray Skies Are Gonna Clear Up......"

The skies have been gray for about two weeks and we've been pelted with snow off and on for most of that time, so, having all the gray images I need, I've been watching a lot of tutorials, including how to navigate Photoshop, when I came upon this picture that I had forgotten about from Van Alstyne, Texas.  I was reminded at different times that this picture was in my file, but one thing led to another and by the time I'd get back to the computer from some other "engagement" the thick haze of forgetfulness would have set in and.......nothing. 

The town of Van Alstyne is an interesting little town where some of my family lives and is very reminiscent of a town of the 30's or 40's if you could blank out the cars and trucks from the 21st century.  Old town buildings, the court house and a railroad track running through a side street were enough to get me excited and go hunting for a picture or two.  Along this side street was a wall with a tattered American flag painting and dabblings of graffiti in various places.  While I was walking down the street toward this canvas of color a cowboy (or just an old guy with a Stetson) happen to cross the street and I couldn't believe such an opportunity for a western type image could be taking shape.  He stopped, looked intently at the wall and I just started capturing images.  Of course I was mumbling to myself, "turn more to the left" or "step more to the right", but before I knew it his interest in the wall vanished and he moved on down the street.

As it is, I'm glad he didn't turn toward me and his stance is a non-verbal gesture of indignation at the closeness of the graffiti to a cherished symbol, the grand old flag.  I don't know what he was thinking, yet I could almost here his words "why do kids do this" or something to that effect, or maybe I was just being reminded of what my father or mother would have said in the same situation.

I did a little post process work on this in the digital darkroom and gave it a touch with a Topaz plug in filter to enhance the texture and that was about it.  The more I look at it the more excited I get about making a full print of the image and I get a real hankerin' for some good Texas barbecue at the same time.

For more views of my work visit:

 "A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa www.apieceofworkinc.com

Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com  

http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V1

The Cornucopia Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota  www.lanesboroarts.org

Latest News

Last Saturday an email brought the news that I had two images find their way into the finals of The Nature Conservancy 2009 photography contest.  This is the second year that I have entered and I was pleasantly surprised by the news.  The Sandhill Crane shot at the left was one selection and was taken at the Rowe Sanctuary near Kearney, Nebraska this past spring.  It was my first opportunity to be up close and personal with these magnificent birds and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  Due to some travel plans this spring I was afraid that I was going to have to miss the chance to go the Kearney again this year, but, due to some changes in dates, I am going to spend a weekend peeking out a porthole in a blind along the Platte River.  I can hardly wait to get there and renew some of the relationships I made during last years visit.

The picture on the right was the second finalist and is an old favorite from Ft. Defiance State Park in Northwest Iowa.  This park is kind of a hidden pearl for my friends Mike, Bob and myself, and we all get down to the creek bed on many occasions.  It is my hope that the contest would bring new impetus to some state funding for up keep and maintenance to our parks. 

The road to the grand prize is now up to a "peoples choice" selection which throws a whole new twist to the final selection process.  If you would like to vote for the finalists go to the following link

http://support.nature.org/site/PageServer?pagename=vote_xx&autologin=true .

Organizations like The Nature Conservancy spend a great deal of money and effort to save and preserve the wild areas of the world and I'm happy to be involved with such an outstanding group.  With the economic demands on the private sector I'm sure that non-profits are feeling the pinch in every area.

During an internet search the other day for works by Dewitt Jones I happened to come on a link on MySpace that I was unaware of and if you follow the link below I think you'll what you find.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=43381348

Every once in a while a little inspiration is a good thing, and while I found Jones through his photography prowess years ago, he is also well known for motivational lectures in the corporate world.  After listening to this talk I can see why.

Thanks to all of you that take the time to visit this site and your support is really appreciated.

For more views of my work visit:

 "A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa www.apieceofworkinc.com

Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com  

http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V1

The Cornucopia Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota  www.lanesboroarts.org

Old Man Winter

This past week  has been a bumpy winter ride with one of the biggest, longest blizzards that I've know  since coming to Iowa in 1982.  My wife and me have pretty much remained enclosed in the warmth of our home, sitting around the Christmas tree and on occasion I venture out to clear the last 6 inches of snow off the walkway so that the next six inches has a clean place to fall.  My good friend Mike, who lives in the country, has been without power for about 7 hours which brings back bittersweet memories of life on the farm with livestock to worry about.  Feed systems and water systems and ventilation systems all require electricity to operate, and, while I always had two generators to help with this issue, I'm glad I never had to use one when we had pigs.  These types of storms, no matter the season, make farm life and chores pretty complicated.

Of course when a situation like this arises, this retired farmer gets a lot of time to think about different things, especially after having enough of t.v. commercials, and I begin thinking about those of us that are artists, the work that we do, the people we meet and the work that we sell to people we don't even know.  In our case it is our "talent" that has brought the buyer and seller together, and when that piece of art finally makes its way into a new home, it's a precious gift that keeps on giving long after the purchase is a small memory.  I got to thinking how each artist is giving some of their passion along with their art as it heads to its new home and also how a customer, when enjoying the work in the privacy of their home or office, will gain insights into not only the artists talent and capabilities, but also his sensitivities and dedication.

It has always been my hope that my photography will help present a comfortable addition to each persons space, that they will feel the same peace and awe that infiltrated my senses as I stood before what soon became their new addition of art.  I hope that their love of the environment becomes a little stronger, since the natural scene is what I work with and I'm sure has something to do with the attraction for the buyer. In my house I have several pieces by other artists and I still gain a certain amount of joy and comfort when passing by one of these prized possessions and I usually take a moment to reflect on the space of peace it presents.  In some cases I still say "boy, I wish I had been there" while drinking in the landscape hanging in front of me.

The image above was taken while I was walking with my son along a trout stream in Southeastern Minnesota a couple of weeks ago.  Suffice it to say this picture, this place of space, will always hold significance in my heart.  It was a quiet late afternoon with a fresh layer of bright new snow that had been made crisper by the cold air, yet this stream continues to gurgle along, sliding past a glowing bluff wall and snow laden trees in attendance.  The moment is all the more memorable because I was with one of my children.

May this holiday season be especially bright for you and of great peace.  Support your local retailer and take in a gallery or two during this holiday season.

For more views of my work visit:

 "A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa

Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com

"Art On 16th, Spirit Lake, Iowa

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com

"CR Gallery", Milford, Iowa

http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V1

The Cornucopia Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota

www.lanesboroarts.org

Space

My wife and I just returned from a holiday visit to our family extensions in Texas and thoroughly enjoyed our visit with everyone, the feasting included.  It seems like much of the time was spent behind the steering wheel, especially since we drove down and back, and it was good to spend today virtually quarantined from the interior of an automobile.

While the Texas drivers still remain crazy, being corralled by an increasing herd of "steel on wheels", the warm and friendly people are what we enjoy most about being back in the state that we left many years ago.  While leaving the new Dallas football stadium after a very exciting Baylor vs. Texas Tech game a female security person wished us a good night and hoped that we had enjoyed our experience at the stadium...this being said while over 71,000 fans were streaming out the entrance headed for home.  We weren't surprised by her kind words as this is one of the constants of the citizens of the great state of Texas. 

While driving to pick up our dog, Bailey, from the kennel on our return I was encouraged to be back in Iowa, and as I drove down one of the many two lane black top roads it was a relief to scan a landscape that was open, scattered with farmsteads dotted with trees and surrounded by a great deal of peace.  In an instant the speeding traffic, tall crowded buildings and crowded malls of Texas were flushed to the past as a golden Iowa landscape passed by.  It was a reminder of the peaceful areas that remain just beyond the jagged edges city boundaries and I'm not sure that I could ever enjoy life in a large metropolis again.  

My wife and I have lived in Dallas and Denver and have enjoyed the experiences and the opportunities that are afforded by such places, but that was 30 years ago when the pace was slower, the population was smaller and there were no cell phones or computers.  Just sitting here at my desk I can remember the sound of the IBM Selectric typewriters clacking away at the office where I used to work in Dallas.  Stacks of papers and files on desks and the rolling sound of file cabinet drawers have all been replaced by the whirring of computers and the dull rhythm of the plastic keyboards.  While the computer age has given us much, it also has taken much away with its arrival.

As I look back, moving to Iowa wasn't such a bad thing after all.

For more views of my work visit:

 "A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa

Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com

"Art On 16th, Spirit Lake, Iowa

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com

"CR Gallery", Milford, Iowa

http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V1

The Cornucopia Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota

www.lanesboroarts.org

 

A Son's Concerns

 "What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on."  Thoreau

Last weekend's trip to eastern Iowa gave me the opportunity to touch base with my youngest son and tour a few trails in the Yellow River State Forest east of Waukon, Iowa.  We talked of politics over some really fine pizza at a small town eatery in Waterville and then, as we stopped at various points around the Yellow River we discussed the environment, fall color and good trout streams.  It's been with some amount of pride that I have watched my son develop a real love and concern for the natural world around him and an active conservation ethic in his life.  He's a bike rider more than a auto passenger, a canoeist, fisherman, and farmer with strong beliefs in locally grown produce as a way to feed the masses.  As I think about all this I'm not sure where he managed to pick up this passion for the earth, but I'm sure that attending Luther college, surrounded by some of the most beautiful bluff country in Iowa and within a short drive of the Mississippi and many of its tributaries had something to do with it. 

Since our discussions during that Saturday ramble through the countryside I've been thinking a lot about my generations part in the changing environment and I'm not quite sure that we have made a very positive impact on the land.  I can remember when the most beautiful canyon in the U.S., the Glen Canyon, was dammed up to provide electrical power to the west and a playground for a minority of people.  We've seen a lot of old growth forests, containing some ancient individuals of the earth, plundered for the needs of housing and other byproducts and the land where the giants stood laid to waste and erosion.  The destruction of the saw is heading farther north into the arboreal forests of Canada where the ecosystems are even more delicate and where the leveling of trees will influence our country.

I told my son that I was concerned that because of the consumer gluttony for wood products of lumber, cardboard, paper and the like, I was concerned that our forests, in every corner of America will be leveled before anyone sees the error of mankind's ways.  This may seem like a long stretch for a vision of the future, but with such programs as Ken Burns'  "The National Parks: Americas Best Idea" the loss of wild places is scene in the context of a century of human influences and it was not pretty.

The abuse of the land, our home, finds its beginnings in the simplest of deeds, littering, and proceeds from this point by a lack of respect for our dwindling resources.  The Native Americans had a better grasp of the fragility of our earth with a lot less technology at their disposal and lived a life that was balanced with their surroundings.  The question that leads from here is, has technology improved our lives or made it more possible to destroy home in a shorter time span?

Think about it and while pondering these things take a walk in a forest.

For more views of my work visit:

 "A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa

Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com

"Art On 16th, Spirit Lake, Iowa

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com

"CR Gallery", Milford, Iowa

http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V1

The Cornucopia Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota

www.lanesboroarts.org

First Snow

This capture was done about a month ago and today, October 12, would find snow sitting on top of the foreground rocks and everything else in the Northwest Iowa area.  I just got back from a short trip to eastern Iowa to Pikes Peak State Park (not to be confused with the Colorado version) and grabbed the camera this morning to take advantage of the early, wet snow that was hanging onto everything.  One the way home last night the combines were rolling as farmers tried to make a dent in this years soybean crop, knowing that the snow was "incoming" and would put a halt to combines for a few days.  Today, on my impromptu stroll with the 50D, I found combines sitting in fields, geese shaking their heads in confusion, and even a silage chopper sitting patiently at the end of a field waiting to  "get back at it".

Northeastern Iowa is very short on color and it appeared that an earlier frost, which many categorized as "light" might have been a harder frost than realized.  While looking across the Yellow River valley with my son in the Yellow River State Forest I commented that 50% of the trees were lacking leaves and the rest were showing signs of frost damage.  I'm no botany specialist, but it really didn't look pretty from my vantage point.  There was color in the towns of McGregor and Marquette, Iowa and along the bluffs of the Mississippi, but it didn't stray far from those points.  A few days earlier I was driving through an area that had trees dripping with yellow color, but the day my son was with me, those same trees were void of color.  I couldn't believe it.

Pike Peak State Park is a beautiful park, with Bridal Veil Falls (not to be confused with Yosemite's falls of the same name), a lot of well kept trails and very nice camp ground.  Luckily I brought a electric heater for the tent which made for cozy nights.  A good sleeping bag and a excellent book, "The Mulligan" by local Minnesotan author Nathan Jorgenson, makes a nice ending to a day of photography and scouting.  The days started watching the glowing first light on the Mississippi, and, as the sunlight scattered on the wetlands and bluffs, the fall colors glowed.

Monday was going to be my last day at the park since I had some other areas to revisit, but weather forecasts sounded gloomy and snowy, so I thought it best to drive home on dry roads, especially since I'd seen enough cloudy weather for one weekend.  While I'm sure that an Indian Summer is around the corner, this first brush stroke of white makes a person, and the geese, sit up and take notice.  It's good to be reminded about who's running the weather, and I can guarantee you it's not the weathermen/woman.

For more views of my work visit:

 

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa

Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com

"Art On 16th, Spirit Lake, Iowa

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com

"CR Gallery", Milford, Iowa

http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V1

The Cornucopia Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota

www.lanesboroarts.org 

  

Movement Of Love

The PBS channel has recently shown the Ken Burns documentary "The National Parks: Americas Best Idea" and it was true to Ken Burns' past work...pretty outstanding.  I was only able to catch parts of each segment as I was putting the finishing touches on work for the Artisans Road Trip show, which is now over and history, but what I did catch of the PBS documentary only increased my love of the park system, both state and federal, that we have been privileged to have in our country in such a grand scale.  I'm not sure how many years this documentary was in production, but I'm convinced that Burns must go through every trash barrel, every box of photos and every memo that was saved by someone, somewhere, sometime ago.  The archive work was impressive and defined the historic significance of our park system and only makes me want to travel to more of them in the coming years.

The one major thing that I drew from the Burns production is that were it not for a lot of individuals, from wanderers to naturalists to nature photographers, this system that we know today would not exist.  It was a labor of love and determination that kept our parks systems, wild lands and wildlife from being torched, cut down or killed and saved from a passive, negligent corporate and political system that had little interest in protecting our natural heritage.  The human population of this world owes a great debt to those that saw the importance of ecosystems and wild things and waged a "quiet" war with those in our world that saw little significance in plants, soil or animals and their connection to our well being.

Because of a few politician with ears, many eloquent individuals and some major benefactors a person can still walk a wilderness path that is laced with the purest silence and punctuated with wild things of all shapes and sizes, and rejuvenate the heart and soul.  Our national parks open their bosom to all mankind, no matter the stature or station in life, to sustain, uplift, and dazzle the human spirit.  By the very act of preservation of the land our parks and wild lands restore and preserve the best in mankind.

Thank you Ken Burns, PBS and the sponsors.

Go Baylor!

For more views of my work visit:

 

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa

Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com

"Art On 16th, Spirit Lake, Iowa

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com

"CR Gallery", Milford, Iowa

http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V1

The Cornucopia Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota

www.lanesboroarts.org  

A Chill In The Air

The morning air is a little crisper these days, a little morning fog lifting off the lakes is more common and the fields of soybeans and corn are beginning to go through a color change.  Even though it's months before the official winter season, I can see and feel the changes all about me.  The prairie's are giving up the last of their floral garments, broad leaf trees are beginning to just show a hint of change, and the traffic is thinning in the lakes area.  It won't be long before the trees are bare, lawns are strewn with colored leaves and the docks will be pulled from the lake for the season.  It's been an exceptionally beautiful summer with cooler temperatures, sunny days, plenty of rain and a lot of cool nights.  It is always hard to look forward seeing winter around the corner, but we still have a fall season to enjoy.

In a month, the Artisans Road Trip in northwest Iowa will be on stage and it is a special time with fall in the air and a chance to visit with old friends, customers and new acquaintances.  I'm just beginning to print work for that show and, like last year, Mike ( www.mikehouge.typepad.com ) and I will be joining together to give people a view of what took place with our photography this past year.  It's been a learning year for both of us, but it always is, with different ideas, new tweaks in our vision and plenty of trails to hike.  As I have spent the last week sorting through a years worth of work I feel pretty good about the look behind, but know that there is still growth ahead and I'm excited for the next adventure...and the next.  Winter will bring a whole new set of circumstances to deal with and a whole new range of ideas and results.  I can hardly wait.

I've learned that I will have another essay published along with some images in "Knee High By The Fourth Of July", another collection of rural essays by the same author that put together the "Walking Beans...." book of last year.  "Our Iowa" has included a couple of my pieces in their first ever calender, which is exciting for me, and I just received word that I managed to get 3 images selected for the Wilderness Society Photography Contest, one of which fell into 4th place http://wilderness.org/content/celebrating-45-years-wilderness.  Almost 1,000 images were submitted and I feel honored to be in the company of the finalists.  It's really been a good year, but there is still work to do and places to see.

I have a couple more trips scheduled in over the next couple of months and then it's time to develop a winter plan.  A couple of years ago that would mean repairs on hog barns, firming up the driveways to handle large semi's during the winter, pumping out slurry from pits, etc.  None of this was nearly as much fun as planning the next photo shoot.  Gee, how things change in a couple of years.

Some new sites that I have visited and found really interesting are http://www.patricksmithphotography.com/index.html and http://jimpattersonphotography.blogspot.com/.  I have found the work and words on both of these sites to be extrodinary and well worth the time to visit.  It's been so important for my daily growth in photography to see the works of others and to read the paths that they take to get to their results.  Thankfully there are a lot of unselfish craftsmen out there that are willing to share their ideas and vision with the rest of us following them.

Thanks for visiting the site and I hope all of you are enjoying the last glimmers of summer.  A big full moon tonight and an early morning shoot tomorrow...fog in the forecast, where else would I be?

For more views of my work visit:

 

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa

Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com

"Art On 16th, Spirit Lake, Iowa

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com

"CR Gallery", Milford, Iowa

http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V1

The Cornucopia Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota

www.lanesboroarts.org