Store in the Flint Hills

Interesting little store in the Flint Hills. The store was built shortly after World War II and continues to operate to this day by the same proprietor, actually the wife of the original builder. She lives across the street and walks across to open the store with her walker which is in the photo near the steps. Amazingly, she is legally blind or at least close to it. We stopped in to buy a soft drink and package of chips/pretzels. I try to stop every time I drive passed the store and it is open. My total was $1.65 and I handed her a $5. She held it up to her glasses and asked what it was. I told her a $5 and she said, "OK" and counted out change. I am told that local residents and people that she knows make their own change. Not telling exactly where this is because some idiot will want to go rob this poor woman who is on her own and spritely! Got to love that generation!

Fall Grass and Buffalo

From an earlier trip to Maxwell, when the grass was spectacular in color and texture. This morning found the buffalo along the roadway and close enough for some nice images. I must have shot 8 gigs worth of shots that morning. Several were just excellent and this one turned out OK as well. I read a post by Clark Crenshaw about a technique he used overlaying a B&W version with lowered opacity. I will try that with this image and post it soon.

Could not resist cropping this as a panorama. The bison that day were in a line across the prairie and moving my way. I shot several images like this one before they got too close to get many of them in one shot. The flowers were at their peak or near peak for fall.

Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge

I try to get through the refuge several times a year. the best time to be there is in November and December when the snow geese are in town, towing along their "friends" the bald eagles. The geese count has been very low this year, maybe 150,000 vs. the normal 300,000+ that usually show up by T'Day. The eagles were there, official count showed 18, but none were anywhere accessible for visitors except for one lone guy who was silhouetted against a very bald sky.

Squaw Creek is about 3 hours from home, maybe 4, but is on one of my normal routes to see customers. Stopped in for sunset on Monday night then I was back for sunrise the next morning. Shots below are from both days:

Depot - Shawnee, OK

One of the earliest things I can remember doing as a child was riding with my mom on a train from Shawnee, OK to Houston, TX. I was almost 4 years old. It was an exciting time to be boarding a train. I don't remember much but I remember the seats, the window and getting to travel all night. OK, maybe I was asleep for a lot of it, but it is still a memory I can recall. The year would have been 1950. My brother was not around yet but was "in the hanger" which is very appropriate since he became a pilot eventually. I always drive by the station when I am in Shawnee just to see what photo ops exist and every time it is cloudy or dreary. Thanksgiving day was EXCELLENT! Required a delay before lunch so that I could get out and walk around this fine bit of architecture and history. It is now a museum and warrants a return visit to see the inside, not that I remember anything about the old depot, but somehow I want to see that part of history. Having traveled in Europe by train, this station has none of the size and grandeur of some of their stations but then most of the ones in Europe I visited were new, the old ones demolished in conflicts.

Photographers in the Mist

Just completed the annual meeting of the Great Plains Nature Photographers here in Kansas. Attendance was almost 140. Our featured speaker this year was none other than world renowned conservation writer and photographer, Boyd Norton. Excellent programs were presented about his work and the history of saving places both wild and beautiful all over the world. We also had a very interesting presentation by Gene Worsley of MPIX concerning color and color space.

I have been a friend of Boyd's since 1981. he and his wife, Barb, drove in from Denver on Thursday and spent the weekend at our place in McPherson. Great evenings of wine/beer/food and conversation. To make the weekend even that more special for me we also had Keith Schwamkrug (an excellent photographer and teacher of Photoshop) here along with great friend Allen Crenshaw (I worked for Allen in his studio in Denison, TX back in the 70's) and his brother Clark Crenshaw (a fine art photographer from Dallas, TX). WOW! Could not have been better for me in any way.

On Friday we drove out early to Maxwell Wildlife Refuge near Canton, KS. The goal was to photograph bison and elk on the refuge. The fog was so thick we were not sure we would even see any much less get chances to shoot images. Refuge worker and wildlife expert, Owen, took us out on the range in the refuge pick up. Within 10 minutes he had us in the middle of a herd of Bison. Owen apologized for not having sunny skies little knowing at the time that we were delighted to have the fog, a nice change for the type of images we were seeking. After 45 minutes with the Bison we left in search of the Elk. Again, Owen had us in great shooting range within just a few minutes. The elk, all big bulls, were spread across a hilltop with a row of leafless cottonwood trees faded into the foggy background. WOW! Excellent shooting again!

The photographers in the truck are left to right: Boyd Norton (www.wildernessphotography.com); Clark Crenshaw (www.clarkcrenshawphotography.com) and Duane Graham, my great friend from Hesston, KS and a shooting companion on many trips! Hope you can join us next year. www.gpnp.org

Great Blue Heron and his reflection in a small pond near the entrance to the drive around Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge. On the way home and found a "short cut" thru the refuge. Added about 45 minutes to the drive home but when I am that close....