A Series of Unfortunate Events

I had been looking forward to traveling back home to North Dakota pretty much ever since I last left, and did I ever have big ideas of how the trip was going to go. I was going to photograph whitetail bucks in velvet and was going to focus on doing more landscape shots. But unfortunately all of the smoke from the Canadian wild fires made for a very hazy trip that was nothing but ideal for the type of landscape and wildlife photos I had imagined.

I never really was able to find the whitetail bucks I was hoping for, but that wasn’t from a lack of trying as I went out every morning I was able to get out. Even though my target species wasn’t cooperating I had some fantastic wildlife experiences. They maybe didn’t result in fantastic photos, but they resulted in memories that I will forever cherish and am very thankful for.

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

On my first morning adventure of the trip, I was lucky enough to spot a mink on the river bank. Growing up most of my life hiking around this river I had a fair idea of what the mink was going to do. Because of this I quickly hiked ahead of the mink so that I would be ready to photograph the little creature when it arrived at where I figured it was heading. Unfortunately for me, I predicted the mink’s behavior too well and instead of me photographing it, I was surprised by it popping out of the river only a few feet away from where I was laying down.

This is where I was hoping to photograph the mink as it swam to where I was laying but instead, it went directly to the rock I was laying on. Because I had my Tamron 150-600 lens I was unable to get any photos of the mink because it was too close. So, unfortunately, no mink photos, but this was an extremely fun little moment that I am so happy I was able to experience.

I believe this is a Spotted Sandpiper. I had a fun time watching this little guy while I was recovering from my shock over what just happened with the mink.

One of the next mornings I went back to where I saw the mink hoping for another chance, but I was unsuccessful. I did photograph what I think were House Wrens for a little while. What busy little birds.

If you look very closely, you can see some kind of insect in its beak. My research says they eat mosquitoes, and that makes me like this little bird even more.

I also found some bigger birds to photograph. I only had one morning of photographing these turkeys, but the morning I had sure was fun. I was testing out a portable blind, and the turkeys did not care about me as long as I was underneath the blind. I am excited to try out the blind again. Unfortunately, this morning the turkeys came up behind me at an angle that just wasn’t very good for photography, but I again had a blast enjoying the moment even though I wasn’t very successful with my camera.

The last evening I was able to go out, I hiked to a clearing where I was hoping to find some deer. Unfortunately, to continue with the trend of the trip, I didn’t see any whitetails, but In this clearing, I found lots of beautiful Canada Goldenrod (I believe). I sat down among the flowers hoping for some type of small bird to photograph, but the moment just never happened. I did take the time to photograph the flowers a little and made a plan to come back to this spot in the morning to sit under my blind.

Unfortunately, the next morning it was raining, and I was never able to get back to the clearing with the beautiful flowers.

On the very last morning of the trip, I was busy packing the car, getting ready to leave in a couple of hours. Of course, this would be the day that a whitetail buck in velvet decided to show up. I had everything I imagined! I had interesting lighting, the correct subject matter, and the buck had no idea I was there. But, just like the rest of my trip, there was an “unfortunately”. My shutter speed was slower than I normally keep it because I was dealing with the buck being in a dark wooded area. The buck never stopped moving, and when I took the shot the photo of the buck was blurry. I was shooting at a very weird angle which caused me to have a shaky base, and with the slow shutter speed, this resulted in the photo having too much motion blur. I decided to post it here anyway so that you could see what I missed. I am disappointed in myself for not getting this shot, but I will rejoice and give thanks. in spite of the unfortunate events, this whole trip was a wonderful blessing from God.

A Photo Adventure In Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Theodore Roosevelt National Park has become one of my favorite places to photograph wildlife. I have been there a handful of times now and I have never come back with an empty memory card. This park is full of beautiful wildlife such as impressive bison, beautiful wild horses, funny little prairie dogs, and many other animals that are a pleasure to be on the lookout for in the park. This trip I thought I would also try something new and attempt to document my adventures in the park with photos. This was a fun little challenge for me and actually took a little of the pressure off of myself when I was not able to take wildlife photos that I found to be “portfolio worthy”.

If you haven’t visited Theodore Roosevelt National Park yet I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves nature. It is one of the least visited National Parks which in my opinion only adds to its charm.

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” (Job 12:7-10)

Camping In The Park

I tried something new taking this photo using a technique called “light painting”. Light painting involves shining a light source ( in this case a headlamp) onto the subject you are photographing in order for it to be lit. I did this lighting up the tree in multiple different shots and then combined them in photoshop.

Early Morning Wakeup

Waking up in a cold tent and having to leave a nice warm sleeping bag before sunrise isn’t exactly fun, but it results in beautiful morning light and usually more animal activity than during the afternoon.

The Morning After The Storm

The first night camping included a couple hours of pouring rain. Luckily the inside of the tent stayed dry, but the tent was covered in water droplets the next morning. The night also involved one tent pole falling on my head because it was so windy, I was able to pop it back and it stayed in place the rest of the night.

Friends Make Everything Better

Waking up in the early morning to go workout is hard, but growing up it was easier because I did it with my basketball teammates. Waking up in the early morning to go photograph is also easier when you are doing it with a friend.

Rain Clouds in the Distance

I really tried to capture both close up portraits and vast nature scenes of wildlife this trip. Unfortunately this horse just never turned around or lifted up its head, But the rain clouds in the background were still amazing!

The Landscape

When I was on a little hike I captured this landscape photo. I really wanted to show just how impressive the clouds were when I was there.

Winter is Over

This is a photo of a bit of bison fur hanging from a tree branch. The bison are all losing their winter coats preparing for the hot summer months.

Texture

I often laugh as I watch people photograph random rocks in the park, but I figured I would try it myself just for a couple minutes.

The Most Unproductive Beautiful Evening

Driving around trying to find animals in the beautiful soft evening light is always the goal at the end of the day, but unfortunately the last night at the park was unsuccessful for photos. But instead of focusing on the negative of not getting any great pictures I focused on the beauty of God’s creation! This night had the most beautiful sky I had seen in awhile and it was blessing to see it.

Document the Moment

I probably will never do anything with this photo but I wanted to capture the beautiful pink clouds I was lucky enough to see. I think the sunsets are one of the things I miss most about North Dakota.

Don’t Get Stuck Chasing Perfection

I was excited! I got to go back up to North Dakota to celebrate Christmas with family and I was ready to go out in the early mornings to photograph wildlife in the snow. Unfortunately I quickly realized that the bucks weren’t as active as they were in November, I didn’t know any of their patterns, and there was barely any snow on the ground. My first couple adventures out were unsuccessful. I walked and walked (realized I was out of shape) and couldn’t find anything I wanted to photograph. The big Bucks were hiding, my dreams of finding and photographing the Fisher I saw in November didn’t come true, and I couldn’t even find any doe to take photographs of (until the last day). I was very frustrated!

I was frustrated because I was stuck chasing the perfect picture and was forgetting to look at all of the beauty of God’s creation around me. I wasn’t taking pictures the first couple days because the perfect picture was never there! But when I stopped looking for the perfect picture and focused on the beauty around me, then my shutter started clicking. I started to enjoy my time outside doing what I love.

This little doe walked up on me my last morning taking pictures up north. This was the only animal (other than a squirrel) I photographed the entire trip and I wasn’t particularly happy with how any of the pictures turned out, but it was still a fun opportunity.

I was trying really hard to find a composition of multiple trees and the sun rising in the background. Unfortunately the sun was pretty much covered by clouds and I never could find multiple trees that looked good together.

But this didn’t stop me! When I was little one of my favorite sayings was “take what you got and make what you can”. Now when I was little and would say that it would have probably been about me not having all of the lego pieces I needed to create the vision I had in my head. But on this day it was about creating beautiful images. So instead of photographing multiple trees with the rising sun in the background I focused on photographing single trees with the pink and blue cloudy background that God provided me.

I also decided to forget about the sky in the background and focus on finding particularly interesting trees.

Also figured I would zoom in on all the little details in the bark.

This photo is the perfect example of me not getting stuck on perfection. I could not find the right composition where all of the cattails were just perfect. It simply wasn’t there! But I still took photos of them and I can even say now that I really like this image. If I would’ve been stuck on getting the perfect photo I never would have taken this shot.

And sometimes when the perfect picture just isn’t there it is fun to just create. I probably will never sell any of these images, but I had fun taking them and more fun editing them. I love capturing photos to show off God’s amazing creation to everyone just how it was in nature, but at the same time I really like to edit images into my own personal vision. And hey, this is still showing off God’s creation. This is showing off His creation of the amazing gift He gave me, the gift of creativity.

And so the blog post ends. Learn from my mistakes and don’t get stuck in your own life chasing perfection! Go outside and enjoy the beauty. Go do whatever job you have and do it to the best of your abilities. And when something doesn’t go perfect don’t let it ruin the rest of your day! Take what you got and make what you can!

P.S. I really shouldn’t write these after midnight, but hey i’m just trying my best to not chase perfection haha

Old, Abandoned, Beautiful.

These Images were taken as part of my final project for my documentary photography class last year. This was a challenging class that put me out of my comfort zone, but I still did it. I put in the hours and I completed the assignments. It was a challenge and I didn’t want to do it, but I finished the class!

This post is a reminder that I can do things that are challenging! I can put in the hours into keeping the website up to date. I can send out work emails. I can figure out how to make a consistent income from photography. And most importantly I will always do my best to bring glory to God with whatever type of career I end up having.

Sit Down And Enjoy The Little Things

I was lucky enough to make a trip to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in August. When I made this trip I always try to focus on the large wildlife such as the Bison, Wild Horses, and Whitetail/Mule Deer. But on this trip one of my favorite experiences was just sitting up against a tree in a Prairie Dog town.

Not the most exciting animal to photograph, but to get to sit down , relax, and enjoy these little creatures that God created is one of my favorite memories from the trip.

Sitting down and taking my time lets me focus on trying to create images that I am proud to share with everyone.

Editing a photo in black and white is always one of my favorite things to do. It is a simple tool, but a powerful one.

Taking my time allows me to mess around with the location of my subject.

Or changing the direction I take the photo from being a horizontal photo to Portrait.

The entire time I sat against the tree this little guy hung-out only a couple feet behind me.

I thank God for the opportunity to enjoy wildlife! Go out and enjoy it for yourself!

An Unexpected Encounter

Lying in the mud on the banks of the Sheyenne River, hoping for some ducks to come close enough for me to snap some photographs, an unexpected guest suddenly appeared.

A fairly large and dark creature emerged from the water onto the bank across the river from me. I wondered what it was until I saw the unmistakable tail of a beaver. This was the first picture I was able to snap of my very wet and furry new friend.

My new furry friend did not stay long. After snapping only three photos, it made its way back into the water.

It slipped back into the muddy waters of the Sheyenne and swam away. These unexpected encounters are what make wildlife photography exciting.