Sunrise at the refuge

The Trempealeau Nation Wildlife Refuge is waking up after a long winter. I made several recent trips with my camera and been pleasantly surprised at the amount of wildlife activity. I even dragged myself out of bed early one morning to try and capture a sunrise. I have included several of my shots below.



Sunrise




Sandhill Crane




Young Beavers




Canadian Geese



Textures 01

Photographing birds and wildlife is a pleasurable hobby/business for me. As I progress and try to improve my work, I find myself looking at other photographers and artists in an effort to find that elusive and unique niche photographers always seem to be searching for. I personally would enjoy finding that niche but really don't want to limit the scope of my works. I think that perhaps a search for the "Holy Grail" may be an easier task.

An interesting technique that I have been dabbling in for awhile is called texturing. I have much more to learn about it but have found it to be useful in applying to some of my images. The Cardinal picture below is an example. I found that the added textures and processing give the image a "Photo Art" appearance and make it more interesting for the viewer.

Before



After



Early Spring Photography

It seems that every spring when the weather starts to warm a little, I get overly excited about getting out and shooting all the nature subjects I imagined would be profusely abundant. The reality turns out to be quite different and I will have to be patient a bit longer. In the meantime I will take what I can and use my extra time on processing. This squirrel image was taken a couple of weeks ago. He has a good expression but the background was dull and distracting. Fortunately textures were close at hand and when incorporated with the image bring the viewers focus back on the innocent little squirrel.

Flood preparation meeting in Winona

A meeting to discuss and inform local residents about the possibility of flooding in Southeastern Minnesota took place at the Winona American Legion Post on March 15, 2011. In addition to Governor Mark Dayton, other state and federal officials spoke and answered questions. Below are several of the photos I took at the meeting.



Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton



Governor Dayton and Minnesota State Senator Jeremy Miller




Cimmissioner of Public Safety Ramona Dohman