Badlands National Park abounds with wildlife, all roaming free. A quick Google search will bring up a list of what is available to see and photograph. However, while visiting there I found only a handful of species that are commonplace and easy to locate. Despite being easy to find, they are not...

It’s been a dream of mine for some time to visit the South Dakota Badlands. The dream having finely come to fruition, I’m sitting here in my RV looking at the sandstone rock formations that make up the Badlands about a mile away. I’ve been here a little over a week now. I...

Changes in life can be exciting and equally scary. You haven’t heard much from me over the past couple of years. I spent two long years downsizing my home. It’s amazing how much stuff can be collected in nearly 40 years of adult life. After 18 trips to donation sites like Salvation...

I’ve always recommended to my students and new photographers to stop the chimping. Recently, I put myself in a situation making me rethink my stance on chimping…somewhat. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, “chimping” is the act of looking at the camera’s...

The American Bison, a symbol of the Great Plains and one of the icons of North America. Thanks to YouTube, State Farm commercials, and the classic cowboy movies, these great beasts can conjure up some scary mental images. My first thoughts of bison were always of stampedes, people being gored or...

In late October, I had the privilege to travel to Shenandoah National Park as part of I-Qest TV and the 59 Veterans project’s Shenandoah Recon 2015 trip. The mission — put together a short video to present to investors, check out some video equipment for future use, and get a feel...

The 2012 Rockford Airfest was held last weekend at the Chicago Rockford International Airport in Rockford, Illinois. I couldn’t have asked for any better weather for the event. The temperature was in the mid-70s, and the sky was blue with puffy white clouds blowing through. As...

Here’s a recent photo from a project I’m working on. Nachusa Grasslands in Illinois is restoring a cornfield back to its original state of prairie and wetlands. Over the next few years, I will be documenting the progress of the Dewitt Holland Memorial Prairie. This photo...

Steve Berardi over at PhotoNaturalist has given me the opportunity to be a guest blogger on his wonderful site, and my first article was posted this evening. Please follow my link over to PhotoNauturalist and check it out. I hope that you, and all of Steve’s readers, find what I...

The 2011 Rockford AirFest was held the first weekend in June. This year’s theme was “Celebrating 100 Years of Naval Aviation” A subject near and dear to my heart. Unfortunately, due to a little incident, the Blue Angels had to cancel and go into a safety stand-down. But as they...

I returned to Nygren Wetland Preserve last Sunday in hopes of seeing the same 15 American White Pelicans that I saw on Saturday. I was in for a very big surprise. There were actually a few hundred pelicans present, broken into small groups of 50 or so throughout the preserve. I spent the...

It’s been an amazing week photographically speaking. I’ve been wanting to photograph the American White Pelican migration as it passed through northern Illinois. By the end of March though I was fairly disappointed and convinced that I had missed the opportunity this year. Last...

Having an interest in the prairies of the American Midwest, I’ve wanted to photograph a prairie wildfire for many years. These fires are important to the health of the prairies, but as one can imagine, they are very dangerous to be around. So I opted to seek out some local organizations...

The winter of 2010/2011 hasn’t been the best for me as far as getting out and photographing the Bald Eagles on the Mississippi River. There were conflicts with my job, poor weather, or just a lazy photographer (me) who couldn’t motivate himself to get up early and drive 120 miles to...

My mother mentioned that she’s already tired of Winter and ready for Spring. I have to agree with her. So for any of you out there feeling the same way, I thought I would put a couple of Springtime photos up to brighten your gloomy winter day. These two Mute Swans (Cygnus olor) are...