Count Down 2!!

Great Blue Heron

Wow...March! Ya, I know it's been March since yesterday, but it's been a hard thing to comprehend because everything is still "very" white! The temperature still says "winter" each morning when we wake up, but it's toying with the freezing mark each afternoon and the sun is gaining height in it's arch, making it feel so much warmer on the face outside.

March is great...it's the first month of spring. But what a difference a year can make. Last year this week the Great Blue Herons were returning to their rookery across the creek from us. Today...Ha! No way. The creek is still frozen fast and buried in deep snow. But the rookery nests of the last few years are still standing like beacons waiting their boarders.

The studio work here is still immersed in the Watchable Wildlife web site project; I've downloaded 75 videos this week...now I have to embed them into templates I've set up and do google map work. The easel talks to me every day...all I can say is "I miss you too!" I have a feeling I'll need to scratch the camera's itch as well once the weather makes the "real" turn! From feast to famine and back!

Less than 3 weeks now - counting down!

Still...

Prairie Autumn Stream No.27X14" Prismacolor (color pencil drawing)

I finally finished another autumn color pencil piece I started way back before Christmas. I'm glad it's over; it wrestled me most of the way. I will offer this piece for sale as all originals I do...just have to set up a page on my business website for it first...in the meantime, if you are interested just email me and I can give you the particulars.

As in my mid November post, this image also came from the same trip Georgie and I made down into Sac County, Iowa while working on the Watchable Wildlife project. The day was horribly windy and very little came out of the trip as publishable photographs but it was beautiful and I used the image files to draw from to try and recapture that valley along the Raccoon River.

Back lit scenes are a favorite of mine, but I'm going to take a rest from them for a bit and try to get onto some other images burned into some lost corner of my brain.

This is what it currently looks like in the back grove today, we're in a blizzard warning and all county plows have been pulled off the roads till later tonight. We can't even see the mail box down the hill as I write.


So, this is where I'm staying at the time being...where I should be I guess! Looking for warm weather images to conjure up!

Stay safe...stay inside!!!

Winter in January

Winter near Bluebird Creek

Winter is a time I find I speed up in "multitasking"...a word I never grew to feel akin to. It is not an endearing thing watching jobs speed by without satisfying reflection, but when winter forces more work be undertaken indoors - you take advantage of the opportunity and charge ahead as best you can.

Widow Skimmer - Libellula luctuosa (female dorsal)
Taken at Center Lake, Dickinson County, Iowa
(from the Watchable Wildlife Project)

I've been forging on with the expansion of the Watchable Wildlife in northwest Iowa website work. I've only just recently completed editing 70+ short site videos and now am in the process of putting together over 70 page templates and processing images for them. These updated changes will not be reflected in the web site until later this spring and has been enjoyable working through. I'm finding myself thinking of all the sites I need to revisit again for more prolonged time and exploration. Another side adventure going through this process is rediscovering things we came across during the summer and some of the video footage and photographs taken. When going back through months later I also see images I'd like to paint from, images that trigger ideas I had not been aware of at the time.

In February a public workshop titled "Midwinter Thaw", is being sponsored by Iowa Lakes Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D), Palo Alto County Conservation Board, O'Brien County Conservation Board and Clay County Conservation Board. This is a workshop open to the public and it's goal is to encourage more people to get outside and become involved in nature during the winter.

The announcement for this winter photography workshop reads in-part that there is a dramatic upswing in wildlife and nature viewing locally and throughout the country, and that nature photography is often the next step for many people as they become interested in our natural resources.

The number of people interested in learning about taking good nature photos is growing. Topics like picking out the right camera equipment and its proper use; and marketing and selling your work will all be covered in the Nature Photography Workshop.

There will be four professional photographers presenting at the workshop:

Don Poggensee of Ida Grove, Stan Buman from Carroll, Dan Ruf from Spririt Lake, and myself - Bruce Morrison from rural Hartley. All are from the northwest Iowa area and each have had much experience in this field. These photographers will provide insight into how they achieve success in nature photography.

The program is also highlighting the Watchable Wildlife website and project that will eventually include 13 counties in NW Iowa.

The workshop will be held at the Emmetsburg Iowa Lakes Community College campus on Saturday, February 20th. There will be a $20 registration fee to cover presenter expenses and lunch. Registration is required so plans can be made for food and materials.

To register or ask questions about the workshop contact the Iowa Lakes RC&D office at 712-262-2083.

My part in the workshop will be to emphasize the beginning aspects, equipment and field techniques. Something to think about or check out in February!

Georgie and I were able to get out yesterday morning and do a little trekking around the hills and river valley south of us. The frost was beautiful and the sky was clear...an amazing combination for winter landscapes and photography. The Bluebird Creek area photo at the top of this blog is a great example of Little Sioux River valley landscapes in the winter.

It's actually very nice out there this weekend with temps in the 20's and 30's instead of 30+ below zero! You might need some skis or snow shoes if you wander off the roads though - either way enjoy and get out there!