Northern Lights in Kansas City: How to See & Photograph the Aurora Borealis
The Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) are a rare and special treat for Kansas City. Sitting at Latitude ~39°N, KC is much further south than the typical viewing zones, like Canada or Alaska, and sightings of the aurora borealis are extremely rare. In an average decade, visible auroras might occur fewer than three times. However, we...
My top 24 photographs of 2024.
Being outdoors and capturing wildlife is my happiest place with a camera in hand. The worst weather conditions and most painful injuries can fade into the background when I’m locked in on an animal with my zoom lens. Shooting in the Chihuahua desert Then I return home with the camera, and go through the sometimes...
Animal Portraits from GloWild at the Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium
When the Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium announced their GloWild event would return, I jumped at the chance to get tickets for this year's "Around the World" theme. I took it as a fun assignment to shoot animal "portraits" of my favorite illuminated silk lanterns. The lantern sculptures for the event were hand-crafted by 151...
Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge
I have been setting my sights on day trip destinations near Kansas City. I'm seeking places to branch out and shoot landscape and wildlife photography. I visited Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge in northwest Missouri, about 90 minutes drive north of the city. Loess Bluffs is a birdwatchers' favorite thanks to its terrain of wetlands...
Four Seasons of Loose Park Photography in Kansas City, MO
One landscape photographer pro-tip I received was to choose a place near your home that you can return to again and again, at all times of the year, at all times of day, for photography practice. It teaches you how to look at a place from so many angles and in so many circumstances with...
50 Miles on the Flint Hills Nature Trail
My two fitness goals this year were to summit another 14,000-foot peak and do a 50-mile hike in four days. I completed Huron Peak in Colorado in August. My first attempt at the 50-mile hike was in May on the Knobstone Trail in Indiana but got rained out among other challenges. When it came time...
Small Town America: Weston, MO & Atchison, KS
Without fail, October through December every year is a madhouse for us. As if the holidays weren't enough, both of our jobs tend to ramp up at end-of-year and everything moves at breakneck speed. Between the chaos of our day jobs and my dog Otto's terminal illness, it has made travel and quality time more...