Heather Physioc Wins Six Honors in OWAA’s 2025 Excellence in Craft Contest
Kansas City–based conservation photojournalist and writer Heather Physioc has earned six awards in the Outdoor Writers Association of America’s (OWAA) 2025 Excellence in Craft Contest, which celebrates outstanding outdoor media across writing, photography, and other creative disciplines. The contest, sponsored by Friesens, ASA, and Pew, drew entries from across the country. Winners were announced during...
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...
Photography from O’ahu, Hawaii in September
Family and work travel can be unproductive for many photographers. Fast-paced itineraries and going with the flow of a group make it tougher to spend time crafting the ideal image with perfect light and composition. So we take on a different kind of challenge - making something beautiful with a speedy snap. Managed expectations and...
Peru Creek: Crapping in a Bag & Other Stories
This is a story about defeat, joy, and grief. It is full of adventure and misadventure, with a touch of prescience. Twists and turns. Bathroom humor. Summit season 2022 was unsuccessful, but mountain season was a hit. Buckle up; it's a ride. This year has been a lesson in coping with the unexpected. Every trip...
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...
Photography from Snoqualmie Falls, Washington
The Pacific Northwest continues to be one of my favorite parts of the country. On a recent work trip to Seattle, Washington, one of our colleagues local to the area who is an avid hiker in the area (hi Eric!) generously planned a hike for those of us (hi David!) who could stay another day....
White Sands National Park, New Mexico
The last time I saw White Sands was more than two decades ago, when it was still a national monument. My younger brother and I spent several of our summers living in New Mexico with our mom. One of the highlights was some of the road trips we took to all different parts of the...
Finding Perspective at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
I booked this cottage in Montrose, Colorado because I needed a place to stay close to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. But also because goats. Quaint farm lodging with goats beats lodging without goats 100 percent of the time. There were at least three different varieties of goats that the homeowners keep as...
Mount Rainier & Ashford, WA
Mount Rainier has called to me since the first time I saw it with my own eyes nearly 15 years ago. I plan to hike the 93-mile Wonderland Trail around the perimeter of this mountain someday. This 14,411-foot stratovolcano and glacial peak towers over Seattle and Tacoma in Washington state on the days when "the...
Volunteer Park Conservatory in Seattle, Washington
Seattle is one of my favorite cities in the U.S. I frequently visit the Pacific Northwest for work, and I always try to tack on a little time to visit with family or friends and discover something new in the city. This time, my friend Ben and I grabbed a cup of coffee and went...