|
|
|
In June of 2004, my husband Pat came up with a brilliant idea: let's go tent camping on the property where his family deer hunts each year. This hilly terrain is located in the southeastern corner of Minnesota. So as a family of four, off we trekked to tent camp in what turned out to be an extremely primitive spot, as camping goes. We pulled up in our burgundy minivan, which seemed especially mini, as the grassy prairie came halfway up the side of the van. (My idea of tent camping is having a cleared spot to pitch the tent, a fire pit or ring, possibly a picnic table, running water within several hundred yards, and at the very least an outhouse within walking distance.) After a minor adjustment period of several hours, I convinced myself that this experience would somehow be alright. We tramped down the prairie grass, gathered sticks & branches for firewood, made a makeshift "outhouse" out of branches boxing in an area for "squatting," and were off to explore our exciting surroundings. Even our kids were having an adjustment period! |
|
| As we hiked into the woods, we all realized that there really were some interesting plants, flowers & weeds to be discovered. In fact, right behind our "camping headquarters" was a gorgeous mass of wild daisies -- hundreds upon thousands of them! Truly incredible. (My husband & I are pictured amidst the daisies in the photo below.) And after our bellies were full & we had a good night's rest, we explored some more. Shortly before leaving the area, we were hiking along one last time. By this time, I had gathered quite the collection of various wildflowers & thistles I personally had seen throughout our time in this landscape. I laid them down in a clump on a stump, where we were exploring a large anthill. It was at that moment that I had the strong desire to take a picture of them -- to sort of represent all that we had seen in our explorations. I didn't expect the photographs to turn out... but they did. I developed them & showed them to a couple people, including my boss. This was the beginning of a passion for photographing wildflowers in their natural, simple surroundings. | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Here are two of my first wildflower photos, taken on this primitive camping trip. Nature is so colorful! |
|
|
|
|||
|
Above left: Setting up camp in the middle of the field. |
Above right: Our family during our last exploration hike. | ||
|
|
|||
| My Story... Part 2 | Note Card Features |
| Other Photography | Flower Poem/Scripture |
|
Return to:
[Return to home page]
[
Corporate Gifts ] [Personal Gifts]
[Don the Laserman]
[Fox
Publishing] [
PX
PAPERWORX ] [
Compute
'n Copy ]
