Category Archives: kansas

10×5 outtakes: SW Landscapes

A few more outtakes from the Kansas 10×5 book project — these three landscapes I took within an hour or so of each other in southwestern Kansas near Big Basin. The land changes fairly drastically in a short distance out here. It’s an area I would like to photograph more often.

The day started off fairly cloudy, but opened up just as I reached Big Basin, seen below. This is a giant, old sinkhole west of Ashland. The flat foreground is the bottom of the sink, and the “hills” you see in the distance are actually the far rim.

10×5 outtakes: Butcher Falls

I knew when we started the photography for the Kansas 10×5 book that I wanted to feature some locations that might surprise those with preconceptions of Kansas. Waterfalls are not something we’re known for, but we do have several nice examples. This one is Butcher Falls on Pool Creek in Chautauqua County. It was running pretty strong when I visited on June 7th last year. It was supposed to be my second falls of the day, but I couldn’t make it to the first one I’d planned to photograph in Bourbon County due to roads being flooded out. I shot one other waterfall later in the day in Elk County. That image did make it into the book but this one was eventually cut during the editing process. Still one of my favorite Kansas falls, and one I know I will photograph many, many more times.

Kansas 10×5 book

For the past few years, an idea had been brewing. That idea is now a book called “Kansas 10×5” and it’s available from my Blurb bookstore.

I’ve always loved hanging out with other photographers and shooting alongside them. There is something fascinating about how we each see the same things so differently. For years there has been a fluctuating group of local photographers I know that have taken day-trips or long weekends together, just to make photos and have fun. Some of us are professional, others just enthusiasts, but we’re all just shooting for the enjoyment of it and to see how we each approach the same subjects. In the past we’ve had blogs where we would share images or we would just email them around to the group. We talked about doing more — other projects — but we’re a bunch of busy people and it’s hard to make the time for an extensive project and have it fit everyone’s schedules.

When my friend Bhaskar Krishnamurthy moved to Kansas City, he and I also began talking about ways we could work together and ways that he could meet other local photographers. Everything began to come together and the idea of this book evolved.

Initially we wanted to have photographers from all over the country descend on Kansas for 10 days to shoot a book. Our attempts to find funding were less than spectacularly successful so we eventually pulled back to the idea of using more local photographers. Doug Stremel and Ferry Keizer had already been on board from the local photographer’s group I mentioned, and Doug suggested adding Earl Richardson to replace a couple of out-of-state photographers that couldn’t make it. I’d known Earl only by his work but when I met him one morning with Doug for breakfast, it was easy to see that he was a great fit.

So we settled on the five of us and 10 days. The ratio of 10×5 made sense (2-1), as it is basically the same proportion as the state itself, which measures 400 miles by 200 miles. So the 10×5 name explained the 10 days + 5 photographers, the shape of the state, and even led to the development of the grid for the layout of the book. It’s a 12″ square hard-cover so, when opened, it is 24″ x 12″ — the same 2-1 ratio as the state.

But to get to the point, we ended up with what I think is a really fun book. Five guys’ impressions of a state that they either grew up in or found later in life and now call home. Each made their own path for the most part, but we all met on one night to photograph the Symphony in the Flint Hills event together.

I want to thank Bhaskar, Ferry, Doug and Earl for their participation and cooperation on this book. It was a project that was great fun for me, and I hope you check out the preview on Blurb and enjoy it as well. Over the coming days, I’ll post a some out-takes of mine from the book, and maybe a few behind the scenes stories. Stay tuned…

All in a day’s work

There’s not too much to tie these images together other than that they were all shot on the same day in Wichita, Kansas. Started off the morning with a little wildlife outing, managed to find myself in the awesome Donut Whole and finished things off seeing the flames lit at the Keeper of the Plains. There was much more in between, but it was really kind of a typical day in the life of a travel photographer. Never time to get bored.

Wichita museums

The Wichita Art Museum and Botanica are neighbors, sitting across Museum Boulevard from Old Cowtown Museum (see the previous post) along the Arkansas River in Wichita, Kansas. These were two more stops on my first morning visiting Wichita last week and both were a feast for the eyes.

I hadn’t seen Botanica’s new Chinese Garden of Friendship yet, so that was a nice surprise. The Wichita Art Museum is undergoing construction as well, although it is limited to creating new outdoor spaces. The interior galleries can be still be visited as usual.

Old Cowtown Museum, Wichita, KS

Last week I attended a meeting of the Central States Chapter of the Society of American Travel Writers. That’s not unusual for me — I attend a fair amount of SATW functions — but this time things were a bit different because we were meeting in my home state of Kansas. It was a lot of fun hanging out in places I have known since I was a kid with a bunch of people that I’m normally with in much more exotic locations like Fiji, Thailand, Iceland, Egypt, etc.

One stop during the tours that were a part of this gathering was the Old Cowtown Museum in Wichita. I’ve tread the wooden sidewalks here many, many times but it was different this time, seeing the familiar with others who had not seen it before.

I’ll follow this post up with more featuring other stops that our group made in Wichita and up through the Kansas Flint Hills to Manhattan, ending with a stunning final night at the Symphony in the Flint Hills near Strong City.

Northeast Kansas

I took advantage of a warm(ish) day yesterday to scout around northeastern Kansas and make some photos with Doug Stremel. The “breeze” picked up as the day wore on and our 55-degree day ended up closer to freezing with a wind that could knock you down in an instant. At least we got some images — and were finally able to revisit a remote church we stumbled across on an earlier trip back in April of 2011.

Dodge City Days

I had a great time covering Dodge City Days last weekend. The town of Dodge City, Kansas has a great history as a prominent old west cowtown and the setting for many an old west tale — some true, some not. I spent a fair amount of time here as a kid so it was great to return. I’ve actually done quite a bit of work in the area over the past few years but this time was more nostalgic as many of the Dodge City Days events were things I did here as a kid. Here are a few, random shots from this year’s Dodge City Days events:

While not part of an actual “event,” this was the scene as riders were waiting to begin the world-record-attempting longhorn cattle drive down Wyatt Earp Boulevard. I loved the way the horses appeared to be “parked” at Applebees. Only in Dodge.

Actors from the old television series “Gunsmoke” and “The Rifleman” were on hand to help celebrate Dodge City Days this year.

A tough route for the longhorns, as the cattle drive moved them past several fast-food burger places.

With the cattle moved off of Front Street, it’s just a matter of time before there’s trouble. Daily gunfights are re-enacted here for tourists. These during Dodge City Days were well-attended by both gunfighters and visitors.

I ended both Friday and Saturday evenings at the Dodge City Round-Up Rodeo. I love shooting these events. The weather was great, and there was tons of action.

Lawnmower Demolition Derby

A fun distraction last night — we attended the Mowbashers Mower Derby at the Douglas County Fair. Nothing like a little noise, smoke and chaos to distract one from the heat of summer. The exhaust fumes probably didn’t hurt, either.

Here are the contenders, lining up to start while the field is wetted down:

Drivers of all ages, getting into start position:

And, they’re off!:

Kansas State Capitol

For five years I had an office just around the corner from the State Capitol in Topeka, Kansas. At the time we signed the lease on the place in 2003, I thought it would make for a great opportunity for me to build my library of Capitol photos. After all, I’d walk to work every day so I’d pass the building several times a week in all sorts of weather. What I didn’t realize was that the Capitol was about to undergo a long, long renovation. A renovation that would have it covered in scaffolding for the bulk of the time I officed downtown. When we moved to Lawrence six years ago, it was still impossible to get a clean shot of the most iconic building in Kansas. Only a few weeks ago did the work finish and the scaffolding and cranes came down. In the end, the copper on the dome had been replaced so the green patina is no more and the dome now has the dull sheen of a new-ish penny.

I photographed the interior a couple of weeks ago but with Spring finally arriving, I decided it was time to get back to updating my exterior photo files. Any photos of this building made prior to 2014 are now dated due to the new dome, so I’ll be continuing to revisit the Capitol many times in the coming year(s). Last night I got started by setting up shop on 9th Street — probably the best view of the Capitol if you want to see it in context to downtown. Until about 10 years ago, this was the one downtown intersection that still had historic buildings on all four corners. The northwest corner (in the distant right in this view) has since been redeveloped with a retail/parking structure, but this angle still remains one of the most “historic” views.

Here are a few more images made while waiting for the sun to set last night and experimenting with some different post-processing effects. All are from more or less the same position but shot with lenses of different focal lengths, each giving more or less prominence to the Capitol in relation to the other downtown buildings.