Outdoor Photography Close to Home #1 - New Series!

A shot captured in a wheat field within 15 minutes drive of home

      I had the idea to start this series after the last short evening trip my cousin and I made with the specific intention of taking some great photos in the great outdoors. After thinking about it a minute I realized how easy it is, when you live in a city, to forget what great opportunities there are to experience the outdoors without driving far. There are great city parks in many places, local lakes, ponds, etc. I decided to start this blog series to share with you what I've come up with for getting outdoors and taking great photos close to home.

     In the first blog post of this new series, I'll take you with my cousin, friend, and I to a wheat field about 15 minutes out of town. I have a couple of friends who own and farm some property nearby our town who were more than happy to let me come out and goof around with my camera. Now before you go saying "but John, I don't know anyone with property like that!" Let me offer up this suggestion: Find a dirt road just outside of your town, and cruise down it slowly and safely until you find something interesting! I've found that you can typically find a pull off to a lease road or similar, park out of the way, and hop out to take some photos! The photograph I got of this incoming storm was taken in this manner.

A thunderstorm making its way into town over a wheat field

     Back to the wheat field belonging to my friend, I've found that in central Oklahoma you have to focus on the little things to find the beauty in nature. While we may not have grand mountain ranges, sprawling sand beaches, or the Parisian skyline, we do have a fair share of nature's beauty to photograph! For instance, in the picture at the beginning of this post, have you ever noticed the intricacies of a single plant of wheat? The beard, the individual grains/seeds, the stalk itself, these small parts all come together to form a major staple of the American diet. Not only that, but these plants are quite photogenic. Get creative with your shots and try different angles, too!

A head of wheat trying to hide the sun

      The image at the head of my website is even a shot taken from the wheat fields, as I'm sure you now know. The possibilities are only limited by your time and creativity. If there's anything I want to show with these blog posts, it's that getting outdoors doesn't have to involve a week of vacation and a huge trip. If you're anything like me, that's probably the way you'd prefer to get outdoors and enjoy yourself, but that's also not always the most easy thing to arrange. 

​     To wrap this post up, I'd just like to share with you a few more of my images from the wheat field and area near that same field. I hope I can inspire you to get outside and take some photos, or enjoy being outside in whatever way makes you the most joyous! If this blog has inspired you in any way, I encourage you to please share with your friends.

A memorial to fallen storm chasers

The city of El Reno, OK from a distance at dusk

The night sky, I happened to catch a truck driving by as well!

A sunset that set the sky on fire

An HDR composition of the sunset

A close up shot of a purple wild flower