Critters.

I don't even pretend to be a wildlife photographer. The idea of camping out for hours, days, weeks, months - waiting for one fox family to pop out of a hole in the side of a hill or a elk to come into perfect view... it just doesn't fit my ADHD nature. However, I do sometimes get lucky.

Sometimes, my daughter notices a little critter on a flower, with a perfect sky as a backdrop... while other times a little turtle likes to make a home in my Grandma's flowers...

In the case below, as I walked around Mono Lake in Northern, CA - this little critter thought they were hidden from my view - so I was able to softly walk up and capture this moment in time. 

In the case of a vibrant duck on a half frozen lake, I cannot lie - this was courtesy of the St. Louis Zoo's 1904 birdcage. However, the slithering green creator of many screams below is courtesy of my friend Kathy's eye. As we walked around Paddy Creek in the Mark Twain National Forest, Mr. Snake caught her eye. I got closer. She did not. (She's always been a bit smarter than I am.) 

While wildlife photography isn't my first love and I certainly am not a pro at it, it's something that when chance meets me when I have a prepared mind and equipment in tow - I will pursue it. 

All images and words are by MK Designs Photography. Do not copy without permission. If you would like to, visit our website: http://mkdesignsphoto.weebly.com/

If you want more information on how to order prints, just comment on this blog post, contact us on facebook, or on the contact area of the website. 

Thanks for reading and happy clicking! :) 

Jan 2013. 

2012: Three Images.

As I sit here pondering the past year... many images come to mind... and isn't that natural since I tend to think in terms of photographs?

The image above is one that for sure sticks out in 2012. "Blue on Botanical" was juried into the Framations "Monochromatic" art show this summer in downtown St. Charles. This fall it sold at Zia Gallery in New Haven, MO. Am I getting rich? No... but that's not the point, the point is people saw this and loved it... and someone now has it hanging in their home. That is the HIGHEST compliment any one can get as an "artist" (I still chuckle at the thought of being called an artist). 

"Hopewell Cross" (above) is another image that remains in my mind from this past year. Not only does it have a personal connection for me because of the location (Big Piney, MO) and memories I have (sweet memories)... it's one that I have gotten positive feedback on. I was able to enlarge it on metallic paper and frame it for one of my aunts, too. It looks stellar on her wall. 

Lastly, there is this image I captured on a backroad near Lesterville, MO This image (in my opinion) typifies Missouri. Autumn in Missouri is my favorite time of the year. Crispness in the air you fight back with a little campfire. Bright colors shapes as leaves literally rain upon you as you walk in the woods or drive down country roads. Nature likes to put on a show for us here in Missouri come October and this year she did not disappoint. While this hasn't been enlarged to a 16X20 canvas (yet!) it has gotten a lot of nice feedback on my facebook page and it's one that I often think of when I close my eyes. Where does the road lead? Ahead. To where? Only time will tell! 

All images are available for order through MK Designs, just contact me for prices on notecards, postcards, framed/unframed prints and/or canvas wall art. 

Check out my website: http://mkdesignsphoto.weebly.com/

or like me on Facebook at MK Designs Photography / Fine Art and Portrait

Please do not copy these images or distrubute them without permission. Thank you. 

Best Hiking Weather of the Year!

I love to photograph (obviously) and I love hiking trails (obviously), but hiking in Missouri or Illinois during the summer is brutal. Heat. Bugs. Snakes. Humidity. Weeds that make you itch! That's why NOW is the time to go hit the trails. Colder weather means bundle up and GO.

Each step on a carpet of leaves is a delight to the senses.

Plants take on a new "life" after the summer months fade.

There's still color to be found, even after the thrill of October is gone.

Areas once covered with lush green, are more exposed, and you can see things as they really are.

The green that still lingers is even more obvious to the eye.

And... being outside enjoying the brisk air in the lungs is a true affirmation that it is true... "life is good." 

Taking the time to notice all the little things that make life enjoyable and having all the senses taking part in "life" on the trail, is something that Winter brings to me yearly. It honestly is one of my favorite seasons to hit the trail in Missouri or Illinois. 

All words and images by Michelle of MK Designs Photography. Please "like" my facebook page at MK Designs Photography / Fine Art and Portrait. And, by all means, hit the trail this winter! 

Nov 2012. 

In love with... October.

“There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir, We must rise and follow her; When from every hill of flame, She calls and calls each vagabond by name.”

“There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October.”

“October is the fallen leaf, but it is also a wider horizon more clearly seen. It is the distant hills once more in sight, and the enduring constellations above them once again.”

“Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves,

We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves!”

“October is crisp days and cool nights, a time to curl up around the dancing flames and sink into a good book.”

All images by Michelle of MK Designs Photography. Visit my website at http://mkdesignsphoto.weebly.com and "like" my work on facebook at MK Designs Photography / Fine Art and Portrait.

If you would like to order any image on this blog, they are available for sale. Contact me. Happy October! 

Fall into Fall 2012

Saturday was the first official day of fall, but due to my hectic schedule of "life" - I wasn't able to trek out into the woods for a bit to celebrate the first day of fall until today (Sunday) at Robertsville State Park... and as always... it's those little details that make me love fall so much. 

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."  ~ Albert Camus

"There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been!"  ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

"Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn."  ~ Elizabeth Lawrence

If you want to check out one of our smallest, but most beautiful state parks, go to http://mostateparks.com/park/robertsville-state-park

If you want to find out more about my photography visit my website at http://mkdesignsphoto.weebly.com

And, last but not least, if you'd like to be eligible to win one of these images as an 8X10 Print in my "Fall into Fall 2012" contest, please comment on this blog entry which image is your favorite and why. 

Thanks for visiting! 

Behind the scenes... "Sunset in the glass"

"Your camera takes good pictures" - to which I want to say something like, "Well, that stove makes great meals" - I hate it when people put more emphasis on the "equipment" than the artist...

So, with that said, this artist is sunset obsessed. Catching a sunset in a glass was a goal I'd had for years. Then I finally "got" it. How to make it happen "clicked" in my mind.

Take these ingredients: beautiful sunset, glass (with liquid in it or condensation), a camera YOU can control (in my case the handy Canon Rebel), a good eye for manual focus (do not trust auto focus!), the ability to bracket shots, a steady hand or tripod, and last but not least - FLASH OFF!

I also can't stress enough UNDERSTANDING your camera... This article is so helpful. http://digital-photography-school.com/learning-exposure-in-digital-photography


And, that little thing called COMPOSITION - The "rule of thirds" is valuable to know too... but that's something I hope to cover later.

Just know the more you learn to control your camera - YOUR TOOL to record light - the happier you'll be with your images... and it doesn't have to be a sunset in a glass, it could be of your child's birthday party or summer camping trip.

All words and images by Michelle of MK Designs. http://mkdesignsphoto.weebly.com/

Weather...

"A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves."

It's true, weather can effect our moods and our world. Watching clouds billow and storms form can be both frightening and exciting...

Dark skies over the Sierras in the summer can mean sudden drops in temperature and an onslaught of hail... white clouds building over the bottoms in winter along the Missouri River could mean snow is on the way...

It's all part of life and what we experience, but for a photographer it's a dream. Ansel Adams, one of the best landcape photographers of our time, is noted not just for photographing a mountain, but the weather. He watched weather and knew that it could easily make or break an image due to it's impact on the lighting conditions. Photographer or not, weather is all around us and something we can't get enough of... be it on the local news, our iPhone apps, or our daily conversations.

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather."  ~John Ruskin






All images and (most) words by MK Designs. Please do not reproduce or copy without permission.  "Like" MK Designs Photography / Fine Art and Portrait on Facebook and visit our website at: http://mkdesignsphoto.weebly.com
Summer 2012.