I’ve been mostly (and blissfully) disconnected from work over the last couple weeks. I have a number of topics I’m looking forward to exploring with you during the upcoming year. I’ve also managed to do a little winter photography during my break and have some photos to share soon. However, coming out of my break, I want to start by wrapping up 2021. Today’s post is pretty simple – I’m just posting the rest of my favorite photos from last year. I shared some others earlier, which covered the first several months of 2021. This batch covers the rest of the year. I hope the images bring you some joy and, potentially, inspiration as we start 2022 together.

Also, I want to once again share my gratitude for the community of people involved with this blog. A blog already feels like an outdated medium in a lot of ways, but the format still works well for what I’m specifically trying to accomplish here. I want this to be a platform that provides resources and ideas that help others appreciate and conserve prairies. Writing posts forces me to learn and reflect, and to adapt my thinking about prairie ecology, management, restoration, and communication, all of which helps me stay energized and inspired. In some cases, I’m sharing facts, but often, I’m just hoping my thoughts will help spark others to think differently about their own engagement with prairies and conservation.

In that respect, I really appreciate all the comments you provide, including those that are simply expressing thanks or admiring images, but also those that challenge my statements, correct errors, and express contrary or supplementary ideas. With very rare exception, the comments on this blog are polite, thoughtful, and productive. I can’t say thank you enough for that. All of my thoughts and ideas are fluid and your input helps frame those better for the larger group. They also help me continue to evolve and adapt my own thinking. Thank you.

Ok, enough of that. Here are some of my favorite prairie photos from last year. Happy New Year, everyone. Be well.

Over the weekend, I went out to our family prairie to see if the high winds from the previous week had caused any damage. Everything looked fine from that standpoint, so I wandered down to the pond to see if there was any fun ice to photograph. The main pond had a thin skin of ice across it, but not much for patterns. Along the edges, though, there were some small pockets of ice that had some interesting lines and texture so I explored those for a little while.

After I checked out all the ice possibilities, I decided to play with the texture of wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) and the late day sun. To be honest, I was challenging myself to find beauty in the winter prairie. I recently wrote a magazine article about winter hiking aimed at convincing people to venture out in the cold. Despite that, I’ve been pretty bad about getting outside myself over the last couple weeks. I felt like I needed to follow my own advice.

I’ve always found bergamot seed heads fascinating and worthy of photographing. The numerous tubes packed together make for beautiful abstracts up close. On this particular day, though, the light and wind made it seem more sensible to eschew the macro lens and try some other perspectives. I started with a fisheye lens, with which I stuck my lens within an inch of the closest seedhead and tried to deal with the sun right in my face. After that, I backed up and used a long telephoto to condense the heads together. Both were fun to play with as I tried to capture the golden highlights framing each of the seed heads.

Once I flipped the switch and started really looking at was around me, I found plenty to enjoy. In addition to what I photographed, I followed tracks of several different animals, watched a gaggle of tree sparrows bounce from shrub to shrub, and looked (fruitlessly this time) for frogs beneath the thin ice. And, of course, I enjoyed the fresh air and stretched my legs. The temperature was below freezing, but my spirits were high by the time I headed home.