Resting dragonfly

A dragonfly perches on a plant growing along a small creek near Elkton, Ore., on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2011. Dragonflies are some of the fastest insects in the world; however, this individual seemed content to rest calmly.

Check out more of my animal and nature pictures here.  Reprints are available from the gallery.

Cloud city

A turkey vulture soars past towering cumulonimbus clouds near Sutherlin, Ore., on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2011. Cumulonimbus clouds are tall dense formations often associated with thunderstorms and inclement weather.  Shot with 600mm f/4 lens on a Nikon D3s.

Forest creek

 Wright Creek cascades through a mossy landscape deep in the Umpqua National Forest near Glide. The Umpqua National Forest covers 985,602 acres west of the Cascade Mountains in southern Oregon.

Grape view

Wine grapes begin to ripen in a vineyard overlooking the Umpqua Valley near Roseburg, Ore., on Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2011.  The owner will be harvesting his first crop from his vineyard this year.

Check out my website to see more of my commercial photography.

Smiling dragonfly

Say "mosquito flavored cheese!"-- A colorful dragonfly, with what appears to be a smile, perches on a stick near a pond in Roseburg, Ore., on Friday, Aug. 19, 2011.  Dragonflies are valuable predators and eat mosquitoes and other small insects.

 Check out my dragonfly photo in the Animal Tracks blog on Today.com.

Roseburg engagement photos with Rob and DD

Engagement photos with Rob and DD. 

DD and Rob are getting married this fall at a country park near Roseburg.

 Check my website to see more of my photos and rates.

Patterns in nature

A honey bee feeds on a purple cornflower growing in a botanical garden at River Forks County Park near Roseburg, Ore., on Monday, Aug. 15, 2011.  Purple cornflowers, or echinacea, are used in herbal medicines.  Shot with Nikon D3s DSLR and Nikon 105mm Micro-Nikkor f/2.8 lens.

 Check out my bee photo in the Animal Tracks blog on today.com.

County fair

 A few frames from the Douglas County Fair in Roseburg, Ore., yesterday.  When I was a newspaper photographer fair week was always a stressful time. I would be at the fair once or twice every day for the week.  Now I can just go once or twice during the week and enjoy the sights and sounds. I'll probably go back again on  Saturday.  At least I got free parking back in my newspaper days.

My photo on Time.com

Check out my photo in the Animal Magic gallery on Time.com via Zuma Press. 

Updated website

I've updated my wedding, portrait, and commercial photography website with a new clean look.  Check it out. I also added a gallery of some of my favorite animal and nature pictures.

Going green

A very small Pacific tree frog climbs on marsh grass in a pond on a farm near Oakland, Ore., on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011. Also known as the Pacific chorus frog, they can be found on the west coast of North America from Baja California to British Columbia.

 The pond was hopping with the little frogs, but they were very aware of the big human with the camera.  With very slow movements I was able to get a few photos.  I believe they are this year's hatch of Pacific tree frogs.

The not so... itsy, bitsy spider

My spider photos on the web.  I post this with my sincere apologies to any arachnophobes in the viewing public.  Check out Animal Tracks on Today.com to see lots of cool critter photos.