Although Adams was older than Arbus by twenty-one years; he survived her by thirteen years thus, making them contemporaries of a sort.  They had a number of things in common including, being born into upper class families.  Adams’ grandfather founded a successful timber business.  Arbus’ grandfather founded a successful New York City fur store.  In neither case did family money make it down to them.  They were both totally devoted to their craft.  They each produced their best work in black and white.  They both became major forces, not just in photographic circles, but on the American art scene as a whole.

Adams was born in San Francisco in 1902.  One of the more notable childhood events involved his being thrown into a wall by an aftershock of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, and receiving a broken nose in the process.  His doctor recommended the nose be reset when Adams reached maturity, but this was never to happen, and he went through life with his nose distinctly bent.  Adams was a highly intelligent, lively, inquisitive, but unruly child.  His inability to concentrate resulted in his dismissal from a number of private schools.  His father, recognizing his son’s inherent gifts, removed young Ansel from school at the age of twelve and assumed personal responsibility for the boy’s education.  Charles Adams, his aunt Mary Adams, and private tutors provided the bulk of Ansel Adams education.  A less perceptive father might have very well set him on a very different path in life.

Diane Arbus, born Diane Nemerov in 1923, grew up in a large apartment on Central Park West in New York City.  Her father managed the fur store founded by her maternal grandfather, expanding it into a successful Fifth Avenue department store. David Nemerov was often away on business and Diane’s mother, Gertrude, suffered recurring bouts of depression.  These factors, combined with the family’s wealth, added to her sense of being insulated from the larger world.  Diane showed early promise as a painter yet, after being praised for her work, put down her brushes never to paint again.  Diane Nemerov did not consider anything that was easy, to be worth doing.  At the age of thirteen she met Allan Arbus, an employee in the advertising department of her father’s store.  From that moment the life of Diane Nemerov was focused on marrying Allen Arbus. Diane resisted her parent’s pleas that she pursue higher education and, with their reluctant consent, married Allan Arbus when she turned eighteen.

At the age of twelve, Ansel Adams began to teach himself to read music and play the piano.  He became so adept, his father saw to it that he receive the best tutoring available.  His photographic memory and ferocious drive seemed to have set him on a musical course.  However, a family vacation to Yosemite National Park in 1916 was to have a profound impact on the young Adams’ choice of career.  His father had given him a Kodak Brownie box camera for the trip and it proved to be a life changing event.   Adams returned to Yosemite the following year with a better camera and a tripod.  He joined the Sierra Club at the age of seventeen and would remain a member for the rest of his life, serving as a board member for thirty-seven years.  Adams began learning the dark room skills that would make him world famous by working part time for a San Francisco photo finisher.  Teaming with a retired geologist, named Frank Holman, Adams spent summers hiking in the high Sierras.  These extended hikes with Homan helped Adams develop the strength and stamina that would prove so valuable in the great work to come. 

With the outbreak of World War II, Allan Arbus entered the U.S. Army Signal Corp and trained as a photographer.  The Arbuses utilized these skills to found a highly successful fashion photography business after the war Diane’s father was as a major client.  Throughout the early 1950’s Allan and Diane Arbus did work for all the leading fashion publications of the day.  This continued until 1956 when Diane decided she could no longer do fashion photography.  She was supported in this decision by her husband.  Their marriage would outlive their business relationship by just three years.  By this time Diane was taking photography classes at The New School, and had begun her collaboration with Lisette Model.  Model played an important role in helping Arbus overcome her insecurities and find her own artistic vision.

The foundation had thus been laid for two remarkable artists to pursue their respective visions.  Adams was to divide his time between traveling the American west and New York City, where Alfred Stieglitz displayed Adams’ photographs in his gallery.  Stieglitz, the reigning master of American photography, gave Adams’s work invaluable exposure.  Additionally, through Stieglitz Adams made the acquaintance of many prominent figures in the American art community, including Stieglitz’s wife, Georgia O’Keeffe.  His exuberant personality, and ability as a pianist, won Adams many friends.  Arbus, meanwhile, with the urging of Lisette Model, began seeking out her own subject matter.  Arbus was drawn to society’s oddest people.  Arbus said, “Most people go through life dreading they’ll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma, and they’ve already passed their test in life.  They’re aristocrats.”  Norman Mailer was quoted as saying, ‘Giving a camera to Diane Arbus is like giving a hand grenade to a baby.”

Throughout their respective careers, both Adams and Arbus did commercial work to make ends meet.  Adams accepted commissions form The Sierra Club and the National Park Service among others and, in addition, wrote extensively for several photographic publications.  Arbus produced many commercial portraits for Harpers Bazaar, Esquire and other magazines, and by the mid 1960’s her work had begun taking on the distinctive look that would mark her as an artist.  They both viewed commercial work as a distraction from their true artistic vision.  Adams was known to complain that his contractual obligations left him little time for anything else.   

That Ansel Adams created magnificent images is undeniable, but it was the incredible difficulty involved in getting them, that sets his work apart.  A full day of hiking, with his heavy, large format camera, might yield no more than five photographs. Taking the pictures was only the beginning.  Adams developed his own negatives and made his own prints, often printing images over and over to get the desired result.  Not until late in his career did Adams delegate the printing of his images to an assistant and, even then, he personally signed off on each copy.  Diane Arbus had her own set of difficulties.  Arbus visited sleazy hotels, carnivals, asylums and nudist camps.  In addition to the riveting images she created, Diane Arbus had an amazing ability to win the trust of her subjects, often maintaining contact with them for years.  I cannot imagine either artist doing what the other accomplished.  Can anyone imagine Ansel Adams in a nudist camp? 

Diane Arbus died by her own hand in 1971 at the age of forty-eight.  Ansel Adams died in 1984 at the age of eighty-two.  As so often happens, their works have soared in value following their passing.  They have each come in for the predictable criticism.  Arbus was accused of ‘voyeurism’, and using shock simply for the sake of shock.   Adams was accused of having a lack of imagination.  Personally, I view this criticism of Adams as being in the same vein as art critics who criticize people who can actually draw.  If the images of Diane Arbus were merely voyeuristic and shocking they would have, long since, faded into obscurity.  However, nearly forty years after her passing, the images of Diane Arbus continue to captivate.  If Adams created works of self evident truth, the central message I take away from the work of Diane Arbus is; ‘This too is reality’.

 Not long after Dahlmans’ arrival, western Nebraska was struck by a fierce spring blizzard.  The storm drove thousands of Newman cattle into the dreaded Sandhill country, a region then considered dangerous and deadly.  Billie Irwin, with Newman’s approval, hand selected a team of cowboys, including Dahlman, to scout the Sandhills and recover what cattle they could.   Over the next few weeks they discovered not only the lost Newman stock, but hundreds of additional fat, healthy, cattle.  Some of the unbranded mavericks were thought to be up to four years old.  The cowboy’s returned to the ranch headquarters trailing over eight thousand head.  Following this experience, rather than trying to keep cattle out the Sandhills, the hills became a place to move cattle into for winter.  Today, the Nebraska Sandhills are one of America’s most productive range lands. 

Dahlmans’ killing of his brother-in-law was later ruled self defense and, hearing of this, ‘Jim Murray’ returned to his rightful name of James C. Dahlman.   In 1884 Dahlman married a school teacher named Hattie Abbott and the couple settled in the frontier town of Chadron.  It was in Chadron, Dahlman had his first exposure to politics.  Over the next twelve years, he would be elected city councilman, Dawes County sheriff, and mayor of Chadron.  During his tenure as mayor, he became acquainted with an ambitious young lawyer from Lincoln, William Jennings Bryan.  In 1896, Dahlman would deliver the speech at the Democratic national convention, nominating Bryan as a candidate for President of the United States.  Bryon and Dahlman remained friends for many years until the issue of prohibition drove them apart. 

Jim Dahlmans’ life on the frontier led to several other remarkable friendships.  W.F. Cody would become a life long friend.  His official duties as Dawes County sheriff brought Dahlman into contact with many prominent Native Americans including Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, and Spotted Tail.  In the aftermath of the Wounded Knee massacre, Dahlman met a young Lt. John Pershing who also became his life long friend.

Mr. and Mrs. Dahlman left Chadron for Omaha in 1896, where James had accepted a position with the Livestock Exchange.   Omaha, in the 1890’s, had the well deserved reputation for being a raucous, wide open city, controlled by the political machine of a gambler named Tom Dennison.  Dennison’s third ward ‘sporting district’ was notorious, even by the standards of the day.  Dennison operated gambling parlors, saloons and brothels.  It is believed Dennison had as many as twenty-five hundred prostitutes in his employ.   Since virtually all Dennison’s activities fell outside the law, his survival depended on the cooperation of politicians and law enforcement.  His third ward could be counted on to deliver the votes necessary to either elect or remove any public official. 

The Dennison machine faced a formidable test when, in 1906, the reformist candidate Erastus Benson launched an aggressive campaign against the political establishment.  Benson had the strong backing of the Omaha religious community and posed the first serious threat to the machine in years.  Dennison’s principle ally in Omaha politics was Edward Rosewater, publisher of the Omaha Daily Bee.  Rosewater, being a man of considerable political ambition in his own right, had formed an unholy alliance with Dennison.  Each man used the other to his advantage.  Although both Rosewater and Dennison were Republicans they settled on the strategy of running the Democrat Dahlman against Benson.  Dahlman won easily.  James C. Dahlman, raised on a cattle ranch in DeWitt County Texas, would be mayor of Omaha for twenty of the next twenty-three years.

It was during this period that Dahlmans’ friendship with Bryan began to fray.  Bryan was a strong proponent of prohibition, while Dahlman turned a blind eye to Dennison’s third ward.  When ‘The Great Commoner’ failed to support Dahlman in his bid for governor in 1910, his defeat was assured.   James Dahlman had a mixed record as mayor of Omaha.  Positive achievements include getting the state legislature to grant Omaha ‘strong city’ status, thus giving the city vastly more control over its own affairs.  Under the leadership of Dahlman, the water and gas works were acquired from private interests and brought under city control, forming Metropolitan Utilities District, which survives to this day. 

The most dramatic event to occur during Dahlmans’ tenure as mayor was the Easter Sunday tornado of 1913.  Over one hundred people perished in the storm and property damage ran into the millions.  Dahlman was roundly criticized for his actions which included refusing all federal aid as well as private donations which poured in from around the country.  Dahlmans’ response to the tornado, in combination with the reformist movement sweeping the country, led to his being defeated for reelection in 1919.  This set the stage for the most dramatic event of all during the Dahlman years.  Jim Dahlman may have been out of office but, he was still very much a part of the story.

The reformist Republican, Edward Parsons Smith succeeded Dahlman, promising to clean up the city.  Mayor Smith had Tom Dennison squarely in his sights.  Finding themselves on the defensive, Dennison and Rosewater fought back.  In the years following World War I, large numbers of African Americans began settling in Omaha.  The meat packing industry employed hundreds of black men as strike breakers.  The Omaha meat packing industry, in the early part of the twentieth century, was as brutal an industrial setting as ever existed in the United States.  This was the situation Dennison, operating through Rosewater’s Daily Bee, chose to exploit.  Every local racial incident, as well as those all across the country, were sensationalized in the Bee.  Other Omaha papers paid little, or no, attention to these stories. A grand jury would later rule that elements of the Dennison organization staged many of the ‘assaults’ featured in the Daily Bee.  The drum beat of inflammatory rhetoric that continued in the Bee all through the summer of 1919, came to a horrific conclusion in September, when a young black man named Willie Brown was accused of assaulting a white girl. 

About 2:00 p.m. on the afternoon of September 28^th, a crowd began gathering in South Omaha.  It is believed this crowd may have exceeded fifteen thousand at its peak.  As the afternoon wore on, fueled by alcohol, hate and the Bee, the mob began surging toward downtown, demanding Willie Brown be turned over.  City Hall was surrounded and set ablaze by a brick throwing mob.  At one point mayor Smith, having been accused of shooting and killing one of the rioters, was himself seized by the mob.  Only the heroism of city’s detective bureau, kept the mayor from being lynched.  Edward Brown was evacuated to Ford hospital where he hovered between life and death for several days before beginning a slow recovery.  Willie Brown was less fortunate.  It remains unclear exactly how Brown fell into the hands of the mob.  Some witnesses said that other black prisoners pushed Brown from the roof, where they had been evacuated to escape the flames.  In any event, Willie Brown was shot, hung, and his body burned by the mob.  Although martial law was never officially declared, it was only through the intervention of federal troops, summoned from nearby Forts Omaha and Crook, that order was restored.  Major General Leonard Wood, commander of the central military district, arrived in Omaha the following day and, effectively, took control of the city.

There was no solid evidence that an assault ever occurred, and no evidence linking Willie Brown to the crime.  Willie Brown was laid to rest in Omaha’s Potters Field.  No member of the Dennison organization was ever charged with a crime although some were known to have fled the city.  One witness to the carnage at city hall was fourteen year old Henry Fonda.  Fonda and his father watched the riot and lynching unfold from an upper story window of the elder Fonda’s printing plant.  The events of September 28^th 1919 would haunt the great actor for the rest of his life.  Tom Dennison would go on to partner with Al Capone in Chicago and Tom Pendergast in Kansas City to control the Midwest liquor trade during prohibition. Dennison died in an automobile crash in California at the age of seventy-five.  Edward Smith never recovered, emotionally or politically, from the lingering effects of the race riot.  In 1921 James Dahlman was again elected mayor of Omaha, a position he would hold until his death in 1930. 

It is tempting to dismiss Dahlman as having been merely a tool, an unwitting individual, used by political forces that did not have the public good in mind.  There is no evidence, however, that James Dahlman ever benefited financially from his association with Dennison and Rosewater.  Jim Dahlman died a poor man.  So poor, in fact, his wife could scarcely afford to bury him.  When they became aware of the Dahlman family’s financial state, fifteen Omaha funeral directors donated their services.  More than seventy-five thousand people filed past his coffin as it lay in state in the rebuilt city hall.  It was said at the time that no man ever had more genuine friends than Jim Dahlman.  His, was a truly extraordinary life.     

An epilog to the Dahlman story concerns his grandsons, John and James Collett.   Both brothers graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy.  After John Collett was killed in the early days of WWII, the U.S. Navy commissioned the destroyer, USS Collett, in his honor.  The first commanding officer of the USS Collett was James Dahlman Collett.  Grandpa Jim would have been very proud indeed.

In both body and spirit, water is the thing that sustains us all.  It is through water all living things connect to the earth.  The ocean, lakes, rivers, and streams, we are drawn to water in all its forms.   I am drawn, most especially, to rivers.  Rivers are on the move.  Rivers speak of distant origins, distant destinations, and the endless cycle of life.  Rivers carve the landscape leaving behind a window into the earths history.

The river that calls me back, again and again, rises on the high plains of southeast Wyoming.  The Niobrara river takes its’ name from the county of its origin.  The name is of Omaha and Ponca Indian origin and means “running (or spreading) water.” The Niobrara has a more uniform flow than do most plains streams, owing to steady contributions from groundwater and tributaries in the Nebraska Sand Hills.  As it nears the Missouri, in its lower course, the river becomes wide and shallow.  Over the ages, the Niobrara has carved out a geological and biological treasure.  Draining small portions of  both Wyoming and South Dakota, the Niobraras’ five hundred thirty-five miles primarily drain over twelve thousand square miles of the Nebraska Sandhills, one of the largest stabilized dune fields on earth.  The Niobrara valley supports an exceptional biological diversity.  At least six different ecosystems intermix in the river corridor including Rocky Mountain pine forest, northern (boreal) forest, eastern deciduous forest, tall grass prairie, mixed grass prairie, and Sand Hills prairie.  The valley’s fauna is equally diverse.   Visitors to the Niobrara valley will find deer, bison, elk, beaver, mink, herons, eagles, vultures, and on rare occasion, mountain lions.  The valley floor is also home to a number of threatened and endangered species, including the piping plover, least tern, and the occasional whooping crane.

Above Brewer Bridge

Notable geographic features along the river’s course include the Pine Ridge and the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in the northwest Nebraska panhandle and Smith Falls State Park below Valentine Nebraska.  Thirteen miles southwest of Valentine, the Niobrara is joined by the Snake River.  The Snake river is a treasure in itself.  About six miles west of the village of Butte, the Keya Paha river enters the Niobrara having come down from south central South Dakota.  The Niobrara cuts through several rock formations including the Ash Hollow, Valentine, Rosebud, and Pierre. These unique geological formations include fossils of many mammalian species including beaver, horse, rhinoceros, and mastodons; as well as fossils of fish, alligators, and turtles.  Most of the Niobrara valley consists of pine-covered canyons with many tall sandstone cliff’s along the water’s edge.  The Niobrara National Scenic River protects seventy-six miles of waterway from Valentine east to the Fort Spencer Dam. It is an outstanding example of a prairie river left practically unchanged despite two hundred years of exploration and development.

Smith Falls In Winter

In 1879, Fort Niobrara was constructed just east of Valentine.  The post’s mission was keeping the peace between white settlers and Sioux Indians living on the nearby Rosebud Reservation.  Life at Fort Niobrara was peaceful and during the twenty-seven years it operated not a single military action was conducted.  The fort was abandoned in 1906. Today, the only thing that remains is a single barn and some foundations.   By 1912, the status of wildlife on the prairie had become grim.  Wolves and grizzly bears were gone.  The black-footed ferret would disappear within three decades, and there were fewer than one thousand bison left in the wild.  A concerned resident of Nebraska offered half a dozen bison, seventeen elk and a few deer to the federal government if land could be found for them. The lands that were once part of Fort Niobrara were pressed into service, and the wildlife refuge was born.  Today the refuge exists primarily to protect bison, elk, prairie dogs, prairie chickens, white-tailed and mule deer, burrowing owls, grouse, quail, sand pipers, and the sandhill crane.

Today the Niobrara River is one of Nebraska’s biggest tourist attractions.  Sadly, the river is in danger of losing its lifeblood — water. A Wild and Scenic River that attracts tens of thousands of paddlers and outdoor enthusiasts, the Niobrara valley also supports irrigation of more than six hundred thousand acres of farmland. Additional irrigation applications flows that also support fish, wildlife, and recreation. currently pending with Nebraska’s Department of Natural Resources could, if granted, seriously endanger the river’s future.  In the first six months of 2007, five times more water was requested for additional irrigation purposes from the river than in all of the nineteen eighties The 2006 level of the river was the fifth lowest since 1946.  In 2007, some irrigators had their pumping restricted because of low water.  Kayakers and canoeists today notice more exposed sandbars and rock ledges that make it harder to float this  naturally shallow river, which was named one of the best paddling rivers in America by Backpacker magazine.

Berry Falls In Autumn

The Niobrara River ecosystem is also being threatened by an influx of massive animal factories, called concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs.  Sierra Club activists have been successful in keeping some CAFOs out of the Niobrara watershed, especially where it is joined by Verdigre Creek, a tributary of the Niobrara and a part of the Wild and Scenic River.  A partial solution to the problems facing the Niobrara lies with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.  By summer or fall 2009, the agency is expected to submit its application for an in stream flow water right that would include the seventy-six mile Wild and Scenic section of the river. If granted, this right would ensure an adequate flow of water remains in the river to support the many benefits and services a healthy Niobrara can provide.

On the legislative front, the Natural Resources Committee of the Nebraska Legislature held a public hearing in mid-August 2008 regarding the possibility of changing in stream flow regulations. American Rivers and its partners called on the 2009 Legislature to simplify, not hinder or prevent, the in stream flow application process.  “A healthy Niobrara River demands that Nebraskans continue to carefully balance the needs of communities, wildlife, recreation and agriculture,” said Rebecca Wodder, President of American Rivers. “The question for Nebraskans is really very simple: Do we want to take all the water out of the river, or do we want to leave enough water in the river to protect current irrigation, fish, wildlife, and recreation?

It should come as no surprise war photography has always been controversial.  Photography shows both horror and heroism with equal impartiality.  Both aspects of war photography are as intently debated today, as they were when Mathew Brady photographed the American Civil War.  Photography records history, but not always with optimistism. 

A British army surgeon, John McCosh, is believed to have been the world’s first war photographer.  An amateur photographer, McCosh recorded images of the Sikh War in 1848 and the Second Burma War of 1852.  Roger Fenton was the first photographer to capture images of a major conflict during the Crimean War of 1853.  The American Civil War marked the first organized effort to systematically photograph a war.  Mathew Brady’s team of photographers shocked not only the American public, but the entire world.  Brady’s photographs removed romanticism from war and shattered illusions, once and for all.

Blown Bridge Along Highway 19, South Viet Nam

The one thing missing in early war photography was action.  With the photographic methods of the day, it simply wasn’t possible.  Brady was occasionally criticized for staging some of his photographs.  I suspect staging was a compromise between long exposure times, and the desire to tell a greater truth.  When one looks at Brady’s photographs it becomes evident he never made things look better than they actually were.  Strictly speaking, the work of Brady and others was war photography.  Actual combat photography would have to wait for advances in technology.

By the start of the First World War, photography had made great strides.  Military censorship had also made advances.  Given the scope and duration of the conflict, there are surprisingly few photographs from the Great War.  In the minds of the general staff, the horrors of the Western Front were best kept away from the public.  By 1918 the world had grown desperate for peace.  The allied leaders simply could not risk the effects graphic photographs might have on home front morale.

Ammunition Depot Exploding, Pleiku South Viet Nam

World War II saw great improvements in both cameras’s and film.  Compact thirty-five millimeter cameras and fast film gave combat photographers options their predecessors could never imagine.   Although military censorship was still in place, photographs from the Second World War were used effectively to manipulate both patriotism and outrage.  Contrast the range of emotion between the Marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi, and the gut wrenching images of Nazi death camps.

Of all the conflicts the American military has participated in, the war in Viet Nam was the most open.  Reporters had nearly unfettered access to almost every aspect of the war.  This openness was to become a source of regret for many in the U.S. government.  The iconic picture of the young girl, her clothing burned off, on fire and screaming, as she ran from a napalm attack on her village, and the pictures of the My Lai massacre had a profound effect on public opinion.   

Defoliated Hillside, An Khe Pass, South Viet Nam

The Viet Nam experience led to a reinstitution of censorship during the gulf wars.   Who the real beneficiaries of censorship are, is very much in dispute.  Protecting ‘order of battle’ intelligence is certainly a legitimate concern for the military.  The question is, at what point does censorship degenerate into pure manipulation?  Do not the American people, at some point, have the right to know what it is they’re paying for?  Is censorship the attempt to reintroduce romance into warfare, and thus cynically exploit the patriotism of young Americans?

Combat photographers often find themselves in harms way.  Although international law is supposed to protect journalists, many photographers, both military and civilian, have lost their lives in pursuit of their craft.  War zones are dangerous places, and even more so for the photojournalist.  Journalists have been deliberately targeted, abducted, and even executed.  This problem has grown exponentially with the rise of terrorism and unconventional warfare.  Terrorism does not flourish in the daylight of photography.

Defoliation, The An Khe Pass, South Viet Nam

Combat and war photos have covered a wide rage of subjects.  Some critics voice concern that pictures of war have lost their ability to shock the conscience, and have led to desensitization.  Probably with that thought in mind, some photographers have made the conscious effort to put a humanizing face, on an inhuman activity.  An exhausted soldier’s face, children caught in a war zone, and refugees can still speak volumes about the mental and physical stress of war.  Although guidelines not always respected, it is generally considered inappropriate to photograph prisoners of war.

The military has long seen the advantages of war photography.  This is why all branches of the military maintain cadre’s of photographers.  While the military uses photography for purposes of documentation, civilian photojournalism is more problematic.  Too little control risks jeopardizing military operations, while too much control invites suspicion.  Exercising too much censorship, invites the charge that war is being ‘sanitized’ for public consumption.  For example, it is far more likely that one will see pictures and video of bombs destroying buildings, than pictures of ‘collateral damage.’  In a sense, this is validation of photography’s power to move public opinion, for one thing is clear, photography has for ever changed how war is viewed.

Just as in the animal kingdom, seduction is part of reproduction. Every species, whether plant or animal, tries to perpetuate its own kind. This is the most fundamental aspect of nature. All species have the inherent right to exist. The endless cycle of birth, seduction, reproduction, and death provide we humans with our own survival. Without flowers, there is no food.

Crab Apple Blossoms

In addition to things like apples that begin as blooms, we eat actual flowers. Although you may not realize it, cauliflower, broccoli, and artichokes are all edible flowers. Flowers have been used as medicine for as long as there have been people. Even today, some flowers, roots, and leaves have pharmaceutical applications. Flowers have long been used to create perfumes, paints, dyes, and inks.

Flowers seduce, using a variety of methods. Each flower has a specific design that encourages the transfer of pollen. Form, color, scent, mimicry, and high calorie nectar are examples. Entomophilous flowers commonly have glands called nectaries that attract insects, bats, birds or other animals to transfer pollen from one flower to the next. Anemophilous flowers spread pollen via the wind. Anyone who has seen a maple tree casting ‘helicopters’ to the wind, has seen this happen. Cleistogamous flowers are self pollinating. Self pollination increases the chance of producing seeds, but has a limiting effect on genetic variation.

Flowers have been used as decoration for thousands of years, as gestures of love or friendship, and served as the inspiration for artists and writers. Flowers are a common theme in romantic poetry, and the visual arts abound with flower images. The Impressionists took flower pictures to an entirely new level. Flowers have great symbolic meaning in many cultures, often being identified with the feminine. Western culture associates flowers with weddings, funerals, and other special occasions.

Blossom With Heavy Dew

The effect of flowers on people is well documented. Flowers can impact happiness in ways that are both dramatic and immediate. Flowers have long-term positive effects on mood and tend to make people fell less depressed, anxious and agitated. The presence of flowers can trigger happy emotions and have an effect on social behavior that goes far beyond what was once believed.
The preceding paragraphs delve into the ‘why’ of flowers. Lets turn our attention to taking good flower photos. Although it’s not always true, certain aspects of a particular bloom tend to stand out. Your eye will be automatically drawn to it. This is that seduction thing at work. This is where the focal point of your photo belongs. If it’s a nice calm day, and the flower isn’t bobbing and weaving, I like to go with maximum depth of field. Maximum depth usually means longer exposure times, so movement must be considered.

Some blooms look better very close. In this case, you may wish to use the micro setting on your lens if you have one. If the micro setting isn’t an option, use a short zoom lens. This will allow you to get in tight on an individual bloom. The 28-85 mm zoom is my personal favorite, but I have tried every lens in the bag. I’ve even used my 500mm on a tripod. The effects will differ with every lens. Years ago, I often used a 200mm telephoto mounted on a bellows. This unusual arrangement allowed me to get in tight on a flower, while standing a few feet away. This effect can also be achieved by using an extension tube with a longer lens, and it’s a great way to photograph butterfly’s.

Black Swallowtail Butterfly

Regardless of what you’re photographing, remember there are no absolute rules. Go with what works. It’s almost always a good idea to avoid subjects that are strongly back-lit. Some back lighting may be acceptable or even desirable. Too much back light will give a washed out look to the shot. Take shots at different distances, using different depth of field settings. Walk around the subject and look at it from all angles. I have a theory that nearly anything can make a good picture given the right perspective and lighting. This is especially true for flowers.

Strong back lighting can be overcome, by inserting a backdrop. A backdrop can be just about anything that will look good in the picture. A piece of matte black paper, or matting material, can produce dramatic results. A black background can effectively separate a particular flower from it’s surroundings. A translucent white backdrop can soften and diffuse the light. Experiment with different combinations, that’s how you learn.

If the subject is only slightly, and acceptably backlit, try using a flash to fill in the center. The built in flash on most SLR’s is adjustable and nearly all detachable flashes can be adjusted. Add just enough light to fill in the middle. Bracketing is still a good idea. First, take a shot using the setting you think is correct. Take at least two more shots using both more and less depth of field. I like to go up and down a full f-stop, in one half f-stop increments. If you have the option of shooting in the RAW format, I strongly encourage you to do so. With RAW, parameters are not fixed as they are with the more common Jpeg format. The range of adjustment possible in RAW is far greater than with Jpeg. Convert your finished result to Jpeg for posterity.

Butterfly's And Wildflower

The soft diffused light of a cloudy day, is a great for photographing flowers. Shadows are softer, and some colors become more vivid. After a rain, with the blooms dripping wet, is even better. Using the flash when it’s cludy can produce great results. The opposite condition is around noon on the longest days of the year. In my experience, this is the worst time for about any kind of outdoor photography. At mid-day the sun is at it’s most vehicle, and natural light is at its harshest. This is an especially bad problem when trying to capture subtle hues of a flower. Under exposure helps, and using an overhead screen works. In early summer or late spring, it’s best to shoot just after sunrise, and just before sunset.

Watch the insects. Butterfly’s and bees know exactly what they want. Let them be your guide. Let your eye be drawn where the flower wants it to go and remember the three basic rules……..composition, composition and composition.

Patrick Simons

Immature Bald Eagle

Many of our most cherished assumptions have been wrong.  Replacing tens of thousands of acres of east coast wetland with expensive ocean front homes may have enriched developers, but it had a devastating effect on the Atlantic fisheries.  Coastal wetlands and estuaries are the nurseries of the ocean, and it’s where the food chain begins.  Conventional wisdom held that old growth forests were essentially static and needed to be harvested.  In fact, old growth forests have ecosystems so complex we don’t even begin to understand them.  Often times, we simply do not know exactly what we are destroying.  So much of the destruction we see today is the direct result of short-sighted greed and ignorance. 

Biodiversity plays a critical role in our food production systems, and all living creatures have the inherent right to survival.  Habitat quality is crucial.   All species, both plant and animal, cannot survive without a home.  Some animal species are referred to as “unsympathetic”, as many people are repelled by snakes, bugs, and reptiles.  Remember this, if those creatures didn’t have a role to play in nature, they wouldn’t be there.  That’s the way nature works.  If you encounter one of these “unsympathetic” creatures, give it room, and leave it alone.  

Mankind lived in and with nature for uncounted millennia.  People not only lived in nature, they transformed it as they went.  Fortunately for the natural world, technologies were primitive and people relatively few.  Mans’ impact was slight, and change happened slowly.  Man’s impact on the environment accelerated rapidly in the nineteenth century.  With the advent of the industrial revolution the burning of fossil fuels increased exponentially.  Factories, mills and railroad belched out toxic clouds of progress.  The industrial revolution also drove massive relocation of people.  No longer did the bulk of the population take their living from the land.  People crowded into cities, and the great separation of man and nature was underway.  It’s been said the steam engine was the first man-made device to alter the human gene pool.  It was with the coming of the railways people, in large numbers, began traveling more than a few miles from their place of birth.   

American Bison

The world seems to be heading in the wrong direction.  The sheer amount of bad environmental news can leave us desensitized.  It is entirely possible that people now living could see most coral reefs, all of the worlds rain forests, and a quarter of all living species vanish.  Almost everything that has ever lived on earth has done so within five vertical miles of sea level.  When one looks up at the sky, it seems to go out forever.  In a sense it does, but the earth’s breathable atmosphere only extends a few miles up.  If more people realized that, proportionately, the earth’s biosphere is thinner than the skin of an apple, we might have very different attitudes about conservation.  We not only need to preserve and protect what we have left, we must exercise preventative measures.  Preventing problems is vastly more effective than trying to undo them.  It isn’t difficult for the wildlife photographer to conclude, he or she is only recording what’s left.

Since returning vast areas of the earth to its natural sate is unlikely, conservationists need to focus on what’s possible.  We must protect our remaining open spaces, not just for wildlife but for people as well.  Spending time out-of-doors, away from the crush of city life has marvelous mental health benefits.  I cannot walk through a forest without experiencing the deep sense of being a guest in someone else’s home.  I know I’m in a place where I’m not needed.  Nothing here requires my presence to survive. Since man’s footprint isn’t going away, we must take advantage of that footprint when we can.  Native vegetation should be planted and nurtured along highways, railways, and power lines.  All large buildings should have ponds that collect parking lot and building runoff.  Ponds not only make for attractive landscaping, they act as natural filters for parking lot and building runoff.  The creation of habitat is perhaps the best benefit of all.

These are things the urban dwelling wildlife photographer can take advantage of.  While you’re probably not going to spot a moose grazing by an urban pond, frogs, butterflies, dragon flies, turtle’s, ducks, and geese are common.  Learning how to take good photographs of these small creatures, can help prepare you for the time when you do spot a moose in the wild.  Animals living in and around urban ponds are often accustomed to people, and thus more approachable.  Top professionals use very large and expensive lenses.  These tools are beyond the means of most amateur photographers, but there are things you can do that cost little or nothing. Modern high-resolution digital cameras make cropping easy.  Cropping a picture can do a lot to offset the lack of a long lens.  Wading into shallow water wearing rubber boots, then standing very still is one example.  A little patience may well reward you with a nice picture of a frog or a dragon-fly.  An inexpensive portable blind is a great option.  Blinds allow you to get quite close to birds and small game.  Remember, you’re a guest, so don’t disturb your hosts. 

Rainbow Trout

Great wildlife photographers have great patience.  The photographer must adjust to nature, not the other way around.  Nature operates on its own time schedule, and nature always wins.  Learn the appropriate techniques for the time of year.  You must realize you’re not going to get a great photo every time out.  While you may not get that ‘keeper’ photo, it’s a learning experience, and that’s what makes you better.  After patience, the next great virtue is persistence.  Keep at it, and remember animals rarely pose for the camera.   I’m reminded of the story of a fisherman who, when asked how the fishing was, responded, “I didn’t catch anything, but the fishing was great”.

Know your gear.  Learn your cameras controls thoroughly, so there’s no fumbling when that magic moment arrives.  Be able to react quickly to changing events.  As a general rule, shoot at the highest practical speed.  Using ISO values of eight hundred or higher will result in more noise, but you’ll get much less blurring.  Blurring increases with distance and that’s especially true when using a long lens.  If you’ve ever used high-powered binoculars, you know what I mean.  When using a lens, 400mm or larger, always use a tripod.  It’s all but impossible to hold a large lens steady by hand, especially if the subject is some distance away.   

To successfully photograph wildlife, learn to be totally aware of your surroundings.  Employ all your senses.  So often, people are utterly unaware of what’s going on around them.  There have been many times when people have stopped to ask what I was taking a picture of.  I then point out the beautifully camouflaged little toad hiding in the weeds, or the interesting insect perched on a leaf.  Wild animals don’t have to be big animals. If at all possible, photograph the animals’ eyes.  A photo that looks deeply into the eyes of a wild animal has great power.  Practicing total awareness adds to your overall outdoor experience. 

Above all, be prepared.  Have an idea of what you’re going to pursue.  Hauling every piece of gear you own isn’t always an option, but take what you can reasonably carry.  Make sure your batteries are fully charged, lenses clean, and memory cards are adequate.  Leave the IPod home.  Take your cell phone, in case of an emergency, but turn the ringer off.  Learn to work with what nature gives you.  Who knows, maybe you’ll that ‘keeper’ photograph that helps nudge people in the direction of conservation. 

Black Swallowtail Butterfly and Wildflower

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To stand by the Platte River near sunset in early spring, is to witness one of nature’s most extraordinary  scenes.  All around, the air is filled with the soft warbling call of the Sandhill Crane.  In all directions, thousands of cranes are returning to roost in the safety of the river.  Bird after bird flair magnificent wings, and parachute gracefully to earth.  A pageant made even more dramatic when framed against a flaming prairie sunset.          

Since long before there was a Platte river, the cranes have returned to this place.  The oldest known fossil, undeniably that of a Sandhill Crane, is over two million years old.  The Platte River, dating back a mere ten thousand years, is but a youngster in geologic terms.  The fossil of a crane ancestor, found in central Nebraska, has been dated to between nine and ten million years of age, making the Sandhill Crane one of the oldest bird species on earth.

When cranes began visiting what is now central Nebraska, prehistoric camels, rhinos, and elephants roamed a landscape resembling the east African savannas.  The crane survived the extinction of these animals, and into an age dominated by humans.  This, greatest of all transitions, has taken place in less than two centuries.

Cranes spend winters in Texas, Louisiana, Mexico, and New Mexico.  In late February they begin their great northward journey.  Most of North America’s migrating cranes travel via the central flyway.  Cranes begin arriving along the Platte only one to two days after departing their winter quarters.  Along the Platte, crane numbers peak in late March.  The Platte River in central Nebraska is the idea place to take a break during their migration. The broad, shallow Platte affords safety.  Thousands of acres of farm fields provide food.  Cranes remain along the river, feeding and resting, until about the second week in April, when a mass exodus occurs.  An individual bird spends, on average, twenty-nine days in Nebraska.  During this layover, they will pack on as much as two pounds of fat.

Of the three migrating subspecies, the Greater Sandhill crane nests in Western Minnesota, and the Inter-lake region north of Winnipeg Manitoba.  The Canadian subspecies nests all across central Canada from Hudson’s bay to the Rocky Mountains.  As many as eighty thousand Lesser Sandhill cranes journey as far as eastern Siberia, while the rest nest in Alaska, and the Canadian high arctic.  The body fat, acquired during their Platte River layover, make these prodigious journeys possible.  The Platte River rest period is one of the few times a specie has benefited from human intrusion.  Cranes are estimated to consume as much as sixteen hundred tons of grain missed during fall harvest.  This grain would otherwise be lost, or come up as unwanted volunteer vegetation in spring.  It’s a rare win-win situation for agriculture and wildlife.   Before corn and other crops appeared, cranes fed on starchy tubers produced by a variety of aquatic plants.  One such plant species was Nuts Edge, which was once abundant in the widespread wetlands bordering the Platte before European settlement.

 Cranes nest on the ground, building nests by scraping available vegetation into mounds.  Normally two eggs are laid but, because cranes do not fly until about ten weeks of age, it is rare for both chicks to survive.  Nesting cranes and their eggs are subject to predation from scavengers, raccoon’s, and raptors.  Adult cranes are preyed on by foxes, coyotes, eagles, wolves, bobcats, and even large owls.  Chicks remain with their parents, until the following spring. If the observer pays attention, three bird groups are easily identified.  Cranes have been known to live twenty-five years in the wild.  Perhaps, because of their long lifespan, cranes do not attain sexual maturity until three to five years of age. 

Though the Sandhill Crane is not threatened as a species, the non-migratory southern subspecies are becoming increasingly rare.  The non-migratory population has far less control over their nesting habitat, thus leaving themselves more vulnerable to predation and human behavior.  Good conservation practices have helped the Greater Sandhill Crane to rebound from as few as a thousand birds seventy years ago, to about a hundred thousand today. 

You are cordially invited to visit me at, highplainsphotosandframes.com, where you can view the many crane photos posted there.  About six weeks from this writing, the cranes will once again be returning to the Platte.  The Nikon and I will be there, waiting to welcome them back.   A day on the Platte River, photographing cranes, is a very good day indeed.

Patrick Simons

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Which is the superior medium, color or black and white, film or digital are  subjective questions, without definitive answers.  What works in one situation may fail miserably in another.  Sporting events are one example of a situation when color is superior.   Landscapes and portraiture can go either way.  A black and white landscape can save a picture from being overwhelmed by excessive color.  Everything comes down to application and execution.

White Pelican

Why Black and White?

Great novel’s have a way of expressing profound ideas in ways that go beyond mere recitation of fact.  One need only think of Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle”, or Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”.  Just as great ideas are sometimes most powerfully expressed through fiction, the best black and white photography speaks to deeper truth.  Black and white allows the photographer as artist to reveal a world invisible to the naked eye.  In black and white, abstract shapes, contrast, and recurring patterns have a psychological impact and dignity often unrealized in color.  When the beauty of a common place item comes through in a photograph, the photograph has become art.

Lone Tree In Winter

Photography began as black and white, or more specifically monochrome.  Not all early images were truly black and white.  Many had a brownish tint (sepia), and others even had hints of blue when the cyanotype process was employed. If a relatively young art form can be said to have a ‘classical’ period, it would probably be that time when monochrome was the only option.  The fist photographs to be considered art were all black and white. I suspect this may have let to psychological expectations as to what a classic photograph should look like.  Achieving a timeless look has much to do with why many masters of photography continue to work in this medium.  From a purely technical standpoint, black and white prints simply last longer.  Even the very best color prints degrade over time. 

Turquoise Lake, Colorado

For reason’s I cannot explain, some things simply look better in black and white.  My personal rule when retaining photographs is……”If in doubt, throw it out”.   The last thing I do before deleting a picture, is converting it to black and white.  Most of them still get thrown out, however, just often enough to keep me doing it, I’m stunned by what I see in black and white.  A ho-hum color picture suddenly possesses that indefinable something that makes it a keeper.   I’ve thought long and hard as to why this should be so.  I don’t have any answers. 

I should point out, that most of my work is in color.  I love color, and it will probably always be my primary medium.  There are times, however, when black and white stands out.  If you’ve ever tried doing serious landscape photography, you know one of the most important considerations is getting the sky right.  The best composition in the world won’t compensate for a white sky, something that’s caused many of my photos have hit the circular file.  Setting the exposure meter against the sky can go a long ways towards preventing this problem, but the technique isn’t foolproof.  On an overcast day metering against the sky can result in other features being too dark.  This is less of a problem with digital photography, especially when shooting in the RAW format, but it can be serious issue with film.  Black and white offers a way around this difficulty.  If your digital camera has the option of shooting in black and white, by all means use it.  Shooting in the black and white mode seems to add a depth and quality lacking when removing color on the computer.  An even worse time to set the meter against the sky is midday in summer as that’s the time wave lengths of light are at their most constricted.  Every outdoor photographer knows the best times are those hours just after sunrise, and just before sunset. Unfortunately, we don’t always enjoy the luxury of hanging around until the conditions are perfect.  The next time you’re faced with this situation, try black and white with a red filter.  Ansel Adams used this technique, and if Ansel did it, it should be good enough for anybody.  The red filter turns that whitish midday sky to a dark, lovely grey in black and white.  The darker the red filter, the darker the sky.  In black and white the sky will look as if it had been a deep dark blue, and no one will be the wiser.  Some big, puffy cumulus clouds will make it even better.  If you have the opportunity to look at a collection of Ansel Adams photos, pay attention to how he often used clouds to great effect. 

Snow On The Big Blue River

Digital photography has taken the black and white medium to unprecedented heights.  Today’s high end digital camera’s and powerful computer software, give the modern photographic artist control the masters of old never dreamed of.   

To see some of my black and white work, please visit me at  highplainsphotosandframes.com

In the years that followed, I owned a series of point and shoot camera’s. As my world expanded, these little cameras documented my travels. Everything changed in 1969 when, one day at a PX in Viet Nam, I bought a Canon FT, my first thirty-five millimeter SLR. No longer would I be limited to snap shots of my buddies. I was learning about ‘depth of field’, time exposures, and doing my best to talk the talk. The FT was a totally manual camera, which was no rarity in those days. Looking back, it was wonderful thing, as manual operation forced the user to really learn the craft of photography. That old Canon continues to occupy an honored place in my one shelf camera museum.

It was during my time in Viet Nam, I was introduced to the darkroom. I was fascinated. I could develop my own film, and print my photos. I could not only print my pictures, I could ‘mask’, ‘burn in’ and otherwise tweak my prints. At any rate, I could do these things in black and white. Quality color print film was still years away. If you wanted to shoot color in those days, the preferred medium was the slide. The downside to shooting slides was the unavailability of local processing. Film had to be sent back to the U.S. for processing. It could easily be three or four weeks between shooting the pictures and seeing the results. Thus, my first artistic attempts were done in black and white. Fortunately few, if any, of these early efforts survive. Unfortunately for me, once the novelty of the darkroom wore off, my attitude began to change. Although I loved taking pictures, darkroom work was becoming drudgery.

I don’t know how many budding photographers fell out of love with the darkroom. I expect there were more than a few. This phenomenon only increases my admiration for artists like Ansel Adams. Lugging a heavy, large format camera into the back country, is not for the feint of heart. In his early days, Adams had the additional task of preparing his own glass negatives. A long day’s effort might yield only half a dozen photos. My digital Nikon can take six photographs in less time than it takes to tell about it. Ultimately, it wasn’t Adams’ physical perseverance that made him great. It was his genius in the darkroom set him head and shoulders above the crowd. His willingness to print pictures again and again until he was completely satisfied turned his photography into art.

Leaving the darkroom behind, I spent the next several years shooting mostly slide film. As family, work responsibilities, and life in general took up more and more of my time, I largely abandoned photography for a number of years. It was in Minneapolis, while waiting for a movie to start, I wandered into a camera store, to kill a little time. I emerged a few hundred dollars poorer, but possessing a Canon F1, and a couple halfway decent zoom lenses. The F1, was about as good as it got for mostly manual camera’s. It had a solid brass body and one camera store owner told me, “You could drive a nail with it”. I’m pretty sure he was right. It had the aperture priority feature, my earlier camera’s lacked. Aperture priority allows the user to set a desired depth of field, and the camera automatically gives the correct exposure time.

By this time, high quality, fine grained color print films had come on the market, and I never looked back. I had recovered my hobby and life was good. I shot roll after roll of film. Although digital cameras were appearing, they were far outside my price range, and the pictures they produced left much to be desired. I had pretty well resolved to stay with film, considering myself to be hopelessly old school. All this changed when one of my best customers stopped by my house with a brand new Nikon D50, still in the box. She said, “I want you to learn how to use this, and then teach me”. She also left her trusty Nikon 8008 35mm, and a bag full of lenses. Who could turn down a deal like that? With manual in hand, I set about entering the world of digital photography. Digital photography was far removed from the, mostly manual, 35mm world I had inhabited so long. I uttered many a, “You’ve got to be kidding”, during those early days. Little by little it began to take hold. I was learning about ‘white balance’ the same way I learned about depth of field so many years earlier. As things worked out, I wound up buying all of her Nikon gear, thus ending a thirty-five year love affair with my Canons. Personally, I don’t think there’s a big difference between Nikon and Canon. Their long competition has made them both great. It’s that bag of lenses that tends to keep a person bound to one brand or the other.

By a fortunate convergence, I had become, more than a little computer literate, having spent ten years writing software. Using Photoshop seemed almost second nature, and what a world it opened. What was drudgery in the darkroom could now be done on my computer. I upgraded my computer, and then upgraded cameras. The D50 was a great entry level digital SLR, and you can do serious photography with it. It was when I traded the D50, for my D200, and moved to Corel Paintshop Pro, the floodgates of creativity burst wide open. The high resolution of the D200 allows for great cropping, with little or no loss of resolution. Paintshop Pro has all the tools needed to tweak a picture all over the map.

Today, I have my own web site, highplainsphotosandframes.com, and I manufacture note cards and postcards, all on my own equipment. I did a short production run of a calendar this year, mostly for family and friends. Everyone seemed to like them, and I plan to do a much larger run, for sale on my web site, next year. What a world digital photography has opened for me. If you haven’t tried it yet, what are you waiting for?

From the colonial era, to the industrial revolution, America was mostly rural America. Nothing symbolized this period more than did the great American barn. This image endures, even as we enter the twenty-first century. From New England, the south, the midwest, the great plains and the far west, the barns of rural America are testimony to the people who built them, and the times in which they lived.

Classic American Barn, Cass County Nebraska

All farm activities revolved around the barn. The barn served as factory, storage for the farmers’ implements, threshing house, shelter for the animals, and storage for their fodder. When settling new territory, the barn being critical for the survival of the agricultural enterprise, was often constructed before the house.

New England barns were often attached to the house. This enabled the farmer to tend his livestock even in the worst winter weather. As many New England farms were dairy operations, this all-weather access was vital.
Crib barns were common in the south. Built with a central alleyway, the outer walls were constructed of logs without chinking. This method of construction made for good ventilation. Poorly ventilated barns were a fire hazard, as green hay could generate enough heat to spontaneously combust.  These barns were constructed both with and without hay a mow. The rustic appearances of these barns have enormous charm.

Round barns always drew attention. George Washington had one and the Shaker communities in New England were noted for them.  The round barn design maximizes the ratio between storage area, and the materials needed to build the structure. “Round” barns were in fact, often eight, twelve or even sixteen sided structures. Possibly because farmers tended toward the traditional, this idea never fully caught on. Where these barns remain, they often enjoy a measure of fame within their respective communities. 

Log Barn And Shed, Central Colorado

 The classic image of the American barn with its gambrel roof, overhead haymow, and nearby silo, is known as the prairie, or western barn. The prairie barns were often built to maintain large numbers of livestock, requiring a great deal of fodder storage. As such, they tended to be substantially larger than their eastern cousins.

A common variation on all barn styles is the ‘bank barn’. Barns of various designs were built into the side of a hill. Doing this allowed ‘drive in’ access on more than one level. Often, bank barns were built with longer sides than other barns. These barns were normally aligned with their short ends facing east and west. This allowed for a well sheltered, sunny area on the south side.  There is no standard for barn design. Clearly, traditional designs were modified to suit the particular needs of whatever new territory was being settled.  Barns in the south and southeast were adapted to suit tobacco, rice and cotton. In the far west, barns were built of rugged log construction to withstand the harsh rocky mountain winters. 

Straight Roofed Barn With Silo, Eastern Nebraska

I find old barns, sheds, and houses enormously compelling, and I have hundreds of pictures to prove it. I cannot look at an abandoned farmstead without wondering about the lives of the people who lived there. Sadly, for those who love them, the American barn is rapidly disappearing. I have pictures of many barns that no longer exist. The nature of agriculture has changed forever, and the barn is no longer the most useful building on the farm. Many farms today have little or no livestock, and the barn has been eclipsed by the modern steel building. Modern buildings are clean, functional and require little maintenance. What these buildings lack, is soul. Farmers are often torn between their sentiment for a barn their grandfather built, and the expense of maintaining, and paying taxes on a structure having little practical use. One by one, they will all come down, never to be replaced. We will have lost something valuable, and our spirits will all be a little poorer for it.

Patrick Simons