The Inspiration

I'm often amazed when friends tell me how beautiful it is where I live . . . of course, I always think it's beautiful! But even people from the Great Plains have a tendency to overlook the fantastic landscapes that are all around them. First, though, a person needs to slow down, leave the interstate, roll down the windows, and--instead of merely looking--actually see the landscape around them.

This was taken on a gorgeous February afternoon, if you can believe that, and has to be one of my favorite shots ever.

Spring Garden

One of the joys of life in the country is the availability of space to garden. This is the first time in three years that we've planted a garden, and we had to plant enough to share with the slugs and the deer, but that's okay. These are heirloom varieties of butterhead, oakleaf, romaine, and deer tongue lettuces. Interestingly enough, the deer never bother deer tongue lettuce. Butterhead, however . . . I think they hear the new leaves growing and come on the run.

An intro, of sorts . . .

In complete keeping with the general messiness of my life, I've been gradually becoming aware that my scholarly work and my commercial work (and hell, my just-for-fun stuff) was veering fatefully into a huge mass of unmanageable albums and collections. When I wanted to sell something, customers couldn't find it. What they could find was not for sale and was interspersed with my rantings and ramblings about sustainability and threats to prairie chickens.

Alas, the time has come to remedy this problem. From henceforth shall my commercial work be marketed under the brand Real Dirt Road Photography on all outlets, while my academic and advocacy work, which is largely not for sale, shall be housed under the banner of Prairie Art Project. I hope that this allays confusion--for myself, if not for others.

So . . . enter, please. Look around and picture life where the blacktop ends. I market my work through several stock outlets (iStockphoto, Dreamstime), but you can always buy directly if you wish, simply by clicking the links below the photos.

Welcome, and thank you!