Oak leaves blanket the ground, as the sun's shadows become longer.
Yet, a small pine tree lights up the forest at the end of the day.
It doesn't take much to light-up your part of the world.
Plant a tree. It's never too late.
Conway, Arkansas.
Photo #IM5_7981bw.
A unique perspective on the variety of fall color timing and diversity of trees. This is a view of trees of Petit Jean State Park in the background with Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge in the foreground.
Photo # K03_1680-84.
"The Opening"
There are times when the day may seem dark, dismal or dreary. Oftentimes, if you're patient, a ray of light may be all you need to see something beautiful that can change your day.
Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas.
Photo # IM5_7888abws.
The simplicity of this photograph keeps stealing my attention. The high contrast of the cloudy, but bright sky against the tree with leaves holding on, all the while a Bald Eagle pauses for an extended time.
Comments welcome.
Bald Eagle (adult), Haliaeetus leucocephalus.
Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas.
Photo # K03_1487-88.
"Ghostly Intensity"
The Northern Harrier (aka Marsh Hawk), Circus hudsonius, is a rather unique hawk. The shape of their face allows for acute hearing and aids in the location of prey. This raptor has long wings and tail, allowing incredible maneuvering. The adult male is also known as the "Gray Ghost", having grey feathers on top with bright white below. Watching this raptor hunt on the wing is an incredible sight.
I cropped this photograph so you can see the intensity of his glare towards me. Very intense.
Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge, AR.
Photo # K03_1507c.
My intent of this photograph is to relay the elegance and purity of the Porsche 911 GT3 tamed in the Touring package. To show it as it is - art in a simple form.
The "Touring" is a package option that has no fixed spoiler, offering the look and design of the classic, original 911, yet the benefits of the GT3.
Porsche Palooza 2021
Photo # K02_7722-30bws.
(c) Kelly Shipp
Occasionally, there are moments when walking in the woods, the sun peeks through the trees, and the forest is quiet. It may not seem like much at the moment, but those can be the moments we most cherish.
Forest abstract, Arkansas.
Photo # IM5_7735b.
The beautiful immature male is enjoying his first Spring.
Notice the variety of colors at this young age. As an adult male, it will be mostly blue.
An adult is about 7" long, it has two wide chestnut wing bars, and a large beak which separates this species from it's similar Indigo Bunting. These birds like to forage for seeds, insects, spiders, fruit and especially grasshoppers.
Blue Grosbeak (Passerina caerulea).
The Dandelion or common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), is a flowering herbaceous perennial plant. Generally, the flowers are edible and are known to have antioxidant properties by Native Americans and traditional Chinese medicine.
Photo # K02_8713abw3.
(c) Kelly Shipp.
I've been fortunate to occasionally watch this White-tailed doe teach her two fawns lessons of life, what to eat, what not to eat and much more. Today, I watched them each give mom special affection. These are the moments we long to experience in nature, and I'm thankful I was present to capture this moment. It's extremely important that we protect wildlife and especially wildlife habitat, not only for our generation, but for all those that follow us.
Wild white-tailed deer, central Arkansas.
Photo # K02_9306c.
(c) Kelly Shipp
It's interesting when leaves keep hanging on even after others have moved on. Life teaches us that it's full of seasons, but there's nothing wrong with standing-out and doing your own thing, in your own time.
Photo # K01_2241-45stkbw.
(c) Kelly Shipp
The Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis, is a common, social gull about the size of a crow. It does have interesting features, including white-grey wings with black wing tips, a yellow bill with a ring around it, a pale-yellowish eye and a slender wingspan around 45 inches.
They are masters of their wings in that they perform aerobatic maneuvers and hovering when hunting for their food. Breeding adults have a white head, while non-breeding adults have some tan streaking on the head or neck (as does the one in this photograph). Two-year olds and younger have progressively more brown streaking and spots.
This bird is an opportunistic omnivore and typically migrates south in the winter.
Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge.
(c) Kelly Shipp
There's much to see in this photograph of this backlit waterfall. As I often include in my waterfall photography, you see how the light dances on the water at the top of the photograph, almost perfectly recording it as an acoustic wave.
Hope you enjoy.
Woolly Hollow State Park, Arkansas.
Photo # KS1_8944bw.
(c) Kelly Shipp.
"Cotton Gin Office"
This is another from my series on this Cotton Gin.
Important: I did get approval from the property owner to photograph this property.
This photo shows the front of the office building. Notice how surprising the front door has retained its structure. I almost suggest that the ghosts are still trying to cash their checks. I left the exposure long during several frames and found the grasses moving although there wasn't any wind.
A brief history of Dick Hunt and the cotton gin:
In the 1930's, Heber Springs was the largest town in Cleburne County, with a population of 1,400 residents. A nearby Post Oak school was a two-room school with two teachers. The average school year might be six months since children were often needed on the farm. In these days, receiving an 8th grade education was considered educated by Cleburne County standards.
This cotton gin was built in the 1930's by Dick Hunt. Dick lost his father when he was 11 years old, which soon left him to take responsibility to help his mother with six children. Some say this pushed him to become a great leader, one who would eventually be one of the most successful businessmen in Cleburne County. He married in the early 1920's and eventually had five sons and three daughters. He and his wife farmed through the late 1920's, then as the depression continued, he pursued other venues. He tried a "rolling store" (horse-drawn wagon), then later a truck. He was also known for carrying mail by horseback and operated several passenger buses. He built three cotton gins and other various drilling businesses.
Dick bought this cotton gin in Texas and had it shipped/moved to Heber Springs. He and his sons worked the Gin. Horse-drawn wagons carried cotton to the Gin. Dick Hunt had the only cotton gin in the northeast section of Cleburne County. Sometimes wagons were lined up the length of a football field waiting for their cotton to be ginned. Dick Hunt also had the largest mercantile store in Cleburne County. While some farmers waited for their cotton, they would buy a 'soda pop' and candy from Mr. Hunt's store. You could buy a hamburger and coke for thirty cents.
In 1949, the Arkansas State Legislature passed a law to consolidate the small one and two-room schools. In the fall of 1949, students from Post Oak were transferred to West Side Public School. This was the first time these students had an opportunity to ride a school bus. In the early 1960's, the Greers Ferry Dam and Lake was completed, covering the land which cotton had thrived, consequently slowing cotton production to a halt.
Heber Springs, Arkansas.
Photo # IMG_1627-41_hdrMonoc.
(c) Kelly Shipp
This is a self-portrait from a few years back when I was photographing an old Cotton Gin. I found myself gazing across the landscape.
Why is it that we find self reflection easier when we are gazing across farm land? Does it reflect on our ancestral background? Or does it reflect upon a simpler life, allowing for easier self reflection?
You may notice the ghostly appeal of this photograph. Partial credit goes to my choice of using infrared photography and the other are choices in my exposure and timing.
Location: central Arkansas.
Photo # IMG_2032_2039mod1b.
(c) Kelly Shipp.
A few years back, I had the privilege and approval to photograph interiors of the old, closed Laneburg High School in southwest Arkansas. This shelf of books was inside the "Shop" building of the school campus.
This photograph tells a variety of stories. Surprisingly, the books are in decent shape given their age. The greater story is the irony of the title of the series of books on the left: "Hunger Signs in Crops". The reason for the irony is that an increasing number of high schools are dropping their shop classes. This begs questions of the future education of farming and shop skills, much less the exposure of such during high school that carries into further education.
Hope you enjoy and comments are welcome.
Detail: Shop books, Shop building, Laneburg High School, Laneburg, Arkansas.
Built in the early 1900's, the Laneburg school was consolidated with four other school districts in 1985.
Photo # IM5_3993.
(c) Kelly Shipp.
Sunlight peeks through the tall canopies in the forest.
Woolly Hollow State Park, Arkansas.
Photo # DSC_0220bws.
This Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger) paused to look across the snowy landscape. I have many photographs of squirrels, but occasionally one simply gets my attention more than others.
Hope you enjoy.
Color photograph converted to black-and-white.
Location: Conway, Arkansas.
Photo # 1029_ks20401bw
This is another in a series I shot of trees and their mysteries.
The early morning infrared light is bouncing off the ground-covered snow almost appearing as fog.
Photo # IM5_7453s4.
(c) Kelly Shipp
Trees have many mysteries - some we understand and some we have yet to.
Location: Arkansas.
Photo # IM5_7193abwsq.
A male Cardinal pauses on a frozen branch.
Location: Arkansas.
Photo # KS5_7025a.
(c) Kelly Shipp.
For some, the porch swing brings back memories of a simpler time. A time when you didn't have technology buzzing all around. A place where you could clear your mind and simply just be yourself. A place where you can focus on the sounds of nature, friends, or family.
This photograph frames a lot of facts and some mystery. Notice all the woodwork of everything in the photograph, but what I enjoyed most about framing this photograph is the shadow of objects from the setting sun. The shadow of the wind chimes, and the mystery of the ghostly shadow of the swing - almost as if we're peering into another dimension or past.
Hope you enjoy. Comments welcome.
Location: A relatives homestead, Hope, Arkansas.
Photo # IM3_6229bwc.
(c) Kelly Shipp
A Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) lands effortlessly at a pond. Notice how the feet were softly breaking the water, slowing the bird as it lands.
Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas.
Photo # K02_1934cm1.
(c) Kelly Shipp
In early January, I spent an afternoon photographing Ring-billed Gulls (Larus delawarensis) at Holla Bend NWR. This scene really caught my eye as the colors of the snow-filled, overcast skies matched the color of the gulls wings. Gulls are relatively active when in flight so to capture this posture of the gull relaxed in a turn seems to blend with the smooth texture of the sky.
Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas.
(c) Kelly Shipp.
The more you look at these trees, the more they seem to come alive.
Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas.
Photo # K02_7966-75cfbws2.
(c) Kelly Shipp
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