WildfireSmoke from the Anderson Creek wildfire burning in Oklahoma & Kansas. The fire burned over 400,000 acres, mostly in Kansas. Winds of 30 to 40mph, day and night for a week, have rapidly pushed the fire north into Kansas. On this afternoon, the sun was completely obscured here in Wichita even though the fire was 100 miles away. I snapped the photo over an hour before sunset.

A bad combination of drought, low humidity, and high winds have made Kansas a tinderbox. There have been numerous prairie wildfires across the state over the last two weeks. The smoke plumes were large enough to show up on weather radar. I took this photo of the smoke from the Anderson Creek wildfire as it moved across the Wichita metropolitan area one afternoon. 

The fire started in Oklahoma near Woodward but, with constant winds of 30-40 mph, day & night, the fire quickly raced north into Kansas. The wind made it impossible for firefighters to contain the fire. The fire burned for over a week and a half, scorching more than 400,000 acres. Most of those were in Kansas.

I took this photo one late afternoon, more than an hour before sunset. The wind had shifted direction and I noticed what I thought was a cloud bank moving in from the west. As it came over town, the sun became obscured, my eyes were burning and the strong stench of smoke filled the air. Those weren't rain clouds, unfortunately. The shifting wind was allowing the smoke plume to drift right across the city. I was surprised by how dense the smoke was, considering the wildfire was 100 miles away. This turned out to be the largest wildfire in state history.

Bouquet

A few days ago, my wife received a beautiful bouquet of flowers for her birthday. Of course all I could see was a photo opportunity on a cold and bleak January day. Hey, a photographer gets desperate this time of year, especially when the weather is not providing anything beautiful outside. I hope this warms your day.

American Avocet 3Quivira National Wildlife Refuge just after sunrise. The birds were posing in a nice formation with great reflections in the water. Also reflected in the upper portion is the warm light of sunrise illuminating the cattails at the back of the pool.

Photography is all about light: direct, indirect, reflected, warm, cool, bright, dim, morning, evening, mid-day, etc. Without some kind of light, there is no photograph. I was blessed with "perfect" light when I took this photo a week ago at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. I made the drive, hoping to photograph something in the fall migration. I had heard that water levels at the refuge were low due to a lack of any significant rain over the last month or two. I wasn't sure what I would find. Usually drought conditions mean that the water near the roads has dried up and any birds will be too far away to photograph. I always use my vehicle as a blind, shooting from the car window with a window mount and bean bag. The birds are used to seeing vehicles and usually are not spooked.

I arrived at the refuge shortly after sunrise and conditions were not looking good as I drove up the east side of the small marsh. It appeared that every pool close to the road was bone dry. I did see one pool up the road that had a little water in it. As I slowly approached, I saw there were a small group of American Avocets in the water. I was able to get in close without the birds flying. I could see that the light had a magical quality. The intense warm light of sunrise was illuminating the cattails at the back of the pool resulting in a blazing reflection in the water. The sun had not yet reached the birds or water. The near-white birds were standing out against the midnight blue water. The scene looked surreal. I knew I was capturing a special moment. And, how about that pose? Perfect!