Our 300^th post on Earth Images was entitled Batting .300, so I guess it must follow that this one (our 400^th) should be called Batting .400.  Heck, a lot of baseball players every year bat .300 but it was 1941 when Ted Williams hit .406 to be the last player to hit .400 or better.   Of course batting .500 would be a milestone.  This temporary blog called Earth Images has lasted a bit longer than I intended.  One day at a time.

Earth Images.  I had somebody ask me recently where the name Earth Images came from.  I have had many names for photography businesses.  Phase lV Photography was a commercial business that included weddings, real estate, products, public relations and sports editorial.  Why Phase lV when there were at least six different phases to the business?  I have no idea.  Action Sport Images was a business for sports editorial and print sales.  It was mostly car racing but horse show jumping, rodeos and other sports also had a place.  There was a Wayne Nelson Photography for a while but that somehow became Red Sun Photo.  This was really the first serious attempt to make stock nature photography the “main course” of my photography.  In the 1990s when I realized that I would need to make workshops and seminars a central part of my business, Earth Images became the name for a workshops series. I have always believed that all of the nature photography I create, be it a bird, a grasshopper or a flower, starts with the earth and works its way outward.  The name was mine but soon there was another nature photographer, a stock photo agency and a nature related website host that was using it.  I believe they are all gone now but Earth Images remains, and is now used to wean  myself off of a lifetime of making, talking about and writing about photography.   I keep it alive in locations like Flickr Photos, Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and this blog. I am sure it still exists in many places that I have forgotten as well.  My name is always linked to the Earth Images name and I am proud of that fact. I know it’s not much anymore, but it is mine. Having said all of that, when I am asked for advice I always tell new photographers to simply use your name as your business.  It has worked out pretty well for John Shaw, Art Wolfe and many others.

Of course I go back to before the days when we had our own computers and printers. In those times there was no printing 10 business cards to fill up the pocket in your camera bag.  You had everything printed in a shop and it was only affordable if they printed a lot.  If anyone would like to purchase 4,000 Red Sun Photo or 400 Action Sport Images business cards, or 2,000 property releases or 100 model releases, I’m your guy.  Just maybe I have a few Phase lV Photography 1973 business cards lying around.  I will toss them in for free.

These are just a couple of shots that show the similarities and differences between two Plover shorebirds. The first is the very common Killdeer.  The second is the tiny Semipalmated Plover. The images were made a few minutes apart on the shores of Lake Michigan.

My favorite American herd mammal is the Pronghorn.  I think it is because when I lived out west I could take a drive and see them just south of Cheyenne, Wyoming any day I chose. It is very romantic to see a herd of these guys on the western plains.  Of course I have always been a romantic at heart.

Along my homeland shores of Lake Michigan you find a lot of hybrid geese.  Usually they are ½ Canada and either Greater White-fronted, Snow Goose, or domestic.  This one lived and moved with a flock of Giant Canada Geese and is likely ½ Snow or White-fronted. Geese like many ducks, have no issues mating with other breeds of geese. I always enjoy attempting to figure out the right combo.

Long before I made nature my primary photographic subject, I would stack my extension tubes on my old Canon F1 film camera, and make pictures of insects.  This year I made one photo of two Milkweed Beetles.  That’s it. I do believe that signaled the end of my days as a true macro photographer. Sad to say the least, but I have a million memories of crawling around in the tall grasses and exploring.  There is beauty beyond belief resting in those grasses.  This Pearl Crescent was photographed years ago with my Nikon 35mm camera.

I have experienced a lot of rural roads in America. There have been a lot of great desert roads and some incredible Rocky Mountain ribbons of dirt or asphalt that wound along at the top of the world.  This remote forest road in Wisconsin’s Chequamegon National Forest was as good as any. I remember every turn in the road, and I also remember that crisp, quiet autumn air.

I’ve made no secret of my love for turtles.  These gentle (even Snappers) critters just try to go about their lives quietly, while staying out-of-the-way. If you remember I showed some graphic images of a turtle that was the victim of a car at Bong Rec. Area earlier this year. I don’t believe I have mentioned that since that day on one return trip to Bong, I found a Painted Turtle in the road and this time, got there soon enough to gently carry my friend to the other side of the road.  The turtle was young (by size) and a male, because he had a concave curve on the  bottom of his shell.  Hopefully the fact that this giant (me) physically picked him up and set him down, will tell him that once he hits the asphalt there is danger, so don’t sit around enjoying the sun. This is a different Painted Turtle.

“For those who believe…..no proof is necessary, for those who don’t, no proof is possible.”   Stewart Chase