The Pond–Sunset
Bozeman, Montana
2023

I’ve told this story before at least once, with a different photo every time, but it’s worth repeating I think (at least for me). Every time I happen to glance out across the pond from our mountain house at just the right time of evening and see the reflection of the trees across the way, I am pleasantly reminded of Edward Steichen’s 1904 photograph titled The Pond–Moonlight, one of my favorite historic photographs. Occasionally, I will give in to photographing the reflections I am seeing in our pond, in tribute to Steichen if for no other reason. This is one of my favorite photos of our own pond as I like the way the reflected tree trunks are tightly framed by the over hanging branches and dried cattails and grasses growing around the edge of the pond.

Marmot Memory
Bozeman, Montana
2023

Dynamic Stillness
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
2023

Dead and dry sedges poking up through the ice on the edge of a frozen pond project a feeling of movement even in their stillness. Like sparks from a cold fire.

Bare Tree #124
American Prairie, Montana
2023

Well, Happy New Year to you all. At least I’m hopeful you will each find your own happiness on a personal level in this year 2024. I’m confident I’ll remain blissfully happy when I’m able to stay in my own little world. However as far as the future of the national and international situations go (which are “desperate as usual” to quote Tom Robbins), I’m pretty sure I’d like to follow Alice down this rabbit hole and spend some time in Wonderland rather than read the news every day for the next year.

Bare Tree #123
American Prairie, Montana
2023

Bare Tree #122
American Prairie, Montana
2023

Just Visiting
American, Prairie
2023

A bison that avoided the gathering for testing, stands outside one of the holding pens. Was he just visiting his temporarily incarcerated friends out of sympathy, or was he just enviously ogling all the hay those inside the pen had been fed?

How to Calm a Buffalo
American Prairie, Montana
2023

In November we went to watch American Prairie’s annual bison “handling” (a.k.a. roundup in more cowboy terms), which to my understanding is primarily necessitated because of agreements they have with the State of Montana and the local counties to do testing on a certain percentage of their nearly 1,000 strong bison herd every year. So they round up a certain number (~300) as gently as possible, run them through a series of corrals and chutes where they eventually end up gently confined into this squeeze chute where their blood is drawn, ear tags are attached (when necessary) and hair samples for genetic testing are obtained; all the while trying to keep them as calm as possible even to the point of minimizing the sight of humans. Understandably though, if you put a wild bison into a squeeze chute, they won’t be very calm at all. Surprisingly, one way to help calm them is to put your hands over their eyes, as this guy is doing. It usually settles them right down. Who knew.

Bare Tree #121 (The Cetacean)
Bozeman, Montana
2023

One of my favorite downed trees at our mountain house. I’ve photographed this whale-like tree various times over the years.

Full Circle
Bozeman, Montana
2023

…almost anyway.