Looking east on highway 210 just outside Richmond.

I actually won an amateur digital photography contest for this shot. I had the Sony DCS F-707 which had a pivoting lense. I turned it all the way up & practically laid in the river before pulling the trigger. It was about ten degrees [f] outside and I felt every bit of it there on the water.

I took this shot for my cousin, a retired railroader. It probably wasn't very smart as I had to stand uncomfortably close to the tracks as this monster rolled past about 50mph. The entire ground shook around me & my ears rang for an hour. It is a cool shot though.

I took this from our driveway one morning.

This bridge connects Liberty to Sugar Creek Missouri, across Highway 291.

My friend's mother collects family heirlooms. I thought this a really cool shot.

As a hobby project my grandfather restored this truck at 100,000 miles. I then put another 150,000 on it. It sat behind the barn for years. Now it's in Datsun Heaven.

I love this place. The amount of wonderful shots you can harvest is virtually endless. I have another shot of this doghouse later in the collection.

Another very cold day out on the water.

Michigan's Upper Peninsula, at Escanaba.

It's always been somewhat comforting for me when the mountains or the hills finally give way to the familiarity of the plains. It lets me know I'm home.

Hampton is the best pig EVER.

I thought this shot had more artistic value than it turned out to possess.

The different colors you can see on different mornings still amazes me.

Can you find the plane coming in through the storm?

It means simply, "local police".

I have a thing about fog, and do not know why. Just do.

Where else can you find a flag this large, this crisp ... this cool?

Not very smart, but I love this shot. I took it whilst driving home from work one afternoon.

Making our way back to Missouri through the Upper Peninsula at dawn.

Tornado is coming & I'm out front clicking off pictures.

This guy was crossing the road and I shot this through the window of my car.

I love the ice.

I caught this little guy in our front yard.

The hard part about this shot was trying not to fall in the river.

Another shot I thought was much more artistic than it actually was.

This was one where you leap from the car, snap the shot & hurl yourself back in before your breath freezes to the side of your face!

Only in January can you get this color of blue.

Hampton loves his chocolate bars.

This fountain runs year round. By January it's all but frozen over but the constant flow of water makes for some very cool shots.

I took this one afternoon while deer hunting.

The Mighty Mack, connecting The UP to the lopers, or people "South of the bridge".

Turkey always know when you can't shoot-em.

This was the second shot of this doghouse I'd taken that evening. Love this shot. Notice the moon sliver in the sky.

One of the neat things about where we live, is that it's both urban & rural. This creek is less than three miles from our house.

I've no idea how this came out blue. This candle sat on a white counter top. At dusk I turned off all the lights in the kitchen & shot this without a flash.

This was our attempt at an action shot. This shot convinced us we need a long distance lens. However, this one didn't come out half bad. Note you can see the ball.

The completely commonality of this shot is what made it for me.

Before this trip, I'd never been to a beach where the temperature was less than eighty degrees. Actually the cold makes it so much more peaceful.

I've ridden this road many times on my motorcycles. It runs from Platte City to Dearborn. Great bike road.

This shot seemed interesting when I took it.

Salena Marie took this while I was staring out to sea. Humans have always been fascinated by the water, our home. What I was really thinking was, "I wonder what's for lunch"?

This old place has stood abandoned for years. Productive farms surround this little building.

Dredging the river for sand.

I walked out of the house to find this had fallen on the trunk of my car. I shot it, then ate it, then went to work.

I sat outside the local gas station/liquor store/movie rental/restaraunt and shot this one April evening.

Don't know why, but this just struck me. Before you ask, the answer is yes ... I take the camera everywhere.

I zoomed right in on this little guy.

Eight days from my wife giving birth, some neighbors noticed the smell of natural gas. Next thing we knew, the local police & fire departments were busting in our front roomn. We awoke to greet this Sergeant comng through our front window. Luckily it turned out we were in no danger.

Connecting North Kansas City to downtown Kansas City, Missouri.

I got in a lot of trouble for taking this picture. I was running a preschool for the local school district & climbed out onto the roof to shoot the river. Once the powers that be discovered this, I was repremanded for being on the roof & not authorized to be on said roof. I never was one for following directions.

I absolutely love this shot. It's the Missouri River at Sugar Creek, under the bridge across highhway 291.

This shot has a story. I carry the camera with me everywhere. My friend often teases me about this. While sitting at his kitchen table one evening I decided this would make a good shot. "Christ Richard", he said ... "now you're taking pictures of my table peanuts"? I love this shot.

This is actually a Christmas tree ornament. I shot it because I thought it was cool. However, looking at it, it looks much bigger than it is.

It was bloody hot that day.

My paternal grandfather attended this school, just outside of town.

I thought this was the coolest shot. I saw these soaps sitting in the washroom at the farmhouse & immediately took it. I enjoy the color.

A yard ornament on my friend's farm.

I got this affect by shooting through a screened in window. I like the haze.

Fog coming up from the Missouri River.

I have several shots from this very spot at differing times a year. I like this place as it's very peaceful, running along the banks of the Missouri River in Parkville.

Coming in from scouting deer all day long, I was frozen solid. Yet I saw this on the sky & knew I had to have the shot.

This barn is actually right across the street from my friend's farm. This old guy who can't hardly walk rides his four-wheeler out each morning to pick up his paper & back again each evening to pick up his mail. Very cool.

My friend's little boy was so disappointed. He wanted to ride his little tricycle but found it snow-bound when he awoke that morning. I guess if I hadn't have been such a cruel sombitch, I'd have tried to comfort him a little bit, rather than simply taking a picture of his torment.

I took this one night at Perkins. I love their flag display.

This is one of the very first digital shots I took. I shot this with an old Sony FD-75 that shot at only 1.3 megapixels per frame. It holds up well however. I very much still enjoy this shot.

This isn't sepia & it isn't grey. This is a rainstorm that culminated in a flooded basement. The rain was coming down so hard it turned the sky against the light grey.

You have to love that old F-707. What a cool shot.

Watkins Mill Bridge

This is a simple shot. I came out one morning to find my car this way & before I cleaned it off, I shot it.

This picture doesn't do the place justice. So beautiful, yet so very bloody cold.

Another one of my brilliant ideas. I stood in the middle of the freeway & pulled the trigger. I like this shot however, so what the hell. It was taken along I-35 between Kansas City & Cameron. Follow this highway north & you end up in Des Moines. Keep going & you'll be in Minneapolis by morning.

My wife and I were walking through Weston that day & decided this would make a good view.

The bridge between Lexington & Richmond Missouri. It has since been torn down. Bastards.

I stopped along the road, got out of my car in a snowstorm & pulled the trigger on this shot. I loved it then, & still do.

My husband was walking a cemetery, looking for gravestones while doing some genealogical reserach. I saw this llama on the ridge. He was very curious about just what it was my husband thought he was doing. I warned him to get in the car but he said he thought he could protect himself from any "killer llamas". I couldn't believe this guy was loose. No fences, no nothing. Just a llama guarding an old cemetery in rural Missouri.

Looking up a tree in our front yard.

Broken window from an old children's playhouse in our back yard.

I found this laying in someone's yard.

The McKern Toolshed

I love this die cast metal truck. I wasn't sure where to place these pictures; which gallary etc..

The tailgate & doors all open. I have some accessories that go with the truck but thought taking pictures of all that would make me a little nuts. (Like this doesn't?)

The hood opens as well. (I knew you were wondering)

See ... I told you it opened. This truck weighs about four pounds and is all metal. I got it as a gift from a local school district where I was molding young minds of mush at the time.

We thought we'd play around early with some Christmas shots. Here in the heart of Mann Studios, we set up a festive display.

This was an ice storm that hit Kansas City on 10 December 2007. This shot is of the end of my driveway.

I took a similar photograph last spring when we had a torrential rainstorm. This is our front yard.

Frozen Rain Gutter in our front.

I can't seem to get enough of the ice shots. This one was caught hanging from our tired old gutter. Rather than repair the gutter, I took pictures of it.

I heard this little guy outside my bedroom window. I opened the screen and stuck out the Nikon.

I must have shot 20 pictures of this little guy, but these were my favorite. I need a better long distance lens. Trouble is, I've gotten so used to eating, that I'm not sure I could give it up just to have another lens.

This is a private residence, surrounded by suburban hell. I applaud this dude for not selling out to Target, Walmart & Home Depot.

This old Ante Bellum Mansion sits about five miles from our home. Very very cool place.

Kansas City, Clay, Missouri

This mushroom just started growing in my yard.

You cannot image how hot it was that day.

They run all through here.

You can't imagine just how hard it came down. Ten days later, my basement is still wet.

Running down the front gutters.

Visitng with ancestors at only ten days old.

I shot this only because I liked the way the red light shone across my desk in the dark. I'm a simple man, with simple tastes.

I like taking pictures in the dark. I've no idea why. This is a shot looking out of our front window at about 0300 in the morning.

The screen saver on my home computer happens to be a picture of my daughter. I don't really know why I took this shot, but I did, and I like it.

This must have been what Andy Williams was singing about. Simply beautiful. This blue is not any kind of editing. That's exactly what it looked like.

A horizontal view. The beauty of this scenery was overshadowed, only by the plethora of mosquitoes feasting on my delicate Austrian skin.

Here is the exact same shot, only a few feet up the bank. I couldn't decide whether I liked the leaves of the bush evening out the shot, or the clean lines of the bush free shot. The easiest way to solve it was to place both of them here.

Park University, Parkville, Platte, Missouri. The mosquitoes were eating me alive by this point.

A city by the River.

The second largest River on the north American Continent runs almost within walking distance of our home. We're there often; for recreation and for photographic opportunities.

One boat is pushing a barge while yet another is working the sand bars.

Dredging sand from the Missouri River bottom.

Based out of the port of Memphis, Tennessee. Here I caught some river rats pushing a barge up the Mighty Mo. This boat must have been taking a break. In the full size version, you can clearly see some dude in the sheel house working on a computer.

I shot this about 0600 this morning. It was taken at the boat launch at Sugar Creek, Jackson County, Missouri.

Taken at the boat launch, Sugar Creek, Jackson County, Missouri.

I've had a fascination with cemeteries for years. I love them. Such peace & quiet. Well deserved rest. I shot two of these. I couldn't decide which focus I liked better, so I posted them both.

Small town America is what it's all about. As soon as I can get my family there, we're moving. Shown above is the small town of Lawson Missouri, located right inside the Ray County line, bordering Clay County, Missouri.

It's almost as if the boat is peeking out from behind the grass.

Sunset on the water.

This small pond was built out of just three acres. The state of Missouri stocked the pond with fish a few years ago & now its filled with cat and small mouth bass.

The last shot in this series of the sun coming up over the main farm area.

Sometimes just taking the color out makees all the difference. This picture could have been taken seventy five years ago, or last weekend, as is the case here.

This is obviously the rear of a barn, located on a farm in northwestern Missouri. The farm is owned by the parents of an old friend of mine. Much, much more goes on here than one would presume simply by looking at this picture.

It was a great day for grave hopping.

This is the street running next to the cemetery. I couldn't make this kind of stuff up, if I tried.

It doesn't get much greener than this, brown tree.

I just thought this was a pretty shot.

What a cool day. Rain kept drizzling down and I found this little bridge. Actually, my wife found it and I just took the pictture.

I saw this goat & immediately said to my wife, "What a cheesy display, sticking a stuffed goat up there". When she pointed out the goat was alive, I pulled the trigger on the Nikon.

This little guy was pushing around a pumpkin larger than he was.

Children feeding some Kids at a local pumpkin patch and petting zoo.

This poor woman looked as if she'd simply, had enough.

These children were dancing around to some music playing, while taking a break from the hustle and bustle of pumpkin patch fun.

A family outing at the local pumpkin patch.

A little train chugging along at a local pumpkin patch and petting zoo. It was pretty cute, as far as cute goes, but not worth the six bucks they took from our family.

These poor souls had finally given up the ghost. Their day was indeed, finished.

I saw this farm in the autumn sunset, and something about it struck me. This is my home. This is the srroundings that make me feel most secure, relaxed and familiar. This is the Americana I know best.

My mother inlaw sent these "Crimson" Pom Pons for my daughter, to try and encourage her to root just a little for Bama. She was also kind enough to pick up these Husker buckets (There's a smaller one inside the larger one shown) and send them as well. I borrowed my daughter's Pom Pons and put them in my new bucket, along with an old rubber Husker Ball I already owned. Then I went about the business of setting this shot up. Thanks Oma Bev. These are very cool!

Kansas City Missouri.

Gladstone Missouri.

Yes, now it's a game. twelve months ago, fuel was at $2.50. Six months ago it was at $4.25. Today, well, look.

The first house on our block to display their Christmas lights. It isn't even December yet folks.

This shot was pretty much our Christmas card for 2008. We shot it in the basement of our home studio and then I edited it, adding text where desired.

St. Patrick's Day is a rather religious occasion around our house, and our city. We began the celebration last weekend with the Snake Saturday parade in North Kansas City, and will attend the parade downtown, again this year. It's an entire week of the IRISH around here.

This is an oldie but a goodie. I found this in a pile of old pictures I'd taken. I couldn't resist posting this, even though it's obviously old and withered. What a cool place.

We set this up for our son's five month pictures, but thought it so bloody cool, we'd post it here. Yay Salena Marie.

The last snow of the season came in the late hours of Saturday, 28 March 2009. This shot was taken the afternoon of the 29nth and you can see, it was already starting to melt.

Thsi was the 1st picture I shot with our new D40x. I always heard that fruit was a good subject. Thsi picture looked much better in the viewfinder of the camera than it does here.

I took this at night of the blooming trees across the street. I've no idea why, but I like this shot.

Springtime in Cameron, Caldwell County, Missouri.

This was a simple shot, and not anything really, "artsy". However, I liked it. It was the 1st shot taken with our new 50mm lens. The more I looked at it, the more I enjoyed it.

The bridge just across the Missouri River.

Here's a shot of the same bridge, about seven hours later.

This small series was simply me, working with a new light.

Apparently ... I like bananas