2024 Iowa Nature Calendar

Cover Image- Mines of Spain State Recreation Area, Dubuque County

Anyone who's convinced that Iowa is flat has clearly never experienced the driftless region along the upper Mississippi River and encompassing the northeast corner of the state (or hundreds of other locales, to be honest.) Through my photography I've always sought to dispel such stereotypes, and felt that this image of Horseshoe Bluff, which rises more than 200 vertical feet over the surrounding landscape, provides a great example. The bluff is located in Mines of Spain State Recreation Area, just outside of Dubuque- which is an incredible nature preserve that hosts a variety of habitats and abundant recreational opportunities.

While I hate to admit it, Dubuque is just far enough from my hometown that I've only actually visited Mines of Spain a handful of times (this photo is from a day trip in September of 2023 which left me lamenting that...) but it's definitely on my list of places that I hope to become intimately familiar with in the year ahead.

January Image- Cedar Valley Park, Cedar County

The silent beauty of a January sunrise can be deceptive, but on closer look this photo reminds of how dynamic and ever-changing the winter season can be. A warm spell weeks earlier caused flooding along the Cedar River, but as colder temperatures returned, standing water in low lying areas froze on the surface while slowly draining back to the main river channel beneath. Ice rings around the trees tell a story many cold nights in the making, showing where the water level had been.

(It remained about mid-shin under the latest thin layer of ice at the time this photo was taken... Don't ask me how I know that.)

February Image- Roadside Cattails in a Snowy Ditch, Rural Tipton

Well, I guess the caption above pretty much sums this scene up, but as I always say, every one of my photos has a unique meaning or story behind it. And my calendars are always more to me than just a collection of pretty pictures. Putting them together has become an annual labor of love, and while I always consider aesthetics and seasonal appropriateness in deciding which images to include, personal sentiment plays a role too. I'll often select photos to honor people, places, or chapters of life that will always matter to me.

While this one, on the surface, is just an Iowa roadside scene- when I look at it I know that my parents' house is just a couple hundred feet up the hill. And the big cottonwood tree in the background? It makes me think of my son, and is a different view on the subject of "Sacred Ground" -one of my favorite photos of all time.

So yeah, technically it is just a snow-filled ditch, but to me this is a reminder of home.

March Image- Yellow River State Forest, Allamakee County

Little Paint Creek in Yellow River State Forest (northeast Iowa near Harpers Ferry) at the beginning of spring thaw. One of my favorite, and one of the most beautiful areas of Iowa, I've been traveling to Yellow River since the dad of one of my best friends started taking us camping and trout fishing here in middle school. Gorgeous any time of year, each season has something unique- in both views and experience- to offer; with some of the state's best hiking, pond and stream fishing, scenic drives, cross country skiing, mountain biking and more. In the dozens (if not hundreds) of times I've visited now, I've never once left without eagerly thinking about how I can't wait to get back again.

April Image- Fallen Red Bud Petals on Mayapples, Red Haw State Park, Lucas County

Red Haw State Park (not Red Hawk) is located just outside the town of Chariton, Iowa; about an hour southeast of Des Moines. I'm frequently asked if I've misspelled the caption or labels when sharing photos from here, but the park is named for the red haw tree, a species of hawthorn. (I actually once had a customer purchase a matted print at a show, only to return minutes later and politely ask that I add the "k" I'd forgotten in the description.) It's actually another tree that the park is better known for, however, as hundreds of red buds grow along the shore of Red Haw Lake, bringing the forest alive with pink blossoms in early May. It's incredible to see, and one of my favorite springtime destinations anywhere.

This photo represents kind of a natural evolution in my photography. While grand landscapes easily jump out and can of course make for stunning photos, more and more I find joy in capturing smaller, more intimate vantages that might easily be overlooked. I've always described Iowa as having a "subtle beauty" -it's not as in your face dramatic as the mountain views of Colorado- but once you open your heart to it, you realize that it's all around. As I continue to grow as a photographer, I look forward to further building a portfolio that demonstrates this on all scales.

May Image- Lake Macbride State Park, Johnson County

Located between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, Lake Macbride and the adjacent Coralville Reservoir are favorite outdoor playgrounds for eastern Iowa locals. The Macbride spillway, pictured here, is especially popular in the spring and early summer, when increased outflow creates a rushing cascade.

Both Lake Macbride and the Coralville Reservoir are man-made bodies of water, Macbride first being dammed in the 1930's as a Civilian Conservation Corps project, bringing to fruition the vision of Iowa City residents who sought to create one of Iowa's first state parks within easy reach of their community. Two decades later when the US Army Corps of Engineers set plans for the Coralville Dam and Reservoir in an attempt to control flooding along the Iowa River, it was determined that the new lake's flood pool would sit 28 feet higher in elevation than Macbride's original dam. This would be problematic in times when the lake reached flood stage, with backwater from the reservoir breaching the depression era structure. So in the late 1950's Lake Macbride was expanded, with materials added to heighten the existing dam, timber cleared from the shoreline, and the new spillway blasted from a solid rock bluff at the point of this current site. (Those familiar with the area may recall the large rounded rock formation between the main walking path across the dam and the spillway itself... this was once that solid bluff. For further reference, take a look at my "Macbride Rainbow" photo, which gives a better overview of the spillway as a whole.)

If you find such history interesting (aka you're kind of a nerd, like me) the Geological Society of Iowa published a pretty cool report in 2006 titled The Natural History of Lake Macbride State Park, Johnson County Iowa that you can view by clicking HERE. There's a little bit of everything in the article, from geology to ecology to Indigenous history and that of later European settlement. Definitely worth the time, if you're into this sort of thing.

June Image- Palisades-Kepler State Park, Linn County

Another of Iowa's most popular state parks, due to both its natural beauty and its location between Cedar Rapids and Mount Vernon, Palisades-Kepler preserves scenic bluffs, Indigenous mounds and rugged woodland along the Cedar River. Popular here is a matter of perspective- which is something I really appreciate about Iowa's public lands. Unlike the year-round crowds, overflowing parking lots, and congested trails that can adversely affect your experience out west, it is very easy to still find peace and solitude, even in Iowa's best known outdoor locales.

This photo was taken on a Sunday afternoon, early last summer. I arrived at the park to find a fair amount of people enjoying the day- people fishing, kids playing on the sandbar upstream from the dam, a couple of family reunions- but upon leaving my vehicle and heading out the trail it took all of three minutes to disappear into the woods and feel as if I had the place to myself. I hiked about a mile, worked my way down to the rivers edge, and sat on a fallen tree for over an hour- listening to the gentle breeze and watching these reflections take shape as the day grew long. My only company the entire time was a snapping turtle that would periodically surface and poke its head out of the water nearby.

(And another quick historical tidbit, continuing the dialogue from above... over 1250 loads of sand, as well as limestone quarried from what is now Palisades-Kepler, were used in the construction of the original 1930's swimming beach and bathhouse at Lake Macbride State Park.)

July Image- Folsom Point Preserve, Mills County

The Loess Hills of western Iowa are a geologic gem and provide for some of the most gorgeous vistas in the state. It's an area that I've long admired, and now that I'm passing through multiple times a year it's a place I'm focused on exploring more and more. This image is the result of taking one such opportunity, last summer with my son Caden in tow.

Cade is six now. While I've always hoped to instill my love of the outdoors in him, my attempts in doing so feel like walking a fine line. He's a very curious, active, kind-hearted and good natured kid- but can also be very timid; particularly when it comes to things like wild animals, and bugs. So while he likes to tag along with Dad, in his mind doing so can become a harrowing, death defying experience at any turn. That's probably why I was met with such trepidation, pulling off of interstate and down an unknown gravel road, promising him we were just going to "stop and stretch our legs a bit..."

Folsom Point is a 281 acre Nature Conservancy preserve located southeast of Council Bluffs. It features steep hills and ridge lines with some of the best tracts of remnant prairie in the region. This was my first visit and while I was eager to check it out, I also knew as I coaxed Caden out of his booster seat and shouldered my camera bag that we really did only have time for a quick look. (And that we needed to avoid any strenuous climbing to keep from giving him fodder for future refusals.) Things went pretty well at first as we followed a faint trail through calf-high grass, sticking to the lowlands, just taking in the wildflowers and views. But when I kneeled to snap a quick photo, Caden raised his voice from behind me with concern.

"Dad... I think there's a spider crawling on your leg..."

"It's alright buddy," I replied, consumed with composing my shot. "It's not bothering anything."

"Dad I think there's another..."

Then immediately a blood-curdling scream.

"THEY'RE ON ME TOO!!!"

I spun to see several small dots crawling up my sons bare legs. These weren't spiders. They were ticks.

Caden began to jump around and kick, crying out in horror as I quickly tried to swipe the parasites away. Glancing down I had a bunch climbing up my legs as well. I knocked off what I could, grabbed my camera and tripod in one hand, snagged a fleeing Cade by the back of the shirt with the other, and threw him over my shoulder. We quickly retreated to a dry stream bed with a patch of bare ground where I could set him down and check him over. Fortunately he faired better than I did- none attached, and just a few still climbing. They were all over me, though. Literally dozens. I've never seen anything like it.

Sometimes it's one step forward, two steps back when it comes to introducing our kids to the great outdoors. And others start as a short casual stroll followed by a frantic dash back to the car. I'm pretty sure we made some unfortunate core memories that day. (Caden's sitting beside me as I write this, and claims to be traumatized still... but I did owe him payback for a previous misadventure we shared in the Loess Hills...)

Moral of the story: the Loess Hills are beautiful, but if you're ever hiking there in early summer, be sure to wear long pants!

August Image- Pine Creek Grist Mill, Wildcat Den State Park, Muscatine County

It's always fun to discover unique vantages of well-known scenes. The Pine Creek Grist Mill is an iconic Eastern Iowa landmark, tucked within the forest of Wildcat Den State Park. It's a site I've visited and photographed often, but one day last fall I started walking a bit upstream, actually intending to photograph the historic wrought iron bridge that stands nearby. (This is the only place in Iowa where a historic mill and bridge combination still exist.) It was then that I noticed how the 1848 mill appeared in the still water behind the dam, reflecting in its namesake stream. I liked how the tree limbs kind of framed the scene, blocking out the mill itself to put full focus on the mirrored image, and giving the feel of looking through a window to the past.

September Image- Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, Cedar County

I've been fortunate to explore, photograph, and get to intimately know a variety of landscapes throughout my life, but somehow it seems every year I fall more and more in love with the Iowa prairie. It's an amazingly beautiful and diverse ecosystem, but sadly less than one tenth of one percent of Iowa's original prairie remains. In August and September I took the time to visit several existing tracts across the state, and was inspired to make photographing and advocating for both remnant and restored prairie a major focus of my career moving forward.

I really love the colors in this photo, from the orange and black monarch perched on a stem of goldenrod, to how the purple asters pop in the sea of yellow. I have a lot more to edit from that trip (I made this one a priority to include in the calendar) and look forward to sharing more from these gorgeous, indispensable lands.

October Image- Palisades-Kepler State Park, Linn County

Palisades-Kepler gets double representation in this years Iowa calendar, with this image shot across the river of fall color over low rocky bluffs. Palisades is one of my favorite places- anywhere in the country- to see and photograph autumn scenes. I love all the textures to be found in isolated scenes of the forest, and how the park changes by the minute in long October light.

November Image- Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, Jasper County

Late autumn sumac painted in a blaze of red, standing in stark contrast against dormant timber at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge near Prairie City. The 6,000 acre refuge is one of Iowa's greatest conservation success stories. It features an expansive mix of tallgrass prairie, sedge meadow and oak savanna habitat, a state-of-the-art visitor center and research facility, scenic drives and hiking trails that provide visitors a glimpse of the states natural history, and hope for what could be returned. Of particular interest to many are the resident elk and bison herds- which are helping to heal the land and restore the prairie through both ecological impact and attracting visitation. Read more in this recent article from Little Village Magazine, and definitely put Neal Smith high on your list of Iowa destinations in 2024!

December Image- Sunset on my family farm, Cedar County

Closing out the 2024 calendar with one more photo from home. Once again, there's more to this picture than meets the eye. While the sunset is pretty, and I'm really drawn to the soft reflection of tree limbs in the open water, I also see the big hill in the background and remember the laughter of family sledding parties. I remember ice skating over the deep hole where this small stream flows into the larger creek, a few hundred feet from this point. I remember the teepee my friends and I built from fallen tree limbs, one timeless autumn afternoon... I've long said that this land holds a memory for me in every step, and while life obligations have pulled me away for now, Tipton... Cedar County... my family farm along the Rock Creek Valley... this will always be where my heart calls home.

Wishing everyone peace, joy and fulfillment in 2024...

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