Tom Lynn

A Beautiful Day

2011-11-04T09:51:00.009-05:00

The day started before sunrise on the ICF prairie. A small amount of frost had fallen on the leaves, which would soon burn off with the warmth of the sun. A warm glow fell on the brown grass as the sun came over the tree tops. Milkweed seeds were plentiful and three white tail deer ran off toward the forest. After spending the morning in the prairie I waited until mid afternoon to go along the Wisconsin River as Sandhill Cranes flew in to spend the night on the sandbars. It was a glorious sunset and nice ending to a beautiful fall day.

Thanks for looking.

Tom

The Prairie

2011-09-23T11:53:00.000-05:00

It felt more like autumn than the last day of summer on the ICF Prairie yesterday. As I walked through the prairie past the Goldenrod, Astor, Bottle Gentian and Downy Gentian I could feel the cool breeze blowing summer out. I noticed a few leaves turning and Soldier beetles busy gathering pollen. I hope you enjoy a few images from yesterday.

Tom

The Prairie

2011-08-09T20:30:00.008-05:00

A fog fell on the prairie Monday morning. A coolness could be felt as I walked through the tall grass and sunrise was noticeably later than a week ago. All small change's but still noticeable.

Yellow coneflower, Goldenrod and Blazing star are all in bloom. A spider web along with a Sandhill Crane were both spotted before sunrise and the tall prairie grass looked as if it were on fire as the sun peaked over the horizon.

Thanks for taking time to look.

The Prairie

2011-07-29T10:27:00.012-05:00

"Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of the beautiful to values as yet uncaptured by language."

— Aldo Leopold (A Sand County Almanac)

On my last visit to the International Crane Foundation's prairie I had the opportunity to photograph George Archibald. In 1973 George Archibald co-founded the International Crane Foundation with Ron Sauey. Archibald is a conservation icon revolutionizing the preservation of rare crane species and their habitats.

We met at 6 AM in the middle of a thunderstorm. George suggested we go to breakfast and let the storm pass, a great idea and what a thrill for me to spend time with George. We talked about cranes, the prairie and Aldo Leopold. He told stories of his travels, how ICF started and his love of photography. After breakfast we tried again to make our way out into the prairie for pictures, this time we were caught in a downpour. Sharing an umbrella we rushed to the ICF library for a cup of Betsy Didrickson's coffee.

Finally, mid afternoon we were able to get the shoot in. Not exactly the light we had hoped for at 6 AM but a nice portrait just the same.

I know I'm am fortunate for the experience.

Thanks for looking.

Tom

tomlynnphotography.com

The Prairie

2011-07-18T09:26:00.007-05:00

A few images from the International Crane Foundation prairie from the past few weeks. I'll be heading back to the prairie later in the week so look for an update from the field then.

For more images from the prairie follow this link.

The Prairie

2011-07-13T15:30:00.007-05:00

I greeted the sunrise from the tall grass dripping with dew this morning. The ground fog had formed in the low lying areas overnight and the warmth of the sun melted both away quickly. I happened on Pale Purple Coneflower, Echinacea pallida, and located a rare strain of Butterfly Weed, Asclepias tuberosa, in yellow that Jeb Barzen had found the previous day. Looking forward to tonights moonrise.

If your interested in seeing more prairie images please look at my gallery.

http://tomlynn.photoshelter.com

The Prairie

2011-07-12T12:39:00.009-05:00

What a difference a sky can make. Monday morning at sunrise, on the International Crane Foundation's prairie, storm clouds rolled in allowing a brief few minutes of warm sun to reach the prairie. Butterfly Weed, in full bloom, caught the light with the rain holding off for only a minute or two from when the photo was taken.

Tuesday morning a beautiful formation of clouds roll over the prairie at the same time of day, this time with False Sunflower catching the rays of sun.

Here are a few of my images for you to enjoy from the past two days, if your interested in seeing more images you can find them here.

http://tomlynn.photoshelter.com/gallery/The-Prairie/G0000nVPi1QPz5Ec

Tom Lynn

tomlynnphotography.com

The Prairie

2011-07-10T15:27:00.009-05:00

The idea started in mid May 2011. A book project documenting the prairie at the International Crane Foundation (ICF). An email from Jeb Barzen put me in touch with Betsy Didrickson who had been thinking of the project for some time. On May 26th I took a tour of the prairie with Betsy and Jeb and started to realize the diversity of life found there. The prairie is so full of life and color and can change is seems over night. I will blog each time I'm out, I hope you follow me into the prairie.

The Last Fisherman

2011-03-30T09:49:00.007-05:00

Dan Anderson is a third generation great lakes commercial fisherman. At one time Milwaukee WI had 70 commercial fisherman and now has one, Dan. Thing is Dan almost never fishes out of Milwaukee. The fishery is basically dead. With so many invasive species there is not enough food to support a fishery anymore. Dan travels year round trying to support his wife and three children who live in Milwaukee. Today we are on Lake Superior out of the fishing village of Cornucopia, WI where Dan is fishing for White Fish. This is just one of his stop. Dan will head to Homer Alaska for the better part of four months. A couple of months is spent on Lake Superior and a couple of months on Lake Michigan out of Door County. In between fishing and operating 3 boats he gets home to visit his family. It is a difficult way to continue his craft but necessary for him to go to the fish. He is winding up his stay on Lake Superior and I will catch up with him in Door County where his dad will come along. I have been following Dan and his family for 9 months and will continue until the end of the summer.

NFL Season

2010-08-29T09:14:00.006-05:00

The official start to the NFL season is two weeks from today. Not soon enough for me. I spent last Thursday night at Lambeau Field in Green Bay WI as the Packers faced the Indianapolis Colts in a preseason game. It was a beautiful night for football. I was a bit rusty at first and felt out of place on a few plays but started to get into the grove by the end of the first half. Thanks for looking.

Tom

Last Day in Alaska

2010-07-13T16:52:00.009-05:00

It has been a great experience traveling to Alaska. I'm calling it my Alaskan adventure. I have been lucky enough to sleep on a boat in the Cook Inlet, watch brown bears in Kenai, have 48 hours of Mount McKinnely out of the clouds in Denali, shop in Talkeetna and tour Valdez. Not to mention fly ariels, travel by train and car through this state. It has been a lot of fun but tomorrow I'm heading home and I'm ready for that. I hope you enjoyed some of the pictures from the trip.

Tom

Valdez Alaska

2010-07-13T16:43:00.008-05:00

Images from around Valdez. Some we had to hike into and others we took four wheelers. A beautiful area with mountian peaks, glciers, and Prince William Sound. Valdez has much history dating back to the gold rush.

Valdez

2010-07-11T15:16:00.006-05:00

I left Denali on Saturday morning, a rainy and foggy morning. We did not see much reason to spend any more time in that area of Alaska due to the weather. So off to Valdez for Mike and I, a 7 hour trip. A beautiful drive especially through Thompson Pass. We were up early Sunday Mike, Lynn and I to Solomon Gulch fish hatchery a favorite spot for brown bears to feed. On cue a mother and three cubs showed up and spent the morning feeding on Salmon. Oh and Bald Eagles galore for our entertainment. I will be in Valdez until Wednesday. We plan on taking the ATV's out this afternoon into some remote areas.

Tom

Last Day in Talkeetna

2010-07-11T15:07:00.006-05:00

Friday in Talkeetna was a bluebird day. All blue sky and no clouds. Spent the day walking up and down Main Street and looking at Mount McKinley. Some say it hides in the clouds. I was lucky enough to see it for two days straight. My cousin Mike Corsi, from Valdez, joined me Friday evening for a beer. We have not scene each other for 12 years. Mike has lived in Valdez Alaska for 7 years. Here are a few street scenes from Talkeetna and Denali one more time.

Tom

Mount McKinley

2010-07-09T14:48:00.005-05:00

I walked over to the Talketna River at 11:30 PM last night, just to see what the light looked like on Mount McKinley. It took a couple of hours of waiting but I finally got what I wanted. The sun setting behind the largest mountain in North America. Mount McKinley or Denali "The High One". Only one other photographer along the river with me. What a site it was. Here a few images for you to enjoy.

Tom

Talketna Alaska

2010-07-09T01:46:00.007-05:00

I took the Alaskan Railroad from Anchorage to Talketna today. Beautiful scenery the whole way and we were lucky to be able and see Mt. McKinley along the way. I checked into my little cabin "Blue Moon" for the next couple of days while I explore the area including Denali National Park.

2010-07-08T18:54:00.006-05:00

Our guide moved us slowly across the meadow watching the bears and inching us closer and closer to the mom and her cubs. By the time we stopped we were within 15 feet of them. I could not believe how close we were able to get. The bears are so intent on eating they totally ignored us. After a couple of hours of shooting we needed to make our way to the beach for our ride back to Homer. Once on the beach we got word from the pilot that the plane was struggling in the bad weather and would be two hours late if he made it at all. There are stories of people being stranded for days on Katmai due to the weather. Finally we could hear the plane coming in. The weather was as bad as I have ever experienced. Rain, wind, and cold. I know now why I spend money on quality outdoor gear. After being out in a driving cold Alaskan rain for three hours while walking through swampy Sage Grass and crossing streams it was nice to be dry on the inside. The pilot landed the plane but needed to take on emergency fuel, which is stored at the base station. Once loaded he noticed that the wheel was stuck in the sand so we all had to push the plane out of the sand before takeoff. Because the ceiling was so low it was a 2 1/2 hour turbulent flight following the shoreline the whole way back to Homer. What a great day of photographing bears filled with many stories.

Tom

Kamai National Park part 1

2010-07-08T18:37:00.007-05:00

I took a trip to Katmai National Park yesterday to photograph Grizzly Bears in their natural habitat. What a fantastic day it was. I was one of 4 passengers on a bush plane out of Homer Alaska. The flight, which normally takes a little over an hour took us about 2 hours and 15 minutes due to the poor weather which was only getting worse. The pilot landed the plane on the beach at Katmai which is located on the Shelikoff Straight. The Shelikoff is known for it's rapidly changing weather patterns and is almost impossible to navigate by boat. Once off the plane we set out in search of bears. Our guide Dewaine Tollefsrud has been leading tours for 12 years and was fantastic at getting us in great locations to see bears. We walked for the better part of an hour through the tall Sage Grass that makes up the majority of the bears diet until the Salmon start to run. We did not see any bears until we reached "Nancy's Meadow", which was named after a bear. In the meadow we saw 5 bears including a mother and her two cubs.

See part 2 for the rest of the story.

Cook Inlet Alaska

2010-07-06T17:17:00.005-05:00

In what was one of the most physically demanding assignments I have ever had I spent 31 house in the Cook Inlet in Alaska fishing for wild Salmon. We had all types of weather. Rain, sun, wind and rough seas. Dan and his deck hand Jeremy pulled in over 4,000 lbs of fish. The day started with a beautiful rainbow that seemed to rise from the sea. Anyway it was very rewarding. Here are some images.

Tom

Homer Alaska

2010-07-04T17:37:00.005-05:00

Made it into Homer yesterday morning to a rainy day. Dan took me all over Homer. Katchemak Bay is a beautiful spot surrounded by mountains and glaciers. We will head out at 4:00 PM today travel about 60 miles west of Homer in the bay and anchor for the night. Fishing starts at 07:00 for 12 hours. Back to Homer Monday evening.

2010-07-03T00:12:00.004-05:00

Long day of travel. Delay's in Minneapolis but made it to Anchorage non the less. A couple of shots from the flight and Lake Hood a sea plane base across the street from my hotel.
Tom

Alaska

2010-07-02T06:41:00.003-05:00

Traveling to Alaska today for two weeks. The first half I will be working on a commercial fishing story. Commercial fishing on the Great Lakes is all but finished and those who want to continue with that line of work are forced to extreme measures to make a living. Dan Anderson a 4th generation commercial fisherman from Milwaukee spends months at a time fishing away from his family. I will be spending time with him in Homer AK.

Tom

Queen's Cup

2010-06-29T12:48:00.005-05:00

This weekend I had the opportunity to sail in the 72nd Queen's Cup race from South Shore Yacht Club in Milwaukee, WI to Grand Haven, Mich. The overnight race takes place each year the last weekend in June.
Strong, sustained winds made it a busy night on the Senta, a 1984 35-foot Ericson sloop owned by Tom Thomas. The crew of eight battled winds and an overnight storm on their way to third place in their division and 24th place out of 208 boats entered in the race. The Queen's Cup is one of the oldest sailing cups still offered for competition every year. The cup, created in England in 1853, was given to the South Shore Yacht Club in 1938 for the race across Lake Michigan. The race draws boats from all over the Great Lakes. Senta and crew sailed into Grand Haven just before sunrise Saturday. It was a fantastic evening to be on the water.

Birkie

2010-02-26T11:20:00.003-06:00

To quote one of my favorite photographers Joe McNally, O dark thirty is an early wake up call. As many times that I have done that in my career as a photographer I'm usually happy with the results. I left my home at 4:15 AM on Thursday to drive to northern Wisconsin to cover one of my favorite events of the year the 37th annual American Birkebeiner. This is the largest cross country ski marathon in North America, with 10,000 racers expected this year. On Thursday the "Birkie" kicks off with the Barneberkie a ski event for kids. You can not help make great photos at an event like this. It is fantastic to see all the young kids with their families enjoy the winter in Wisconsin.

same ole

2010-02-09T09:47:00.005-06:00

A little over a year ago the harbor in Milwaukee looked pretty much the same.

Frozen Tundra

2009-01-15T19:12:00.002-06:00

Milwaukee has been going through a really cold snap for the past couple of days. I have been out making pictures of people dealing with the bitter cold. We are talking bone chilling cold. Negative 10 to negative 20 degrees. Wind chills negative 30. Ya COLD. Enjoy the pictures.

Bosque del Apache

2008-02-22T10:08:00.003-06:00

I traveled to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico in late January. What a spot. Surrounded by the Magdalena Mountains and the Rio Grand River, Bosque is one of the most spectacular wildlife refuges I've ever traveled to. With tens of thousands of birds, including my personal favorite Sandhill Cranes, there is plenty of opportunity for bird watchers and wildlife photographers to enjoy. Snow Geese erupt at dawn to the delight of those who like to arrive at the refuge before sunrise. To see more of my images from Bosque del Apache go to: http://pa.photoshelter.com/usr-show/U0000Dp2HWfBLQ34

Tom

Whooping Cranes migration

2007-10-17T09:20:00.000-05:00

I had the fortunate opportunity to photograph a training flight of Whooping Cranes being led by Operation Migration.

http://www.operationmigration.org

The organization trains young Whooping Cranes to migrate to a site in Florida over the winter. There are less than 500 "Whoopers" in the world. With the help of Operation Migration the numbers increase each year.

This photo was taken with a Canon 500mm F4.0 lens on a EOS 1D Mark II camera.

Weather conditions were cool and damp after twenty minutes of sleet before first light. The wind was light and this made a perfect day for the cranes to get their final practice run in before migration started on Saturday.

You can follow their travels via the website.

Thanks to Curtis Cowgill for traveling to Necedah Wildlife refuge in the middle of the night with me to photograph the Whoopers. It was a day to remember.

2007-09-23T11:13:00.000-05:00

On a blustery gray day a few sun rays found their way onto a tanker on Lake Michigan a week ago. You just never know when a shot like this might appear while driving along one of the great lakes.

Cheyenne River Reservation

2007-09-05T12:49:00.001-05:00

I have just retuned from the Cheyenne River Reservation in north central South Dakota. The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe held it's 56th annual Labor Day fair and Rodeo which included a competitive Pow Wow. The people were wonderful and the traditional dancing and costumes of the pow wow were beautiful. There is such strong tradition and such a tremendous respect for the land and the rituals of their ancestors I was lucky to have had the opportunity to document the weekend events. Look for an update soon as I will be busy editing for a while.

Champion Leap

2007-08-07T10:13:00.000-05:00

The boys of summer. Members of the West Bend baseball team leap into the Wisconsin River after winning the state championship.