The renewing power of fire in nature cannot be understated
and the other day I had a firsthand chance to witness it. A few months ago, a controlled burn was
used on a tall grass prairie established and maintained by close friends, Rick
and Toni Sturtz. They are
caretakers of this plot of land, returning it to a native environment common to
much of Wisconsin a hundred plus years ago. In an age of habitat loss, it’s refreshing to see even a
small gain in restoring what was once here.
As a photographer, I think I need to tackle a project, a
theme or body of work from time to time-just to force myself into something
different. Three graduate credits
for a photo project will work too!
My idea was to return to this prairie I’d photographed during the fire,
to take a close up view of it now that the black ash of the burned vegetation
is swallowed up by new growth. I
drive or pedal by it every day it seems during the summer, but that’s not the
same as walking among the Big Blue Stem, cone flowers and Bee Balm. Of course, with a camera and extra
lenses along, it also changes how I walk
and what I’m seeing.
With the sweltering days and humidity, it’s been pretty
common to have ground fog in the morning and with the addition of some clouds,
a beauty sunrise. Photographers
call it the “Golden Hour” for a reason, and once the sun climbs a few too many
degrees in the sky that magic light becomes mundane. The low fog on this morning added a mysterious quality to
the landscape and the east sky didn’t disappoint. I switched up lenses from time to time, wanting to capture
the vastness of the prairie ( it’s just 35 acres or so, but the largest parcel
of tall grass around here) with the wide angle and then sometimes a long lens
to pull in the smallest detail of what is hidden here. I’m no wildflower expert, so part
of my shooting was just “collecting” images to identify later. It’s amazing how much variety is really
out in a prairie.
Although some species of wildlife need and thrive in tall
grass, many times, they stay hidden, but on this morning I caught fawn looking
at me, looking at her. “She” was
hunkered down near a scrape pond, sunlight making her alert ears glow. I managed a couple frames before a few
steps too close sent her bounding high across the field. I continued on, finding some
interesting dew beaded spider webs, some Prairie Blazing Star, and Queen Anne’s
Lace. Along the way, other flowers
were past their prime, flowering earlier in the summer to start off the season
with a flourish of color. It’ll be
interesting to watch different species move to the forefront as the days
shorten and temps cool. Never a
dull moment here.
