My grandmother gave me a Brownie camera when I was eight
years old, then proudly showed my photographs of her flowers to her Garden
Society. The joy I felt as a young child while taking photographs for others to
enjoy remains today, and it is this passion that keeps me immersed in
photography.
My husband and I moved to Wisconsin in the mid-1970s and,
on impulse, I borrowed a Pentax K-1000 to take my first photography course. I
later attended the Madison Area Technical College and Edgewood University in Madison
where I took both art and photography classes.
In 2007, I received a digital camera as a gift and the door
to photography opened wider than ever. My world shifted as I saw the
possibilities that could be created using a camera and lenses — infinite possibilities
to document the natural world, architecture, history, seeing everything with a
new perspective.
"Even the smallest of details became intensely
interesting. Maybe that's why I love photography. I try to capture what I see,
my own interpretation, not what someone else might see."
I also became a contributor to WisconsinNative.com, writing
and photographing for both the Wandering Wisconsin and Travel Green
features on the travel website through December, 2008. My photography has also
been published in regional magazines, national travel guides, and in a book on
Functional Architecture which was published in London in 2009.
Though I shoot in many genres, I most love the experience
of photographing the natural world. Nature grounds me. I can be myself --
in the forest, the mountains, the desert, or the prairie -- in solitude with
nature.
My hobby is now a career, as I write and photograph as a
freelancer as the principal of Seeded Earth Studio, LLC.
Gandalf - I love the perspective in this photo. My eye was lead from the foreground to the distant view. Very nice.12/01/2009 - 11:29 am
Debi - I want to be right...there. Lovely.12/01/2009 - 3:04 pm
Ed Vatza - This time of the year can be difficult. Grays and browns predominate and for me at least, get boring fast. Keeping eyes, and minds, open can lead to some nice images, Bo.12/01/2009 - 6:44 pm
… a show and a web store.
I am exhibiting my photography products at the first ever “Close to Home: Arboretum Local Products Expo” at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum. The show will be emphasizing products that promote sustainability, recycling and locally produced goods. If you are in the Madison area, come visit and check out...
Montucky - Good for you, Bo! Best of luck!11/28/2009 - 7:07 pm
Marcie - Exciting!! Congratulations and best-of-luck with the exhibit. Love the warm tones and colors in this image. Simply beautiful!!11/30/2009 - 6:51 am
Gandalf - I missed the show (long drive and I didn't see the post until today). I hope it went well. The photo is marvelous.11/30/2009 - 10:54 am
Debi - OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! This is awesome, Bo!!!!!!!! I'm off to check out the links RIGHT NOW!!!!!!! Congratulations AGAIN!!!12/01/2009 - 3:03 pm
Sue - Congratulations on the exhibit. Sounds exciting!12/09/2009 - 4:39 am
After the kitchen quieted, after the food was prepared, the busy stove got a few minutes of respite. While everyone else entertained themselves with trivia games and after dinner walks, I took photographs of the star of the kitchen. The star of the kitchen after the chef, that is.
Pheasant Branch Conservancy, in Middleton, the city just north of Madison, contains a marsh with open water, springs, prairies, meadows, lowland forest, and wooded hills. These various habitats sustain a wide variety of plants and animals, including some that are threatened or endangered. Although surrounded on three sides by urban development, the conservancy provides a...
Madison was fogged in today, but it wasn’t my best day for photography. Early this morning, with the fog swirling around the second story window of my studio, I removed the screen from the window. Then I preset my camera and set it up on the tripod for a skyward shot. Hundreds of Canada Geese...
Montucky - I've had a few of *THOSE* days too! LOL! Still nice to peek out into that fog though.11/23/2009 - 11:12 pm
Anna - Oh nice! I like the composition and treatment in b&w.11/24/2009 - 10:15 am
Preston - I loved your write up. The battery in the bag must have topped your day. Dont' feel bad, Anna and I have driven miles in search of photos and come home with nothing to speak of. Then in the backyard the sun cuts through the picket fence hitting a blade of grass with a florescent color butterfly sitting on it. Usually the best shots come to you.11/24/2009 - 6:27 pm
QuinnCreative - It's brave of you to admit it. It gives hope to the rest of us who have not-such-perfect days, too.11/25/2009 - 12:56 am
Marcie - A relief to know that I'm not the only one who has one of THOSE kinds of days...
Love the mood you've captured here. The fog rendered in b&w is perfect!!!11/25/2009 - 6:58 am
Gandalf - Ditto to the above. I love the moodiness of the photo.11/25/2009 - 11:17 am
The Pew House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1938-40, is seldom available for public tours, so it was with great enthusiasm that I explored this home, inside and outside, during the Wright and Like Tour held last June. Even dodging rain drops for most of the day didn’t dampen the spirit of...
Debi - How fortunate you were able to take this tour, Bo. I'm a Wright fan as well and your story is delightful. The bit about Mrs. Pew's decision to stop fighting with the house then discovered the real self sorta gave me chills. I'll research this tour and plan our return trip to Wisconsin around it - that's a plan! Thanks for a fabulous post! I wonder why the vegetation is so grown up around this treasure....11/23/2009 - 7:17 am
Gandalf - I'll second Debi's comment. FLLW has some wonderful pieces. I'd like to take that tour.11/23/2009 - 11:03 am
Peter Nause - Bo I enjoyed your posting - even more that the Pew House gets better known - this little known and seldom seen location hidden on Madison's southern shore overlooking Lake Mendota in the Village of Shorewood Hills is a treasure that few are aware of.
I have a personal affinity since I spent nearly 3 years working on the stonework and ravine landscape of the Pew House. I had a chance to experience this intimate wooded hillside in every season and weather while rebuilding the steep hillside from the carport entryway down under the cantilevered bridge portion of this historic structure. I came away from that experience with a profound respect for Wright's fabled "genius loci".
Thanks for sharing the nice photos !
Here's a link to a photo showing that rebuilt ravine at the Pew House:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=888800&l=00b8dfbe4e&id=1045935980
Peter Nause Landscape Architect Madison, Wisconsin01/04/2010 - 4:38 pm
Though I’m not quite ready for the snows to come, I’m wearying of brown in all its many variations. It’s nice enough with a dose of sunshine and blue skies, but already I am missing the bright colors that were in the gardens only a few weeks ago. And now snow is predicted for Wednesday,...
Montucky - I'm also a little weary of the browns and in fact am thankful for all of our evergreens. We are supposed to have snow tomorrow too and I rather look forward to it because it's easier to get out in it than rain this time of year. I am concerned for the travelers though.11/21/2009 - 11:43 pm
Debi - I'm a freakazoid who happens to prefer autumn, winter and spring so browns are good for me. However, I must say that the colorful sunrises and sunsets reflected in our lake are framed nicely by the dark bare trees and brown fields. Maybe look up for awhile and rejoice in the beauty of winter skies, if Wisconsin's skies have parties with the sun, that is! Gaze upward into the heavens and watch the clouds play; pray for raucous sunrises and sunsets that can't be seen during dry summer months. What, am I writing a book here? Geez...11/22/2009 - 7:29 am
Marcie - This is SO November. I - too - have been finding that the only colors are browns and blues. Love the horizontal banding of color..the composition.11/22/2009 - 10:57 am
QuinnCreative - Back East, we used to say "NOflower, NOsun, NOvember." Those last few days before snow starts are very bleak. This photo makes it seem attractive and crisp, though!11/22/2009 - 9:29 pm
Anna - This is a nice capture though of the brown straight grass and reaching naked trees in the blue sky. The brown here in Kansas has deepened into burnt sienna and reds. And I wondered yesterday while out shooting the November landscape if there could be an art to the November look in its starkness laid bare. And that is why I really like the shot you have here. I am looking forward to snow that will stick! :)11/23/2009 - 9:49 am
Gandalf - I enjoyed the photo. I like the starkness of this season and best of all ski season follows Autumn.11/23/2009 - 11:01 am
I was out exploring the local Arboretum, simply to see what I could see. In all the many layers of November browns, there was this bit of color – one last stand of Purple Asters still sporting a few blossoms of bright purples and yellows.
Gandalf - Better late than never. I'm glad your exploration turned up a beautiful find.11/20/2009 - 9:45 am
Montucky - Interesting to see them still blooming. They are among the last to bloom here too, but the last ones I saw were over a month ago.11/20/2009 - 8:01 pm
Anna - A wonderful find of the lovely asters!11/21/2009 - 9:24 am
Debi - My New England Asters have been long gone. This is a great find, indeed! Cause for celebration!11/22/2009 - 7:24 am
November has been a very brown month in Wisconsin. Though it’s not unusual to get a good snow or two, it’s been a rather mild November and I’ve only seen a few snow flurries. After a disappointing October which seemed rather like November, it’s only fair to have a November that is rather like October....
Gandalf - While I love the riot of colors in the Spring and Summer flowers, I do find the seed heads starkly beautiful. Very nice image.11/19/2009 - 7:01 am
Anna - I love the colors and the subject. Beautiful image, Bo. And I really like what you have done here with this blog. It looks great!11/19/2009 - 8:03 am
Ed Vatza - While I am not sure about the spray coming across the front, the autumnal tones are superb, Bo!11/19/2009 - 7:34 pm
Marcie - Absolutely gorgeous brown tones and colors. Wonderful composition and light.11/20/2009 - 7:19 am
Susan - ...you have captured the colors of fall that I love best...
Thank you for your continued, beautiful work, Bo!
Susan11/23/2009 - 8:17 am
Though the common thistle is often regarded as a noxious weed, especially by those who prefer pasture to prairie, not all thistles are Eurasian invasives. A large percentage are in the prairies near Madison are true Wisconsin natives. They produce good nectar and so are especially attractive to butterflies, hummingbirds, and bumblebees.
I’ve been going through...
Gandalf - Interesting photo - which is the more prickly the bee or the thistle? I suppose they've signed mutual nonaggretion pact.
Wonderful detail in your image.11/17/2009 - 5:09 pm
bookbabie - Lovely shot! We are having a mild November too, it will certainly help make this winter go a bit faster:)11/18/2009 - 11:26 am
Ed Vatza - I would have responded sooner but I kept watching and waiting for him to fall. Not yet! ;-) Good work. Crisp and sharp where it needs to be. Soft where it needs to be. Voila!11/19/2009 - 7:33 pm
Debi - Hey Bo. We just returned from a trip north, which included your lovely state of Wisconsin. I noticed massive bunches of thistles along roadways, seemingly planted in batches along with some lovely, I presume, native grasses. We visited the Lake Geneva & Williams Bay area and was totally charmed by it all! I thought of you while there!11/22/2009 - 7:18 am
by Bo Mackison
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