An Olympus Get together in Iowa? Yes It actually happened 6 Olympus photographers got together with what was probably the largest collection of Olympus gear in Iowa including any camera shop. We went out armed With 5 digital Olympus cameras, 8 OM Cameras, and 27 lenses. 27 lenses in one location right in the middle of Iowa. A site that few ever get a chance to see. In fact it was the first time I had ever seen any thing close. We went to the Spalding Factory to start the Day of photography and socializing off. Then we were off to Silver Creek Which is a preserve for wild flowers, grass and many verities of prairie grasses. Silver Creek is Maintained by the Audubon Society. This is one of the many different kinds of Flowers. I shot this one with My Olympus E3, 12-60 lens and a FL50R (with a stoffen cap for diffusion) fired off Camera. It is one of my favorite set ups to go out shooting with. Because with a pair of cargo paints I can carry enough gear to cover so many different situations. It was also a great Day to try and practice on some Bee in flight skills. A area of photography that I have not quiet mastered, however I am getting better at it. After Silver Creek we were off to Rock Creek Ia State Park. Rock Creek has recently added this Section of preserved prairie land. Rock Creek as you can see is another great location for wild life and flora galore. With such a rich photographic area I never even made it off the main path before it was time to break for lunch. However before we went to a late lunch we had to get a group photo. I set up the E3 on my tripod fired it by wireless remote, with a Metz 54 to camera right on a stand with the Glad Box for diffusion Fired wireless with my Elenchrom Skyport. Here is a photo of the six of us, From left to right Paul, Joel, me, Gordon, Ken, And Michael. To See more photos that I took on our outing just got to my Gallery HERE Thank you for Reading and as always Comments and Questions are Always welcomed. God Bless, Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

Do you ever wonder where a road that you see in a photography leads to? Although the title to this entry says road to nowhere this road really does lead some where. This was taken out in the country in or around Tama county Iowa. Driving around and taking photos on a clear spring day is a favorite pass time for me. Our family likes to spend warm and sunny afternoons driving around out in the country near our house in Toledo, Iowa. I always find something interesting to take a photo of. On this particular day it happened to be a different perspective that makes this road look like it goes on forever. Hope you liked today's entry! Check back tomorrow to see what I picked. Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

Happy fourth of July. I took this photo some time back but it is one that is really enjoyed be many so I thought I would share it here as well. just click on photo's to enlarge Most people enjoy old barns and I was out shooting some landscape when I came across what I thought was an old barn until I got closer. That is when I realized that it was an old house right in the middle of the field. Being in the middle of the field was just a little odd, Considering that I am used to seeing livable houses being destroyed just for the extra field space. So to leave a house that is not even able to be rebuilt in the middle of a field that has to be planted around. Thanks for looking and comments are always welcomed. Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

I had to go to the Chicago area for the weekend. One of the Jobs I went up for was a Photograph of the City Skyline. The Photograph is going to be used as a panoramic for a Sub City. The End product is going to be around 14 feet long be 30 inches tall. This is just a sample shot that I took. I got some good advice from a friend to take the photos from the Adler Planetarium. So that is what I paned on and from What you can see I had a really good turn out. For the Panoramic I am taking aver 20 photos and blending them together to create a very High resolution single image that should have a close viewing distance as well as huge. This is a small sample of the finished product but is less then 1% of the actual size of the finished picture. Thank you for taking the time and if you have any Questions or comments just please use the comments, I will try to answer them all here. Thanks and God Bless Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

Well Just because I have not posted anything does not mean that I have not been doing anything. I have been very busy and trying to get free time to shoot for my self let alone follow through and get every thing up loaded and then post about it. I have been taking a lot of pictures and and staying very busy. Both with regular clients and the family, who would have thought that only one more child could add that much more work. I have been busy enough taking photos that I have almost filled 3 750 GB hard drives and a 500 GB as well. Here is a photo that I really like how it turned out. (click on photo for a larger view and to go to the gallery) I took this photo while teaching a workshop here in Iowa and it is one of those scenes that was not intended but just happened. The goal was Get up early and be set up lake side by 6:30 A.M. to teach how to take a sunrise photo. However when we got up it was nothing but fog so the lesson plan changed from sunrise over the lake to fog on the lake. This particular photograph was taken at F 9 1/50 s at ISO 100. All in all it was a very productive morning with many great photographic opportunities with many great photographs captured. Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

Some People just envision the mid west as the Great plains and completely flat. Well Here in Tama Co Iowa right in the middle of the Mid West it is not flat at all. Granted we do not have any mountains. What we do have is some breathtaking rolling hills. Hills that can be used for fields but also have a way of dancing with the shadows of the clouds and yet the ability to meet the sky and touch the Sunsets. They also have the ability to hold a farm and protect it from the driving wind. Thanks for stopping by enjoy and God Bless. Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

Wind mills were a staple of our growing farms back when farming was about the only industry in Iowa. Being used for many things from pumping water to powering tools. Today we are starting to see Huge colossal wind mills popping up and now their main purpose is to use the wind to generate electricity. That is enough about wind mills on to the photo today is a picture of an old wind mill that is still standing in Tama Co Just East of Toledo Iowa. I took this photo just after sunset making a nice silhouette. Now I have a problem I think the photo needs to be Color to really work. However I showed it to my Wife as a B&W and she informed me that is what works for this photo. So for today and to appease I will post both the color and the B&W. If you would like to comment on which one you like better please do (I know you will say the Color version). Enjoy and God Bless Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

I went for a drive while all the girls were sleeping and found some really nice scenic views as well as some wild life. After taking a photo I turned to get back into the jeep and I seen this sitting back in the woods. It is an old corn crib. It looks like It has been there for decades and realistically probably has. I have not seen a corn crib of this style since I was a boy and even that one was a more modern design. I just automatically got lost in the scene with the way the the sun gave it just enough accent to catch my eye but no matter how you look at it you know it is from a time long forgotten and that will only be vaguely remembered through years of memories and growth. Enjoy and God Bless Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

Ever look at winter in B&W. I think only certain feelings and looks can be expressed in B&W. I do not see many winter photographs in B&W but I really like the outcome when done right. Today is another short day I am working on a few other projects and took the day off to calibrate a birthday. Enjoy and God Bless Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

This photo was taken on the Iowa River of of HWY 63 on the south side of Tama Iowa. This is one of those photos that is familiar to you if you look at many photos. Granted that is not what I usually want to go for in my photography. However, in this case it is a photo that I never tire of. I will do a little write up about photography in the snow here soon so I will cover this photograph and others like it. Thanks for reading and God Bless Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

I am going to start a Picture of the day series just to help share some of what I am shooting and how I practice my photography. Not every thing I share will be professional work and some will be from my private family life. My Family is one of the biggest reasons I love photography so much. So it is no wonder that they are my most photographed subjects. Not all photos are going to be from that day and some will have as much as a 14 day delay for the simple fact I do try and keep my skills sharp by shooting film manually. This Picture was taken in between the Meskwaki Indian Settlement and Tama / Toledo Iowa. In the distance you can see the Meskwaki water tower as the January sun sets in Tama Co Iowa. Thanks And God Bless Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

What do you do when you are fed up with being in the house all day watching the kids and trying to get work done. (If anyone does not know getting work done with kid is usually a losing battle on all fronts.) So as soon as I could get out of the house I did. Unfortunately this was after dinner around 7:00 P.M. In a small town such as Toledo, Iowa where I live every thing is pretty dead in the evening. With the streets being empty gave a great opportunity for some long exposure night photography. So that is exactly what I did. Night time street photography can be a lot of fun. However there are some challenges that do come with it. One is the street lamps and the color cast they put off. To me it is just ugly and if you WB (white balance) correct for the lights the scene can look unnatural. That is why B&W can be nice in this kind of shooting not only can it give you more leniency with your WB but it also can give your photography a more dramatic feel. To achieve the photo above it has to be a long exposure night shot. By shooting it this way instead of a high ISO shot I get a very clean photograph that you can see the light on the snow all the way up the street. Giving the photo above a lot of depth. This photo has a lot more light to the overall scene. As you can see there does not seem to be as much depth however it has other benefits. The lights in the garland are not blown out and ugly. They, to me, have a very nice timeless feel. I also used a unique composition to draw more effect out of the lines not only with the strings of lights but the single middle of the street traffic light as well as the building behind. In photographs like these it is hard to get the full impact at such a small size so feel free to visit the Gallery and check them out in full detail. So next time you go for a walk take your camera. If it is after dark then grab the tripod as well Image Stabilization will not work for this kind of photography. I hope you have learned a something and feel free to leave your feedback and comments. God Bless, Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

On a recent mission to photograph eagles at Pellas Lake Red rock had come to the point of calling it quits a bit of light started to poke out. It was soon pointed out to me that we were on the wrong side of the damn and quickly running out of sun. So we Ken Norton and I quickly crossed The damn and set up not only putting our faces to the sun but the 30+ mph winds that were coming right off the lake. Even with the wind and quickly fading sunset I managed to get a couple reasonable sunset photos. With the cloud deck being so low and the thin opening for the sun to peak through made for a very dramatic scene with the frozen lake adding just that much more to it. The opportunity did not last long as we knew it wouldn't. However in this case it was fine because be the time the sun went below the tree line and bluff on the other side of the lake I was cold enough I was not to worried about getting one last photo. If you would like to view these as well as other images in a larger size you can visit the gallery here. Thanks and God Bless, Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

Last week a friend of mine & I went to Lake Red Rock in Pella Iowa to try and Photograph eagles. Usually Lake Red Rock is a Very popular place for many birds this time of year. However This particular day there were no eagles to be found anywhere. The wind had came in on our way down from Grinnell and was blowing at 30+ mph with gusts of 45mph. However the birding was not a complete loss from across the river south of the damn some birds spotted us. And came over to visit. So we proceed to try and take photos in such high Winds. As you can probably tell from the water in these photos that it was very windy. After coming across the river it did not take long for them to come on up and check things out. I do not know the particular breed of these birds They have some similar markings of a white-fronted goose however they do not seem to have enough black on their breasts and their bills look different. After coming a shore they started looking for food. Since this is a public park area it is not unusual for people to feed the birds. However something a little unusual happened a pair found a piece of bread and stood side by side taking turns eating the bread. They did not honk charge or show any aggressive behavior to one another. I found this very intriguing. After a few minuets of searching for food and successfully clearing the area they started to do their normal cleaning. It was not long before they were comfortable enough with us that they were almost posing. The sun came out just enough for a nice back lighting making some very nice portraits. All in all not bad for 30+ mph winds and what was beginning to look like a bust for shooting. If you would like to see more photos and larger then the above you can check them out HERE. Thanks and God Bless, Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

I went out scouting for eagles today for an outing that I hope to put together in the near future.
The only problem was I did not find any eagles today.



So I started looking for other things to take photos of.
There is a spot In Tama Ia just behind the Paper mill that the lake stays thawed and you can get some really cool photographs year around. While looking around and I came across this.

Now being in small town Iowa you will hear that there is not much around to see or enjoy. I will agree we may not have a Grand Canyon in our back yards or a Mountain Range but we do have some beautiful things in this area.

Most of the time the biggest problem with never seeing anything is never taking the time to look for it. Even though we live in rural Iowa we can still have a tendency to get so caught up in "life" that we miss the beauty that is all around us.


Sometimes we just need to take a walk with out a clock. What I mean by that is go out and do not have a time to be back. Do not worry about what you could be doing or need to get done just go get lost and find something worth your free time. You may also want to consider free time is not because it does not come at a cost it may be because it is freeing you.
Thank you and God Bless.
Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

Well after such a gray and dismal day yesterday today was nice to see. Clear Bright Blue skies. Today was a little bit special though. Even with the bright clear sky the sun shining it was not melting the ice. now most people would see this as bad. However I seen it as beautiful. So what else am I supposed to do when God gives me a day like today. Thats right enjoy it and take some photos to be able to share it and remember it with. Enlarge this Photo HERE With the sun shining the way it was just made every thing shine. This first photo was taken at the River View Cemetery In Marshalltown. I really liked how the ice was highlighting the edges of the tries from the sun shining on them. Enlarge this Photo HERE The second and third photos were taken off of highway 30 in between Marshalltown and Tama Toledo Iowa. With a layer of ice on almost every thing it really did make the vegetation look like some special day time Christmas lighting. Enlarge this photo HERE I just love when the sky is as blue as it was today it really seems to brighten the day. Enlarge this photo HERE Enlarge this image HERE Once God set Time in motion not even mother nature can freeze it. It is one of those beautiful things God really is the one in control. Enlarge this photo HERE There really is nothing like Ice covered thorns with a touch of red. You really have to enlarge this one to appreciate it. Thank you for checking up as always feel free to leave your feed back and comments. God Bless Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

And it Rains IN DECEMBER. A good friend of mine Ken Norton of Zone-10 (Pictured here) and I were supposed to go and try and photograph some eagles today however due to the Ice this morning and Ken having a 20+ mile drive just to come up. It was decided that standing in this weather trying to get a few photos of some eagles just was not worth the risk. Instead Ken had the idea to take some photos of the ice on the windows. I will try, I have some on my screens that is kind of neat, I am game. Well to say the least mine did not tern out that good and to top it off Ken's turned out better. To boot he wrote a poem you can check it out here at Inside, Looking Out So I just got another photo from a series I am working on that I shot last week in south east Iowa near Ft. Madison. I did not want to look completely out done. Thanks for viewing and feel free to leave your feed back and comments. God Bless. Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

Some times even in central Iowa you can come across some pretty cool things to photography even if it is over a corn field. The other day was one of those really cold windy Iowa days, so instead of staying inside I thought I should get out of the house and try and take some photos. I had been out of town for the past week with the family so any time alone was welcomed. As I was headed south through Tama I could see what looked like a rainbow to the west of the sun. I thought that is neat as I got to more of a clearing I could see what is known as Sun Dogs. These are actually small and can get large enough to make a circle around the sun. It is a very cool effect none the less and on a bitterly cold very windy day made it very worth while to go out taking photos. If you would like to see the rest that I took with the ability to enlarge them just follow this LINK Sun Dog's Thanks for looking and feel free to comment, God Bless, Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)