Just another summer day with afternoon thunderstorms moving across the state. Few people tread into the dangerous winds and lightning. Only a photographer is crazy enough to venture where everyone has been told it is too dangerous. Every time there is a dangerous storm, flooding, death and insurrection, there’s a photographer. I didn’t stay out too long after a lightning strike was close enough that the light and the sound were the same moment and I felt my arm hair stand on end. It was sudden and behind me which intensified the fright. [ More Photos ]

I’m not a nature photographer although I am fascinated by some of the discoveries I make while shooting something else. This cocoon hanging from a tree trunk near a jogging path piqued my interest with the concentric circles of eroded bark arcing around the point where it was attached to the tree. What’s amazing is the strength of the material that connects the two. The eroded circles were not easily created by a few breezes. The cocoon had to have been blowing in the wind for an extended time and had to be strong enough stay attached.

The kids gathered under the apple tree in the front yard, for PB&J sandwiches, chips, fruit and juice for their lunch. I took the day off from commercial work and wasn’t planning on bringing out a camera for anything other than fun. This was the fun moment.

Still recovering from Fathers Day by completing several commercial shoots. This was not one of them but is was a nice moment as the barber’s hand pressed on the kid’s nose. A minor moment that slightly elevates the image from routine. Don’t misunderstand. This is not a great image. The moment was transitory, often seen and rarely photographed.

It was Fathers Day. I took the day off. Except to cook the steaks, plant a tree, pressure wash the sidewalk in front of the house, cook my own breakfast, make my own lunch and watch The 4400. It was a great day. I’ll cut the grass tomorrow.

It’s been about three weeks since the first strawberries were ready for picking. The crop is starting to thin out with the best berries smaller and not yet quite ripe. Still, their taste is far superior to the strawberries at the grocery stores, theirs having been picked days ago and far less ripe than these.

The first harvest of the season is the first cut of hay and it’s in full swing after two weeks of cold, wet weather. Typically, hay is baled later in the day after it’s dried in the morning. That means hot sun, humidity that pulls the water from your body and an afternoon of withering work. Usually performed by school-aged boys, the loading and unloading of hay trailers and filling of barns is the toughest work on any farm. [ More Photos ]

This time is was a deputy sheriff who wanted to know what I was up to walking along a country road about 1,000 feet from my car and near empty farm homes. Explained the camera, my intention to frame the trees and shed against the blue sky and that I more enjoyed walking than driving when I was looking for the best angle.

He asked if my name is Gary. I knew immediately he’d run my license plate and remarked so. He said  there had been a rash of break-ins in the area and my gold Taurus was similar to the car reported to have been seen at the same time.

No matter. Two weeks in a row where I’ve had an encounter with police about my work. This is not a complaint. The deputy was very pleasant just as the man mowing his law was when I passed by and he wanted to know what I was doing.

The woman who began her walk as I finished the feature wasn’t as pleasant. She gruffly yelled “We don’t want any house out here” thinking I was shooting the field for a developer. [ More Photos ]

Eds Note: Story in the paper confirms the deputy’s story about break-ins. A man and his wife were arrested nearby after they were spotted breaking into a house.