Pike River Studio

03/01/2026

01/29/2026

It won't be long now. DEER MOTHER will soon be going to press. Stay tuned. The perfect Mother's Day gift.

01/11/2026

01/09/2026

Though Daisy is the title character of DEER MOTHER, her daughter Gardenia steals the show. She is my wild BFF and such a poser.
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01/07/2026

DEER MOTHER is almost ready to go to press. It is an intimate look into the life of Daisy, our wild neighbor, and her many fawns.
Stay tuned for an announcement of the release date.

01/07/2026

Legs so long they make supermodels weep.
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01/07/2026

From a warmer time.
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01/02/2026

I think Artificial Intelligence, when it is used for creating visual material, and the written word, is a very dangerous double-edged sword, rife with potential to do evil. But when it is applied to the autofocus tracking capabilities of my Nikon Z9, I find it magical.
Z9 w/ 800mm f6.3

09/22/2025

How This Picture Was Created

The hard work for this photo took place in the dead of winter, when the beaver pond was frozen over and covered in snow. I hauled an eight-foot-tall stepladder, while my wife, Pam, dragged an ice fishing sled loaded with a camera bag, a special bracket with tripod head, a portable drill, rope, hardware and tools, nearly 500 yards, through the woods and across the pond.

With the ladder set up on the ice, I mounted a special bracket ten feet up a dead snag, overlooking the beaver lodge. The shot I was after was of a beaver working on its lodge, or otherwise engaged in any activity of their own choosing. Sadly, the beavers have been completely trapped out this year, but fortunately the swans picked the lodge roof as this year's nest site.

The special camera support I created consists of a heavy duty L bracket, a pulley, and two square tubes, one fitting inside the other. A geared tripod head, which can be adjusted incrementally, and its coordinates recorded, to the degree, was attached to the smaller square tube. A rope was strung from water level, up over the pulley, and down through the larger square tube. The rope is tied off to the smaller tube and tripod head, which now has a camera attached.

The camera, which hangs up-side-down, is hoisted up into the receiver tubing, and tied off at water level. From my ten foot ladder perch I can compose several photographic options and record the tripod head and lens settings for use in the coming summer.

In summer, I paddle up to the tree in my kayak and tie off the camera apparatus to the rope that was left behind in January. The recorded settings are used to aim the camera, and it is hoisted into the receiver bracket.

The camera was set to automatically take a picture every minute for about six hours. This family of swans were at the other end of the pond when the camera was placed. I went home for lunch and returned in the late afternoon to retrieve my camera.

True to form the family returned to the nest a little afternoon siesta, and I got a fresh perspective on subjects that I photograph at water level, day after day.

09/22/2025

A few highlights from the tenth year of my A BEAVER POND ALMANAC book project. Beaver create the most biodiverse ecosystems imaginable.

07/01/2025

A male Red-winged Blackbird is a fierce territory defender, but the giant Trumpeter Swan is only mildly irritated.
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05/20/2025

Eastern Kingbirds do their aerial dance.
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