Iowa - The beautiful land: Having lived in Iowa all of my life, I never really appreciated the beauty of the land until I took up photography a few years ago. In Iowa history class...

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

Having lived in Iowa all of my life, I never really appreciated the beauty of the land until I took up photography a few years ago. In Iowa history class back in elementary school we were taught that Iowa is a native american word meaning "Beautiful Land". Whether that's true or not I don't know, but I once had a conversation with a nephew of mine about how if you want to take landscape photos in this part of the country, one needs to be creative, as we have no mountains, few large bodies of water, etc. I'm smack in the middle of the state and drive the backroads often in search of photo opportunities. Here are just a few of the photos I've taken in the last week which I believe show that the state was aptly named.

Walt

(Download)

Michael Boggia

To me there is nothing more beautiful than rich, green farmland, spreading as far as the eye can see, a sprinkling of ponds or lakes, well kept farms and the heart of our country. Having driven through Iowa and even stayed for a few days, our family found it refreshing. Great shots of the land. Sweet memories of country roads of my childhood.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Ron 717 Loc: Pennsylvania

All great images,I especially like the first one with the hills and rows of grain.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Whuff wrote:

Having lived in Iowa all of my life, I never reall... (show quote)

It is what grows that makes almost flat land beautiful.
I love that cloud in the last one.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

The composition of #1 is hugely engaging IMO. Part of that is the light, and I see you took advantage in the others as well, with #4 being my second-favorite. Golden hour, clouds, reflections, textures (corn rows) - very, very special series, Walt!

angler Loc: StHelens England

Excellent set.

tbell7D Loc: Houston

A truly outstanding group of images Walt. When seeing photos like these, it just reminds me once again that in order to find beauty in areas that are often under-appreciated, we just need to get off the beaten path and look around.

Cwilson341 Loc: Central Florida

These are beautiful, Walt. I think three is my favorite. I love the composition and the sky is such a striking addition to the shot!

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

Michael Boggia wrote:

To me there is nothing more beautiful than rich, g... (show quote)

I found a road in our county that I hadn't been on before and just drove from one end to nearly the other and found an amazing number of views that were gorgeous in the evening hours.

Walt

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

Ron 717 wrote:

All great images,I especially like the first one with the hills and rows of grain.

That's what caught my eye as well.

Walt

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

robertjerl wrote:

It is what grows that makes almost flat land beautiful.
I love that cloud in the last one.

This spring's clouds have been amazing and we've had more rainbows and double rainbows than I can remember. One morning I looked out the window as I was preparing my breakfast and couldn't believe my eyes. There was the brightest rainbow I'd ever seen, yet we hadn't had any rain and didn't get any until later in the day.

Walt

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

Linda From Maine wrote:

The composition of #1 is hugely engaging IMO. Part of that is the light, and I see you took advantage in the others as well, with #4 being my second-favorite. Golden hour, clouds, reflections, textures (corn rows) - very, very special series, Walt!

Thanks Linda. Just as I snapped the picture of that bridge a deer ran across the road just in front of it. I was too slow on the trigger to get a picture of it but as I crossed the bridge slowly about 10 minutes later I looked down thru the bridge railing to see a different deer staring up at me. I was able to get his photo.

Walt

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

angler wrote:

Excellent set.

Thanks angler.

Walt

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Whuff wrote:

This spring's clouds have been amazing and we've had more rainbows and double rainbows than I can remember. One morning I looked out the window as I was preparing my breakfast and couldn't believe my eyes. There was the brightest rainbow I'd ever seen, yet we hadn't had any rain and didn't get any until later in the day.

Walt

Back in the 60's my Grandmother noticed a lot of out of state cars cruising slowly past the farm, (Ballard County in Western Kentucky) and some stopped, got out, took pictures and then drove on. One day she was in the yard by the road when one stopped so she went over and talked to them. They brought out a back roads drives tourist guide book that had the county Hwy on it and the area from about 100 yards centered on the farm house was marked as a great picture opportunity, esp in the Fall.
She turned and looked from their point of view and realized it was a beautiful view. She was born on that farm in 1898 and it was home, nothing special except for being the home of her family since the 1790s. She was just too familiar with it.