The Bull

The Bull is from my first trip to Yellowstone in 2021. I photographed this big boy on a ridge overlooking Mammoth. He was rounding up his harem getting ready to move to on to a new place when we stopped and got as close as I would want to get to an elk bull in season.

His neck was wet from urine and he was bugling every few seconds. It was fantastic. I decided I wanted something cool on the wall of my house and I created this digital painting. I took him off the original image and converted to black and white before pulling out the art pen and drawing in some hairs, painting over it, giving it the graphite look and feel.

The Gosling

Every year, this little guy's parents nest at our pond and every year they add to his brothers and sisters. It's always fun to go out and watch these little goslings run and keep up with mom and dad. I haven't gone out to photograph them in a few years but this year, I'm hoping to document their growth. It's incredibly difficult to get close - it's also illegal to disturb them. So camping out by the bank of the pond with my camera and just watching is a treat.

Spirit

This eagle is a resident at the Grizzly and Wolf Discover Center in West Yellowstone, Montana. I photographed him using a borrowed Canon (I am a Nikon user) and created this graphite-style digital painting. I really enjoy this kind of work. It’s different and it fits the style that I like.

Plus, I can relate to a bald eagle…because we’re bald…

The Woody

I have two different digital paintings of this particular wood duck. Wood ducks are one of my top three favorite ducks – super tasty, by the way – but also just to look at. I think the only duck I’m missing from my top three is a good photograph of a pintail.

This wood duck is a resident of the Montgomery Zoo in Montgomery, Alabama. I was able to spend some time in the bird cage with him and the other ducks and birds. I took him off his original background (zoo) and created this lovely headshot to pull out the colors and beauty God gave this creature.

Alabama's Favorite Duck

One of my favorite duck images I’ve managed to make is Alabama’s Favorite Duck. As I’ve mentioned before, a wood duck is one of my top three favorite ducks. I photographed this one in the Montgomery Zoo and created this little scene for it. The first in my duck series like this.

This wood duck is a resident of the Montgomery Zoo in Montgomery, Alabama. I was able to spend some time in the bird cage with him and the other ducks and birds. I took him off his original background of a shallow pool.

Artist's Waterfall

Yellowstone National Park, as my friends will tell you, is the love of my life. I wish I could live there. I’d live in a tree for all I care, so long as I’ve got a camera with me. This is the most iconic waterfall in North America (at least, I hope it is). Artist’s Point is one of the more popular tourist destinations within the park and it’s always packed. We have to get there early to photograph this behemoth with few people in it.

I was with Cris and Deanna Duncan on a Find Your Focus trip in 2022. I didn’t have the right equipment in 2021 so I made sure to make up for that booboo in 2022. I was so excited because I managed to capture the rainbow in the mist as well as the fantastic color coming from the canyon and trees.
This is actually hanging in my house (right behind me as I type this, too) as an acrylic 20x30.

Frozen Paradise

On one of my many trips to Montana/Wyoming, I was able to capture this herd of bison in the winter. Joni stopped the car for me to roam for a few minutes as these guys crossed the road ahead. There were probably between twenty to thirty in this herd but they stopped on the ridge and looked back at me. It was perfect.

I absolutely love visiting Yellowstone in any season.

Palo Duro Canyon

Texas is home to many great things. I’m hoping to make it my home soon. Perhaps one of the most awesomely beautiful places Texas is home to is Palo Duro Canyon. It’s so cool to stand at the top of the canyon and look into it. I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon before so this is as good as it gets for me.

This day was a long one. I had been in Amarillo for a few days and decided to venture out to Canyon and see what I see. There were a few deer out and about, a couple of coyotes, and lots of God’s beauty to behold.

The wide-open space and rocky terrain made perfect elements for some of my storied artwork.

Frozen Bison

This big guy was resting on top of a ridge in Lamar Valley in the cold of winter. The frozen landscape was dotted with bison trying to find a scrap of grass to graze on, digging in and shoveling snow with their heads. It’s tiring work, so this guy was obviously just taking a short break.

It made for a perfect little view for myself and Lisa and Chris.

It was also minus twenty degrees.

The Heart of Yellowstone

Full-disclosure…the bear may or may not have been there. I’ll never tell.

I forget what this little valley is called but it’s in Yellowstone, looking back toward the mountains. All throughout the landscape are little white dots. Those white dots are actually mule deer butts.

It was about five-thirty in the morning in May 2023 when our Find Your Focus group traveled across the park on our way to Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic. It was glorious light for only the amount of time it took to capture this scene (around 10 seconds). It then became overcast for a while, taking away what little light that managed to shape the mountains.

Colorado Buck

Me: “Look at that beautiful buck!”
Kory B: “He’s looking for some—”

That’s exactly how it went.

This handsome fella was sniffing the air during the rut in Colorado. He was on the side of the road in the park we were in. He took off running toward the doe he was tracking shortly after we captured this.

Lamar Valley Sunset

This coyote, whose name may or may not be Wile E., was standing still in the snow of Lamar Valley in the 2023 winter season. Gorgeous and one of the few coyotes that weren’t mangy, I had no choice but to create this award-winning art piece using snow, background, sky, and wildlife from the amazing views that Yellowstone National Park has to offer.

I had to paint in the color on the fur, creating sunlight hitting the fur where it was actually overcast and negative twenty-degrees. It was one of the top ten wildlife images from the Animal Image Makers competition in 2023 – one of my favorites – and earned me enough points for my Accredited Professional of Animal Imagery designation (a 3 year journey).

Delta Eagle

When you spend all day photographing two guys on their mud boats, getting soaked in murky water and smelling of farts, they tend to make requests when you see something you want to photograph. Thankfully, these were friends who know I’ll do anything for an eagle.

This eagle was roughly a hundred and fifty yards off in the top of a dead tree with its mate. Just as I was starting to capture it, it flew up, giving me this amazing wingspan and composition.

Unfortunately, at the time, my skills to bring out details and paint were virtually non-existent. But in 2022, after getting a ton of practice in, I was able to create this painting seven years later. I turned a cloudy day with no light into this sunset painting of an eagle.

Goals, folks. Goals.

Harvest Sunset

“Hey Scott, can you park it facing west?”
“Hey Scott, can you save that row for last? It’s going to be in the best light.”
“Hey Scott, can you slow down? I’m trying to capture good stuff but the combine is moving too fast.”

…

Scott: No.

…

For those that don’t know, I’ve worked off and on for a friend of mine on his farm. I double-up, having my camera bag on the module builder when picking cotton JUST IN CASE.

I’ve never actually asked the questions at the top and, despite the audacity and ridiculous requests, Scott has never said, “No.” These are actual situations that I’ve had to overcome one way or another when I’m photographing the day-to-day of harvest season.

At the end of the day, sunburn, dust, allergies, and mosquitoes are all worth it for that ONE image.

That was this one.

Heron in Flight

So this has an interesting story, both positive and unfortunately negative.

I’ll start with the negative because I feel like that’s what the regular person visiting nature and enjoying life needs to know.

I’d been sitting and observing this heron for about three hours at this point, working my way close enough to it, inch-by-inch (literally). I was making a zigzag pattern to get into the good light and that took twenty minutes to move six feet. I didn’t want to spook it and I didn’t want it to feel threatened.

Getting close to wildlife is hard on a good day. This particular morning I was struggling to find anything good to photograph and having this heron come in close enough was a blessing from the good Lord!

Then comes a douchebag. If that term offends you, you probably shouldn’t hear the other words I used to describe the following individual.

Naturally, when you’re in a public fishing area, you’re going to deal with other people. No big deal. Everyone’s out enjoying nature, fishing, and having a good time. Except Douchebag. Douchebag walked through the woods and down the path to the sandbar that was set up on. He walked all around the sandbar and took his time, again, enjoying nature. When he was coming close to where I was set up, with the big 600mm lens attached to my camera, having seen me doing my inch-by-inch approach, Douchebag decided to pick up a rock and throw it at the heron.

So the heron, who had not felt threatened the entire time I was getting closer (and in fact began posing the closer I got), took off flying. I threw my hands in the air only after I caught this gorgeous bird in flight.

“Are you kidding me, dude?” I shouted. Douchebag just shrugged.

Moral of the story: DON’T BE A DOUCHEBAG.

The Mandarin

I’ve always wanted to SEE a mandarin duck. Well, as it turns out, there’s one in the aviary at Gulf State Park.

I photographed this little guy on a cold, windy day in 2023 – mid-morning, too, which means I had to wait for him to get in a little shade to photograph what I wanted.

I got him and painted him as part of my series of waterfowl art images. 1 of 3 so far. Definitely planning on more. One of the three you will never see. It was made exclusively for a little boy named Parker.

The Heron of Alabama Point

The Raven

Tiger in the Grass

Spirit of the Wild

Lone Wolf

Wolf of the Hoodoo

Aspens

Bedding Down

Our backyard family bedding "down" for the evening. I'm only a little punny, I swear.