Chapter Five: Something From the Sky

October 13, 2023 North Hawk, Nebraska A small clump of gravy oozed its way down the stubble of Stephen’s chin, hanging precariously suspended as the man spooned large Swedish meatballs and gravy into his mouth. Reetha watched the spectacle from across the table while sipping on a glass of water. Stephen had always been an eater. At 6’5” and lean-muscled from decades in the field, he ate…

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Affordable and Versatile: The Fujifilm 70-300 f/4-5.6 Review

The Fujifilm XF 70-300 f/4-f/5.6 telephoto lens is an absolute powerhouse at a fantastic price. First, we get an insanely useful telephoto range of 107-457 in full-frame terms. Then, we get 5.5 stops of image stabilization, which helps to shoot landscapes and more in lower light. We also get a linear focus mechanism, allowing for super fast and accurate focusing, and a weather-resistant designation which means it's…

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Chapter Four: THE VOID

“If there’s a hell, this is it,” my Grandpa told me the first time he took me to church. He stood there looking off at the impossible towers in the distance as he spoke. I was little then and looked up at him with blinking eyes. I saw something I had never seen before on his face: fear. “Never come here on your own,” he said through…

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Chapter Three: Population 257

October 3, 2023 North Hawk, Nebraska Sarah gasped out loud when she noticed the tell-tale signs of a gas station just ahead. Her car's headlamps caught the yellow and red color of the paint and her car puttered to a stop just in time for Sarah to realize the gas station was abandoned. Abandoned a long time ago. “Damn it,” she whispered and gently tapped her head…

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Chapter Two: The Dying of the Light

Monday, October 2 North Hawk, Nebraska Autumn dusk feels different than it does the rest of the year. Days in October can still be warm in Nebraska, especially when there’s work to do. So when Andrew Lambert noticed the light on the red dirt turn soft and warm as he worked on his parent’s small farm, he smiled. A cooling wind was in the air, and with…

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Chapter One: Falling Star

Sunday, October 1 North Hawk, Nebraska — James Thomas Hatchet had seen plenty of falling stars in his 60 years alive on this godforsaken planet, but this one? This one was different. It was well after midnight, and a cool autumn wind blew a scattering of leaves illuminated by the moon across the landscape in front of him. James was on the back porch of his large…

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A Portrait of a Sandhills Cattle Rancher

When a rancher in a truck pulled over and asked us what we were doing, I'm pretty sure he was being protective of his land. He might have been a bit suspicious although he was too polite to say so. We explained to him that we were from Omaha and just appreciating the beauty of the Sandhills. I was out with @kurt_johnson_photography on a mini two-day photo…

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First Time Out with the Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro

Yes, I know the new kid on the block is the 90mm f/3.5 Macro from OM-System, but I’m a little behind the times. I picked up the older 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens for Micro Four-Thirds just a few hours ago, and headed immediately down to the local botanical garden to try it out. My first impression: this thing is tiny and light. I had the Olympus OM-1…

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The Moon in This Photo Is Awesome

I've been really into the concept of "layering" recently. It's the theme of this month's Photo Challenge in my community, which you can find here: https://positivephotocommunity.com/feed This theme is important to me because I want to keep improving as a photographer, and adding "layers" to photographs is one way to do this. You see, this photo is a good one. I like it. I put it on…

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