Kansas | 2006

When I told people I was traveling to Kansas on my 4th photography trek, I was always asked, “Why Kansas?” I'd tease and say, “I’m going to go find Toto from Wizard of Oz and I’ll get back home by clicking my ruby slippers, saying, 'there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home...'" I arrived in Wichita, Kansas on a very windy day and with tornado warnings in the weather forecast. I was excited to not only reunite with people I’ve befriended on other treks, but also to meet the mentors.

The first day is usually spent seeing the mentor’s work. Chip Simons walked in to the conference room dressed in hot chili pepper pants and a yellow t-shirt. When he showed samples of his images -- a guy in a suit with string beans on his head or a rabbit mask; and hole-y cows -- he would accompany it with sounds and jokes, which resulted in laughter resonating from our bellies. He would include comments, such as, “When you look at a picture, you want see if there’s an escape route. Show that there’s something more to the picture. ““I shoot with my stomach before my brain kicks in” “My work is bad, but then it’s good.”

Travel with our mentors and try out all of the latest equipment from Nikon! Including world class digital SLRs, Nikkor lenses and the Coolpix line of Digital Cameras.

Reed showed us his work from National Geographic and Eco Challenges. He described his work and included humorous stories. He said, “Work with lighting and do something that scares you.” Usually the first day is a little tough because everyone is tired from traveling, but after the mentor show, some of us headed to the restaurant bar to reacquaint with old friends from past treks and meet new ones.

After having a buffet breakfast at the hotel the next morning, we headed to the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve. When we arrived at the preserve, we were separated into two groups. I was assigned to Chip's group. We headed to the Preserve’s new bus, which looked like it should be hauling prisoners. Ranger Pete drove us to the top of the prairie so we can photograph... what else, but... the prairie!! Oh yes, we also shot ranger Pete, the bus, and dried up cow manure that Chip found somewhere on the ground. When we returned, it was Reed's group’s turn to go on the bus. Reed happily gave us some pointers of what to photograph. He said something like, "we got one of the re-inactors, and we did it in the barn, we did it against the barn door, we did it by the school house..etc" Yikes!! Okay, we got the picture Reed...literally!!

We headed to Cottonwood Falls afterwards and photographed the town, the court house and jail. Lunch was at this small restaurant where you had to definitely leave room to have some of their homemade pies! After lunch, we proceeded to the Flying W Ranch where we were met by cowboys/girl. They led us to an open field to set up, while the feeding truck prepared to herd the cows. As the feeding truck drove away and sped up, the cows would quickly follow. I could hear the cows mooing and the camera shutters clicking away. The cowboys eventually came over the horizon. One cowboy twirled their rope in the air, tossed the rope, and caught a baby calf by its hind legs. Then another cowboy came, twirled his rope, and caught the front legs. They got off their horse and tagged the ear of the baby calf with a number. Later, we separated into three groups and photographed the cowboys. I was able to convince three of the trekkers to get roped in by a cowboy!

After the cattle run, we all lined up in a horizontal straight row and were given explicit instructions not to break the line. The horses took a little bit of time to get there, so Chip pretended he was one of the "stud" horses and galloped across the line. Eventually the real horses galloped several times past us and then the cowboys raced across the field. It was a perfect opportunity to practice panning and to work up an appetite for the cookout.
Back at the ranch, the triangle shaped bell rang and it was time for grub! We were served on a tin platter a delicious meal of barbeque beef brisket, bread, beans cooked over an open fire, salad, and dessert. Our napkins were red scarves that were given to us as a souvenir. We sat on logs, talked, shared stories and laughter. After dinner, while the sun was setting over the prairie, we gathered on an open field, and they started the prairie burn. The fire was started in a zigzag pattern and soon the glowing red and black smoke from the fire lit the ground. The different shades of orange, blue, and yellow illuminated the sky, along with a silhouette of a cowboy, provided a perfect photo opportunity.

On Saturday, we headed to the Maxwell Bison refuge, rode the open air tram, and photographed the bison and the elk. Afterwards, we headed to a Swedish buffet lunch in a little town called Lindsborg. The Swedish meal was wonderful, but the bread was even better! Shortly after lunch, we departed to Quivira Bird Refuge to photograph the marshlands. Reed and Chip gave us lessons on composition and how to use our flash. On the way back to the hotel, we played a game that we had discovered on the Turkey trek. By the time we got back to our hotel, we knew a little more about each of the trekkers. After the Adobe Photoshop session, some of us headed to the restaurant bar and ended our last night with a popcorn fight.

On our last day, we headed to the Botanical Gardens where one can find trekkers laying on the ground, trying to capture the different angles of photographing a tulip, and a group of tiny women magnetized to Chip’s shirt which read “Chick Magnet”. We headed to Cowtown afterwards, where the re-inactors were dressed in western outfits and we watched a gunfight at noon time. Before everyone headed home, a slideshow of everyone’s work was shown in the conference room.

So if asked again, “Why Kansas?” just take a look at all the photographs and then you'll see why!

Thank you Chip and Reed for being such wonderful mentors!! It was great learning from both of you. Thank you also to the Kansas tourism team!