Most people who know me through this blog know me through words. They know my thoughts, my reflections, my questions, and some of the roads life has taken me down. Writing has been one of the clearest ways I’ve learned to make sense of the world.

But words have never been the only language I speak.

Photography Has Always Been Part of Me

For a long time, photography has been another way I process life. Sometimes there are things that cannot be explained nearly as well as they can be noticed: the way morning fog settles over trees, sunlight breaking through storm clouds, an old barn standing quietly against the years, or the stillness of a landscape that says more than noise ever could.

Photography has always drawn me toward those moments.

Years ago, I earned a degree in photography. Like many things in life, though, gifts and passions do not always travel in straight lines. Confidence can be shaken. Life can interrupt. Hard seasons can make parts of us grow quiet for a while. Some things we love get placed on shelves—not because they no longer matter, but because we forget they still belong to us.

That has been true for me in some ways.

And yet, even when it was quieter, photography never really left. I still noticed the sky. I still paid attention to changing seasons. I still felt that pull to preserve something fleeting before it disappeared. I still found myself reaching for whatever camera I had in my hand, even if it was only a phone, trying to hold onto beauty for one more moment.

Lately, I’ve been reminded that creativity does not need permission to return. It does not need perfect timing, perfect health, perfect confidence, or perfect equipment. It only needs room to breathe again.

So this is simply me making room.

I Didn’t Find My Way Back Alone

While Deer Ridge Images carries my name and vision, it would not exist in the same way without my wife.

She has encouraged me to create again when I had nearly buried that part of myself. She reminded me that art still mattered. That I still mattered.

Some of the images featured here were taken by her—including the rain-soaked shed photo and the Milky Way image. Those photographs represent more than scenery. They represent partnership, patience, and the way someone can help you find your way back to yourself.

So while Deer Ridge Images began with me, it continues because of us.

What Kind of Photography I’ll Be Sharing

From time to time, I’ll be sharing photography here as well—images of landscapes, weather, quiet places, rural scenes, wildlife, and the kinds of moments that have always spoken to me. Not because they are flawless. Not because I have something to prove. But because they are real, and because they are part of me.

White-tailed deer in a grassy farm field at sunrise with soft morning light, photographed by Deer Ridge Images.
Morning on the farm, where deer were never strangers and beauty rarely needed announcing.
Macro sunflower photograph with vivid yellow petals and detailed seed center against clear blue sky by Deer Ridge Images.
Taken on the farm, where some of my favorite stories began.
Portrait of a gray wolf pup with soft fur and alert eyes resting outdoors, photographed by Deer Ridge Images.
Maya as a pup—one of the wolves I helped care for, and a moment I’ll never forget. At the International Wolf Center, Ely, MN 2004
Rustic wooden shed in a grassy field with colorful fall hillside in the background on a rainy day, photographed by Deer Ridge Images.
Taken during an anniversary day trip in the rain—one of those moments worth jumping out of the car for.
Green northern lights over farmland and open night sky on the family farm, photographed by Deer Ridge Images.
Northern lights over the farm—proof that wonder can appear right where your roots began.

This blog has always been a place for honesty. Sharing this side of myself feels like another kind of honesty.

Thank you for being here long enough to meet another part of who I am. 🌿