I have noticed that many people need a little help seeing the beauty of the place in which they live, so that is what I am going to do. I used to think that Oklahoma had nothing to offer. It was hot, dry, and everything was dead in the winter with no beauty that I could see. I am ashamed that I actually thought that about God’s beautiful earth.
Marrying my husband is what changed my way of seeing everything around me. He loves to hike and to be outside, so while I thought I was right there with him, I was not. It took me a couple of years to start to see how much Oklahoma had to offer!
There is a reason that the state is broken up into different regions such as Green Country, Red Carpet Country, Frontier Country, Kaimichi Country, Arbuckle Country and Great Plains Country. There so many different eco systems to see here! Tallgrass Prairies, forests, sand dunes…you just have to look! A great resource that helped me was Travelok.com. I started looking up places to hike, festivals, and various other activities.
The more we explored the more hungry I became to find everything that was good and unique about Oklahoma. The thing that I have come to appreciate this past year as a photographer is the grass. While we do not have blankets of perfect white snow in the winter, we do have beautiful tall grass! I can do a photo shoot in my backyard because of this grass! Some of it turns a beautiful burgundy in the fall and stays that way through the winter. When the early morning or late afternoon sunlight hits it my breath is taken away. It looks like my little patch of land is on fire! I just want to sit out in my backyard and take pictures until the sun is gone. I have taken two of my maternity shoots (here and here) in the grass right in my back yard and they are some of my favorites!
If you live in Oklahoma check out the site and see what this beautiful state has to offer! If you live in a different state, find out what your state website is and start exploring the place you live!
My Boys and I
Tallgrass Prairie Pawhuska, OK