Corey Brown Photography

Some People just envision the mid west as the Great plains and completely flat.



Well Here in Tama Co Iowa right in the middle of the Mid West it is not flat at all. Granted we do not have

any mountains. What we do have is some breathtaking rolling hills. Hills that can be used for fields but also have a way of dancing with the shadows of the clouds and yet the ability to meet the sky and touch the Sunsets.



They also have the ability to hold a farm and protect it from the driving wind.
Thanks for stopping by enjoy and God Bless.

Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

Ok I know I can be a little strange at times and this picture may not help my plead for sanity.



I have always had a fascination of playing in the water and still do. So when I see something neat in the water I am automatically drawn to it. I took this photo because of how the


light was deflecting and falling on the rocks. And as you look close see how many shapes you can find. You know like we all use to do laying on our backs looking at the clouds. If you have never laid on you back looking at the clouds trying to find shapes, faces and so on then you really need to because you are probably to wound up or just uptight. There is a reason that the title of this photo has Frogs in it see how many you can find.
Enjoy and God Bless

Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

Wind mills were a staple of our growing farms back when farming was about the only industry in Iowa. Being used for many things from pumping water to powering tools. Today we are starting to see Huge colossal wind mills popping up and now their main purpose is to use the wind to generate electricity.



That is enough about wind mills on to the photo today is a picture of an old wind mill that is still standing in Tama Co Just East of Toledo Iowa. I took this photo just after sunset making a nice silhouette. Now I have a problem

I think the photo needs to be Color to really work. However I showed it to my Wife as a B&W and she informed me that is what works for this photo.




So for today and to appease I will post both the color and the B&W. If you would like to comment on which one you like better please do (I know you will say the Color version).
Enjoy and God Bless

Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

One thing about Wild life Photography is it can have as much excitement as it can be boring. Here in Tama County Iowa we have such an over population of deer it is so much easier to capture good photographs now compared to 10 years ago.



Even though it may be easier you still need


to be prepared. One way is to try and always be ready to take a photo even if you do not have anything in sight. You just never know when something is going to come running over the hill towards you or sneak up from behind you. Also you need to be prepared to be outside for long periods of time. It really does not take that long to get frost bite or worse if you get to far out and are ill equipped. So always make sure you take the time to be prepared. Let some one know where you are going and when you will be back.
Your comments and feed back are always welcomed
Thank you and God Bless,

Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

I think here in the Mid West is one of the best places to photograph geese.



I particularly like Marshalltown and Tama Iowa for quick easy access areas where the birds are wild enough


that they do not look tame on film. As well as use to people enough that you can get close enough to get a reasonable photo at times. The two love birds above got a little uncomfortable with my prescence so they decided to fly out to the Ice shelf giving me the opportunity I was waiting for.
Enjoy and God Bless,

Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

I went for a drive while all the girls were sleeping and found some really nice scenic views as well as some wild life.



After taking a photo I turned to get back into the jeep and I seen this sitting back in the woods. It is an old corn crib. It looks like

It has been there for decades and realistically probably has. I have not seen a corn crib of this style sense I was a boy and even that one was a more modern design.
I just automatically got lost in the scene with the way the the sun gave it just enough accent to catch my eye but no matter how you look at it you know it is from a time long forgotten and that will only be vaguely remembered through years of memories and growth.
Enjoy and God Bless

Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

Ever look at winter in B&W. I think only certain feelings and looks can be expressed in B&W. I do not see many winter photographs in B&W but I really like the outcome when done right. Today is another short day I am working on a few other projects and took the day off to calibrate a birthday.
Enjoy and God Bless
Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

Have you ever tried taking some landscape and winter scenery photographs just to have them all come out dark and gray or blue.



I know I have and I can tell you what causes that and better yet how to fix it.

So what exactly causes the photo above to be dark and gray. It is a mixture of a couple of things. The first is how the camera meters the lighting. Since the snow is bright white the camera is thinking this is a light source and then adjusts the camera to expose as if the snow is a huge light. Now that explains why it is under exposed and it can also explain why the color can be off by so much. In a lot of P&S cameras and base DSLR's there is a snow setting which compensates for the exposure as well as the white balance. I know most people think well the snow is white how hard should it be for the camera to tell that.




Well the camera sees things a little differently then we and our eyes do. One thing is our eyes and brain automatically WB correct. The next is a camera is always trying to balance to 18% gray. Now this is where we come up with either blue, gray, or some other off color pictures and it will vary from camera to camera and the settings you are trying to photograph. Some cameras will see things literally. So on a clear day the camera will see the blue reflecting off the snow. Thus allowing your photo to have a blue tint to it. Realistically taking pictures in snow can be some of the most challenging situations for a camera. The first thing to do if you realize by reviewing your photos that they are dark or if your camera has a histogram and it is bunched up to the left is to add exposure. Once again this will vary from camera to camera but it is not uncommon to have to add +1EV to get a proper exposure. As for WB this will depend on if the sky is clear or over cast or a mixture. However, a good rule of thumb is in between 5500k to 6500k that should be your daylight and shade or cloudy WB. So do not be afraid to take control of your photos and change things. Auto on the camera is not always right and some times it is just way wrong.
So it is always a good idea to slow down take your time and make sure you get as much right in camera vs trying to fix it later and losing so much of your quality and detail.
I hope you find this helpful and as always feel free to leave your comments and feedback
Thanks and God Bless

Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

This photo was taken on the Iowa River of of HWY 63 on the south side of Tama Iowa.



This is one of those photos that is familiar to you if you look at many photos. Granted that is not what I usually want to go for in my photography. However, in this case it is a photo that I never tire of. I will do a little write up about photography in the snow here soon so I will cover this photograph and others like it.
Thanks for reading and God Bless
Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

I am going to start a Picture of the day series just to help share some of what I am shooting and how I practice my photography.



Not every thing I share will be professional work and some will be from my private family life. My Family is one of the biggest reasons I love photography so much. So it is no wonder that they are my most photographed subjects. Not all photos are going to be from that day and some will have as much as a 14 day delay for the simple fact I do try and keep my skills sharp by shooting film manually. This Picture was taken In between the Meskwaki Indian Settlement and Tama / Toledo Iowa.

In the distance you can see the Meskwaki water tower as the January sun sets in Tama Co Iowa.
Thanks And God Bless

Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

11:30 P.M. I here whoo whoo and think that is an Owl but I live in town. In the past two years of living in Toledo, Iowa I have never seen or heard an Owl around here. So I jump up Throwing my boots and jacket on and grab my Trusty E3 with 50-200 swd lens attached and throw the FL 50 R flash on top.

I run (walk) out the door and listen. Sure enough I hear Whoo Whooo and then a little further south Whoo Whooo. There was not just one owl but two. After just a minute I was able to locate
the one closest to me. So I get a good focus and start to slowly walk closer. He knows I am there and checks me out once in a wile but does not seem to concerned that I am getting a little closer.


As I aproach the tree that the Owl is in he starts showing sings of being nervous at about 20 yards from the tree. He knows that I am there so I take a shot. Drats it is a little to dark so I push the flash 2 stops to help with the reach and adjust the Iso to 640 giving me a little more room and shutter speed. This way I was able to keep the shutter at a 250th. I take another photo, not a bad shot just he was not looking at me. Then he shows He is really uncomfortable and starts to ruffle his feathers. So I quickly take another photo (the top one) and sure enough he said that is enough and leaves. Swooping down the first 15 feet leaving me very little chance to get an in-flight shot. I really would have liked to been able to get a owl in flight at night but no such luck. Maybe Next time.
Thanks for reading and God Bless
Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

What do you do when you are feed up with being in the house all day watching the kids and trying to get work done. (If anyone does not know getting work done with kid is usually a losing battle on all fronts.) So as soon as I could get out of the house I did. Unfortunately this was after dinner around 7:00 P.M. In a small town such as Toledo Iowa where I live every thing is pretty dead in the evening.


With the streets being empty gave a great opportunity for some long exposure night photography. So that is


exactly what I did. Night time street photography can be a lot of fun. However there are some challenges that do come with it. One is the street lamps and the color cast they put off to me is just ugly and if you WB (white balance) correct for the lights the scene can look unnatural. That is why B&W can be nice in this kind of shooting not only can it give you more leniency with your WB but it also can give your photography a more dramatic feel.


To achieve the photo above it has to be a long exposure night shot. by shooting it this way instead of a high ISO shot I get a very clean photograph that you can see the light on the snow all the way up the street. Giving the photo above a lot of depth.


This photo has a lot more light to the overall scene. As you can see there does not seem to be as much depth however it has other benefits. The lights in the garland are not blown out and ugly they to me have a very nice timeless feel. I also used a unique composition to draw more effect out of the lines not only with the strings of lights but the single middle of the street traffic light as well as the building behind. In photographs like these it is hard to get the full impact at such a small size so feel free to visit the Gallery and check them out in full detail.
So next time you go for a walk take your camera. If it is after dark then grab the tripod as well Image Stabilization will not work for this kind of photography.
I hope you have learned a something and feel free to leave your feedback and comments.
God Bless,
Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

Last week a friend of mine & I went to Lake Red Rock in Pella Iowa to try and Photograph eagles. Usually Lake Red Rock is a Very popular place for many birds this time of year. However This particular day there were no eagles to be found anywhere. The wind had came in on our way down from Grinnell and was blowing at 30+ mph with gusts of 45mph. However the birding was not a complete loss from across the river south of the damn some birds spotted us.

And came over to visit. So we proceed to try and take photos in such high




Winds. As you can probably tell from the water in these photos that it was very windy.

After coming across the river it did not take long for them to come on up and check things out. I do not know the particular breed of these birds They have some similar markings of a white-fronted goose however they do not seem to have enough black on their breasts and their bills look different.

After coming a shore they started looking for food. Since this is a public park area it is not unusual for people to feed the birds. However something a little unusual happened a pair found a piece of bread and stood side by side taking turns eating the bread. They did not honk charge or show any aggressive behavior to one another. I found this very intriguing.


After a few minuets of searching for food and successfully clearing the area they started to do their normal cleaning. It was not long before they were comfortable enough with us that they were almost posing.


The sun came out just enough for a nice back lighting making some very nice portraits.
All in all not bad for 30+ mph winds and what was beginning to look like a bust for shooting.
If you would like to see more photos and larger then the above you can check them out HERE.
Thanks and God Bless,
Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

On a recent mission to photograph eagles at Pellas Lake Red rock had come to the point of calling it quits a bit of light started to poke out. It was soon pointed out to me that we were on the wrong side of the damn and quickly running out of sun.


So we Ken Norton and I quickly crossed


The damn and set up not only putting our faces to the sun but the 30+ mph winds that were coming right off the lake.


Even with the wind and quickly fading sunset I managed to get a couple reasonable sunset photos. With the cloud deck being so low and the thin opening for the sun to peak through made for a very dramatic scene with the frozen lake adding just that much more to it.


The opportunity did not last long as we knew it wouldn't. However in this case it was fine because be the time the sun went below the tree line and bluff on the other side of the lake I was cold enough I was not to worried about getting one last photo.
If you would like to view these as well as other images in a larger size you can visit the gallery here.
Thanks and God Bless,
Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

Well after such a gray and dismal day yesterday today was nice to see. Clear Bright Blue skies. Today was a little bit special though. Even with the bright clear sky the sun shining it was not melting the ice. now most people would see this as bad. However I seen it as beautiful. So what else am I supposed to do when God gives me a day like today. Thats right enjoy it and take some photos to be able to share it and remember it with.

Enlarge this Photo HERE
With the sun shining the way it was just made every thing shine. This first photo was taken at the River View Cemetery In Marshalltown. I really liked how the ice was highlighting the edges of the tries from the sun shining on them.

Enlarge this Photo HERE
The second and third photos were taken off of highway 30 in between Marshalltown and Tama Toledo Iowa. With a layer of ice on almost every thing it really did make the vegetation look like some special day time Christmas lighting.

Enlarge this photo HERE
I just love when the sky is as blue as it was today it really seems to brighten the day.

Enlarge this photo HERE


Enlarge this image HERE
Once God set Time in motion not even mother nature can freeze it. It is one of those beautiful things God really is the one in control.


Enlarge this photo HERE
There really is nothing like Ice covered thorns with a touch of red. You really have to enlarge this one to appreciate it.
Thank you for checking up as always feel free to leave your feed back and comments.
God Bless
Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)

And it Rains IN DECEMBER. A good friend of mine Ken Norton of Zone-10 (Pictured here)

and I were supposed to go and try and photograph some eagles today however due to the Ice this morning and Ken having a 20+ mile drive just to come up. It was decided that standing in this weather trying to get a few photos of some eagles just was not worth the risk.

Instead Ken had the idea to take some photos of the ice on the windows. I will try, I have some on my screens that is kind of neat, I am game.
Well to say the least mine did not tern out that good and to top it off Ken's turned out better. To boot he wrote a poem you can check it out here at Inside, Looking Out


So I just got another photo from a series I am working on that I shot last week in south east Iowa near Ft. Madison.

I did not want to look completely out done.
Thanks for viewing and feel free to leave your feed back and comments.
God Bless.
Corey Brown (Glory 2 Jesus 4 Photography)