Joe Montiel Nature Landscape Photography

Factory Butte in Utah was a very strange and awesome visit. I was completely alone for a couple of hours debating on whether I should hike in to get a closer look. After seeing how long it took for the drone to get halfway there, I knew I wasn't going to risk it with zero phone service. Maybe next time.

Mead Lake a few years ago. Is it even lower now? I had never seen it, but I could tell it was extremely low compared to the past.

I have no idea when I will ever get back here, but I would like to take a different approach if I do. I had my spot and stayed there the whole time, never getting a different angle. Everyone who showed up (hours after I did) was very nice and would have let me squeeze into other angles. I let others take photos from this spot, but I didn't try others and I regret it. Mesa Arch in Utah.

A few weeks ago we stayed up all night in the Flint Hills of Kansas. It is very common for us to make a visit to Teter Rock.

Quiet time at the Keeper before it warmed up and it had more visitors. Wichita, Kansas

I had visited once before in the middle of the night, but this was the first time seeing it during the day. Well kept, for sure! Arvonia School House in Kansas.

North Clear Creek Falls near Lake City, Colorado last fall. Not a single person around.

This was taken just a few minutes after seeing my first bear in the wild. Uncompahgre National Forest in Colorado.

Kebler Pass in Colorado is one of my favorites in the fall. Don't tell anyone I got a little jumpy because I thought a bear was nearby. It turned out to be another photographer breathing hard going up the hill like I was :-).

Mount Sneffels in Colorado this past fall. One of my favorite peaks.

I couldn't resist getting a straight-down photo of the field burning on the way home from Kansas City last week. This was near Canton, Kansas.

A quick shot while I let a timelapse run for what turned out to be a pretty good sunset, but not long-lasting. In the Kansas Flint Hills.

This tree is very important to me. This is my "Edge of the Flint Hills" photo tree. I plan to drop by a few more times over the years to see if I can get some more magic with it. The original Edge of the Flint Hills photo is my best-selling print that isn't the Keeper the Plains.

This Kansas house has been looking worse and worse each time we visit. Unfortunately, it is just a matter of time until it is just a pile of wood. You can say it is just about that now.

We stopped by Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse on the way from Kansas City last weekend so my son could view the inside. He has been inside once before but was very young. He has been to this schoolhouse multiple times, but I tend to visit in the middle of the night for star photos.

On this night the colors were for a win related to a soccer game, but I purposely got mostly red (changed in a pattern) to call it a Chiefs look for all the Chiefs fans out there. I am a Bears fan so it doesn't mean much to me :-).

I really would like a redo with these northern lights a few months ago. I am very glad we decided to stay out after my wife's master's graduation in Emporia, KS, but I didn't do enough research beforehand. I thought since it was fading, then it was done. Staying up until 4-5am wouldn't have been fun, but maybe worth it. These are from around the Abilene, Kansas area about an hour after sunset.

I am not much of a wildlife photographer because I am not patient enough. In this case, my wife's eagle eyes spotted an owl while we were driving down a dirt road. It stayed long enough to get a few photos of it.

A forgotten photo from last fall in Lake City, Colorado. I have yet to plan anything for this year, but I hope to get something going soon.

Mindy's Murals is done in Inman, Kansas! On our way back from Kansas City we made the "quick" detour on our way home to Wichita to see it completed.

My first visit to see Mindy's Murals in Inman. I will for sure be back after completed. It looks SOOO good! I will be making a video too, but I have a crazy busy week so it might be a bit before I can work on it.

Walking this path in Colorado about 2 hours after seeing my first bear in this same forest. My eyes were a little more open on this walk.

Well, the wind got a little crazy, but I was able to get a nice sunset near Pretty Prairie, Kansas tonight. At one point I thought a car was coming up the dirt road, but it ended up being a huge gust of wind so I tried to jump in my Jeep but had a hard time opening the door because it was so strong. Lots of lighting looking behind me and on the way back home to Wichita.

I saw a lot of amazing photos after getting home at about 2am this morning. I never saw the streaks of light, only the amazing color coming through the clouds. I love how the moon became the center point of the color change for the version I saw. This was close to Abilene, KS at about 1050pm last night.

My sunset prediction app told me the sunset was going to be poor tonight. I saw the making of a good sunset when the wind really picked up and even started raining around 230pm. I am all for the cold, but this one shocked me because of how quickly it went from a warm day to freezing cold with crazy wind. I even had little bit of sleet while I was out.

The elk were not very willing to stay around, but I was happy for the few we got.

Bison at sunrise in the freezing cold yesterday.

I just got back from Maxwell Wildlife Refuge in Canton, Kansas. It was just a little cold! Minus 4 windchill and outside for almost 2 hours before/at sunrise can cause some pain. I finally got a real sunrise after all these trips. I love the clear sky with the sun as the background, but I also like some interesting clouds, and we got that today. Here is one of a few I will post over the next few days.

Yet another photo I want another shot at. While I do love this photo, it is the only angle I took, but I was there for over 3 hours. I feared losing my spot so much I didn't move and took the same photo over and over as the sun came up. I let others in my spot to get the angle, but I never moved myself. I was alone on the side of the cliff for about an hour and a half in the dark and cold before anyone else arrived. Oops!