The Iowa Landscape

My new found love of Landscape Photography 

Iowa has a very special place in my heart. This is the place where my husband grew up. His dad worked at Maytag, which specialized in making washing machines, dryers and dishwashers. My father-in-law started working at MayTag right after High School, and was picked to be an electrician apprentice. He was trained and mentored by a seasoned electrician and eventually became the licensed electrician, or skilled labor. He fixes the machines that make the machines. Two weeks in the summer, the plant does it’s scheduled annual “Shut Down”, so the maintenance department and electricians can service the machines and have them cleaned, repaired (if that is the case) and parts replaced so the machines can work consistently for the rest of the year. Everyone on the line has two weeks off, except for my father-in-law and his department. This is such a good practice for all businesses and I try to incorporate this philosophy into my family’s life and well being. Maytag’s Monroe Iowa plant is no more. The Maytag family sold the business to Whirlpool, their competitor and have moved out of Iowa. Fritz Maytag, took his inheritance and is a very successful Craft Beer maker. He purchased Steam Anchor Beer in San Francisco and is building his empire on different kinds of suds. The plant now makes wind turbines as you can see the product in action at the wind farm in Laurel, IA.

Living in California most of my life, there was never an infinity to the horizon. A building or freeway always blocked the view. The closest I got to that infinite line of sight with my camera was the ocean. Unfortunately, the smog layer is so intense that you can see the layer of brown in between the blue ocean horizon and the sky, not exactly something to be proud of, and to be inspired to photograph. Here in Iowa, there is this amazing pink, yes I said pink color that happens at sunset. It’s my new favorite thing to see, and sometimes I’m so moved I tend to skip taking the photograph.

When I was younger, I would shoot photos that I thought would impress other photographers. Now, that I am older and hopefully wiser, I take photos that are more meaningful to my life at the moment. There is also a technical challenge in doing so, since landscape was never my forte. I have includes some of the most surprising photos that I get a lot of positive responses.