Before we left on vacation, Nate and I headed out for a drive through the countryside. And by countryside, I mean 2 miles from our house.

Why? Because that’s what you do in Iowa. Usually there is beer involved. And ‘coon beating. But we decided to keep it low key. Just Nate, Ike, and I cruising in my Jeep…sans baseball bats.

Nate recently read that in order to take great landscape photographs, you need to be able to be inspired in your own backyard. If you can’t be inspired by your everyday surroundings, how can you easily be inspired in new places that you travel to?

Bring on the inspiration…

At sunset we headed to a little lake….(After we ran back into town for gas. Note to self…when “cruising the countryside” have a full tank of gas…amateurs…). They are currently working on enlarging this lake and adding nature trails. Only 2 miles from home. We are pretty pumped about this situation…