We saw the Minneapolis (by way of Iowa City) band The Pines last night at Legion Arts in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at their new CD "Dark So Gold" release show. Bo Ramsey, father of band members Benson and Alex, was an unexpected guest. Wow.
Blogs
The Pines 2/4/12
Submitted by mark on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 13:09
Harvest dinner 11/6/11
Submitted by mark on Tue, 11/08/2011 - 11:36
I was at Scattergood School & Farm, a 125-year old Quaker boarding school and organic farm near West Branch, Iowa Sunday, photographing a get-together of Practical Farmers of Iowa for The Iowan magazine. I set up my studio in the Hickory Grove Meeting House, an antique building with a very Shaker-esque interior.
Sweet corn, 8/29
Submitted by mark on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 20:17
Sweet corn is at it's peak and we bought 3 dozen ears today, threw them on the gas grill for 10 minutes, then Nancy cut the kernels off and boiled the cobs down makes a great stock.
The Waterplant, 8/21/11
Submitted by mark on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 21:35
Fabulous weather lately after 6 grueling weeks of heat and humidity. Nancy and I took a bike ride at the Iowa City water plant this morning and although the prairie flowers are starting to dry up there's still lots of birds, and flowers in the woods like this blue lobelia, and out in the open prairie Canadian thistle with a monarch and a bumblebee feeding on the nectar.
Dragonfly
Submitted by mark on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 07:02
During a brief respite from the heat wave I photographed this dragonfly at the Iowa City waterplant prairie (8/2/11).
Japanese beetles
Submitted by mark on Mon, 07/18/2011 - 10:03
Oh, the horror---a veritable plague of Japanese beetles has descended on my grapes (and raspberries and roses and baby apple trees). I think Iowa needs a new outdoor sport. Forget dove hunting--someone needs to design a tiny shotgun specifically for hunting beetles (and some good recipes for preparing them).
New show at Design Ranch, Spring, 2011
Submitted by mark on Tue, 05/17/2011 - 21:32
The Design Ranch is currently featuring a new selection of seasonal landscape, cloudscape and botanical studies in color and black-and-white by Iowa City photographer Mark Tade. Subjects range from a still-life of pears in an antique wooden bowl to a panorama view of a towering thunderstorm over Cedar County. The Design Ranch is at 701 E. Davenport Street in Iowa City. Open Tue-Sat 12pm-5pm (http://designranch.com/). Here are some samples--
backyard abundance
Submitted by mark on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 10:42
I am hanging some prints at Bistro Montage, step-son Enosh Kelley's restaurant in Des Moines, Iowa. These three are from articles photographed for Iowa Gardening magazine.
heirloom tomatos
fresh eggs
Iowa garden
3/29/11 deer sheds
Submitted by mark on Fri, 04/01/2011 - 09:53
It's time to look for "deer sheds" if you're into that kind of thing--before the morel hunters and warbler watchers get out and find them. I found these in the little patch of tall grass prairie adjacent to my yard where the deer bedded down this winter when the snow was so deep and all they had to eat were my evergreens. I think I saw this big boy several times last Fall but have never found a matched set of antler sheds together before--usually just find singles. Good to know he survived the winter and hunting season.
