Mark S. Peterson Photography

01/07/2026

Happy New Year! I've been on the road through the holidays and had some wonderful down-time with family. I hope you all have had a great holiday season and are gearing up for a photogenic 2026!

This week on my Visual Journal photography blog, I've shared recent landscape images from Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction, Colorado. I've posted a few of these over on Instagram, as well. Here are a few favorites attached here. Or feel free to see the larger collection on the Visual Journal at https://mpetersonphoto.com/colorado-national-monument/

Thanks for following this page! If you're seeing this but aren't following, I hope you'll consider doing so - it's a no-cost way to support a hard-working photographer!

11/05/2025

Looking forward to my upcoming November 15 "Artistry in Nature: the Textures of Autumn" photo workshop in north-central Iowa. I spent some time scouting locations this past week, and it was lovely to be out in the forest. We've had a fine group of photographers come together for this event - it promises to be a productive workshop and a great time!
Workshop Info: https://bit.ly/4oZ60YW

10/13/2025

Looking forward to my "Midwest Autumn Color" one-day photo workshop that I'll be delivering at Ledges State Park in Central Iowa on Saturday. I visited the park today to scout locations. Among other things, I walked the entire length of the always-intriguing Pea's Creek with a superwide zoom. Here are a couple of faves from that session.

07/12/2025

I’m pleased to announce two one-day autumn photography workshops this fall:

• Midwest Autumn Color - October 18 at Ledges State Park in Central Iowa
• Artistry in Nature: The Textures of Autumn - November 15 at Dolliver Memorial State Park in NE Iowa

I've created event pages for each of these here on Facebook, but full details and a registration link are available on my workshop website: https://petersonphotoworkshops.com/calendar

I’m not too active on Facebook lately, so I don't believe the algorithm will likely treat me to kindly. But I’ll drop by here with some updates when I can. I do actively use Messenger, so please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions!

10/25/2024

Greetings friends! I know the page has been quiet for a while: I have been away from the Midwest, or out of the US, much of 2024, and I don't really spend much (any) time on Facebook when traveling. Lots of photography, though, and I'll gradually update when I'm back home for November-December starting next week.

I'm currently enjoying some downtime in Colorado's Gore Range, and beginning to make 2025 event plans. While I don't have group workshop plans for the rest of 2024, I do have availability for one-on-one workshops through the end of the year. I am also thinking about a late-fall/early-winter group photo walk.

More soon!

10/16/2023

Fall workshop update!

Midwest Autumn Color: Thanks to the fabulous photographers that joined me Saturday for my Midwest Autumn Color workshop - such an awesome group! I had great fun working with you and I'm looking forward to seeing some of your images during our zoom share session!

Artistry in Nature-Textures of Autumn: Due to a cancellation I have two seats open in this workshop. Nov 18, 8am-4pm at fascinating Dolliver Memorial State Park in Iowa. Details and registration: https://petersonphotoworkshops.com/calendar/the-textures-of-autumn/

08/06/2023

During our prairie photo walk a few weeks ago, one of the participating photographers was using the new Heipi Travel Tripod, which caught the attention of several others at the event. I've had a couple people message me to ask "what was that cool little tripod again?" questions, and by chance I stumbled across an article about it over on the Pentax/Ricoh Rumors website this week.

When I first saw the tripod on the photo walk, I thought it was a Peak Design travel tripod, as the legs are similarly styled. But the Heipi has a more standard tripod head (a good thing, in my opinion). I only studied the tripod briefly, but it looks useful and well-made. It turns out the Heipi travel tripod was the fruit of a kickstarter campaign.

Here's a link to the article on Pentax/Ricoh Rumors, which links to the Heipi website as well as a YouTube video. It appears there is a discount code, as well, though I'm not sure if that's still usable. I have no connection to this - just passing info along since it was of interest to our participants!

The HEIPI tripod (the lightest and most compact 3-in-1 travel tripod) that raised over a million dollars on Kickstarter is now listed for sale directly on the manufacturer’s website and you can get $40 off with code QV654S8DATAZ. The Benro Theta self-leveling intelligent modular tripod that raised...

07/16/2023

Thanks to each of the photographers who joined me out at Doolittle Prairie in Story County yesterday. It was fun to catch up with all of you I know well, and to meet for the first time those of you I hadn't known before! I hope you all had as fun of a morning as I did. There were a lot of great subjects, and I've enjoyed seeing the photos some of you have been sharing so far on social media yesterday and today. Feel free to share any images below, if you're so inclined.

And since some of you asked - yes! - I'll plan another photo walk at another location later this summer.

07/09/2023

Followers of this page are invited to join me for a Prairie Photo Walk this Saturday, July 15, at Doolittle Prairie near Story City, Iowa. I'll arrive a little before 7am, and I'll depart a little after 9am (though attendees are welcome to stay later). Join me for a morning of prairie nature photography?

This event is free to attend and will be non-instructional - that is, though I'm a photo workshop instructor, this is not a workshop and I won't be teaching. I'm just facilitating getting a group of photographers together to make nature photos and enjoy some camaraderie with other photo enthusiasts.

So, what to expect? Doolittle Prairie (between Ames and Story City in Story County) is a pothole prairie that is home to a multitude of native wildflowers and plants. Many of the wildflower varieties are currently at or near peak bloom. In the morning hours, one can often find dew-laden insects like grasshoppers and dragonflies, a variety of birds and wildlife, and many wildflowers for beautiful landscape and/or macro images. I've scheduled this in the morning hours to take advantage of the warm morning light. No guarantees about what we'll see, but there are always great subjects at this location.

There will be no sales, no politics, just a fun couple of hours creating nature photographs and enjoying camaraderie with other photographers.

I am posting this on FB so that it's seen by some of the followers of this page that may not have received my email on this topic yesterday. I intentionally did not create a facebook "event" as I am not seeking large numbers. A small group is perfect, though anyone who'd like to attend is welcome. (In reality, I post to FB so infrequently that the algorithm probably won't show this to many people, anyway :) ).

So, if you're inclined to join, please drop me a message so I have an idea of numbers? Likewise, feel free to DM me with any questions.

Details:
What: Prairie Photo Walk with Mark S. Peterson Photography
Where: Doolittle Prairie, 14249 560th Avenue, Story City IA 50248
When: Saturday, July 15, 7:00 a.m. - 9:00(ish) a.m.
Cost: Free

07/08/2023

Hey Facebook, what's good? I'm back with two autumn instructional photo workshops coming up in October and November:
~ October 14, 2023: Midwest Autumn Color, Ledges State Park, Iowa
~ November 18, 2023: Artistry in Nature-The Textures of Autumn, Dolliver Memorial State Park, Iowa
Both are landscape and nature photography content, details on my workshop website, https://petersonphotoworkshops.com