On our photo walk at Buffalo River State Park, Owen and I moved through the park’s varied landscapes, each of us with our own perspective and a camera to tell the stories of our walk. In this week’s Tuesday Trek, I shared my perspective. If you missed part 1 of our journey, you can find it here.

To organize the gallery, Owen began by featuring the landscape’s larger shapes and textures—the weathered trees, the open prairie, and the river’s gentle bend. To conclude the gallery, his attention shifted toward the dense greens and, finally, the small details tucked closer to the ground.

Owen and I have taken several photo walks, mostly at parks and gardens, but we’ve also explored street photography in Fargo and made more than one trip to the zoo. This set features the images from the park that were his favorites from our walk.

It stood out from the background of living trees, making it an interesting subject. For this post, I asked Owen for his thoughts about each image. His comments appear in italics at the start of each paragraph. Owen chose the opening photo to lead the set, zeroing in on the contrast between the weathered wood and the surrounding greenery.

I wanted to give the tree in the glen a painterly look. For the first time, Owen edited his own images. Working in Luminar Neo, I guided him through the editing concepts so he could learn how each adjustment shapes a photo’s story. For each tool, I showed him how to push the slider across its full range to see the extremes before settling on the look he wanted. As we worked, he recognized how each adjustment helped move the image away from a straight photograph and closer to something that felt like a painting.

I chose this over my other river shots because I liked the details in the exposed rock and the river bend. This photo of the Buffalo River is Owen’s favorite of the series. In our earlier photo walks, we practiced using leading lines as a compositional tool, and he put that principle to work here by using the curve of the bank to draw the viewer into the scene.

I liked how the light hit the leaves in the background compared to the shaded leaves up front. To finish his gallery, he selected three macro shots from our walk, starting with this abstract foliage study. He was drawn to the play of light across the leaves, capturing the subtle depth created by foreground shadows.

I picked this flower because there weren’t many yellow ones along the trail. This is my favorite image of Owen’s set. The bright yellow blossoms on a single goldenrod stem were sharply focused, making the image pop nicely against the dark background.

I chose this flower for its unique purple color and vertical, spiky structure. The tall, upright stem creates a strong leading subject in the frame. Owen did a great job managing his depth of field, keeping the delicate, spiky details sharp while letting the surrounding prairie melt into a soft green backdrop.

Every summer, Owen, his grandmother, and I spend one day a week doing something together—maybe going to a movie, going to the zoo, or visiting a local museum or art gallery (there aren’t too many in Fargo). Since developing an interest in photography, he often suggests new locations to photograph for our outings. It’s been fun for me to share what I’ve learned over the years as he begins his own photo journey. He shoots with a Nikon D7000 and a 55-200mm f/4-5.6 kit lens—a gift from Gramps. You can see his photos in a 2K HD gallery on Flickr here.

John Steiner.