Sandra and I moved here in 1990. Our reason was to work in a rural hospital similar to the one I grew up in Groom, Texas. My father was one of six doctors who practiced in Groom, that town of about 800 people. I was also completely struck by the Cheyenne Bottoms. I practiced in Kansas City from 1973 to 1990 when we moved to Hoisington. I came out here and hunted and fished as much as possible when I was working in Kansas City. My Labrador Retrievers, Bimbo Jack, Eider, and Queen Smooch, did extremely well sleeping under my desk at work and by the bed at night. I miss my dogs. It’s just not fair to get one that will statistically outlive you and I can’t do that to one of those beautiful animals or I would have another one.

My cameras have been the absolute joy of my life in the Cheyenne Bottoms. I have taken courses and have had the encouragement of some extremely talented wildlife and landscape photographers. Dan Soeken and I went to Bosque Del Apache in New Mexico to take a course hosted by Steve Traudt from Grand Junction, Colo., early in my career. After a few National Geographic courses and a lot of other courses and practice – I’m pretty comfortable with my gear. I shot Canon for many years and when that stuff got cumbersome (I may have aged a bit) I changed to the Olympus system in micro 4/3. I won’t bore you with tech talk, but I am happy with my stuff. It does things that Canon can’t do. Enough ...

I have critically evaluated the Canon vs Olympus images and I can’t see much – if any – difference. I am going to show you three images from the Canon era and three from the Olympus era. My friend Randy Akings and I did some black and white film that is separate from everything – we loved that gig!

I am grateful every day for the opportunity to shoot pictures of these Cheyenne Bottoms and the worlds of birds that migrate through here twice a year. It is a spectacular sight that few ever get to witness. Birders, hunters, and wildlife enthusiasts get a view and experience here in the Bottoms that is unique and memorable from several points of view. It is singular and unique and shouldn’t be disturbed.

Here are your pictures – I’m not going to disclose which are Canon and which are Olympus. If you ask me, I will tell you.

Doc

Doctor Dan Witt is a retired physician and nature enthusiast. He can be reached at danwitt01@gmail.com.