“Dances with Nature” is the title of an exhibit of Northern Kentucky wildlife at Behringer-Crawford Museum running through Aug. 3. The photographs, taken by Kira MacNeil at her Pendleton County farm, are a result of patient observation and a keen eye for detail.
The photos cover a range of local birds and insects as well as a few four-legged creatures and show the vast diversity that exists right here in our region. Each are up close and personal, showing moments most of us might miss, including a mother bird feeding her young or a garden spider waiting patiently for prey.
Patience is the key behind the work. MacNeil takes her time just being present until something catches her eye.
“Kira takes her camera and starts hiking. And I think she’s even been known to take residence in a couple of deer stands and just wait for nature,” said Laurie Risch, executive director of the museum.
Finding peace in a stressful time
MacNeil said she always enjoyed taking photos when she had the time but with a growing family and a career as a massage therapist that time was limited. And then came the pandemic.
“I think the thing that really spurred it was Covid because I couldn’t work anymore,” MacNeil said. “I’ve always taken pictures, but I’ve never really had the time after I had kids. Yet with homeschooling the kids, I needed a release because homeschooling was a little stressful. So I used to go hiking with my camera, and I would take pictures.”
She started posting them on social media and got so many positive comments, she knew she had something special to share.
“It was helpful for me because it was an outlet for me to be relaxed and present, a way to de-stress,” she said. “And I realized that other people were seeing that, too. They were like, ‘Oh, this is so peaceful.’”
Once she started roaming and recording the wildlife on her farm, she said, she found an antidote to many of the daily stresses of life.
“And, this is all right in our backyards. And it’s so calming for me,” MacNeil said. “This is where you can take that minute because, when you’re behind that lens, the only thing that matters is what you’re looking at. And you can capture these really great moments if you just be quiet and still long enough.”
Life and inspiration on the farm
The farm has been a constant resource of inspiration for MacNeil.
“We have been at the farm for 11 years this year,” MacNeil said. “Right after we moved in was when I got pregnant with the boys. So it just seemed like the right place for us. It’s so beautiful down there. And the boys get to grow up out there, too, which is great. They’re hiking through all these woods with me, too, which is fun. And, it’s fun because, with a lot of these pictures, I can remember where I was or who I was with when I took them. And that’s kind of why I get so attached to some of them.”
Birds dominate her work but her up close shots of insects and spiders show moments that normally go unseen by most of us walking by. With 250 acres, the farm offers a never-ending treasure trove of subject matter, she said.
“I have such a wide opportunity for so many different types of birds and wildlife,” she said. “Because we have hay fields, we have oak, we have the cedar forest, we have the creek that comes through. So there’s a lot of different habitats for all the different animals. And not being from Kentucky originally, I’ve been learning and just basically educating myself on a lot of what all these different creatures are.”
Learning about the land and its inhabitants, MacNeil said she would like to bring attention to some of the species that need support. She has seen bobwhites on her farm, for example, but has learned the population of these birds has gone down over the years. She hopes to work to help protect the birds on her property.
Care for nature even in the frames
MacNeil adds to her work with custom frames she makes from recycled wood taken from old outbuildings on the property. Each frame adds its own story to a piece.
The weathered wood adds textures. She recalled noticing after framing one of her photos in a frame with cross-hatching across the wood, it brought out a similar pattern in the texture of the bird’s feathers she had photographed. Other times she matches the subtle colors of remaining paint on the frames to colors in her subjects.
Color is a strong element in the photos. Her series of ducks, the only photos taken off site at a friend’s farm, display a vibrancy of color that look more like paintings than photos. She credits her Sony camera for the depth of color.
Being present
As she showed off photos of the tiniest creatures — a praying mantis, a dragonfly, a butterfly, a bumblebee gathering pollen — MacNeil said there’s so much to see right in our back yards if we take the time to look.
“It’s just being present, just taking that time,” MacNeil said. “And that’s what it is. Because we’re always so busy. Everybody’s always running around doing stuff. And I think it’s hard sometimes to sit and just chill for a minute, even five minutes. It seems like so much time, but when you sit there, you realize how much you needed it.”
Behringer-Crawford Museum is located at 1600 Montague Road inside Covington’s Devou Park. For more information, go to bcmuseum.org or call 859-491-4003.