Photographer Page

Terra Fondriest

Harrison, Arkansas, United States: This restaurant used to be a KFC but, Fondriest explains, the new proprietor has given it an idiosyncratic makeover by adding his own hunting mounts and a buck painting by a local artist.

“The morning after it rained here in the Ozarks of Arkansas, the valley behind our home filled with fog,“ writes Your Shot photographer Terra Fondriest. “The moon was still out, but the birds were chirping and the hummingbirds were starting to drink from our feeder. I stood on the porch for about 10 seconds before this hummer came into view, heading for sugar water from the feeder.“

"My husband was putting on a show for the kids, making a big dead tree throw sparks by tossing large chunks of wood at it," writes Your Shot photographer Terra Fondriest. "The tree had caught fire during our prescribed burn that we did to open the understory up and put nutrients in the soil. Sometimes dead trees catch fire and burn over the course of a couple days."

A young boy inspects a lizard he captured while playing in the Arkansas Ozarks. "It's been a good summer for lizards," says his mom, Your Shot photographer Terra Fondriest. "We have babies everywhere!"

“This photograph shows a young child practicing for youth spring turkey season which opened the following weekend,” writes Your Shot photographer Terra Fondriest. “Youth turkey is for ages 6-15 and marks the opening of spring turkey season. His father pictured in the background has always been an avid hunter, so he is bringing up his son the same way. Besides hunting for turkey and deer meat, they also raise meat pigs and chickens. They live just down the road from us in the Ozarks of Arkansas.”

Local beekeepers in the Arkansas Ozarks remove honey from hives scattered around their property. "The Usrey brothers learned beekeeping from their father," says Your Shot photographer Terra Fondriest. "He’s kept bees most of their lives, but his health can’t keep up with it anymore, so the boys do the hive work now."

Your Shot photographer Terra Fondriest snapped this picture in the Arkansas Ozarks while visiting some neighbours who raise pigs. "One of them has become like a pet dog because they had to keep it at the house and care for it special," she explains. "My son couldn't get enough of it. Their dog Chewy, who is coming to check me out here, is very protective of Miss Piggy."

Your Shot photographer Terra Fondriest captured this picture of her daughter while visiting friends in eastern Kansas. She says the friends have kept bees for more than 30 years, and gave the kids veils so they could peek inside the hive. "My daughter is now interested in us starting a hive, as they sent us home with an empty hive box," says Fondriest.