Josh Morgan Photography

09/03/2026

A close flyby from an immature osprey over Lake Beshear.

One of my favorite details in this photo is the orange eye. Young ospreys typically have orange to reddish-orange eyes, which gradually transition toward the bright yellow eyes we normally associate with adults.

It’s one of those little details that’s easy to overlook until you freeze the bird in flight and get a chance to really study it.

📍 Lake Beshear, Kentucky
📷 August 31st, 2026

09/01/2026

Just enough contact.

An osprey skimming across the surface of Lake Beshear, both feet dragging through the water as it pulls away. The spray hanging behind it lasts only an instant, but the camera gets to keep it.

I love photographing moments like this because there’s so much happening in a fraction of a second that you don’t always notice in real time. The stretched wings, the feet cutting through the surface, and that trail of suspended water showing exactly where it has been.

August 30th, 2026 | Lake Beshear

08/30/2026

When I first spot wildlife, I start taking photos almost immediately. You never know how long the opportunity will last. The bird could fly, move behind a tree, or the light could change in a matter of seconds.

Once I know I have a few shots, I’ll start repositioning the boat and watching the animal more closely, trying to anticipate what it might do next. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that when the sun is low on the horizon and directly behind me, birds along the bank have a much harder time seeing me. It gives me a chance to quietly “stalk” them with the camera and photograph their natural behavior without them seeming to pay much attention to me.

That’s exactly what happened with this Great Egret.

I was fortunate enough to watch it catch this bluegill, and by the time everything was over, I had a few hundred photographs to sort through.

Out of all of them, I kept coming back to this frame.

The egret had just turned its head enough for its eye to emerge from the shadow and catch the warm evening light. At the same time, the bluegill’s eye was perfectly visible and illuminated too. Two sets of eyes, both looking in completely different directions, caught in the same fraction of a second.

Taking the photographs is only half the process. Going through a few hundred frames, finding the one, and then editing it can take just as long as photographing the scene.

Actually…who am I kidding? The selection and editing usually takes way longer. 😂

📍 Lake Beshear
📅 August 25, 2026

08/27/2026

Great Egrets aren’t a common sight around Lake Beshear, so when one decides to make a pass right in front of the camera, I’m certainly not going to complain.

That brilliant white plumage really stands out against the darker water and shoreline, but what caught my attention after looking at the photo was just how much detail there is in those wings. Every feather seems to have its place.

It’s always fun when something a little out of the ordinary shows up on a lake I’ve spent so much time exploring.

Great Egret
August 25th, 2026
Lake Beshear, Kentucky

08/25/2026

After an osprey plunges into the water, it has a little housekeeping to do once it’s back in the air.

Much like a wet dog, an osprey will shake its body and feathers while flying to shed the extra water. The whole thing happens incredibly fast, turning a smooth flight into a brief explosion of water droplets.

Photography has a pretty good way of showing us things our eyes don’t always have time to see.

Taken September 10th, 2020 on Lake Beshear.

08/23/2026

Tuesday afternoon was an eagle fly-by, so it only seems fair to give the osprey a turn.

What I love most about this photo is the light. Most of the scene disappears into darkness, while just enough catches the osprey to separate it from the background. And then there’s that eye, almost impossible not to look at.

Sometimes the right light can turn a quick fly-by into something completely different.

August 19th, 2022 | Lake Beshear

08/22/2026

The 2026 Mahr Photography Contest is officially underway! 📸

I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone captures this year. Get out there, have some fun with it, and good luck to everyone who enters!

Guess what?! The 2026 Mahr Photography Contest starts TODAY!

We’re excited to see Mahr Park through your eyes! The contest runs through August 29th, and we’re especially excited about this year’s Hot Air Balloon category on August 28th during the Madisonville Illuminated Hot Air Balloon Glow.

Contest Rules & Submission:
www.mahrparkarboretum.com/photography-contest

Take a look at our 2025 Best Overall Winner in the Traditional Camera Division:
“Design Element” by Jessica Bryant

Will we see your photo featured as a 2026 winner? We can’t wait to see what you capture!

08/20/2026

There are thousands, probably millions, of photographs of the Great American Eclipse of 2017.

But this one is mine.

On August 21st, 2017, I was sitting in a boat on Lake Beshear with friends, camera pointed toward something I knew I may never get the chance to photograph quite like this again. We were only about 12 miles north of the point of greatest duration, putting us incredibly close to the center of one of the most anticipated celestial events in decades.

This photograph was taken immediately after totality, as the first bit of sunlight began to emerge from behind the moon. I was trying to create the illusion of a glowing diamond ring, and this was the result.

I took several photographs during totality that day, but nearly nine years later, this one is still my favorite.

Another total solar eclipse crossed the United States in 2024, and there will be others somewhere in the world. But I don’t know that I’ll ever again be sitting on my home lake, with friends, just a few miles from the center of totality, watching daylight disappear in the middle of the afternoon.

Sometimes the significance of a photograph isn’t that nobody else has one. It’s that you were there to take yours.

August 21st, 2017
Lake Beshear, Kentucky

08/18/2026

There’s something different about seeing a bald eagle this close.

We usually notice the white head and yellow beak first, but in this frame it’s the details that catch my attention. The layers of feathers across the wings, the texture around the face, and especially that eye locked on whatever lies ahead.

For just a fraction of a second, everything came together close enough to see a little more than we normally get to see from a distance.

June 3rd, 2025
Lake Beshear, Kentucky

08/16/2026

A bad storm had just rolled through Lake Beshear. As soon as the rain stopped, I grabbed my camera, jumped in the boat, and headed across the lake.

I knew there might be something worth photographing after the storm, but I wasn’t expecting this.

As the sun dropped toward the horizon, the entire scene turned orange. The water, the shoreline, the sky…everything seemed to be glowing. Above it all, the setting sun caught the mammatus clouds left behind by the storm and lit them from underneath.

I even took a short video that evening because a photograph almost didn’t seem like enough. I wanted to remember just how orange everything really was.

There’s also a familiar little face hidden somewhere in this photo. Can you spot Bobbi? 😂

Sometimes the storm is only half the show.

August 6th, 2019
Lake Beshear, Kentucky