High schooler's photographic skills to help finance 4-H trip to Washington

Morgan Barnhart is more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it. She is the 15-year-old daughter of Daryl and Yvonne Barnhart.

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Morgan Barnhart has her head -- and her heart -- in the clouds.

The McCook High School sophomore loves to shoot pictures, especially of clouds -- white clouds, dark clouds, calm or deranged -- clouds themselves or as the background in her pictures. "My favorite thing to shoot is definitely clouds," Morgan said, smiling.

As proof, the pictures in a calendar that Morgan has created are of clouds as the focal point or as an intriguing background.

A photograph of an old tractor is part of Morgan Barnhart's 2011 calendar, which also includes Baxter Black quotes. (Courtesy photo)

Morgan put together a collection of her favorite photographs for the calendar, planning to sell the calendars to raise funds to help finance her 4-H "CWF" (Citizenship Washington Focus) trip to the nation's capital in June.

Morgan accompanied each month's photograph with a quote, most of which are attributed to Morgan's favorite cowboy columnist, Baxter Black.

Morgan obtained Black's permission to use the quotes when MHS FFA sponsor Josh Schieber ran into Black at the national FFA convention and explained Morgan's project to him. "Baxter Black told Mr. Schieber I could use his quotes if I gave him a calendar and he gets to meet me," Morgan said, grinning. "He's gotten a calendar, but I haven't met him yet."

Black helped proof-read the calendar and autographed several copies for Morgan, she said.

Calendars are available for $5 each and can be purchased from Schieber or at the high school office.

The photographs in the calendar are testament to the life that Morgan loves -- animals, rural life, and, of course, clouds.

Morgan said she started taking pictures with throw-away cameras when she was about 10 years ago. "My first pictures were probably my cat ... or horses," she said.

After a year or two, Morgan progressed to a digital camera, a Kodak Easy Share. "I like that, with a digital, I can see my picture as I take it," she said.

Morgan explains in an introduction in her calendar that she won a grand championship ribbon in Red Willow County and a red ribbon at the State Fair in Unit II 4-H photography with a picture of a guitar in 2009. The next year, her picture of a tractor won another grand championship purple ribbon in the county competition, and a purple ribbon at the State Fair. That same picture is the December picture in her calendar.

Morgan has a philosophy about her picture-taking, and she expresses it, too, in her calendar: "Some people have tried to look deeper, to find a meaning behind my pictures, but, really, they're just pictures. Most of my pictures are spur-of-the moment pictures. If I have my camera and an object looks cool, I am going to take a picture."