Creative photography inspired by Yellowstone trip

Wanda English Burnett

Cory Kirkpatrick pauses outisde the newspaper office in Versailles for a quick photo.

A 2014 graduate of Jac-Cen-Del high School found his love of photography on a trip in 2013 when he went to Yellowstone with the Youth to Yellowstone of Ripley County, Inc. group founded by Jim Waldo and Kendall Hankins. He didn’t know it at the time and didn’t have the equipment to make it a reality, but Cory Kirkpatrick, now 26, was bit by the photography bug!

Kirkpatrick said on the trip he got to use the cameras provided for them, along with advice and instruction on how to capture nature at its finest. “I felt like a lot of the kids got influenced into photography,” he said of the once-in-a-lifetime trip for many students.

Even after the Yellowstone trip, Kirkpatrick was able to go with Waldo to other photography worthy events, and receive further mentorship from the photographer. He said he went to a Navy Battle Ship, stone quarry, Versailles State Park, and other places where photo opportunities were abundant.

But  his photography might have started even a bit earlier than his Yellowstone trip. He said once his mother, Becky Horn, noticed a photo he had taken of a butterfly on a flower. “This would be a good one to enter in the art show at the Pumpkin Show,” she told him. He did and won Best of Show, first place. 

Kirkpatrick lives partly in Osgood and partly in New Point at this time due to living with his father, Bruce, who is a truck driver. He has worked at the truck stop in New Point, but is out of work now due to the coronavirus situation. He’s been staying with his mom in Osgood, where he grew up.

One of seven siblings – all boys – Kirkpatrick, aka slappy_meets_world on his Instagram and Facebook pages, has creativity flowing and when he received some stimulus money he put it to good use. He bought a Canon 800 D Rebel T71 with accessories. Since then, he has taken pictures all the way to the moon, literally! He can now enjoy photography in a whole new way and is pursing taking photos of weddings, senior pictures etc. “But, with the COVID, who know?” he laughed, in his easy-going manner. He’s ready to launch out and share his talent with others. You can contact him through his social media if interested in seeing what he has to offer.