Powers finds peace in photography

Tess Nelson
The Red Oak Express

Longtime law enforcement officer Drue Powers of Red Oak once patrolled streets and alleys; eyes peeled for those wanting to cause trouble.
Now retired, Powers can now be found on the back roads and more rural settings as a landscape photographer.
“It’s a way for me to become more with nature and decompress; especially since my retirement,” said Powers.
Powers was raised around photography. His grandfather was a small town newspaper editor and his father, an artist. However, it wasn’t until he was in law enforcement Powers began to take it seriously.
“I ended up investigating crime scenes, in which photography plays a role. Through that, especially when I was with the City of Des Moines, I took a lot of technical training photography courses,” Powers said.
He also completed a New York Institute of Photography course, which he said he gained a lot from. Over the course of nearly 40 years, cameras have changed drastically, Powers said. He said he still has all of his old cameras, but developing film is cost prohibitive, so he works in digital.
“The real shift between film and digital happened when I was with the City of Des Moines in the crime lab. I swore I wouldn’t be dragged into digital, and I went kicking and screaming. At that time, cameras were exceptionally high priced and lacked the resolution cell phone cameras have today,” Powers said. “To a degree, I miss the nostalgia of film, but the convenience of digital is hard to beat.”
Powers said he leans toward landscape photography because it is quiet and calming. He doesn’t have to be in a hurry and he never takes a photo thinking if it is something someone else will like.
“I’ll go out and sit for an hour or two before I even take out my camera,” Powers said.
Early morning and sunset are two of Powers’ favorite times to be out taking photos. A few of his favorite local places for photography are the Anderson Conservation Area, Viking Lake, Waubonise State Park and the Loess Hills.
“Sometimes I’ll sit down with Google Maps or Google Earth and just start looking around the region; see where it takes me,” Powers explained. “If I am driving down the road and something strikes my fancy, I’ll pull over. I always have my camera with me.”
He has no seasonal preference, as they each hold their visual magic. However, he did say winter photos are impressive in black and white, while fall photos looks best in color. Sunrises and sunsets are also more impressive in color, he said.
“People who live in Iowa, we take it for granted. There are some very pretty places here, but we drive by it everyday and don’t take stalk into what it really is,” Powers said.
To view Powers' photography, go to druepowersphotograhy.com.