Steven Helmer Publications

My oldest daughter and I handed out packets of hot cocoa to trick-or-treaters in shifts yesterday evening and, while she was taking her turn, I decided to move one of my trail cameras back to the backyard. I retrieved it this morning and learned it picked up quite a bit of activity back there. Here are some of the photos: ____________________________________________________________________ Here are some of my other trail camera photos: Trail Camera Photos (9/26/2026-9/27/2026) Trail Camera Photos (10/11/2026-10/12/2026) Trail Camera Photos (7/23/2026-7/24/2026) Trail Camera Photos (7/25/2026-7/26/2026)

I didn't see much on my walk today. I heard lots of movement but the things making the noise kept out of camera view. The lone exception was this blue heron, which I spotted on a fallen tree resting in a pond. It must have been hunting something because it ignored me as I got the photo. ____________________________________________________________________ Here are some other heron photos: A Couple Heron Photos (10/7/2026) Some Heron Photos Heron Photo Heron With Breakfast

Here are my thoughts from the Green Bay Packers' 27-19 win over the Carolina Panthers: That was a great defensive effort. I'll forgive the late Carolina touchdown that made it a one-score game because it was a short week and fatigue was likely a factor. The defense is missing key players, but you wouldn't know it, getting six sacks and an interception against Bryce Young and holding the Panthers to just a field goal after three turnovers by the offense and special teams. The best part is they are only going to get better when Micah Parsons returns. That offensive line though. To be fair, I thought they did an OK job on pass plays, giving Jordan Love time to find receivers downfield and not allowing a sack. That makes their inability to block on run plays even more maddening. Josh Jacobs was giving it everything he had and only averaged 1.9 yards per carry. Injuries are obviously an issue there, but I'm not convinced that is the only problem. That Savion Williams run is ...

The drive to the factory was quiet, as had been the case for more than a year as mass unemployment and localized economic blight forced businesses to shutter and caused homes to be foreclosed upon and left vacant. The boarded-up windows and for sale signs would be a depressing sight for Greg if he didn’t view it as the cost of progress. It was nearly the third anniversary of his decision to copy other factories in the area and replace his human workforce with AI-powered androids. It was a massive financial investment, but Greg did not regret it.  The integration had been almost effortless. The androids were easier to train than most of his human employees had been. Just show them the task once and they would mimic it. With repetition, the androids learned and after the second or third upgrade, were even proactively making changes to make their work more efficient. It didn't take long for his android workers to surpass the productivity of a human workforce twice the size. Greg had g...

I put my trail camera out in front of my house on Tuesday and completely forgot about it until yesterday evening, when I decided to bring it in to make sure the batteries didn't get run down by having it so close to a popular bird feeder. The batteries do seem to be OK but there was quite a bit of activity in the time I had it out. Here are some of the more than 300 photos that were taken: ________________________________________________________________________ Here are some previous trail camera photos:  Trail Camera Photos (7/23/2026-7/24/2026) Trail Camera Photos (7/25/2026-7/26/2026) Trail Camera Photos (8/23/2026) Trail Camera Photos (11/10/2024-11/12/2024)

It was a bit cool out today, but I figured it is only a matter of time before the temps become much colder so, since the sun was out, I did get a walk in at lunch. Unfortunately, I didn't have too much luck photography wise. Most of the critters I saw were keeping their distance, making it hard to get a good photo even with the zoom lens on max. And I don't know what's up with those ducks. The second they spot me, they fly off, even if they are on the other side of the pond. I did, however, spot this squirrel as I was walking back to my car and managed to snap a photo of it before it too decided to go into hiding. _____________________________________________________________________ Here are some of my previous nature photos: Frog Photo A Couple Heron Photos (10/7/2026) Hiding Ducks Muskrat Photos