Breaking my own rule

Normally I don’t do any photo roaming during deer (rifle) season. It’s a good way to catch a stray bullet, and landowners are generally pretty edgy with all the randos out looking for a place to hunt – with or without permission. Naturally I’m sensitive to the landowners’ point of view, and one less vehicle ambling down the gravel road or section line can help enhance their calm. But today I opted to roam.

I couldn’t help but stop by this old house, because I haven’t taken a photo of it in years for no particular reason. It’s been twelve years, in fact. This photo is a prime example of why I mark all my photo spots in my handheld GPS so I can revisit them later:

Continue reading

Square Butte Shed

This structure sits along Highway 1804 north of town, and it’s got a great view. The Square Buttes sit – well, squarely – to the west across the Missouri River. I happened to come by with my sweetie at a particularly beautiful time and was able to capture this photo of the moment.

The Randolph Twins

When it comes to finding points of photographic interest around North Dakota, I’ve got plenty of resources. I have maps. I have lists. I have online resources. I keep an eye out for interesting things posted by others, especially locals in certain places. The Randolph School showed up on one of my maps, so I followed my usual ritual: finding its precise GPS location; pixel-peeping it on The Google; determining if it’s still where it should be; determining if there’s still a road to it (especially in the Prairie Pothole areas); and plotting my way to visit it for myself. When I arrived at the location of the Randolph School, however, I was surprised to see that there were two of them.

Continue reading

Low tech, high tech weekend…somewhere

I spotted this barn while out roaming around a long time ago, and I came across this photo recently while going through old photos. I don’t remember posting this one, so I thought I’d share. I wonder if there was a time where this barn suddenly gave out a gasp and settled into this position?

With structures like this, I find it interesting to stop by again after a while and see how the ravages of time have progressed. Unfortunately, in this case, I don’t know if that’ll be possible…

Continue reading

School’s out…forever

I hope you read that title in Alice Cooper’s voice. I was going through some photos from 2022 recently, looking for a selfie I took in a Blackhawk helicopter, when I came across this one. I don’t believe I’d posted it before! By the way, this was an iPhone photo…not something I typically do on this blog. But the cameras in those things are getting so darn good – especially on my 15 Pro.

I actually came across the GPS waypoint for this little school, nestled in the far northwestern corner of our state, a day or two ago while looking for something else as well. I guess it was destined to get my attention!

I remember the moment I took this photo. First, it was drizzling. Second, I was near the intersection of the borders with both Montana and Canada. In fact, I believe my phone was roaming just like I was! I got one of those “you’re now in Canada” roaming messages on it. And third, it was a fantastic find. I even noted that in my map when I marked the waypoint for it. I’m glad I had the chance to post it!

One of my favorite Fallen Farms

I spotted this gem of a barn on the way back from a speech competition in northwestern North Dakota. My boy had performed quite well, so it was a Proud Dad moment. My eyes are always scanning while driving, a trait which has kept me alive through many years of motorcycling and motorcycle racing, and naturally that translates well to my photography hobby. Well, an inattentive eye would have missed this scene. Thankfully, being alert paid off: I pulled over, grabbed my gear from the trunk, bolted to the best vantage point, and got the shot.