Category Archives: Fallen Farms

It’s been a while, so here’s a Fallen Farm

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fallen_farm_33913It’s kind of ironic.  The latest reason why I haven’t been able to enjoy my photo hobby, and share the fruits of it here, is because we’re building a house.  So when I do get a chance to go out and capture some North Dakota for y’all, I photograph something that’s being slowly deconstructed by time.

I’ve approached this particular barn from other angles in various seasons, but for this shot I was able to locate the proper people to ask permission to approach it closely.  It looks much better this way than it did from the road!

Meanwhile, my project is coming to fruition and I hope to be a homeowner again soon.  Then you can expect a lot more rants here about property taxes!  I’ll try to smother them in fresh, new photography though.

Two in a row? You betcha

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wilton_barn_30182I made it to Minot for a day trip (I thought about making a Day Tripper reference, with Sir Paul playing in Fargo, but decided against it) and found myself nearing Wilton as the sunset approached.  That’s a good thing, because I wanted an excuse to stop and take a photo of this old barn before it’s torn down…and this time of year puts it right in line with the setting sun.

 

wilton_barn_4085I’ve been sentimental about this particular barn because it was one of my first photographic subjects when I decided to get a Canon 7D.  I took a friend up to this barn and he let me use his new 7D for a test drive, and before long I revisited it with one of my own.  As you can see, the barn was in far better shape back then, with a stone addition off to one side.  Even in this photo you can see age beginning to take its toll.

 

sunset_30186There’s a lot of this sunset that I missed, but I wanted to get my two little towheads back to town and tucked into bed so they will wake up in time for church tomorrow.  I was groaning as I looked over at that blazing red sun and all the colors it was splashing across the sky, but I pressed on – knowing that I already had a variety of killer sunset photos in the bag.

Boy, it sure feels great to get out again.

 

Challenge accepted

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windmill_29450This goes out to my online pal Jason, who challenged me a while back to deliver a) a windmill photo, and b) a broken-down farm building photo.  What I haven’t posted, due to things being a little busy around here, are my responses – acquired on May 26th, 2014.

First, I’d like to present the windmill above.  This is one of my favorite windmills, but I didn’t just dart out to it in order to satisfy a request.  This was actually on the return leg of the previously posted trip with my little boys, when I had my youngest out southwest of Mandan.  In fact, I have already posted an additional windmill photo from that trip, the one with the damaged fins…but I’ve been meaning to share this one just because the colors were so dynamic.

 

fallen_farm_29299Next is this old house and the remains of its garage, which sit along the road to Fish Creek Dam.  That’s where I took my little guy to show him the bench out on the lookout point – if you don’t know about it, I’ll have to post a little explanation later.  I’ve wanted to approach this house for a while, and the land isn’t posted, but there are currently cattle on the land.  I guess I’ll have to wait, and let this shot from the road suffice for a while.

I’m on the mend now, and while I act as a recliner pilot and nurse the wounds from my most recent DaVinci robot attack, I’m going to try to dig back through the hard drive for shots like these.  I have dozens of photos I’ve taken with every intention of sharing here, but have somehow neglected or forgotten over time.  I think I’ll find some gems in there, and for the next few weeks I’ll have plenty of time on my hands to work with ’em.

Stay tuned!

Farewell post

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double_ditch_post_29563Sadly, this is pretty much the last hurrah of one of my favorite sunset photo subjects: the post at the northwest corner of the Double Ditch site.  I visited the site last night for a long overdue sunset photo, and found that it’s barely hanging on.

 

double_ditch_post_21108I posted last year about how this post was endangered by the erosion which was causing the cliffs of Double Ditch to collapse.  At that time, it still had a little bit of dirt holding it somewhat in place.

 

double_ditch_post_29505I hadn’t actually done anything really stupid lately, so I thought I’d hold my camera out over the top of the post.  As you can see, there’s nothing holding it from tumbling into the Big Muddy except the strands of rusty barbed wire which tether it to the metal posts further from the abyss.

 

Here are some of my favorite sunset photos taken from this location, for comparison:

double_ditch_sunset_2735 double_ditch_sunset_19917 double_ditch_sunset_12332As you can see, this has been a photogenic and dependable subject for me over many sunsets over the past nine years.

 

double_ditch_post_29563Again, you can see that the only thing holding it up this far is the tenacious grip of that rusty barned wire.  Well, you had a good run, faithful post.  It’s sad to see you go.  I’m glad I could get one last sunset photo in before the inevitable happens.

Yes, I know that title should probably contain a comma. 🙂

 

Successful trip

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old_equipment_29309I’ve tried not to lament too loudly that recent circumstances had prevented me from doing much, if any, photography.  Believe me, it has been very frustrating.  Well, I got the chance to take my littlest boy, stuff him in the pickup with my cameras, and roam some back roads for a while over Memorial Day.  This is my favorite result so far.

I have a saying that if I bring back just one good photo from any excursion, it’s been a successful trip.  Most have been successful, some have been bonanzas, but all have been necessary therapy.  I enjoy exploring North Dakota and capturing it in digital images.  In the case of Monday’s trip, I had some blessed time with my little guy, I got a bunch of photos I think I’ll like once I process them, and I brought home this one that was truly exciting.

I’m thankful for a successful trip.  I needed this.

In case you have a Hobbit on your farm

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rusticway_0046You may have seen this little hut along I-94, where it would seem to have been deposited after having been plucked from Middle Earth.  I didn’t want to show the signs on either side of the roof in this photo, but I’ll tell you the web address they contained: rusticway.com.

That’s the website of a guy who makes interesting creations made from reclaimed wood rescued from dilapidated farmsteads.  As an aficionado of such sites I couldn’t help but be instantly enamored with the idea.  From the site’s About page, talking about artisan Dan Pauly:

“As I uncover an old barn or shed,” Dan says, “I realize that it could be the same lumber that my great-grandfather used more than 100 years ago. I think that respect for the craftsmen and craftswomen of the past, and for the wood they used, make a difference in each new piece I create. Until you have dismantled an old barn, you can’t imagine the painstaking effort it took from Old-World craftsmen to erect it. They were each a work of art.”

Pretty cool, huh?  Click on the link and go take a look.

Field of view

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old_equipment_26645
I caught a glimpse of this old machine in a field northeast of town while poking around the back roads on my dual-sport Kawasaki this weekend.  What’s nice is not only the fact that it enjoys a spot in the middle of a mowed field, but also that I had a great sky behind it and the land wasn’t fenced or posted.  I was free to scope out the angle I wanted, so of course I chose more than one.

old_equipment_26655-7_hdr
I think I got it all in this shot: the machine, a hay bale or two for good measure, and the two trees for a little bit of symmetry. I marked this location in my GPS because there are some other good photo finds nearby, then put my helmet on and continued my adventure.  I found a few things over the course of my 58-mile ride along the back roads, and as I process them I’ll be posting them here.

On a slant

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No, it’s not at Fort Abraham Lincoln. Yes, it truly is on a slant. The remains of this farmstead are cleverly tucked beneath the boughs of this tree along Highway 1806, just south of Mandan. Who knows…maybe that mighty tree was a mere sapling while the home was built and occupied.

That’s one thing that makes these “Fallen Farms” so appealing to my eye that they merit their own category on this blog. The fact that these structures were new at one time, were home at one time, and were abandoned at one time is fascinating to ponder. Their presence dotting the landscape of rural North Dakota is both sad and charming at the same time.

Home on the Range…the High Dynamic Range, that is

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I captured this Fallen Farm on an overcast day southwest of Mandan. By snapping multiple exposures I was able to capture a bright exposure, a medium exposure, and a dark exposure of the same frame. That allowed the camera to acquire detail in the shadows of the dark house, the highlights of the sky, and everything in between. Then it was up to Photoshop to smack ’em together.

I’ve been slow to dabble in HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography because I have seen so many examples of it done badly. HDR can be used to do some really cool, artistic things if you like…but in my opinion its best use is in capturing detail throughout a wide range of shadows and highlights (thus, high dynamic range). When I find a shot that works well with HDR to do so, then I play around with it.

This technique can also be used to make some artistic but not very appealing (to me, this is subjective) images. I’m more interested in the hyper-realistic qualities of HDR imagery, and a very few, well-planned shots lend themselves well to this technique. It sure is fun, though, when you come across such an opportunity. I hope to find more of these in the future and, of course, share them here.

All the angles

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How many crooked things can you find in this photo? No, there are no politicians hiding in the background!

It’s sad to chart the progress of dilapidation in many of my more prized photo spots. I’ve always had a fondness for the “Fallen Farms” series of photos (see the Categories list on the right), and many of my favorite subjects are in various stages of leaning and even collapse.

That’s one of many reasons why it’s important to document these structures: not just for artistic value, but because they may not remain for long. It’s noteworthy to observe what happens to a house, even a relatively recent construction, when it becomes uninhabited. It’s as if the former residents took something intangible with them, something that kept the structure intact by their indwelling. As many of these structures collapse and disappear, they take something intangible away from the North Dakota landscape as well.