Category Archives: On the Road

Not what I was looking for, but satisfying nonetheless

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I love old pieces of equipment like the one pictured above. I was out on a photography mission, one in which I came back empty-handed, but I spotted this little gem beside the road during my travels. As it turns out, I caught it just as the sun was starting to splash its pre-sunrise color across an otherwise dreary landscape.

My photographic mantra is that any photo trip is a success if I come back with even one image that I like. That holds true for trips like this one, where I was looking for a very specific shot but couldn’t find the location…I came back with a few different shots that I really like, so I don’t really mind that they weren’t the one I was looking for.

The photo I originally sought evaded me, but only because I got a late start. The sun sets pretty early right now, even though the days are steadily growing longer. Next time, I’ll head out earlier and hopefully get lucky, stumbling upon the photo I’m chasing!

Broken connections

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I spotted this dilapidated pole north of Mandan on the gravel portion of Highway 1804 1806. My little boy PJ and I were headed to the site of an abandoned old truck so he could take some pictures of it. On the way back, as dusk set in, I spotted this pole beside the road. I had to hop out and add it to my collection. It’s number five in a series of old power or phone line poles, and I thought I’d share the others:

This one is north of Bismarck on 15th Street, taken at sunrise.

As you can probably surmise from the windmill, this one is near Regan.

This one’s actually on Centennial just north of the intersection with Century Avenue.

This is the same one as above, just taken as the sun sets behind me.

Juxtaposition, redux

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That’s a lot more instances of the letter X than one usually finds in one of my blog post titles. This is a windmill north of the Regan wind farm from my photo trip a couple of Saturdays ago. It stands in stark contrast to its giant neighbors. It’s old, it’s not an eyesore, and it’s far less likely to be subsidized by tax dollars. It’s also not portrayed as a panacea by rabid environmentalists and corporate shysters alike.

Having said all that, I just think it’s photogenic. A springtime juxtaposition of the same nature on the south side of the wind farm can be viewed by clicking here.

Basking in the sun

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Today’s edition of “old stuff poking out of the snow” brings us this retired implement, standing guard on a hill south of Hensler. It was bitter cold despite the beautiful, sunny blue sky. The snow in the ditch I crossed for this photo was deep too. This shot prompted me to investigate a purchase of some snowshoes…

Square Butte Horses (updated with larger photo)

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One of the last things I did on my weekend photography outing was come down Highway 1804 and River Road in my truck, looking for a good shot of the Square Buttes across the Missouri.

I already have the best views of these unique formations marked in my GPS. I was dismayed to see the clouds begin to roll in a little while before sunset, but there was still color in the clouds before they began to thicken.

Adding to the mix was a pair of horses grazing in the field along the highway. I was sitting in my truck when I nabbed this quick shot and a few similar to it, and then I bolted home. I had just received a phone call from my four year old, wondering when Daddy was going to be home. “Soon,” I told him…and put the wraps on a pretty decent photography day. I’ve got plenty more from that trip that I haven’t posted yet, but they’re on the way.

There’s a perfectly good explanation for this. I have no idea what that might be

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Do cows like to line up and watch a cloud show? Perhaps they do. I didn’t see anything else nearby that could cause two dozen cattle to line up shoulder to shoulder along this barbed wire fence south of Valley City. Naturally a couple of bovine sentries turned around to keep an eye on me as I approached, blowing an otherwise perfect shot, but the fact that all twenty-four of them were still lined up along the top of this hill was worth a hike and a few quick shots.

Badlands traffic jam

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These wild horses are not averse to pavement; in fact, they’re quite fine with it, if it takes them where they need to go. Over time they’ve even become remarkably tolerant of people with cameras standing in the road as they saunter past.

There’s one trademark Badlands shot I wanted to get on this trip, a line of horses at full gallop with a glorious fall Badlansd background. It was not to be. They did plenty of other things for my camera, including hugging the center line for a stretch, however.