Thursday Night Lights – aurora borealis gallery
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Category Archives: Photography
Bridge night
During a taco run for dinner I was able to snap this photo before returning to the office. It’s the bridge used by the trolley to Fort Lincoln. While I’m sure it still sees use by the trolley, I have yet to actually witness this. It’s one of the things my wife and I always say we’re going to do, but never quite get around to it. Hopefully it’ll be running in the spring, because we’d love to take a ride. At that time we’ll need a babysitter!
There’s a story behind every picture
Beneath one of the bridges I photographed, quite a ways from this one, I found a bunch of electronic equipment. It was the kind of thing a DJ or band would use: racks, amps, pedals, wireless gear. It had been unceremoniously dumped from the bridge and was lying far below, smashed along the rocks.
I climbed down to the smashed remains of the equipment, found a piece with the sticker of a local company on it, and called the phone number it contained. They said they’d go to that bridge and check it out. I haven’t heard back whether it’s their gear, or something they sold to some other unlucky person. In any case, it’s all a total loss and it will NOT be easy to carry up the wall of huge rocks to get it out of there.
So, there really IS a story behind every picture!
Thursday night blockhouses
This post contains the return of the Thursday Night Sunset series, a morality tale, and a fitness report. What a treat, huh?
I was in a bit of a hurry to scurry to Mandan, but I needed cash for the five dollar gate fee at Fort Lincoln. As luck would have it, I just got my paycheck from the city (yeah, I seem to work EVERYWHERE). After a quick stop at the bank drive-up I bolted to Fort Lincoln. I grabbed my entry fee envelope with the intent to pay on my way out; the sun was setting quickly, so I needed every spare second.
I zoomed up to the road which leads to the forts, only to find the gates locked! There was a sign saying “These gates closed after dark” but it was hardly anywhere NEAR dark. No problem, right? All I have to do is sprint up the hill…remember, time’s a-wasting!
I bet I panted for ten minutes after I finally reached the top of the hill, due to my lack of exercise and Fort Lincoln’s lack of an established trail. I wasn’t disappointed by the sunset; a really dramatic sunset needs a few more clouds than we had, but this one certainly had no shortage of color.
I hung out for a little bit longer; I was dressed warmly, there were deer and geese hanging out in the area, and I wasn’t exactly looking forward to a long hike down the hill in the dark. I’ve made that hike before, and there are a LOT of noises in those trees! So I swung the camera around and took a few more shots, like this one:
As a dissatisfied customer, I didn’t feel like sticking a fiver in that thing and putting it in the slot back at the unmanned fee station. Nobody would know, and I certainly did NOT feel like I got my five bucks’ worth. But was that really my call to make?
The Christian in me took over, fortunately. I’d pay it on my way out of the park as I’d originally planned. I turned my fuming into fun, jokingly assessing blame to Tracy Potter and thinking, “now there’s another good reason not to vote for him!” Besides, I did come down the hill with some pretty decent pictures.
After I put my five bucks in the slot at the fee station, I left the park with a clear conscience. It wouldn’t hurt for me to exercise more often…then I might even relish a hectic hike to beat the sunset. I’ve learned my lesson, though; I’ll hike in from the walking trail to the north, where it’s free.
It’s a living
It’s those little bits of unusual activity that make life, and work, fun. I once got paid very well by ESPN to just sit on the SportsCenter set while they aimed the lights and set the cameras, drinking free Powerade and Red Bull. Or sitting in an isolated room, trying to capture the right sound of someone’s feet being dragged. The hydraulics and air-wrench sound you hear at the end of the Northwest Tire commercials? That was in my garage. I bet I did two dozen takes of that sound!
No matter what the job, there are always cool little deviations from the routine that help break the monotony. If you ever have one of those fleeting moments where you think, “I can’t believe I’m getting paid for this!” go ahead and savor them a little. It makes up for the boring days that are bound to come along in any job.
Spooky Sunday
Photography is SO cool. If you haven’t tried it, you’re missing out on a whole new perspective on the world. One doesn’t have to start out with an expensive camera; I didn’t. It’s like high-performance motorcycles, really… you should get something you can handle first, get a bunch of experience with it, then trade up to something more capable and grow into it.
Perhaps the greatest tool I’ve ever had available, however, isn’t a fancy camera. It’s the expertise of my friend Kramer, who really ignited my passion for photography. He’s got a ton of experience and an intricate knowledge of the North Dakota wilderness, and he’s helped me to begin to grasp an understanding of both. We’ve actually worked together for 18 years at various television and multimedia companies, but it wasn’t until we got to shoot photos together at our current job that his love of still imagery rubbed off on me.
I’ve got an advantage by having a friend who’s the Encyclopedia Photographica, but it’s not just technical knowledge that one has to pick up. One of the first things I learned was that “being there” is perhaps the most important element of a photograph. The “right place, right time” element of a picture is one that can’t be Photoshopped; either you got the picture, or you didn’t. That’s why I learned to lug my (heavy) camera with me all the time. There have been many cases in which I’m glad I did, and a few times where I’d left it at home where I regret it.
Photography, much like motorcycling, snowboarding, SCUBA diving, mountain biking, karate, or any of the other things I’ve tried to cram into my busy existence, is a way of life. It’s a way that I’d recommend to anyone in a heartbeat…not just on a “spooky” Sunday afternoon.
BAGA!
One of my reasons for starting this blog, other than a place to park my photography and flex my writing skills a bit, was to kick myself in the rear and get out to visit things in the area I should have seen long ago. By visiting these people, places, and events and telling you about them with pictures to boot, I hope that everybody benefits. So far I’ve had a blast and learned a lot. Hopefully you do too!
BAGA, the Bismarck Art and Gallery Association, is one place I had never visited. Today I rectified that as I went in and purchased an artist’s membership and wandered around the gallery. There’s some really cool work in there! I highly suggest you check it out. This photo shows one part of the gallery, but by no means all of it. I plan to have a little display of some of my photography when the opportunity presents itself.
Are you feeling artistic? An artists’ membership is only $25. If you’re a fan of art, take the time to visit and see for yourself what local artists are doing. You can purchase certain works if you so desire. BAGA is a neat part of our community, and I think we should all pay them an occasional visit.
My next poster
If you get a really sweet photo, go to Bob’s Photo as soon as possible and order a poster of it! You can get prints as large as 20 inches by 30 inches on a variety of different photo papers and surfaces. I’ve had a few of my photos processed this way and the results are absolutely fabulous. I can’t wait for this one to be done!
I’m on the fence regarding this one
Sometimes I get a bit jealous of my friends who live in Alaska, because they’ve got such dramatic scenery and wildlife nearby. They need only point the camera out into the backyard to catch a moose or other interesting creature! But scenes like this one are a nice reminder that North Dakota is not without its own scenery. We native North Dakotans might take an old run-down fence for granted, but it’s got its own charm that merits appreciation.
Blue
