It may not be obvious from this angle, but this sign stands along busy Washington Street in north Bismarck. In fact, there’s one tower hidden behind the pole and one just out of the frame to the right. Just over the hill is the Boulder Ridge housing development. Given all the unwanted urban objects in the background, this was a challenging photo to get.

Step one was to crouch in the grass, hiding the houses just over the hill. That introduced another problem, however. Because the sun was off to my right, the side of the sign that I wanted in my photo is actually in the shadows. No problem, just use a flash, right? Sure…except that crouching low made my flash blast the grass in front of me as well as the sign. Not desirable.

Then I realized that I had my remote flash cable in the truck as well as my monopod. I attached the camera to the monopod, then tethered my Speedlite to the camera using the aforementioned cable, and I was in business. The monopod helped me steady the camera with one hand. With the other I held my flash high and aimed it at the sign. A few clicks later, I had the photo I wanted. The sign was no longer a dark shadow, and the grass wasn’t illuminated. Then it was time to go home, get on a motorcycle, and enjoy the rest of the afternoon.

I like old weathered signs like this. My favorite one appears in this post from almost exactly three years ago.