It’s no secret that the photos have been fewer and farther between for quite some time now. First I and every single member of our family had major health issues to deal with. Then after we circled the wagons and worked on treatment and healing we took on building a new house, and still have lots of thing in bins and a new Garage Majal to get whipped into shape. Additionally, my little kids have grown up to a point where they want more Dad time (not as much “Daddy”) and I’ve had a hectic freelance schedule. Whew.
Well, I decided to knock off a little early on Friday and actually head out with my camera and some new gear I purchased with some of the aforementioned freelance money. I didn’t want to make a major voyage out of it, but just work the outskirts of town and let the stress of the week melt away. What better way to get back into the game than to go with my trademark: windmills! I found a trio of ’em.
I have photographed these before, but they do change over time. This one has lost more than half of the blades but is still standing tall. I chose not to remove the power lines in the background this time.
A wider shot may have portrayed this windmill standing alone in a vacant prairie better, but in reality there was a pole just out of the frame on the left where power comes in…presumably some sort of stock tank heater or something. The lettering on the vane (yes, that’s what it’s called) says “R. R. HOWELL CO MINNEAPOLIS”. It’s an interesting Google search if you have time on your hands.
Sunset came quickly, and I once again cashed in on the real Secret of My Success when it comes to photography: being in the right place at the right time, often due to absolute blind luck. I had a couple of minutes to wait for the sun to set in the silhouette of the water tank next to this windmill, adjusting my tripod to the side periodically to track the sun as it slid down and to the right of the frame. The way it reflected off the wispy clouds above added to the feel of the shot.
It felt SO good to be out roaming again. I didn’t even have a potential target when I set out; I just settled on windmills after coming upon the first one. It was simply therepeutic to get out and start clicking photos again. All the while I had a Nick Lowe song repeating in the back of my head:
I am determined for my own sanity to get out with my cameras more. Maybe not as much as in the old days, because I want to be a good husband and dad. Bringing the kids with on my photo trips will help, and maybe even kindle in them a love of roaming photography. Meanwhile I hope to have more to share than simply political rants, which don’t take much road time at all. Back to my love of North Dakota and sharing it online. Maybe the next song going through my head will be Back in the Saddle Again!
One thing we’ve been short of lately is photogenic clouds. Ironically, those dry, hot August days haven’t been really conducive for great summer sunsets. In order for the sun to really provide a dramatic sunset, it needs some clouds to bounce its light, create shadows, and fill the sky with color. The other night we got just that kind of clouds.
The wispy tendrils of these clouds were of a type I haven’t seen in a while, so I was excited to bolt out to one of my frequent photo haunts to put them into perspective. Of course I used one of my favorite foreground features: an old windmill.
Now we have too many clouds to do much of a sunset photo at all, but the light rain is also a welcome sight. I didn’t get to chase sunsets much at all for most of this summer, and plan to do a lot more now that I’ve got the opportunity, so when the rainy days pass by I’m sure more shots like this will appear.
