Category Archives: Fallen Farms

Old and stranded

Posted on by
Reply

I recently braved the harsh winter nastiness for some sunset photography and paid this old equipment a visit. I don’t know what it is, but it’s photogenic. I’m no stranger to this piece, but this is probably the best photo I have of it as it’s drifted in pretty well.

Second calling

Posted on by
Reply

One noteworthy feature of the North Dakota landscape is an old box car converted into farmyard storage. Sadly, I think many of them are now part of the abandoned, deteriorating “fallen farms” which catch my eye so frequently. As they crumble, they take a bit of history to the dust with them. The lettering on this one was too faded to read. As the property was signed “No Trespassing” I was unable to get a closer look, settling to take my photos from the road.

Good talk, Rusty

Posted on by
Reply

Just think…at one time this fella probably sat in a showroom or on a lot with a shiny coat of paint, just waiting to get out in the field and dig in (pun intented). Now it’s more of an ornament, but a testament to labor done. I’m not sure about the green hub on the axle, though.

Fallen Farm Friday

Posted on by
Reply

Half barn, half house? The very distinctive shape (shapes?) of this house had me jamming on the breaks and whipping around for a quick photo. The part of the house on the left looks like a barn, yet the front makes it look like it collided with a house at some point. The peaks of the roof are like an architectural cherry on top.

This building sits stoically along the road to Fort Ransom, boarded up and tucked into the trees. Spotting such a Fallen Farm building was like stumbling on a hidden photographic treasure!

Put me in, coach! Put me in

Posted on by
Reply

If one could feel a sense of pity for an inanimate object, it would likely happen during a sight like this. With an ample harvest approaching in the verdant field ahead, this poor broken down piece of equipment is reduced to spectator status. Its glory days have passed and it has been relegated to being an ornament, a placeholder on a hill. It will now be forced to watch as newer, larger machines – machines with closed, air conditioned cabs and GPS receivers – perform the duties it once enjoyed. See? Kinda sad, isn’t it?

Room with a view

Posted on by
Reply

A lot of the old familiar abandoned farmsteads I’ve photographed since picking up my photography hobby are now lying in shambles. After all, a building leaning at a 45 degree angle can only do it for so long, right? So it’s time to search out some new ones.

This one is my new favorite, I think…an ornate home, large for its time, which was at one time lined with brick outside. This front window overlooks a particularly scenic little valley. I noticed the remnants of an old chair parked by the front picture window. The drab and delapidated interior is an amazing contrast to the colorful glory of the valley outside and the summer sky.

Your message here, redux

Posted on by
Reply


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.

Test Drive Thursday

Posted on by
Reply

Thursday I was able to hang out with my friend Ken for a while and enjoy a brief photography trip. The cherry on top is that Ken let me test drive his new Canon 7D digital camera, the very one I hope to get later this Spring! Needless to say, I was very excited.

We set our sights on this barn north of Wilton and arrived just before the sun began to set. That gave us some pretty nice “Golden Hour” sunlight despite the clouds encroaching on the horizon.

I was absolutely blown away by the image quality of this camera. The fleeting sunlight didn’t allow me time to play around with the camera settings much except for the usual exposure, shutter speed, ISO, and aperture. I was amazed at the photos this camera was producing.

The colors and dynamic range of the 7D are phenomenal, and I was able to take low-light shots that would send my 20D packing. I love my 20D, but cameras have obviously come a long ways since 2005!

Naturally, having a photogenic test subject doesn’t hurt. Combine that with the onset of color from the imminent sunset, and you have an ideal circumstance for running a camera through its paces.

Can you tell it was shady here? Is it apparent that I used a blast from my fill flash? I didn’t think so. I was flabbergasted by the results I got here; it was a photo I didn’t think was possible, yet it came out very nicely.

I shot these in JPEG mode, not camera RAW, so there isn’t much I could do in post-processing. That means that the photos you see here have very little adjustment to them, if any. This shot was taken after the sun was going down. It had a little bit of a blue tone to it due to the shade, and I warmed it up a little. The exposure, however, does not indicate how dark and shady it was when I clicked the shutter.

On the way home we stopped to catch this windmill with a splash of color behind it. I switched the lens over to my 20D and shot this with the same settings, and none of the color appeared. The shadows were much darker as well. That’s the big difference (aside from features) between the two cameras: I can make some amazing photos with my 20D, but in many situations I have to do a lot more processing to bring out the color and detail that the camera has captured. It doesn’t hurt that I just upgraded my Photoshop!

I love my 20D and will never set it aside. Since I bought it in 2005 and started this blog a while later, Canon has released a 30D. Then a 40D. Then a 50D. Each time I looked at ’em and could not declare them a significant enough upgrade for me to spend that kind of money (which I don’t have, by the way). Then came the 7D. Now I’m ready. With a little blessing to make the money part come together, I will be expanding my digital capabilities!

The 20D will still be in my camera bag as a backup, though. I love it. It’s been faithful and trouble-free for almost 55,000 photos so far and it’s got plenty left in it.

Fallen Farm #39693

Posted on by
Reply

No, I don’t number them sequential. I lost track of where I was in my Fallen Farm series of photos, so instead I decided to use the number of the actual exposure. It’s much easier that way.

This barn sits south of Glen Ullin, but I can’t remember how far. It may actually be closer to Elgin. In any case, it isn’t far from where a friend and I managed to take a pheasant straight through the grille of the Subaru at highway speed. Bummer. We got plenty of amazing photos along the way, however.

It almost seems weird to post a photo with snow in it, but according to the National Weather Service we are in for some more of the white stuff tonight. Early in the day today I checked the forecast page to see total snow accumulations predicted at up to one inch. Later in the day it had been revised to “one to three inches.” Now I see that they’re back to the “up to one inch” prediction. Does that put us over the record? I sure hope so.

A friend’s brother talked to a guy in the Dickinson area that reads onions to predict the weather. According to this guy, he has nailed EVERY major snow event in Dickinson this year. He also claims that we’re in for a fantastic blizzard “next weekend.” I don’t know the exact time this conversation took place, so I don’t know if he means the weekend that’s approaching us now (April 25th-26th) or the next one (May 2nd-3rd). I wonder if he’ll be right? I mean, whoever heard of the National Weather Service being wrong?