As if the Badlands couldn’t get more picturesque, then the colors begin to change. There is never a time when exploring the Badlands of North Dakota disappoints the photographer. As long as the park roads stay open!
Badlands colors
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Category Archives: On the Road
Arena stop
I had the opportunity to stop by one of BIsmarck-Mandan’s nearest ghost towns recently, and although I only had a few minutes to grab some handheld photos before dashing back to town I was able to get a couple I liked. Naturally I want to share.
The church above, I believe, is on its last legs. Its cinder block foundation has lost its walls on the long sides, and all four corners are beginning to crumble. Already the structure is beginning to bow in the middle. This is such a picturesque old church, it’s sad to see its demise imminent.
I don’t believe I have ever photographed the Arena elevator before, and as I rolled up I was given a fantastic window of light as the sun passed through a sliver in the clouds. I took several shots from the window of my truck, but opted to go all JJ Abrams on this one and use the one with lens flare. I don’t usually do much with lens flare, but I thought it really worked in this instance.
I’m slowly easing back into one of my favorite pastimes: sharing my love of North Dakota in pictures. Even going back to a familiar place and revisiting it one more time presents its own new opportunity, because it seems we never have the same weather or lighting twice. For that reason I can confidently predict that this isn’t the last time I’ll be sharing photos of Arena, ND.
A visit to my favorite local 2,063 footer
On the way home from Fargo last weekend I decided to show my boys the fourth tallest man-made object in the world: KVLY’s tower near Blanchard. It was weird stopping by there as a former employee of NBC in North Dakota, but I still take pride in this structure. It’s a biggun, as they say. The massive structure above is just one set of guy wires and anchor holding it in place.
This tower is enormous, and for quite some time was the tallest man-made object in the world. It has since been dethroned, but aside from the Burj Khalifa its competition edges it out by fewer than ten feet. There’s phone booth sized elevator that goes up the center of this tower…scary. Rumor has it that the former chief engineer would ride up on top of the elevator so that second person could ride inside to go up the tower. I never asked him.
I haven’t been inside this building for a while. Structures near towers like this have heavily reinforced roofs, as enormous chunks of ice come crashing down over the winter and spring months. In fact, I’m pretty sure one has to make a mad dash for the building if going out there in the winter! Facilities built early enough, like this one, have living quarters inside…a throwback to the days when an engineer actually remained on site during all hours of transmitter operation.
Silhouette. Can you imagine how long a shadow this tower casts on a winter day? Its counterpart, by the way, is nearby… a short little 2,060 footer. That tower, belonging to fellow Valley News Live station KXJB, fell twice: once after being struck by a helicopter, and a second time during the storms of 1997.
I’m so accustomed to dropping by this tower when in the neighborhood, hoping the engineers might be there servicing the transmitter, that I didn’t even stop to check if they’ve posted the access road. If you go out this way, check that out. I’m just used to the old days of being able to approach, and it’s been a long time since I’ve been “in the neighborhood”. But something this big has to be seen. If you want more information, Wikipedia is probably your best bet. I don’t think the Valley News Live page has the same tower information page that the old KVLY site did.
The scary thing is, it was swinging
I’ve wanted to take a photo of this oddity for a long, long time. I actually got an opportunity today while on the road for another errand in western North Dakota, and researched the odd route needed to reach it.
This and a couple of other items reside along the south side of I-94 west of Glen Ullin, but one has to take a long route to the north to reach them, cutting back across a county road to an overpass and a frontage road.
I guess I can finally cross this off my photo bucket list! It’s interesting to note that as I bracketed exposures to deal with the harsh sunlight directly behind it, I caught the chain actually swaying slightly. I don’t recall the wind being that strong, so maybe it was residual motion from my little boys climbing to the top of it. I guess I’ll never know.
‘MURICA
I’d like to take a moment to kick off the weekend with a dude astride a rocket perched on a fire truck. You’re welcome.
Open Range
We hit the road this week to take my little boy to a specialist. My medical stuff is nearing an end, same with my wife, and now we’ve got some other issues to deal with. Along the way I did manage to take out my camera a couple of times this week, and this was one of ’em.
I love a good prairie pun, don’t you?
Moonshadow contingency
The sky sometimes, so unkind
Then again, he’s my best friend…
– Crocodiles, “Sleep Forever”
See that point where the K index plummets from a tasty 7, indicating a geomagnetic storm, to a serene 4, indicating bubkes? That’s the point where a friend and I loaded up the truck and blazed north to catch those auroras that we’ve been anticipating. That’s okay…my photo buddy and I had a backup plan, and it worked out quite nicely.
Step One: I had this spot in mind, along a little lake northeast of town. Even though the auroras weren’t cooperating, the moon and sky sure were. There was a fantastic lunar corona which actually manifested as a couple of paraselenae, or moondogs as the sky conditions mutated.
We played around at this dock for a little bit, allowing the sky to do some things and letting long exposures turn the rippling lake to glass. At this point we were still hopeful for some auroral activity, but moved on to the next stage in our backup plan since it didn’t require Northern Lights to bear fruit.
This is the abandoned church at Arena. It looks like daylight, even though it was around midnight or so, because the full moon was a-blazin’. I grabbed my big 6-D-Cell Maglite and did some light painting of the cross atop the church’s steeple, and we let the stars and clouds do their thing in the background.
In this shot it almost looked like I could see some splashes of color in the clouds, as if the auroras were trying to peek through, but even at full size I wasn’t able to tell definitively. It was cool to be able to visit this ghost town in the dark, though, and it was another excellent consolation prize since the Northern Lights trip was otherwise a bust.
I have the attitude that any time I return from a photo trip with even one image that I really like, that trip has been a success. It doesn’t even matter if the photo is relevant to the purpose of the trip. In this case, I have a few such photos, and they were the result of a solid backup plan, so I’m pleased not only with the results we captured but the success of that plan.
When life hands you Mayo, make photo
I don’t remember if I’ve alluded to it here, but I’ve been dealing with some medical stuff for a few months. That explains why I haven’t had a lot of photography to share. Well, in my most recent trip to Mayo Clinic, I dragged my camera bag along so I could photograph the rather unique Plummer Building on campus.
This building is home to some really unusual masonry work, and having a 300mm lens with me made it a lot easier to inspect more closely. I still couldn’t find a building that gave me a nice, straight-on vantage point, but at least I got a decent angle. One has to wonder what thought goes into these things. I had to chuckle at the “big head, tiny body” motif going on here.
Then, of course, you have the gargoyles. These beasties stand watch at each corner. Maybe it was my mood, maybe it was my meds, but they reminded me of Sam the Eagle (you Muppets fans will get the reference) and made me chuckle.
Again, as a photographer I had to play with different angles and framing. To be honest, this was the first time any of my cameras had seen the light of day in a LONG time, and I was determined to use every available minute between appointments.
From afar off, this looked like a bunch of Monty Python characters looking through binoculars. It was nothing quite so strange once I zoomed in, however. Just lots of scrolling and that sort of thing.
These were the spookiest of the bunch…not so much because of their shape or anything, but because of the weird symbols below them. I stay clear of the occult as a matter of general principle, and so things like this had my Spidey sense tingling. I don’t think it’s anyone’s way of preparing to summon Gozer or anything like that!
Thanks to the many people who have given us encouragement and support through this time. I appreciate the help. I appreciate the prayers. I appreciate the love you all have shown me and my family. I’m not in seriously bad shape, thankfully, although I’m not out of the woods just yet. But I sure am encouraged! Praise the Lord.
Eager for the color to return
I forgot to post this tree photo after I took it last fall. It’s a favorite spot of mine, but one I rarely get to visit. You see, it’s near Valley City, and I don’t find my out that far east as much as maybe I used to. When Fargo had a Fuddrucker’s and I was single with a loaded sports car, I’d drive to Fargo for dinner. Of course, that was before four dollar a gallon gas and a family.
This winter has been rough for me, with few opportunities to get out and take photos. I’m hoping to get out a lot more now that spring is arriving, and I just have a few things to get out of the way before the photography commences. Meanwhile, I have plenty of gems like this one which I planned to share but somehow overlooked.
Outstanding in the field, and a different sort of crop
I’ve known of this tree for years, and even tried to get some photos of it, but never found myself in the Valley City area at a time where the field and the skies were really conducive to a good shot. Thankfully I had good timing as I drove past it this week and was able to pause to snap a few quick shots out the window.
My friend Ken still has the best photo if this tree that I’ve ever seen, but even in my haste I think I was able to get a couple of satisfactory shots. It’s all in the cropping. By deviating from the standard 4×3 aspect ratio and making the shot appear wider I was able to convey the unique solitude of the tree out in the middle of the expanse of the field. Above are a couple of examples. I wish I’d have shot a little wider for a few frames to produce a few with even more background, but these will have to do…until next time.