Category Archives: On the Road

Oil patch anecdote (comes with bonus windmill)

Posted on by
Reply

Because I can tie an old windmill to just about anything, here’s a shot of an old abandoned farmstead that I located just south of Watford City on Highway 85. There…I think I’ve made my rustic windmill photo quota, so here’s my interesting story about the past several weeks in Bakken Country.

We’ve all heard the horror stories about the Wild West: the crime, the traffic, the overcrowding. I don’t doubt that many of those growing pains, and many of the reports thereof, had basis in fact. Oil production in Bakken country has slowed somewhat recently for a number of reasons, and perhaps that’s why my experiences there departed slightly from the tales.

My first impression of Williston was that sure, it was crowded with heavy traffic…but their equivalent of State Street, the divided Highway 85 that runs north out of town to Highway 2, was completely closed down on the southbound side for resurfacing. Of course it would be crowded with half the roadway available. In fact, I was able to get served faster at McDonald’s in Williston than I have been in Bismarck lately. While working with the security manager at the facility I was in, he gave the following advice: “Oh, sure…it’s not so bad here. But you should see Watford City!”

The very next day I found myself working in Watford City. I needed some accessories to build some 50 amp power cables, so I stopped in at the RV store located at the busiest intersection Watford City has. I noticed that I had no problem getting in/out of his parking lot onto Highway 85, despite a lot of traffic. It just wasn’t as bad as I’d been told. “Oh sure,” said the owner. “…it’s not so bad here. But you should see Williston!”

Now just a doggone minute here. The person I spoke to in each town thought the other one was the madhouse. In neither case did I see the kind of problems that I’ve heard so much about. Of course I’m sure traffic gets insane when there’s a blockage on the road…but I have spent dozens of hours on the road in northwestern North Dakota and never experienced any such issues. I’m not saying they don’t exist, I’m saying they’re not a 24/7 phenomenon.

I know that the medical system and first responders are overwhelmed in the area. I acknowledge that many aspects of life have seen great upheaval since the boom took hold. What I suspect happens, however, is what I call “REO Speedwagon Syndrome”: the tales grow taller on down the line.

By the way, if infrastructure is so far behind, and they can’t afford to catch up, then why in the world is Williston breaking ground on a $70 million recreation center? Is that the greatest need, or do they simply have a fetish akin to the Bismarck City Commission’s? I think it hurts their cause when they claim they can’t keep up with critical needs but they certainly have more money than you or I will ever see to start building indoor pools.

Of course my limited time up there didn’t give me the chance to see the whole picture. Again, I acknowledge the upheaval northwestern North Dakota has experienced. I also acknowledge that we can’t believe everything we hear about the Bakken boom without experiencing at least a little bit of it for ourselves.

Broken connection #7

Posted on by
Reply

These short little utility poles, or what’s left of them, occupy an overgrown field near the site of a long-gone farmstead in Kidder County. I found myself wandering the section lines, shore lines, and gravel roads on and around a friend’s property after my plans to visit Cavalier Air Force Station fell through at the last minute.

This was a weekend of worry, answered prayer, joy, and some much needed roaming. I had an extremely fruitful photo trip on Saturday, allowing me to clear my head and stuff some nice images into my camera. I’ll be posting them here over the next few days. Here’s to a glorious week!

Oh, and belated Happy Birthdays to Sammy Hagar and former KFYR-TV meteorologist Mike McVay!

Sickle mower vista

Posted on by
Reply

I had the opportunity to spend some time at a friend’s house in rural South Dakota last weekend, and I was delighted to find this old artifact in their back yard. It wasn’t just the implement, a McCormick-Deering #6 Horse-Drawn Sickle Mower if you’re wondering, that impressed me; the view was amazing.

One drawback to photography in the “energy corridor” of the great state of North Dakota is the ubiquitous power line in almost any landscape. Seriously, they’re tough to escape. No problems in this photo…just wander out in the backyard and snap away. I did manage to find the hidden rusty barbed wire in the grass, too…but thankfully my tetanus shot is up to date.

Rainy day road trip

Posted on by
Reply

We were blessed with a steady soaker this weekend, with some places seeing up to two inches of rain. I had a really strong need to roam, so I threw my gear in the truck and headed out on some soggy, spongy dirt roads and trails. I saw some really cool stuff, grabbed a few satisfying photos, caught up on a few podcasts, and managed not to get stuck. In other words, a success.

The rain let up briefly when I grabbed this shot of a rough-looking windmill. The valley in the background is still slightly obscured by the rain, and just after I snapped this shot it picked up again. Thankfully I have lens hoods to keep the front element dry when I poke it out the window of the truck! Yes, I did get out and hoof it in the rain a bit as well.

Smile if you’ve got a spare three-meter dish you’re not using any more

Posted on by
Reply

As I tooled along a dirt road northeast of town my eye caught a satellite dish near a farmyard up ahead. The first thing I noticed is that it was pointing north, which was extremely fishy since there’s not much to point at in the northern sky. I then got close enough to notice the absence of a feed horn and the funky paint job.

I love creative little stuff like this along rural roads, so I stopped to take a photo. I’d just finished stowing my camera back in its bag while standing next to my motorcycle when the owner drove by in his tractor, turning into his driveway. In good ol’ North Dakota fashion, he made a hand signal from the cab to ask, “is everything ok?” I made a gesture with my hands to illustrate that I’d just got done snapping a photo, he nodded and smiled, and we parted with a wave. I love North Dakotans.

Lesson learned on vacation

Posted on by
Reply

While on family vacation at Cross Ranch this weekend, I took a little time to attend a photo seminar and to strike out along the shoreline of the Missouri River for a little while with my camera. I consider any photo trip to be a success if I come back with even one interesting photo. In this case, I spotted the fisherman above.

For me, photography is a storytelling tool. I thought it very interesting that this guy had utilized the very shallow water over a sandbar to set up shop, complete with a chair and a pair of rodholders, to enjoy a little fishing. While in the middle of the Big Muddy, and technically still in the water, he’d used the sandbar to find a nice parking spot out in the middle of it all. But there was more to the story:

I didn’t even notice this until looking at the photos back at home, but he’s watching a gaggle of geese going ashore on the far side of the river. Things like this made it interesting to pore through my collection of various shots in this setting. While this was the only interesting thing I saw on my photo walk, I was able to explore different aspects of my shots as I cropped in for more detail.

Back to the storytelling aspect of my photo walk…I wanted to show that this fisherman is actually out in the middle of the river, so I employed a trick from the photo seminar I attended at the Cross Ranch Visitors’ Center: use telephoto to compress more distance within the frame. I was already shooting this setting with my 300mm lens, so by backing off a little bit I was able to include a lot of river in the foreground and show that this scene really does take place out in the middle of the Big Muddy. I like the black and white treatment because I think it conveys the simplicity of just sitting out in the water with a tiny boat, a lawn chair, and a couple of fishing rods while the world goes by.

When I went back to camp with my camera, I thought I’d made the bare minimum of one interesting photo. What I found was, although I only shot one setting, I had captured details which only made themselves apparent later when I had the opportunity to look at them full-size. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, my photo trip had been far more successful than I could have known simply looking through the viewfinder.

Right place, right time

Posted on by
Reply

My friend Ken and I were out bouncing my truck around the back roads and trails in search of a couple of old farmsteads to explore with our cameras. As usual, many other opportunities presented themselves along the way. Case in point: this lovely vista along a section line road just after sunrise.

There’s so much color in the sky around sunrise and sunset, adding a special touch to an otherwise unremarkable scene. Everything takes on such a unique vibrance during that Golden Hour light, and it’s great when that happens with something photogenic nearby…and a great friend to share the experience.

Our day under the stars

Posted on by
Reply

Today our family and a bunch of friends reserved the planetarium at Valley City State University for a show and had a blast. I’d love to show you all kinds of descriptive pictures of the stars criveting* around the dome, but quite frankly I wanted to sit in a seat, recline with one of my little boys on my lap, and enjoy the two shows put together by the students in the astronomy program. That’s exactly what I did. The gentleman was kind enough, however, to let me have the place to myself after the show to get a few shots in. This was NOT an easy subject to light!

This was a special private event, but the U does put on a monthly public show (I believe on the third Saturday of each month) that you can attend. Click here for the planetarium’s web page to get more details.

*crivet: v. To creep and pivot simultaneously. (Origin: Cf)

In case you need another reason to obey those NO TRESPASSING signs

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve mentioned before on this blog many times before that, when encountering posted land on which I’d like to “do photography” at some point, I always seek landowner permission. North Dakota state law requires that the landowner include their name on these signs to make them valid, which makes it easy to find them and place a respectful call asking for permission. Only once have I ever been told no – the guy was clearly drunk and didn’t believe that photography was the reason I wanted to tread upon his land.

I had to chuckle when I spotted this sign in an extremely remote location. In fact, after two weeks my truck is still dropping mud from the section line road adjacent to this property. I don’t even recall whether or not there was some old dilapidated farmstead or other intriguing subject beyond this sign…I simply remember finding the annotation quite amusing. I don’t think I’d want to test the landowner’s resolve, either!

Wide open spaces

Posted on by
Reply

This was the view out the window of my truck as I perused some of the backroads in my ol’ stompin’ grounds a couple of weekends ago – right before some much-needed snow arrived. I’ve changed my tune a bit; when I took this photo I was pining for some deep snow, but now I’m quite ready for spring. Bring on the green grass, the warm breeze, the long evenings…it is time.

Winter didn’t exactly go as planned, but my little guys did eventually get to build a couple of little snowmen this week. They’re both old enough to ride little bikes now, and are expressing a desire to go stargazing so I anticipate big things this summer! I can’t wait to get started.