This was a bonus find – I was in the area doing a farmstead photo thing for someone, and I noticed this beauty perched nearby. Once I’d accomplished my target objective, I flew over to get a closer look.

I recently spotted this unfortunate windmill while heading up to Arena to check on the status of St. John’s Church (it’s still there.) and had to stop for a few photos. I don’t remember every finding one in this condition.

They won’t all be sunsets, but I felt it was nice to lead off with a pair of windmills at one of my favorite times of day. I hope it’s yours, too!

It’s been a minute, hasn’t it? I’m trying to get back into the swing of things, and what better way to attempt such a feat than to go with something I know – and, I think, I’m pretty good at: windmill photos. I’ve got a few new/recent ones, so let’s have at it. One day at a time.

Aside from a cameo in my last post, windmills haven’t made nearly as frequent an appearance on the old Blog as they have in times past. Heck, nothing has made frequent appearance here lately. The last two and a half years have been incredibly busy, to say the least. It’s time to get back into the swing of things. I actually have months worth of photos I’ve captured but haven’t had time to edit or post. Hopefully I can start getting caught up, but so far August has been the busiest month of all this year! Stay tuned.

I know Photoshop has a “sky replacement’ tool now, but I’ve never tried it. I did this one the old-fashioned way. I posted the original a while back with a perfectly blue sky. I’ve also mentioned in another recent post that I don’t really care for cloudless blue skies, because I find clouds so much more interesting. I’ve taken photos of just cloudy skies before in case I needed them for a project, and I decided to put one of those photos behind this windmill for effect. I’m pleased with the result.

It’s important for me to disclose that this photo is artificial as a matter of photographic integrity. I don’t mind this sort of pic, but in the proper context. I suppose I’m a bit of a purist in that regard.

I spotted this Morton County windmill while chasing down something on one of my “lists” of potential photo opportunities, and I had to stop to take a look.

I was bolting toward a photo subject for a project I’ve been working on when I spotted this windmill along the road. Over the past fifteen years of this blog I think I’ve established that I have a thing for windmills, although I don’t have one on my own property. But I have grown selective over the years, only looking for ones with a lot of character. This falls into that category.

Once I got in close and was able to find an angle with some interesting clouds in the background, I got my shot. This is one unique windmill. I liked the dangle of the wire, too. What an interesting photo subject! I spent a few minutes angling around to check it out, settling on the thought that this really was my best interpretation of this specimen, then moved on to continue the other project. Someday, if it’s ever ready, I’ll get to share that here as well.

2021 hasn’t exactly shaped up to be “the year we get it all back” after a completely nuts 2020, but I did manage to work a little less. I just didn’t get as much photography done as I’d wanted. I did, however, take a few photos, and naturally there were a couple of windmills in there.

I just got this one today, and it’s close to town. It sits right along 71st Avenue in Bismarck. Thankfully a guy can get this shot from the road, as the land is posted and I don’t violate those signs.

As the second photo demonstrates, fall colors are here! I wonder if I might be able to get a bunch of fall photos. We’ll see…

I spotted this as the rain was about to move in, but I knew I had some time to make a quick capture. Windmills catch my eye often, and this one didn’t disappoint. It looks like it’s got a lot of character, no doubt derived from years – generations, maybe – of service.

Since I was in Morton County, I couldn’t help but hope that it would say “Mandan” on the back. But as I got closer, I saw that wasn’t the case. This is still a grand prairie specimen…and I just just enough time to take its picture before the rain moved in and brought my photography day to a profitable end.