Bowman County Back Roads

Here are some shots of the beautiful countryside in Bowman County last Friday, on my way to and from the Mud Buttes south of Rhame.

Horse Portfolio

To me, the horse is one of the most beautiful animals on the planet. I do not ride horses, but I admire them very, very much. I was lucky enough to be out at the Silha Lazy JS Ranch on Friday before their annual horse sale that night, and had the chance to make some photo studies in their corral. What I was looking for was the line of a neck or a back, or a head, in an interesting composition with the rest of the herd.

I love how the different colors of white, brown, and gray play off each other.

Logan Silha of the Lazy JS Ranch is a classmate of mine, and also an artist. A while back, he named one of his horses Chagall. I’ll bet there aren’t too many horses from southwestern North Dakota with that appellation.

I wish to extend a great big thank you to Logan, Diana, and family. It was a real treat to be able to observe and photograph your wonderful horses. Hope your sale went very well.

Coming Up Next

Friday was a gorgeous day, with blue skies and interesting clouds, just a gentle breeze, and about 75 degrees. I went out to Silhas’ Lazy JS Ranch and took photos of their beautiful horses on the day of their sale. I think I got some pretty interesting photos, though I haven’t had time to really study them. Since it was such a great day, I kept going and got more shots of wheat fields and sunflowers. Then, I figured I still had several hours to enjoy, so I went out to the Mud Buttes south of Rhame and wandered around in there, getting pictures of the Badlands, rocks, rabbitbrush, and rabbits. Again, it looks like I will have some good images to share from that excursion. Look for new posts about horses and buttes this coming week.

August in the Prairie Walk

Here are a couple of recent photos of the Prairie Walk native plant gardens in  Bowman. The chokecherries are really ripening now, and are a very dark reddish purple. Some of the area residents have started to harvest them for jelly, a regional taste treat. I’ve heard they also make wine from these plump little berries, though I’ve not yet sampled that.

There is a book I highly recommend called Chokecherry Places: Essays from the High Plains by Merrill Gilfillan. He really captures the beauty and natural history of this region through his evocative words.

Sunday Clouds

These wonderful puffy clouds appeared last Sunday morning. I couldn’t just let them float on by without some photographic exploration.

When I first saw these great, graphic compositions of white over blue, I thought of the marvelous large oil paintings Georgia O’Keeffe made of the cloudscape she had observed from an airplane window. It’s kind of hard to predict what an artist will become known for, and I’m sure it would surprise many of the greats to learn which of their works passed the test of time.

August Clouds Again

Couldn’t resist getting a few more summer cloud shots last Saturday, August 9th. You can feel the beginning of the end of the season now, and it makes a person want to savor whatever days are left.

Maximilian Sunflower

Here is one of the first Maximilian sunflowers to bloom this summer in the Prairie Walk gardens at Pioneer Trails Regional Museum. This plant was named for Prince Maximilian of Wied, who accompanied the artist Karl Bodmer in his travels around the Great Plains of North America in 1832. Prince Maximilian was a German explorer, naturalist, and ethnologist. He and Bodmer spent time with some of the Indian tribes of North Dakota during their journey up the Missouri River.

Maximilian Sunflower on the 8th of August, 2008

Gardening Clouds

I went over to the Prairie Walk native plant gardens last Friday, August 8th, and couldn’t help but notice these wonderful clouds swirling overhead. It makes the weeding chores go a little easier if I can stop once in a while and digitize some cloud forms.

More August Clouds

Here are some more cloud images for the portfolio. These photos were taken last Wednesday, August 6th. I’m slowly but surely making progress on getting files sized and saved. I guess it’s a good problem to have, getting backed up by so many beautiful things to shoot.

More Cloud Studies

I can’t believe how many days there have been with interesting cloud forms since I started publishing them on this blog. I’m having trouble getting them all processed so that I can share them on the web. The other night I came across this great quote from the photographer Edward Weston in his Daybook, Volume I Mexico:

July 9. Clouds have been tempting me again. Next to the recording of a fugitive expression, or revealing the pathology of some human being, is there anything more elusive to capture than cloud forms! And the Mexican clouds are so swift and ephemeral, one can hardly allow the thought, “Is this worth doing?” or, “Is this placed well?”  —  for an instant of delay and what was, is not! The Graflex seems the only possible way of working. Yesterday’s results gave me one negative worth considering: to be sure I made but three, but time and patience were spent in waiting and studying.

These photographs were taken a week ago, on August 5th. I’d shot some other clouds earlier in the day, but just had to go out again as the sun was sinking lower and sending out these marvelous rays.