Happy Thankgiving to everyone! May you have a wonderful day, wherever you are. I guess this Prairie Walker blog is a way to show what I’m thankful for throughout the year, here on the prairies of southwestern North Dakota. A quick flip through the pages reminds me of the beauty of Dakota that surrounds us from month to month …

Fuzzy purple crocus blossoms, the slopes and draws of Badlands hills, dancing white clouds in clear blue skies, horses among ponderosa pines, the curve of the Little Missouri, mule deer in sagebrush, buffalo in prairie dog towns, buffaloberries, chokecherries, wild plums, lilacs, and apple trees in bloom. Winding scoria roads, gumbo lilies, cottonwood trees, junipers and rocks, prairie trails, bright green rhubarb leaves, downy paintbrush glistening in the sun, irises, daylilies, Wind Canyon, roses, butterflies, cottontails, sunsets, sod houses, tractors, cactus, frolicking calves, peonies, wheat blowing in the wind, golden currant berries, rabbitbrush, sunflowers, petrified wood, clinker, cowboy boots on fence posts, Mud Buttes, milkweed, alkali sacaton, hollyhock leaves, spider webs, autumn leaves, goldenrod, October snows,  Pretty Butte, country roads, Talbot Butte, November blizzards, frosty white branches, and footprints on snowdrifts.

Thanks for letting me share the visual feast of life in and around Bowman. Hope you enjoy a feast of your own today, and that every day you will find something to admire in the world around you.

There aren’t many leaves still hanging from the branches of trees by now. I’ve enjoyed seeing their beauty as they have fallen on the earth and snow. The other day I came across these words by Henry David Thoreau, and thought they would be appropriate for one of the last leaves of the season.

Every blade in the field

Every leaf in the forest

Lays down its life in its season

As beautifully as it was taken up.

We had a lovely, steady rain today, here on the plains. What a pleasure to be inside a warm house while the moisture drips, drips, drips onto a landscape that has been dry to the bone.

View of the Backyard, with Raindrops on Window

Late in the afternoon, the rain turned to snow. The first snowfalls of the season are captivating, as you watch autumn become more like winter, right before your eyes.

I used to think of November as a rather dull month, but I’ve started to appreciate its somber, subdued tones. There is a certain serenity that comes when the earth is at rest after months of change and growth.

It got too dark for any more pictures this afternoon, so we’ll have to see what tomorrow brings. Some parts of the region, including ours, are under a blizzard warning. Hang on to your hats!

Just west of Marmarth, there’s a cowboy and a bucking horse made from welded steel. This country has a great heritage of ranching and rodeo life. Marmarth is host to a rodeo every summer on the 4th of July.

There’s also a wonderful scenic road just west of Marmarth, that winds its way through the Badlands up to Golva, North Dakota.

There is something about this prairie land, filled with sagebrush and juniper, that just really appeals to me. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it sure is mine.

The signs by the side of the road warn it is impassable when wet, and I believe them! Off in the distance is Pretty Butte, which is aptly named, I would have to say.

Sunlight found its way through the clouds, and was just illuminating the top of the butte as I approached.

Soon, the whole butte was bathed in warm October light. What a beautiful sight!

Pretty Butte and the Badlands surrounding it were home to dinosaurs, paleo-Indians, cowboys, ranchers, and settlers of the West. Not all at the same time, of course.

Views of the East Side of Pretty Butte

Butte in the Badlands

Continued on up the road and photographed a few more buttes, not as massive as Pretty Butte, but with their own distinct features and appeal.

It was getting late in the afternoon, so I decided to turn around and start heading for home. There had been recent road work on this stretch of the tour;  looked like they might be widening it in some places.

The clouds continued with their magnificent show all the way back to Bowman. The sky is such an integral part of the prairie landscape.

Went east of Marmarth a little bit, then up a Grasslands road for a few last Badlands shots.

As much as I regretted leaving the Badlands behind, I knew I’d better get going east toward home before it got too dark.

Prairie Hills Dotted with Clinker

The longer I live in this country, the more beauty I find surrounding me. Maybe I’m finally getting my “prairie eyes.” That sounds like the name of a daylily!

Day’s End

Well, here we are, just north of Bowman on the Farm-to-Market Road. Home again, home again.

Well, we’ve toured the cottonwood grove, and are heading west toward a low-water crossing over the Little Missouri River. The bank of the river is visible in the right background. I liked the fallen tree limb and the delicate branches of sagebrush in the foreground.

Butte Cemetary

Off to the south is a lovely little prairie cemetary. In the past, this was probably a very peaceful, quiet, and undisturbed place, but now the region is super busy with all the oil well activity.

This is the Little Missouri River from the bridge in Marmarth, looking toward the south. It was a very nice view of autumn in prairie country, with sunlight shining through the trees, and cottonwood leaves gently falling on the banks.

A hawk was gliding slowly over the cliffs to the east, adding one more ingredient to a perfect October afternoon in the Badlands of North Dakota. It appeared as a tiny speck on the photo, though, and I decided to clone it out.

Again, the sky played a big part in making these river photos more interesting. I think I’m more aware than ever of the beauty that is provided by clouds.

The trees on the east side of the river had lost more leaves, but the view was still interesting, with the cliff, grasses, and sky.

On the west side, there were still plenty of leaves on the cottonwoods, though once in a while a gust of wind would send a flurry of them cascading through the air.

Here’s the view from the other side of the bridge, looking north. While I was standing there taking pictures, several large trucks loaded with heavy pipes rumbled over, and it made me wonder just how well everything had been built!

Railroad Bridge in Marmarth

Marmarth has a colorful history, including the railroad, ranching, cowboys, and dinosaurs.

If that river could talk, what tales it would have to tell. Some people say Marmarth in the early days was pretty wild, and similar to Deadwood.

Guess it’s time to head back over the bridge and take a few last looks at the western bank.

If you could save a few days of the year, then have them all over again whenever you wanted, this would be one of those times. What a glorious afternoon.

And another last glance over at the east bank, to capture the latest cloud swirls and a new angle of the river.

O.K. that’s it for now. Goodby Little Mo. Thanks for everything! Next stop: A bucking bronco and Pretty Butte.

Cottonwood with Spin at 10

While cottonwood tree images were still fresh in my mind, I decided to experiment a little more last night. This post features some of the more extreme results of adding special filters. I made note of which filter was used, and to what degree, so that I will have some reference for the future. The first three photos were changed by a blur filter.

Cottonwood with Zoom at 25

Cottonwood with Zoom at 50

Cottonwood with Polar Coordinates (rectangular to polar)

This group of five images was enhanced with a distort filter at various settings. The same cottonwood photo was used as a starting point for the first three blur filter shots and the five distort filter shots.

Cottonwood with Polar Coordinates (polar to rectangular)

Cottonwood with Spherize

Cottonwood with Twirl

Cottonwood with Wave

Cottonwood with Zoom at 25

I decided to go back to the blur filter and use it on a different photo. I really like this effect, and think it could be used for a few special purposes. Years ago, I experimented with a zoom technique while using my film camera set for a long exposure. As the scene was being recorded, I manually twisted the zoom lens either forward or backward. This was really a guessing game, and a lot of film was consumed to get just one or two workable frames. I did get one good image of sunlight streaming through the ponderosa pines in the Cave Hills by that method.

Cottonwood with Spin at 5

The computer and digital camera have been marvelous tools for the exploration of the world around me. It is such a joy to be able to go out and take pictures, then come back in, get them processed, and send them back out into the larger world, wherever that might be. So many of my best slide images never got beyond my file cabinets, and those that did were just a tiny fraction of what I had gathered. Gradually, over the years, I have learned the basics of digital shooting, processing, and filing. There are many, many more things yet for me to discover, though, and that is something I look forward to in the time to come. Thanks to all of you who have helped me get this far!

As I was working on these cottonwood trees with filters, I kept thinking of the words from Black Elk, regarding his sacred vision, as recorded by John G. Neihardt in the book Black Elk Speaks:

To the center of the world you have taken me and showed the goodness and the beauty and the strangeness of the greening earth, the only mother– and there the spirit shapes of things, as they should be, you have shown to me and I have seen. At the center of this sacred hoop you have said that I should make the tree to bloom.

I feel fortunate to live in a region that has been home to the great Indian tribes of the plains, and to have had a chance to absorb their wonderful teachings about the beautiful planet we all share.

THE COTTONWOOD GROVE

Just down the road from the Little Missouri overlook, there is a wonderful grove of cottonwood trees. To me, cottonwoods have a special sort of presence. You really do have to look up to them, in more ways than one. It can’t be easy to attain a ripe old age out here on the plains, through all the things that Mother Nature can throw your way.

Look at the bent and twisted trunks on some of these trees. Cottonwoods are another element of the prairie landscape, along with clouds, that almost seem to dance. I played around with some of my photo filters last night, and found ways to add blurring and twirling motion. Someday I think that might be worth some artistic exploration.

It’s amazing how far over these massive, heavy tree trunks can bend. I wonder if that can be traced back to one particular windy storm? I like how the sepia tone images have more of a timeless look.

For this image, I applied a filter that creates poster edges. I wound up with some pretty wild combinations as I experimented with my photo editing program.

Here, a mezzotint filter was chosen. It kind of looks like something from an old book. I think this could be used for quite a few of my other photos, also.

This is a graphic pen filter, and I think it has some potential, too.

No artistic filter was used on this version, only the contrast and saturation were adjusted.

These images with sepia mezzotints are very appealing to me. I remember wanting to try mezzotint filters a long time ago, but my computer didn’t have enough power at the time.

Close-up View of Bare Tree Trunk

The sky continued to provide great backgrounds throughout the day, which is always a treat. When I started out in the morning, it looked like it might become gray and overcast, which definitely would not have been  as interesting.

Another sepia mezzotint, something that really changes the feel of the photo. I may have to go back through my blog, and think about other images that would benefit from this technique.

Turkey Feather and Cottonwood Leaf

For the most part, the fallen leaves were a mellow brown color. I’d like to return for more leaf studies sometime when the leaves are a brighter yellow, and the wind is a little calmer.

The cottonwood has special significance to the Lakota Indians of the region. The shape of the leaf was said to have inspired the design of their teepees, and the rustling leaves were believed to be the voice of the Great Spirit. Its pith appears as a five-pointed star when the tree is cut in a cross-section, which is seen as a sign from the star nations. Tall, straight, and slender cottonwoods were chosen to be the holy tree at the center of the sacred sundance. Other practical uses were made from this great tree of the plains. In closing my portfolio of the cottonwood grove, I’d like to share this wonderful passage from William Least Heat-Moon, which was published in his book Blue Highways.

What little topographical relief there was came from creeks notching the tablelands. Cottonwoods, like cattle, followed the streambeds for water and escape from the wind. Indian children used to twirl leaves of the holy tree of life into toy teepees, and women made a brew from the inner bark to soothe stomach disorders; sprigs fed Indian ponies in winter, the catkins lured grouse in spring, and in summer everyone searched hollows of the trunks for wild honey. A white, inner pulp furnished a delicacy later called “cottonwood ice cream.”

Next on this October excursion will be views of the Little Missouri at Marmarth, Pretty Butte, and more North Dakota Badlands, buttes, and clouds.

It was such a great day for pictures of the Little Missouri, that I meandered over to this stretch of the river to take in the views there as well. This area is just west of the previous section I photographed, and is known locally as the “wagon wheel” for the rounded gray cliff in the background.

The warm, rich colors of autumn on the prairie are very appealing to me. I have photos of the river surrounded by the greens of mid-summer, and I much prefer the russets, golds, and tans of October.

It’s fun to play with the arrangement of the curves in the river;  they’re such a strong graphic element, and really can lead the eye into the composition.

The bluffs on the right side of the picture were quite steep, and a little precarious. You wouldn’t want to get too close to the edge, and tempt the forces of erosion and gravity!

I was so taken with the dynamic clouds, that I wanted to make sure I had some shots with more sky and less earth.

In this version, the “wagon wheel” cliff is more of a focal point. I wonder who thought up that name!

Here the curve and the cliff are both featured, as if the viewer is standing on the overlook, with the river right below.

Now the river is at the bottom corner of the picture frame, which is kind of inviting.

Sometimes it’s hard to decide which composition works the best. It helps to print them out and look them over as a group. It also depends on how the photo is going to be used. In some instances, a vertical format is the best way to go.

This view pleases me for the way it brings out the river, sky, and “wagon wheel” cliff. It kind of makes you want to jump in a canoe and see what’s around the bend.

While I was there, I took one more shot, this time with just a little more cliff and a little less sky.

And once again, a view of the magnificent sky as I walked back to the road. Next up on the tour is an exploration of a cottonwood grove.

As I headed down the road west of Sunset Butte, I noticed some great clouds in the sky over the Little Missouri River. It looked like there was some rich autumn color along the banks of the river as well. I just had to get a closer look. Come on along, and I’ll share this prairie walk with you.

The Little Missouri is surrounded by large expanses of grass and sagebrush. It’s hard to imagine the western prairies without the graceful, aromatic growth of sage on the flats. Isn’t that a nice, warm pumpkin color at the river’s edge?

The sky and river made for a mesmerizing visual experience. It just kept drawing me in, closer and closer.

Bowman County is fortunate to have such a wide range of landscape features, from nearly flat wheat fields in the east all the way to extremely rough and broken Badlands terrain in the west. And to have the Little Missouri running through is something to treasure!

This view shows a little more sky and a little less earth. It was hard to know just what should be cropped out. It’s not everyday that the clouds put on a show like this.

We’re getting a little higher on the steep bluffs, now, and getting more of a river view as we go along. In certain light, it’s a little difficult to see exactly what’s at the edge of my camera frame. I wanted to be sure to include the cottonwood trees at the right edge of the scene.

It’s nice to have the option of making the composition horizontal or vertical. I like the diagonal slant of the river through the foreground in this format.

In this view, the bottom right corner gives a glimpse of the bluff that overlooks the river. It was studded with plains pricklypear cactus, so I had to watch my step, as well as the spectacular vista spreading out around me.

Hard as a photographer tries, it’s just not possible to really convey the height and width of a grand prairie view. There is more than enough room to breathe out here, believe me!

Finally, the river is stretching out right in front of me. The yucca on top of the bluff give some perspective to the height of the foreground.

A bit higher on the bluff, and a little more of the river in sight. It’s amazing how the angle of the river changes with just a few more steps up the slope.

How about the view from here! I think this shot really brought it all together. What wonderful country!

There is something about rivers that is fascinating. Where did they have their source? Where are they going? What has happened alongside them in the course of their existence? What are they like in other seasons? The Little Missouri has touched the lives of everyone who has lived near it, and it touches the imagination of those who merely gaze upon it with admiration and wonder.

Here’s a shot of the river and sky, with no bluff in the foreground. Times like this make me wish I could fly like a bird, following the watery course wherever I pleased.

The river itself, with no foreground, background or sideground. What a wonderful design. I love the earthy autumn colors. I think this has potential for a drawing someday.

The scene was so captivating, I wanted to savor it while I could. Here the river foreground has been changed slightly. Sometimes when you get back home and have a good look at your photos, you wish you would have done just one or two things differently. Of course, by then it is way too late!

Well, all good things must come to an end. Here’s the final shot of river, sky, and prairie. Decided to shoot a couple of frames of clouds to the north, then head over to the west for another river scene with cliffs in the background. That will be in the next post of this October walk on the prairie.

Well, the snow has melted by now, and it looks and feels more like fall than winter. Decided to take advantage of the nice weather while I could, and headed toward Sunset Butte and the Little Missouri River on Saturday.

The cottonwood trees sported color in different stages of green and yellow, and some were almost rid of their foliage entirely. They are one of my favorite elements in the prairie landscape, with their tall, thick trunks and their elegant leaves that rustle in the breeze.

Prairie country has a very subtle beauty that takes a while to appreciate. Gently sloping hills, a horizon that can be a simple line, and a huge expanse of sky may be all that meet the eye. The color of the sky, shapes of the clouds, tones of the grasses, fields, and trees are the basic ingredients of this country, and they vary immensely over the course of a day, and the span of a country road.

The longer I live on the plains, the more I like the simple views of earth meeting sky. There is something liberating and exhilarating about such an open, airy place.

One of the best parts of living in the southwestern corner of North Dakota is the wide array of massive, rugged buttes. This is the eastern side of Sunset Butte, south and west of Rhame.

Though this region is busy with oil development, it still has a wild, western appeal. The sagebrush, antelope, hawks, and eroded slopes lend a timeless quality, even in the midst of all the trucks, tanks, pipes, and pumps.

The south side of Sunset Butte has mounds of grey, cracked and creased earth that are typical of the Badlands formations all over the western part of the state.

Earth and sky. Earth and sky. How elemental, but how wonderful, the ways that earth and sky combine to form new visions from one minute to the next. All day long the sky was a marvelous backdrop to the buttes, prairies, rivers, and trees below.

Just across the road to the south of Sunset Butte, I spotted this lone juniper on a prairie hill, with a magnificent expanse of sky above. I walked around to see what I could get for foregrounds in case I decide to make a pastel drawing of this scene.

I like the diagonal line in the front, but don’t know if I prefer the juniper on the left or right side yet. Guess I’ll figure that out later. Decisions, decisions.

Took one more shot from the road as I left. There’s something about one lonesome juniper that I find very hard to resist. Next up on the tour are some great views of the Little Missouri River.