Monday, June 17, 2013

Happy 96th B'Day Grandma!

My grandma celebrated her 96th birthday yesterday. Still spry and sharp as a tack. Rumor has it there will be quite a party at the century mark. Who knows? That is in the Lord's hands but we hope so. When asked the secret to a long life, she said at the end of each day let the past be past.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Red Barns


_DSC1632_DxOps 72dpi, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

Old red barns dot the country side of the Palouse. These barns are, for the most part, relics from a past way of life. When agriculture transitioned from horse power to tractor power in the '30's and '40's the need for these smaller barns waned. A modern piece of farm equipment would not fit inside one of these today. Unless the old barns are preserved, like these, they are slowly collapsing into a distant memory.

Here we happened across a pair of them under wispy clouds one morning. I believe we visited this scene twice as the light was rather bland the first time by. I liked the sky so much, I felt compelled to shoot from the shadowed end.

You can still see the tracks in the wheat field in the background from the spring topdressing (fertilizing). Now the farmers hope for rains to finish the crop with a good yield. In the mean time they were busy tending their lentil and garbanzo bean crops.

The Edge of Daylight (rev.)


_DSC9130_DxOps 72psi, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

Taken from Steptoe Butte on day we arrived in the Palouse. The low light angle at either edge of day demonstrate the seemingly endless miles of these massive, rolling hills. Even as a farmer, it is hard to imagine farming these steep hills- slopes 45 degrees and more! I was told half the wheat in the US is grown in this unique region.

Woops! I originally uploaded the version with the bad color cast. My apologies.

The Edge of Daylight


_DSC9130_DxOps 72psi, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

Taken from Steptoe Butte on day we arrived in the Palouse. The low light angle at either edge of day demonstrate the seemingly endless miles of these massive, rolling hills. Even as a farmer, it is hard to imagine farming these steep hills- slopes 45 degrees and more! I was told half the wheat in the US is grown in this unique region.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Bucket List


_DSC0882 ps 72dpi, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

One of the challenges of creative endeavors is balancing the drive toward the preconceived result while simultaneously remaining open to new tangents that present themselves. This scene embodied that dynamic.

One of my bucket list items for this trip was to find wild flowers for a foreground element. As we were driving the back roads, we came upon this leaning barn, atop the hill in the distance. It had a tree and a windmill behind it. A nice scene with a few puffy clouds to make it compelling. Out of the frame and off to the side I saw a large clump of purple flowers. Could this be a chance to tick off one from the bucket list? There did not appear to be a road leading to the scene and I was not about to go traipsing across the farmer's fields to get there. Where there is a barn there must be a road. Sure enough, as we rounded the bend at the base of the hill the path presented itself.

A two-fer: One tick on the bucket list and different take in the same scene. Perhaps when i get home I'll show the windmill version of this leaning old barn.

Past Reflections


_DSC0480 ps 72dpi, originally uploaded by Donnie Fulks.

Day before yesterday the group ventured to the collection of old cars. There seems to be an abundance of old cars and trucks in this region. One of the cars in the collection reportedly belonged to Ansel Adams, the famous photographer. This reflection caught my eye as we entered.

There has been very little time process images while on this Palouse trip. We got back in to the hotel at 1am this morning and will be heading back out soon. I selected this one rather randomly while downloading the files off the memory cards.