Tag: rural

10 Apr

My Photographic Adventure With the 2024 Solar Eclipse

Mark / Road Trips / / 0 Comments

In 2017 when the solar eclipse crossed into the St.Louis region, I was stuck working downtown at Purina that day, but we all were able to take a break, go out into the parking lot, and witness the beautiful event. Unfortunately, we were just outside the path of totality and I did not have a chance to capture the event with my camera. On April 8th, 2024 things were very different.

Like many, my preparations began months in advance. I bought a filter for my camera, watched a lot of Youtube videos on the subject, took notes, and did a practice run with the filter by photographing the sun. Everything appeared to be ready, but this being my first time to photograph a solar eclipse, you never know.

I left my home about 8:30a heading south with a two and a half hour trip in front of me, aiming for the Block Hole Access Conservation Area. It is a secluded area west of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Since I knew the traffic would be incredible for the viewing of this event, I left early and tried to find a place in the middle of nowhere away from as much of the crowds as possible. Turns out my idea was not as unique as I thought. We ended up with a crowd of as many as 20 vehicles, which was a great deal smaller than most had to navigate to and from their viewing locations.

I made great time. I tagged Interstate 55 South for a bit but turn off onto county roads long before getting close to Cape Girardeau. I am sure that helped as I arrived in less time than expected. The highway traffic was heavy but flowing at a decent speed for me, but I did not have the nightmare of traffic leaving the Greater St.Louis area. I heard numerous radio reports that even as far south as Herculaneum, MO was experiencing increasing traffic issues. I arrived to the conservation area about an hour before the partial eclipse was to begin.

Since this was my first attempt to photograph a solar eclipse, I tried to go through again and again my plan during the 4 and half minutes of totality for the eclipse. The numerous advise I found suggested to pick an aperture/F-stop setting and an ISO/film speed and just adjust the shutter speed between photographing WITH the solar filter and WITHOUT the filter during the eclipse’s totality. I chose ISO 100 and f/11 with a shutter speed of 1/25 with the filter ON during the partial eclipse. When totality occurred I switched my shutter speed to 1/5000 and then bracketed my photographs down gradually to 1/2 shutter speed.

Before and after the totality I set a 5 minute timer on my watch and every time the alarm went off I took a photograph in order to capture the stages of the partial eclipse. I also set alarms for when the partial eclipse began, when totality began, when totality ended, and when partial eclipse ended. I did this so I would know exactly when to remove the solar filter and when to put it back on so as to not damage my camera. This seemed to work out pretty well.

Once the partial eclipse was over 50%, the light was noticeably changing.

I am sure there are better, more efficient ways to capture photographs during this tight window, but I was new to this and did not have any of the fancy equipment some do. I must confess I was nervous leading up to and during the moment of totality as the next one won’t visit the U.S. until 2044 or 2045. This might be my one and only chance to get a right. All and all I am pretty happy with the results.

The moment of totality was very surreal, like in 2017, but better and longer. The four minutes went quick, of course, but a memory like that is priceless. Its even better if you can capture it in a photograph. I have always said that photographs are like bookmarks in time and space, and this amazing celestial event was no exception.

In leading up to this event I did learn a few terms like “Baily’s beads” and the “diamond ring.” I tried to capture those. I’m not sure if this photograph is considered “Baily’s beads” or not, but I was unable to capture the diamond ring.

I was able to capture a couple of solar flares firing at the time of totality. Regardless, it was a great photographic adventure. A big part of that adventure for many was just the challenge in trying to get home. For those who thought the worst part of the trip was getting to their viewing location, sadly many were wrong. The traffic leaving their eclipse viewing locations was even worse.

I pulled up the Waze app as I did for the trip down, and at the time it did not show any big difference in time for their 3 suggested routes. However, when I reached Interstate 55 in Perryville, MO from the country roads, the interstate was literally a parking lot. I immediately dodged the entrance ramp, found a place to pull over where I could easily get out, and hauled out my old Randle-McNally road atlas…no vehicle should be without.

I plotted a route with county roads again only to discover that even the secondary and tertiary routes also were heavy with traffic but nothing like the interstate. For the most part those county highways had a good flow of traffic.

I actually love road trips so I didn’t mind the scenic view of parts of Missouri I would not have normally traveled. I seriously lucked out as my detours only added another hour to my return home. However, many along Interstate 55 were experiencing heavy traffic well into the night. The reports I heard stated that no one had any regrets about the trip despite the massive traffic challenges in getting home. With such an awesome experience, its tough to see the downside.
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29 Feb

On a Forgotten Farm Where One Car Have “Gone to Pieces”

Mark / Black & White, History, North Dakota / / 0 Comments

The past several photos I shared from the old swamp full of abandoned vehicles, near the Fort Ransom County farm in North Dakota had a few things in common, they were mostly whole. The remains of this car is not the case and has certainly “Gone to Pieces.” The tall grass definitely takes up a majority of the photo, with only parts of the vehicle sticking out from below. They are truly nested and over grown within the grass, creating a stark contrast in textures.

The second vehicle in the background hints to how it could have appeared before. I photographed everything with a tripod, 100 ISO black & white film and f22, because I wanted to capture every detail clearly, from the background to every blade of grass.
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27 Feb

Enjoying the View From “Behind the Wheel”

Mark / Black & White, History, North Dakota / / 0 Comments

This photograph captured at the abandoned Fort Ransom County farm continued my study of the swamp of abandoned vehicles behind the farm. The unusual perspective of the dashboard “Behind the Wheel” of this old Chrysler minus the interior roof and door created a vision of this out-of-place view of their expected norms.

The challenge of this shot was to capture most of the dark place beneath the dashboard, while maintaining the detail but not blow out the light colored tall grass behind it. I learned early on, especially with shooting film, the value of bracketing photos with slight changes in camera settings in order to find the one shot that lights the subjects perfectly.
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22 Feb

My Eerie Fascination With My Photograph “Overgrown”

Mark / Black & White, History, North Dakota / / 0 Comments

This particular photograph is by far my favorite of all the photos I captured at the abandoned Fort Ransom County,  North Dakota farm. This old classic car left empty and abandoned truly epitomizes all the vehicles I found there, buried in the tall grass like a relic from a time long past.

The smooth black metal created a high contrast to the rough, faded grass surrounding this old car. Apart from the physical details of the image, it also seems to tell a story and sparks the imagination like most classic cars do. What did the car look like when it was new? Was it some young person’s first car?

This photo always reminded me of the Stephen King movie “Christine” about a demon-possessed car that look much like this one. To me, there was always some sort of eerie and haunting sense about this photograph that continues to instilled a curiosity, even 25 years later. Some photographs can really stick with you years later, and this one does with me.
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20 Feb

The Haunted Discovery and Capture of “At a Dash”

Mark / Black & White, History, North Dakota / / 0 Comments

A good distance behind the abandoned Fort Ransom County farm I discovered in North Dakota, I found a somewhat mysterious collection of abandoned vehicles in a swamp. The cars were is various degrees of being catabolized for parts and buried in the North Dakota tall grass.

Some of my favorite photos from this farm are from this area. I always found this discovery stunning and apocalyptic. “At a Dash” captures this dashboard of an old Chrysler surrounded by the light shaded dried grass of the field and swamp area. There was almost a haunted nature to this area and I tried to capture that aspect on my black & white film.
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15 Feb

No Farm is Complete Without the “Field Workers” Waiting for That Next Season

Mark / History, North Dakota / / 0 Comments

Another visit to the Fort Ransom farm in the spring found these two farm implements abandoned in the field. I believe these were used to gather the cut straw in the fields to form into bails. They could have been pulled by either horses or a motorized tractor.

The deep green grass contrasting the big blue sky is quite common in the spring and summer in North Dakota. Match that with the rusted metal slicing the photograph into sections, and you have a farm scene with depth of field.
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13 Feb

The “Old Coral” in the Spring While the Tall Grass is Still Green

Mark / History, North Dakota / / 0 Comments

On one misty morning, the “Old Coral” at the abandoned Fort Ransom County farm presented some beautiful deep green grass. It also contrasted those colors with the rust colored mold and decay on the old wooden fences of the coral. Though most of the farm I capture in black and white, some images really deserve color in order to do this unique subject real justice.

Like I had mentioned previously the expanse of the operation of this farm was impressive. There was a large coral, obviously for livestock like maybe horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, etc. It was a real joy to find and to return to this location again and again. I captured the image low, as if through the eyes of a child growing up on the farm, watching all the animals.
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08 Feb

A “Sleeping Giant” at the End of Its Road

Mark / Black & White, History, North Dakota / / 0 Comments

Before North Dakota I really only took pretty straight forward, simple tourist type photographs with my 35mm film camera. Occasionally, I’d shoot people, like family on a vacation or something like that. I did go through a period of photographing foreign and exotic sports cars on the street in St.Louis in the mid 1980’s when I was in high school. However, this was very far removed from those days.

These relics of an age long past were fossils of steel and glass, and instinctively I thought it important to capture them where they lay. In the big sky sun resting in the tall grass, there was a tranquil silence to them. There were other vehicles I captured in their final position, but this “Sleeping Giant” was the first. The motorized workhorse now at peace.
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06 Feb

The “Shattered” Past and Announcing February’s FREE Print Winner

Mark / Black & White, History, North Dakota / / 0 Comments

While exploring the abandoned Fort Ransom farm I discovered a few vehicles from what looked like the 1950’s. This “Shattered” truck window made for an interesting border to the photograph, while it added the texture of broken glass while gazing through into the farm’s field. This was symbolic of the decay and dismantling from time and the elements I found throughout the farm’s implements and structures.

The ghostly haze in the top portion of the broken glass window also added a kind of mystery as it was not in the rest of the window.

I would like to announce that the winner of my FREE 8″ x 10″ photographic print for Feb. 1st was Barb from Oregon. She will be receiving her print by mail soon.

I will be drawing another name from my Newsletter Subscriber list on March 1st, and will be giving away another FREE 8″ x 10″ photographic print. Be sure to Subscribe for your chance to win one of my FREE prints.

01 Feb

When All Signs of Life Are Gone, All We Have Left Are the “Remains of a Day”

Mark / Black & White, History, North Dakota / / 0 Comments

In exploring the old Fort Ransom farm, I made a point of capturing still life images of objects where I found them. I did not remove anything or setup any props. I wanted to capture the objects as time and the elements placed them. “Remains of a Day” epitomizes this goal.

This photograph captured along side one of the houses shows the remains of a barrel, most likely used to collect rain water. Also the chair is found where it tipped over and then was overgrown by the North Dakota tall grass. Like the stories of how the desert reclaims its cover and control over time, the same is true with the tall grass in North Dakota. Again, the similar cracked textures of the dried grass and the cracked wood compliment each other in their aged condition through the format of black and white film.
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Later Today I will be selecting a winner of one of my FREE prints from my email list of subscribers. I will contact them via email and announce the winner in my next News posting.

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