Tag: High Plains

Windmills and Storm

On my way home from my March road trip, a fierce storm was blowing in from the west.  In the wide open space of the high plains, the distant storm front was visible for much of my journey.  The storm front itself was interesting, but when I came upon an area with windmills, I had to stop to capture a few images.

Windmills and Storm

This wide angle view captures the old ranch windmill and structure along with the modern, electric generating windmills in the distance and the massive storm clouds with rain in the distance.

I zoomed in to get more detail of the old windmill and its contrast with the modern windmills.

Windmills and Storm

Zooming in has the disadvantage of removing some of the storm clouds.

On the opposite side of the roadway there were more windmills much closer to the road.

Prairie Windmills and Storm

As I continued my journey to my overnight stop in Amarillo, Texas, the wind became more fierce, buffeting my vehicle all the way.  The wind whipped up much dust north of Amarillo.  The storm continued through out the night and I awoke to a dusting of snow and a light blowing snow, which continued for a short distance on the final day of my homeward bound journey.

I arrive home safely in the afternoon and now I have to look forward to another, as yet unplanned journey.

Until then,

Ken

 

 

Abandoned Farm Structures on the Colorado Plains

In the spring of 2019, returning to Texas from Colorado, I spotted a group of abandoned farm buildings near an exit from I-70 on the high plains of eastern Colorado.  I immediately wanted to photograph those old farm structures, but I had already passed the exit and I did not want to take the time required to backtrack, so I just made a mental note of the location in case I passed that way again.

In July of 2019 I was on that route again, returning from another trip to Colorado.  I remembered the exit number from the earlier trip and this time I did not pass up an opportunity to stop and photograph those old buildings.

Old Farm Building on the Colorado Plains. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

It was late morning, the sun was high, the light harsh, but it was unlikely that I would ever be here at a better time, so I did the best that I could with what I had.  I decided not to get out the DSLR equipment and just stroll around shooting with my iPhone.

Old Farm House on the Colorado Plains. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

I decided that the best post processing for these images would be a conversion to monochrome, given the light conditions and the subject matter.

Old Farm House on the Colorado Plains. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Old Farm Building on the Colorado Plains. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Old Farm Building on the Colorado Plains. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

I was lucky to catch a bird flying out of the old barn.

Old Farm Building on the Colorado Plains. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

I’m glad that I took a few minutes to stop here.  There have been so many times that I’ve passed up opportunities to shoot places such as this, because I was on a time schedule for getting to some destination.  I hope that I will have more time, during future road trips, to photograph a few more of the old and abandoned building that are scattered across our country.

Thanks for following and best wishes,

Ken