View allAll Photos Tagged GREATPLAIN
2 versions of the Chimney Rock in Nebraska, USA today, the previous versions were taken from the west and east, one of these versions is also taken from the east, the night lights illuminate only the north face, which makes sense since that's the angle visible from the roads (there was absolutely nobody when I was shooting from the east, one car pulled up and saw me there and quickly turned around, they were probably there to do something they wanted not to be seen by others!).
A pair of trees watch a storm in the distance. Neither are strangers to such events as these kind of storms are commonplace on the eastern plains of Colorado during the Spring and summer months.
A setting looking to the east while taking in views across a sandy landscape with dune formations and wild grasses in Monahans Sandhills State Park. My thought on composing this image was the capture look up this one sand ridge that I was walking. The sun was casting shadows across those wild grasses and ripples in the sand. I felt that added a relief and depth to the image captured.
This image was captured while walking the Red Beds Trail in Devils Tower National Monument with a view looking to the southwest. What drew me into this setting wasn't just the forest of trees and the prairie grasses or even blue skies, it was just a variety of colors present. Nearby was a forest that had hues of greens and yellows and a few spots of even some reds. Above that were blues skies and whites of clouds. I finished up post-processing work in Capture NX2 by adding a few CEP filters (Low Key, Polarization and Graduated Neutral Density) for the final image.
Gladstone Hotel/Motel. Not in the AAA guide, Yelp, or TripAdvisor. (But it turns out it *is* in the National Register of Historic Places: www.dropbox.com/s/ame2jlota1ok2xv/gladstonehotel-natlregi...).
Theodore Roosevelt National Park is a great place to observe and study wild horses. These are part of a slightly larger herd of 8-10 members jealously guarded by a large black stallion.
A Galion Iron Works grader lets time pass by on the prairies of Southeastern Colorado.
Galion Iron Works is the name of the company that built the Galion brand of construction equipment. World famous for their graders that shaped the roads of the world, a saying emerged that "All roads lead to Galion." They also manufactured rollers, cranes, asphalt millers and even riding squeegees among other machines.
It's hard to go to Teddy Roosevelt National Park and not take advantage of the light and surroundings to take yet one more photo of the bison. They are big and beautiful!
Abandoned house - Rita Blanca National Grassland.
Rita Blanca National Grassland
Rita Blanca National Grassland is a National Grassland on the Great Plains near the community of Texline in northwest Dallam County, Texas, in the Texas Panhandle, and in southern Cimarron County, Oklahoma, in the western Oklahoma Panhandle. The principal city in the area is Dalhart, Texas, which houses the XIT Museum.
The name Rita Blanca (Little White River) was applied to a stream by Spanish sheepherders in the 19th Century. It was later used by the XIT ranch and has been applied to other geographic features in the vicinity.[3]
History
Both Rita Blanca National Grassland and Kiowa National Grassland (KNG), farther west in New Mexico, are the result of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The Dust Bowl experience had shown the U.S. Government that climatic challenges made total conversion of the Great Plains to agriculture not only infeasible but undesirable. The National Industrial Act and Emergency Relief Appropriations Act, which passed Congress in 1933 and 1935, gave the federal government authority to buy failed cropland, and the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act of 1937 gave authority to transfer about 3,850,000 acres (15,600 km2) to the Soil Conservation Service to restore the eroded soil and to protect the grasslands. In 1960, Congress approved the creation of KNG and RBNG.[4]
General description
The elevation of Rita Blanca National Grassland ranges from a high of 4,700 feet (1,400 m) in northwestern Cimarron County, Oklahoma, to a low of 3,700 feet (1,100 m) in southeastern Dallam County, Texas.[4] It is not a solid block of protected land, but rather several small blocks of U.S. Forest Service-owned native prairie grasslands, interspersed with privately owned property. The area is classed as semi-arid, and serves as habitat for pronghorn, rabbits, prairie dogs, coyotes and predatory birds.. Vegetation is primarily shortgrass. It has a land area of 92,989 acres (376.31 km2).[2] The greater part, 77,463 acres (313.48 km2) is in Texas, and the balance 15,860 acres (64.2 km2) is in Oklahoma.[5]
Info from Wikipedia
Looking at my bird book, it looks like I should have known this bird from my home state, Ohio. But I never saw one there. I remember seeing it in Kansas, Missouri, and other prairie states. Where I saw it was in what my book calls its "breeding range." What a lovely woodpecker & what a thrill to see it in SE Colorado, on a fence post in Comanche National Grasslands.
A view with a look to the southeast while at the main overlook at Big Badlands Overlook. I wanted to capture that sweeping look across the badlands and their formations as well as highlight the colors present that day from the early morning sunlight.
In the lush wetlands of Chobe National Park, Botswana, an African elephant cools off in the shallows, showering itself in water and light. The close-up captures both the raw power and the tender precision of this iconic animal as it grazes and bathes—an intimate moment in one of Africa’s most wildlife-rich landscapes.
I felt that getting down low and then angling my Nikon SLR camera downward would help create that sense of depth as if just above the formations at this overlook. I found the shadows cast and other areas caught in sunlight also added to that look for this national park setting. One could also see the distinct layers of sedimentary rock across the eroded buttes and pinnacles.
Enchanted Rock.
I wanted to enjoy an enchanted day
Life events often unfold that way
To walk around and savor views of nature’s wildness
We’ll never get enough, but it is quite special nevertheless.
Another work of short poetry or prose to complement the image captured one late morning while enjoying some time in Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. Here I wanted to capture a wider angle view of the famous granite monadnock. The greens and yellows of the nearby trees and plantlife would be a color contrast and balance to the blues and whites of the skies above.
This gnarled and twisted old Juniper is found in the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
An idea I got from another photographer while planing a trip to Badlands National Park and the nearby Dakotas area. For this image, I used a tripod to mount my Nikon SLR camera and then used a CamRanger so that I could meter and compose the image captured. I found that and then making manual adjustments to the shutter speed gave me better feedback for an image captured. I later used some CEP filters in Capture NX2 (Low Key, Polarization and Graduated Neutral Density) which seemed to best bring colors. shadows and tones even with the bright sunlight as I faced that morning at this overlook point.
Looking down at the bay from the top of the island at the Jamestown Reservoir, Jamestown, North Dakota.
Thanks to everyone who takes the time to visit.
My photos can be purchased at Website william-tanata.artistwebsites.com
I prefer the roads less traveled. The non-existent ones that don't appear on GPS. The ones easily missed on the side of the road.
I also love the lone trees that have defied the odds and survived in near uninhabitable conditions.
And the storm, that rolls across the empty barren expanse each and every year on the eastern plains of Colorado.
This is another section of the park that shows the Milk River among the vast plains where buffalo used to roam in the thousands. There was not a bison to be seen on the day we were there. In the distance you can see the mountains of Montana in the United States. There are several walking trails in the park that can take all day to hike.
This, apparently, was an inhabited place until about 1968, but very little remains. This school is the best ambassador of Tyrone's past.
You see field full of bales of hay all over the Prairies. I have tried to photograph them so often and I've never really got an image I loved. This is close. Hay bales in a field in a snowstorm.
Near Gimli, Manitoba.
I wrote a blog post about my December 2019 trip to Manitoba and North Dakota, if you're interested in reading about where this image was made.
The diphtheria epidemics of 1883 and 1897-1898 and cholera in 1894 during the early settlement years took the lives of many people living in the Pleasant Plains area. Many of the graves were marked by planting clumps of iris, bushes, or trees or just putting limestone rocks on the gravesite. With the passage of time, the limestone rocks deteriorated and flowers, bushes and trees died. It is estimated there were about 100 burials in the cemetery from 1879 to 1915. As near as can be determined, the last burial was about 1912.
--findagrave.com
A view looking to the southwest while walking along the Wind Canyon Trail. A short walk beyond this point, the views opened up to some impressive sights in this part of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
The Arena Church, again, but this time you can see how the vestibule (is that the right word?) is collapsing into the church and the chimney (bricks you can see on the ground behind) has collapsed, too.
Arena, North Dakota
I wrote a blog post about my December 2019 trip to Manitoba and North Dakota, if you're interested in reading about it.
Mammatus is one of my favorite cloud types. Captured these beauties on the back side of a supercell we had been chasing for hours in the Oklahoma Panhandle. What’s amazing to me is this was taken at almost 10pm during an extended blue hour. Lightning all around lit up the foreground. One of my favorites. Hope you enjoy
A high based thunderstorm over the plains of North Dakota is illuminated by lightning during the twilight hour
An idea I got from another photographer with a view across some eroded landscape of badlands and prairie grasses that seemed to stretch out to a distant horizon. This is a view looking to the southeast from the main overlook.
Late afternoon thunderstorm trying to "get up a head of steam" in the Bridger Mtns of western Wyoming.
As I've been posting images from this series, I've mentioned that last year was a tough year for farmers on the northern Great Plains and on parts of the southern Prairies. With a lot of rain at the end of the season, many crops had to be left in the field and I saw many scenes like this in December in North Dakota. Here you can see just where the farmer had to stop his harvest. It's hard life, farming and, as my friend, James Page, said we should be grateful that there are those that are still willing to do it.
I wrote a short blog post about my December 2019 trip to Manitoba and North Dakota, if you're interested in reading about it.
This is Clear Lake School (also known as Barton #8 School). This tiny school, closed and abandoned, harks back to a different time. It was moved from its original location to this farmers field and is now being used for storage.
Near Tuttle, North Dakota
I wrote a blog post about my December 2019 trip to Manitoba and North Dakota, if you're interested in reading about where this image was made.
My second time at Abbott Church in Colorado. This is exactly what I was hoping for when I set out on my 3 hour drive that day. It's very, very, very rare the weather cooperates this perfectly when planned in advance. I was truly fortunate.
I used a 2-stop hard stop graduated neutral density filter along with a circular polarizer. Edited in Adobe Lightroom.