Basking in the Sun

From Photo Sanity

Barn and harvested field – Colfax, Washington

It was another beautiful day in the Palouse. The weather is typically hot and dry during the harvest season and during this trip the cumulus clouds would roll over daily. As I drove down the highway I saw this barn and had to turn around and capture it. I am glad I did.

Springtime Barn, Palouse

From Photo Sanity

June 12, 2005

One of my favorite Barns in the Palouse; I visit it each time I am in the area to see what it looks like. The scene changes based on the crops planted near the barn or lack of them. The sky, weather and time of day make a difference as well. This year barley was planted around the barn and the weather provided beautiful blue skies with white puffy clouds. The vibrant green of the barley combined with the red barn reminded me of Christmas and in fact I actually used this photo as my holiday card for the year. It’s still one of my all time favorites from the area.

The View from Steptoe Butte - Palouse Area, Washington

From Photo Sanity

The Palouse Area (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palouse) is in the south eastern corner of Washington and north central Idaho. It is one of the biggest wheat and barley growing areas in the United States. It is a wonderful place to photograph at any time of year, but, springtime is my favorite. There are a couple buttes from which you can get a better view of the area. The photo above was taken close to sunset from Steptoe Butte.

From Photo Sanity

Not only does the Palouse provide wonderful graphics to photograph, there are a many wonderful barns to photograph as well. I will post some of those in later blogs.

If you go to Steptoe Butte bring a jacket, a long lense and a sturdy tripod, the wind rips pretty well through there. There are various places to stop along the windy road to the summit but be sure to pull off the road all the way if you do stop as the locals drive the road pretty fast. At the summit there are some radio towers you will have to work around but there is a restroom in case you need it.

Warning to people who don't like heights, you won't like this road as you get close to the top as there are no guard rails and the drop off is pretty steep.

Watching the play of color across the fields from Steptoe during sunrise or sunset is a treat as the rolling hills provide ever changing patterns. Local photography groups even paint some barns to add just a touch of red in the photos if you look in the right direction ( Not in this photo).

Springtime green seems to be late May to mid June. Harvest time is end of July to early August.

I will post more pictures of the Palouse in future blogs, seeing just a couple photos from Steptoe doesn't do justice to the place.

Barns, Barns and more Barns

From Photo Sanity

Montana Barn, near Kalispell

Okay, I admit it; I have a special interest in bar ns. I think it started in the Palouse and now I look at every barn I find as a candidate for a photo. I think they represent a disappearing piece of Americana and I feel it’s my duty to capture as many as I can before they are gone. I have seen many barns in Northern California and the Palouse collapse in the past several years and once they are gone, so is the charm and history with them.

From Photo Sanity

Barn near Pullman, Washington

For me, theses old barns remind me of a simpler but tough way of life. We have come a long way from our agricultural past but at the same time it has created a fast paced, stressful way of life. Do I think I would have survived in older times? Probably not… I like my creature comforts and I know I have an aversion to outhouses and killing my own dinner. So once again, I am thankful for being in the here and now, having the opportunity to photograph as many barns as I can, my contribution to preserving history for future generations.

From Photo Sanity

Carson Valley, Nevada Barn with the Sierra's in the distance

This group of barn photos is just a sampling of what I have in my portfolio. If you like them, don't worry you will see more in future blogs, if you didn't, then skip my next blog with "Barn" in the title.

End of Day - Palouse Area, Washington

From Photo Sanity

August 7, 2004

The Palouse is one of my favorite spots to photograph. It is one of the largest wheat growing areas in the United States and spans from Eastern Washington into North Central Idaho. It provides endless opportunity for graphic patterns in its rolling hills and changing seasons as well as having some of the most photogenic barns I have seen in my travels.

I have traveled to the Palouse in both the spring and harvest times, I hope to visit during the fall and winter in the next couple of years. This photograph was taken during the harvest season at sunset on one of my favorite hills on Klaus Road, outside of Colfax. There was alot of dust in the air from all the harvesting and earth turning which provided the colorful sunset and the only thing available as subject matter was the tractor. Normally I would not go out of my way to photograph farm equipment but the sunset was so beautiful I just had to try.

Related Links:

Palouse Area: http://www.visitpalouse.com/