May 2022

POTD: Torso

Torso
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Montana
2022

Does anyone else see a torso bust in this image? Google male torso sculpture and you’ll see what I mean, like this one for example:

Apollo (Heroic Male Torso Sculpture)–Bronze
Nick Bibby
(photograph by Steve Russell)

POTD: Torso Read More »

POTD: Death Grin

Death Grin
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Montana
2022

I was bushwhacking down a canyon trying to work my way the the Bighorn Reservoir when I came across this bighorn sheep skull. There are approximately 150 bighorn sheep in the area and one evening we had about a dozen of them grazing right next to our campervan. This one has not done any grazing in a while. A complete skull of a bighorn ram is a rare find I think so my first thought was to carry it out and take it home. But I did not do that for two reasons. First it’s not allowed to collect bones, skulls, or horns in the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation area. The other good reason for not taking it with me I discovered when I picked it up to reposition it to photograph–the darn thing was heavy! A pair of horns alone can weigh up to 30 pounds, and then there is the skull itself which has a very thick and dense forehead reason so that rams can do what rams do (ram each other) without suffering a fractured skull.

POTD: Death Grin Read More »

POTD: Along the Lane

Along the Lane
Lockhart Ranch, Montana
2022

A view along the lane leading to the Lockhart Ranch. I guess it’s past time I mentioned that the Lockhart Ranch is an historical property now maintained for public viewing in the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. The ranches namesake, Caroline Lockhart, was among other things a successful writer of western novels, some of which have been made into movies. She was a very opinionated person who pulled no punches, e.g., she once referred to novelist Zane Grey as “that tooth-pulling ass!”

POTD: Along the Lane Read More »

POTD: Vernacular Squared

Vernacular Squared
Lockhart Ranch, Montana
2022

Log structures are the quintessential western vernacular architecture: constrained by and built of what material can be had locally, out of expedience and necessity. Adding flat rocks to the equation, well that just takes the vernacular style to the next level (to use a well-worn and overused popular current phrase).

POTD: Vernacular Squared Read More »

POTD: Cabin Construct

Cabin Construct
Lockhart Ranch, Montana
2022

It takes a lot of work to hand-hew logs for cabin construction, so the work is minimized. Only the ends of the logs on the sidewalls are squared off; just what is needed to form a tight joint. The smaller logs forming the ceiling (as well as the base for a sod-roof) don’t need squaring off at all, except when using one that is of a significantly larger diameter than the others.

POTD: Cabin Construct Read More »

POTD: Wired

Wired
Lockhart Ranch, Montana
2022

Like open sun-light doors, aged wire fencing is another subject I don’t seem to tire of photographing. In this case the fencing closed off an opening to an otherwise windowless shed, whose interior provided the dark background.

POTD: Wired Read More »

POTD: A Cool Place

A Cool Place
Lockhart Ranch, Montana
2022

This title was a very literal choice. This is the spring house at the Lockhart Ranch. A rather active spring originates in its dark depths, exiting under the door frame to form a small stream that joins a larger creek nearby. If the door was still on the spring house it could have joined the image from yesterday’s post as part of my theoretical Open Door exhibition.

POTD: A Cool Place Read More »

POTD: The Open Door

The Open Door
Lockhart Ranch, Montana
2022

It’s really hard for me (and other photographers too I think) to see sunlight doors opening onto a darkened room and not photograph them–not that there is any reason to avoid the subject. Over the years I’ve probably amassed enough photos of open doors to mount a small exhibition. Heck, it was just a couple of months ago that I posted a similar photo taken in Arizona. The main challenge of exhibiting such a collection of photos would be to somehow make them different enough that they don’t quickly become repetitive.

POTD: The Open Door Read More »