Photography
may be an exact copy of what you see, or your imagination can take
over… Here’s our friend Mike Van Valkenburg’s example from a recent trip
to the North Dakota Badlands:
Mr. Bison still has his eye on us! Today you can be as creative as you’d like - so have at it!
(NOTE: We’ve had number of requests for the Bison prints. Send us a reply if you’re interested.)
Happy New Year!!
VERN WHITTEN PHOTOGRAPHY
Vern Whitten 1518 7TH STREET SOUTH FARGO, ND
Mr Whitten has been incredibly generous with his photos that have appeared on the blog over the years . He loves to hear from folks.
Go to Vern's site to see some great North Dakota / Minnesota photos, and to his wife's site to start sharing recipes!
From Vern today:
So it’s 10 below outside. What to do? How about looking over a few eye catching photos. When you’re done, have some cookies.
My wife BJ loves to cook and specializes in making recipes easy to use.
I’ve spent the last week or so working on a Blog with her. It’s not
exactly aerial photography but it tastes really good.
Vern Whitten has shared a lot of great albums of the Bakken, North Dakota, and Minnesota over the years.
This spring Mr Whitten has done something a bit different: how he can "fix" photos.
This is very, very clever. I was immediately of our photos from our family reunion last summer in Montana -- how they could be improved.
Check this out. Pretty cool.
From Mr Whitten --
Good evening --
Is it possible to get more than 80 people to
smile, open their eyes, and pay attention
for a photo all at the same time?
Welcome to tripod tricks and more, and
see for yourself:
Wow, what an incredible treat. After an incredibly busy day, TCM is airing the second episode in The Thin Man series, After The Thin Man (1936). What a great way to begin the evening. And, of all things, Jimmy Stewart is in this movie. Who would have guessed? By the way, last night Cary Grant was in a 1933 movie -- I forget the name right now -- who knew that Cary Grant was in a movie back in 1933?! I did not know he was that "old." It turns out he was born in 1904, so he was 29 years old at the time. And that was his second movie.
Ah, there it is: I'm No Angel with Mae West, and Cary Grant, 1933.
Of all things, Cary Grant also played the mock turtle in Alice in Wonderland in the same year (1933).
Anyway, a huge day. A very busy, busy day. I won't look at the market futures tonight, and am not yet sure what I will watch tomorrow. If I tune into CNBC the only show I will watch will be Melissa's Fast Money. During periods of such volatility I often stay away from the market if at all possible.
But, wow, what a great mood. Apple is just incredible. So much to say, but I might save that for later or simply let the analysts and experts carry the day.
I mentioned Apple increased its dividend. So did Canadian Pacific Railway. With all the pipeline issues, is it surprising to see CP increasing its dividend? Its new dividend is 74.36 cents/share but it's still paying only 0.9%. Norfolk Southern also increased its dividend (did I already post that?) to ninety-nine cents.
Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here.
Among everything else I received today, I also received a great note from Vern Whitten.
Teddy Roosevelt - perhaps his most famous and inspirational quote.
For many years, my dad carried a tattered copy of this in his
wallet. He was inspired by it, as am I. Recently, I printed this
artistic version on heavyweight canvas and plan to offer them online.
For graduation, inspiration, and accomplishments, these make classy and unique gifts. If you'd like some, please let me know, and I will give you more details.
Here's a screenshot of the Roosevelt quote and canvas:
Apparently Mr Whitten has had a number of folks interested in a hard copy of this and sent a copy my way to put on the blog in case anyone else might be interested.
If interested please contact Vern Whitten:
Vern Whitten Photography
www.vernhittenphotography.com
(701) 261-7658
I have no financial / monetary / fiduciary relationship with Mr Whitten. He has simply provided a large number of incredible aerial photographs of the Bakken for posting on the blog over the past decade. Apparently he has quite a following.
I'm sure Mr Whitten would love to hear from you. Check out his website -- you will see a huge number of wonderful aerial photographs of North Dakota and Minnesota.
******************************************** A Reward For Reading This Far
Some months ago Mr Vern Whitten sent me photos of Fergus Falls State Hospital ... photographed from the air. I was quite intrigued, to say the least. I read up on the hospital but then moved on.
Tonight, of all things, more photos of the historic building, placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Apparently Vern was as intrigued by the building as I was. But he was fortunate enough to be able to return and take photographs from the ground.
For newbies, Mr Vern Whitten has sent me countless photos of the Bakken over the years: from the early days of the boom to the build-out. Go to the Whitten tag at the bottom of the blog, or simply click on "Whitten."
I think his Bakken photos are absolutely incredible. What an amazing photo-history.
********************************** In The Bakken, All Roads Lead To Williston
One of Vern Whitten's photos that I really enjoy. This one brings back many, many memories of driving back to Williston, coming down Indian Hill, coming from the south of Williston, looking north toward the new bridge over the Missouri River just east of the confluence.
Johnny Appleseed: And we close with this .... social distancing south of Fargo, ND, winter:
Mr Vern Whitten sent that to me. What a great photo. He calls it "social
distancing." Vern says he took the photo a couple of years back but it
must have stuck in his mind all these years.
And now the denouement.
In that note, Mr Whitten said, after all these years, he remained curious why that single tree was there? Was there a back story?
This is what Mr Whitten found out about that lone tree:
I received a deluge of comments and questions on the tree. Here are a few:
"Is the tree alive? Do they often get hit by lightning? Was it part of a farmstead? There is a tree like that near where I grew up.
Maybe his dog is buried there. I wonder how it grew to maturity without getting chopped down or killed by herbicide over-spray?
Beautiful but lonely.
That is AWESOME. You made my day."
I decided it needed further investigation.
On Google Earth, May 2018, it looks very much alive and well, lat 46.738, long -96.811.
A neighbor to the north was able to connect me with the farmer.
Both these gentlemen are in their mid 80s.
The farmer has retired, but he remembers the tree very well.
It was part of an east-west row of elms, and
this tree is the lone survivor. The others succumbed to Dutch Elm disease and were removed 15-20 years ago.
And that was the rest of the story. I found it fascinating, imagining these farmers trying hard to save these trees, and in the end, able to save one. What a great story.
I'm sure Vern Whitten would enjoy hearing from you. For more Vern Whitten's
photographs from previous posts, click on the tag, "Whitten." But feel free to send a "thank you" note to Mr Whitten.
Some weeks ago when Vern Whitten sent me his most recent set of photographs of North Dakota he also included a set of "Animals With Attitude" from his friend Mike Van Valkenburg.
Form Vern Whitten: these photos are from my photographer friend Mike Van Valkenburg.
This is quite coincidental. For the past two summers our oldest granddaughter has attended Spanish School at the Concordia Language Camp near Bemidji, MN. I had not heard of the village / language camps until our son-in-law found it on the web and enrolled our oldest granddaughter two summers ago. She loved it so much she returned again this past summer.
Out of the blue, Vern Whitten sent us aerial photos of the camp / village. Incredible scenery.
The last little bit of Richard III and the War of the Roses and then I will move on.
While stationed in northern England for many months over the course of four years, "my home away from home" was RAF Menwith Hill. On Saturdays, I generally caught a ride to Harrogate where I took the train to all points of the compass for a day's outing. On Sundays I would explore on foot the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Summerbridge and Pateley Bridge were my watering holes.
I never knew that I was just miles from the site of the biggest battle and the decisive battle and the last battle in the War of the Roses. Wow. If only I could live part of my life over.
