This is one of my all-time favorite photos, due to the circumstances leading to taking the photo as well as the subject. We were driving to Williston, ND for an overnight stay in after visiting the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Sunset was fast approaching when Jan told me we were passing a great photo opportunity. I stopped, put the car in reverse (no traffic either direction for miles—this was North Dakota after all!), and quickly set up my tripod in the dying light. I had only time to take a few shots before the sunset, and this photo was the best of them all. The sun is low in the sky illuminating the tall grasses on the prairie and the farm house; the passing rain shower can be seen in the upper right of the frame; the dirt road in the distance becomes a path with grass growing between the tire tracks, a butte stands off in the left, and a neighbor’s home in the distance behind the barn. After taking this last photo I stood there and took in the simple beauty of this scene. The air was still and silence reigned, making this tranquil setting a perfect picture of a home on the Great Plains at sunset. That Jan told me to take the photo completes the joy of the memory.
