Sun and sunflowers

Working on Saturday, I went in search of wild art — that's newspaper speak for any photos that appear without a story.

I was hoping to find people cleaning or decorating for Round-Up, but because it was a breezy (some may have said "windy") afternoon, not many people were out.

Instead I found this patch of sunflowers. A photo of a bee on one flower ran in Sunday's paper.

This was another shot I liked. It was harder to get than it may appear. Power lines ran above the flowers, so nine out of ten shots had big black lines strewn across the top.

I sharpened this one a bit, and saturated the colors a bit more. I wanted to bring out the contrasting yellow, blue and green.

EJ vs. the crop duster

I was out on assignment with the EO's photographer, EJ, when we saw a crop duster making passes on a nearby field. EJ drove to the best location and hopped out of the car. I snapped this shot through the windshield, while EJ got much better photos where he stood under a circle pivot sprinkler. One of those great shots is in Friday's edition.

Beadwork

This is a close-up shot of some amazing beadwork done by a woman at Tamastslikt Cultural Institute. Her husband brought it to the museum's Measure, Mend, Repair class as an example for others to see. He said his wife completed the beadwork in about five months. This is only a small portion of a large garment, nearly covered in beads.

Amenities

This was another additional photo from my visit with the fire lookout. I was proud of my ability to capture Mr. Weir in his little mirror.

However, as with most of that day, I had to battle low light. Despite it being the middle of August, fog rolled in on the lookout. You can see it out the window in the background. When I later tried to take a photo outside, I could hardly walk far enough to get the entire building in the photo before whiffs of fog rolled between myself and the lookout.

Huckleberries

On a hike this weekend I got to pick (and eat) huckleberries for the first time. I didn't have a baggie or anything to put them in, so I picked a hand full and ate them as I walked down the trail.

Blackened earth

Rushing around covering the Barnhart Fire last Thursday, I was only able to snap a few photos. I also found, later that evening, the dirt caked in my ears from the dust-filled winds.

I got a few photos of this firefighter lighting a backburn near Yoakum Grade Road. Another similar photo appeared in Friday's paper.

I found it exciting to be so close to the flames. There were other spots where it was burning just on the other side of the road.

I like this shot because it shows how black fire leaves the fields.

Indian head nickel

This is a detail shot of a saddle a woman was working on in preparing her Indian regalia for the upcoming Round-Up parades. She brought it to Tamastslikt Cultural Institute workshop on Tuesday. I thought it was neat she used Indian head nickels for decoration.

The antler just behind the beads is a hook-like device where travois latch onto the saddle. Travois are the long pole-like devices American Indians used to haul cargo across the plains. Resting it on this front pommel-like part of the saddle was easier on the horses than just resting the travois on the horses neck, Woodrow Star, a saddle repairman told me.