This episode of the 'Here'
series contains 244 photographs taken over four different days. They
have been selected from 922 originals.
Before I continue, I would
like to explain that this series is developing, instead of remaining
as a merely photography log of Iowa landscapes.
[[Do you know what a
'landscape' is? Ask a BUWI what a 'landscape' is. If it answers at
all -- the opposite of what it says, is a 'landscape'.]]
In this installment, I am
repeating some scenes rather than showing them only once. This is
done because the subject matter lends itself to more than one
representation. That can be said for every photograph that I have
ever taken, so far.
So far, this series has
been strictly a means to show what the Real Iowa looks like (and is),
as opposed to the grid map of future trash dumps that is on the walls
of the BUWI headquarters in Des Aliens (formerly Des Moines).
Photography is much more
than just a gathering of evidence. I have already started to play
around with photography as art, in simple ways with software -- now I
am considering using scenes or objects in Iowa for photographic
purposes. I am thinking of posting 100 pictures of one subject. It
could be anything from a cow, to a barn, to my favorite telephone
pole, to a tree, to a stretch of countryside road. No matter what it
is, if it is in Iowa it will be subjected to different lighting and
weather conditions and appearances. It will be best to use something
that changes with its environment.
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Day One:
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Days one and two were both
'low light level' days. Most photographers stay at home on such days.
Thus, what is out there (in those conditions) remains unknown.
Self-Indulgence:
Day One of this message,
is actually an extension of the last 'Here' installment. By chance,
during that photography outing, I was afforded an extra day to take
more pictures; in addition to the ones that I had already decided to
include in that 'Here' message. I cast about as usual in the
Cashmere, not expecting anything special -- which always leads me
straight into specialty and special-ness, always. This time was no
different, but the results are different. This time, as this is all
extra effort anyway, I am going to include any photograph that has
any value to me whatsoever. This is different, in that I am not being
selective with an eye towards World Class Acceptance with these
shots. You can call this a view through the photographer's own eyes,
using his own values. Or, merely 'His Own Space'.
Previously I have always
attended to 'focus' as a mandatory requisite for a picture's
acceptance. Not with these.
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The Dead Lake:
I have seen this lake when
it was alive, and full of water. Great White American Pelicans used
to revel in this lake’s waters by the many hundreds. Now, it is
just a big reed marsh due to invasive Cattails (etc). For a typical
view of the demented thinking of this state’s DNR about this, go to
the following website.
‘Shallow Lake
Management’ is the state’s bullshit for “We ain’t got the
money -- we spent it on sex toys for our senators!” So, they came
up with this idiocy. I have seen the DNR types that are at this lake.
I have seen their scrubbed and sterilized and dull kind all over the
country. They eat according to schedules and meal plans, never piss
in the shower, brush their teeth twice daily, think Scrabble is an
exciting game for adults, and watch TV. Their milk-toasty and
lifeless kind is one of the reasons why I never worked in an
environmental job. I cannot imagine what gives them the idea that
they should work at such jobs. Having them for environmental workers
is like pouring diesel fuel and molasses on your breakfast.
What used to be Lizard
Lake. Once very blue and wide and clean.
I always include pictures
like these. You have to recall that these can be used for desktop
backgrounds and screensavers. I expect many of my photographs to end
up on computer desktops as backgrounds -- AND -- what is not the
right background for one person, can be the perfect background for
ten others -- SO -- I have to think widely about these.
As fate would have it, I
arrived at Iowa just before the scum of Big Business Windmills and
the Deviates attacked it. So, I remember what it used to be like
before all of the spoilage.
I used to sit on the shore
of this lake and try to take photographs of hundreds of Great White
Pelicans with a telephoto lens, as they entertained themselves with
water sports on the far side of the lake. They always play on
whatever side of a lake people are not on -- they being superior to
all other life forms as they are.
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The Creek:
Not too far south from
Lizard Lake is a conservation area called Lizard Creek. In there, I
wandered about with both Sony 10 meg cameras (18-55 and 70-200)
taking pictures of anything that was alive or interesting. Lizard
Creek is an example of what could have been Iowa, if all of the
agriculture had not happened here.
Ironically, all of that
agriculture will now be shackled and chained and enslaved to the
demands of the BUWI perverts -- with the greedy assistance of the
piggies in the Statehouse/Pantyhose Emporium. But, that is not news
to anyone, I have been writing about it for years now.
As you can see, the woods
are thick here and it was not a bright day anyway. Which is like
saying "Wait an hour, and everything will be different."
The winds usually change the lighting that fast.
I have quite a few women
viewers, who like pictures such as this. I also like the challenge of
trying to get good shots of insects -- being insects. From now on,
when I take macro shots with a telephoto lens -- if anything is in
focus that is worth looking at, I will keep the picture.
I had to walk along this
trail to another meadow inside the forest, to get the next pictures
of flowers and bees.
This looks like the same
flowers and bee as before, but they are hundreds of yards apart.
I had already gotten what
I had come here for, but I decided to wander further into the area.
This is what I mean by a
good desktop background. Try some of them. Here, I wanted to capture
the rain on the grass.
This was the furthest west
that I could go at the time, so I turned here and went downhill to
the north; with the intention of curving east again and arriving back
at the Impala.
Vultures are a common
sight in the skies over the Midwestern States -- and not just because
of the Politicians. With such a huge amount of vegetation here, the
entire food chain is amplified in volume and variety -- giving rise
to plenty of food for all life forms. That goes double for scavengers
such as Vultures, and opportunists such as Eagles and Crows.
The idea is to keep them
up there, and you down here. It is just like keeping your distance
from the Monkeys, any Monkeys.
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The Living Lake:
In Pocahontas County, in
the same area, is another lake that the DNR has not neglected yet.
The cattails are trying to get a hold on it though. If people do not
actively go out into those waters and remove the cattails, this lake
will suffer the fate of the one we just saw. That idea is denied by
the DNR, but it works. I just saw some people standing out in a pond
(over in Crawford County) ripping out cattails to save the pond.
An Eagle.
See those cattails? They
need shallow water to thrive in. That is why they hug the shorelines.
Years of low water levels are death to lakes out here, because the
lower water allows the cattails to spread out.
This lake is a favorite of
American Coots, who are inadvertently the 'Comic Relief' out here.
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The Swamp:
Also in Pocahontas County.
As I said before, I take pictures of intersections out here -- out
everywhere.
These two deer were
watching me from the moment I stopped here.
Another Eagle.
Someone has to take
pictures like this. A bird's nest study.
FYI -- as a photographer,
this is my favorite picture of the entire message. I call it 'My
Serengeti Shot'.
I took these three
pictures to catch the contrasts and shapes in the wind, which
increased for a while and then subsided.
As always, agriculture
uses every available space in Iowa; right up to the swamp border.
This creates an immense amount of 'edge ecology' -- which is a
favorite place for wildlife.
Right next to the swamp is
this canal, which I spent an hour at. Places like this are an oasis
in Iowa these days.
I wish all of you could be
in such places as this. You have to be here to really understand. You
have to feel the wind and the rain and hear the wildlife and the
breezes through the trees and the sound of the running waters. This
is where Life is, not on concrete parking lots or on paved city
streets. In those places, you only bring along whatever life you have
within you -- and nothing more is provided for you.
I strive to avoid a
'travel log' kind of presentation, and I think I have achieved that
admirably. Who else would show you pictures like these? Newsrags only
show the glitter and the glamour and the beauty shots, constantly.
I go for the texture, and
composition and lighting shots. Problem is, even with a 27 inch
monitor you cannot see these at their real size on one screen.
Meanwhile, some people look at these on small hand held devices. I
suppose they could be used for backgrounds and screensavers on such
small screens.
I debated about this one.
I was trying to show the 'africa-like' landscape, but it is too dark
for that. Well, someone might like it.
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After:
On the way home I took
this picture looking back west.
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Day Two:
Whereas Day One was taken
on a dark day, Day Two started out with some overcast skies in the
morning, and became mixed after that. This, and the next seven shots
were all taken in the morning hours.
Islands in a row, a common
sight.
That is Vincent in the
background, so this is Webster County.
A self-portrait.
These are some machines
that are being used for water removal below fields. Most agricultural
fields in Iowa are implanted with such tubes to increase water
disposal, thus keeping them less muddy and more manageable for heavy
machinery like tractors.
Two pictures of Eagle
Grove from the west.
On this day I began to
roam about again. I circled several times inside of Wright County.
During that time, I took this of Clarion from the south.
These two pictures are of
Eagle Grove again, from the east.
I took dozens of shots of
this power pole. Then I chose two that I thought had the most
interest, and ran them through some color changes. This kind of art
used to be called 'Avant-Garde'. (A-vant-guard)
Still circling about, I
got down into a gully and took this one from a lower level. I wanted
to capture a sense of distance with the land and the clouds.
This one clearly shows the
'Islandization' out here. One of my sayings is -- this is not 'out in
the middle of nowhere' -- instead, this is being 'out in the middle
of everywhere'. Like I said in one of my recent videos, everything
out here (in everywhere) changes every ten miles anyway.
Back to Eagle Grove again,
from the east again.
Now further north at
Goldfield.
Looking in the opposite
direction from the same position. That is Eagle Grove from the north.
Further east, I went down
into a canal with the idea of photographing anything that might be
worth seeing, to myself and to the future.
In there, I found one of
the many thousands of water conduits that feed into the canals. The
black tubes, that you saw before, gather the groundwater underneath
the fields and channel it to steel conduits that pour it into the
irrigation canals. This is one reason why I say there is more water
available here, on the flats, than there is in the hills of the
southern or the western parts of the state.
I took dozens of these,
while lying on my belly pointing the camera down at the water. Later,
I took them home and enhanced them. Then, I ran one of them through
the colorations software, just to see what color combinations would
happen.
This is much further
north. I left Wright County and traveled up into Hancock County. This
picture shows the 'flats' (that are pocketed with variations) that
reach up into Southern Minnesota.
Just east, along the road,
were these grazing cattle. A typical rural scene here.
I stopped at Eagle Lake
briefly. Due to the heavy rains recently, the cattails are being
pushed back at this lake. Some years ago, they had all but covered
the entire lake.
From there, I wandered
southeast into Cerro Gordo County; feeling that something was going
to happen (photographically). I set my course for Thornton, which
this is not.
A telephone pole! I love
telephone poles.
Two shots of a typical
'planting season' view. This is looking eastwards, still moving
southeast.
Thornton. From the east
looking westwards. I was covered with many changing clouds and the
lighting kept fluctuating. There were also several rain spouts coming
down from the clouds, at such a combination with rays of light as to
cause some interesting pictures.
Love telephone poles. They
have so much potential for justice.
From Thornton, I began to
move through the county eastwards. As I said, the land changes every
ten miles.
This is another
'Serengeti' style shot. These are 'feelings and impressions' style
photographs. I realize that you will not get the same sensory inputs
that I got, but such pictures have the ability to impress viewers
(who have brains to react with).
No kidding, I took more
than one hundred shots of this. Just how unique it is, probably does
not come through in the photographs.
I kept seeing movements in
the water, back in the trees. I was hoping to sneak in and catch a
picture of a muskrat, but he came out to me and blissfully swam past
me.
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Day Three:
By now, I was satisfied
with two sessions of 'low-light-level photography'. I am deliberately
putting out the previous pictures to provide History with some
'low-light-level photography' of the Real Iowa. If you do not know
why, don't bother.
Now, a bright day came
along -- and I went out again with the intention of shooting places
that I had not shown before, in good light.
This is a small bridge
over the West Des Moines river, in the opposite direction from the
previous two days. This is west, in Humboldt County.
Another self portrait.
The West Fork of the Des
Moines is lined with large croplands.
Once more I got down into
the grasses to take some pictures. I have tried these as backgrounds,
and these three work quite well as desktop backgrounds.
A telephone pole! And, an
intersection!
Still along the West Des
Moines river. By now, I was thinking of going north, into areas that
I have not taken pictures of before.
Heading north now, that is
the town of West Bend in the distance.
West Bend.
I was standing here taking
this picture of the railway going southeast from the town, when a
young man walked past me and asked if I enjoyed the smell. Iowa has
many smells -- many, and not always something that you would want to
share with your friends. There was a smell coming into West Bend from
further down the tracks, which the young man found offensive. He said
it was from the factory in the picture, downtrack. Of course, you
cannot see that there is a smell coming towards you in this picture.
Here in Iowa, smells are
like water spray from a revolving sprinkler. They always move with
the wind and can go in any direction. The prevailing direction is
from the southwest to the northeast, but this smell was coming from
the east. I ignored it. I am always driving through various
'fragrances' in the summer season.
More of West Bend, from
the inside.
Now from the north.
I could see a greenbelt
off to the west, and I knew it had to be the West Des Moines again. I
had traveled north of the river, and now I returned westwards as my
intention was to get more pictures of the river area. In doing so, I
crossed this canal.
At the river, I came upon
a bridge that had quite a few birds living underneath it. Once I was
positioned on top of the bridge, the birds came out in great numbers;
most of which pictures could not show, because they were moving too
fast.
Looking north.
Looking south.
I knew I would see things
here that did not exist in Wright County. As I have said, every 100
square miles of Iowa are different.
There is a man in a
tractor out there. I watched him for about fifteen minutes, driving
about. That is a fine grove of trees he has there. Out here, groves
are very important for many reasons.
Further north at Rodman.
Cylinder. With the light
failing, I knew I would stop this day's shooting in the vicinity of
Cylinder.
Just north of Cylinder.
From the same spot,
looking east.
I went a short ways north
and west and stopped at a bridge over a creek. From the top of the
bridge I took these sunsets.
Back south to Cylinder.
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Two days before Day Four,
I took these sunset pictures far away in Crawford County.
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Day Four:
Back in Wright County and
heading east.
Some pictures of I35, on
the border of Wright and Franklin Counties.
Same location. This is the
Iowa river.
Still moving east.
Attention at last.
I came upon a large
conservation area that was covered with flowers and trees and ponds.
I quickly decided to take a lot of pictures for my female viewers.
The trees were what
interested me. I wanted pictures of the edges.
More flowers for the
ladies.
I wish we were all like
trees. The outside colors of trees do not matter to them. It is the
bark and its texture and hardness that matters.
Further east, I came
across a large grasslands. Into this I dove for hours, usually below
the grasses walking in ditches and talking to crows and squirrels and
raccoons and frogs.
This plant borders the
grass areas, some kind of symbiotic relationship. I did not see it
inside the grasses themselves.
Still on the border and
walking out.
I headed back west towards
Wright County. The idea was, as usual, to take pictures on the way
back -- using the starlight to advantage for moods and effects. This,
and the remainder of the pictures, were taken in Wright County.
I see many deer at this
time of day. They love the soybean fields in the evenings.
This deer was one of three
that scattered when I drove past. This one decided to go north for
some reason, and I followed.
A race ensued, which was
fine by me. I kept taking quick shots of the deer, which kept on a
parallel course to me.
Finally, the deer jumped
over the road in front of me and veered east towards the Iowa river
nearby.
Then, as planned, I
started to use the sunset for effects.
Taken just outside of
Clarion.
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All in all, a
non-spectacular photo session; which is exactly what I wanted. I am
building a Photo Database of Iowa. When Iowa has been turned into a
trash state -- History will know what it once was. Pure and simple.
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Markel Peters
