The Palouse is one of my favorite places to photograph. If you are a regular to my blog you know I have many images made there. I love the harvest time which usually takes place in early August. This past year it was very dry and the harvest came very early. The Palouse suffered a very hot summer and thus it was dry and dusty. This image show the harvest and the dry dusty wind.
As I have stated in previous posts, the Palouse offers many surprises. This image was made at a place I have been going to for years. It is known as Shadow Valley Motors and is a collection of old trucks, an old Texaco gas station and more. These are arranged by a fellow that does this as a hobby. Funny thing is he doesn’t have an iPhone, computer or even an email address and he says he never thought the place would be a must see for photographers on tours in the Palouse. I have given him a pile of images I have made at his property over the years. He’s a cool guy and has even more things he’ll be adding. I plan to go back to the Palouse in the spring. This summer’s harvest and my last visit wasn’t the best for pictures. They have been suffering a terribly hot and dry summer which made them have to harvest the wheat a month early.
The Palouse offers up a lot of things. While photographing there last week we came across this barn. As we were shooting the owners of the barn came out and were real interested in what we were doing. They went to great lengths to get this old car out of the barn and place it where we could take a picture of it with the barn as a background. I did this image with my iPhone.
For years I have visited the Palouse in Washington. It is a beautiful area with rolling hills and all sorts of surprises like old trucks in fields and abandoned houses. Every year for the last n6 years I visited this one location and I am amazed that it is still there and has never been vandalized or even removed. There is a small farm along one of the main roads. You can’t miss it as the barn is collapsing in on itself. Off to the side is a small shed and this truck sits in the shed unchanged for 50 plus years. It is like one day someone just left and all the things they were working on were just left as is. This is typical of a number of places you find in the Palouse.
If you have been following me for a while you know I love rust and decay. One thing I really love is peeling paint. I am thinking of doing project where all I shoot and show is peeling paint. The image above was made looking straight up at a ceiling in an abandoned house in the Palouse. I centered the lightbulb and like that with all the abstract of the peeling paint there is the circular object obviously man made. Fun stuff.
Where on earth can you find colors like these. The Palouse is like the color chip rack of a paint store. The is a classic example of the natural beauty in the Palouse during the harvest. Freshly plowed fields next to fields that have just been harvested. And, for a real treat you should see this place in the spring time.
In the Palouse as mentioned in previous posts there are a lot of abandoned trucks and cars, not to mention houses. This shot was made at the Texeco station where the owner collects old trucks. I loves the color, rust and especially the lines of the headlight and truck. So retro, so nice. Shot with a Fuji XT-1.
If there is one thing that is symbolic in the Palouse it is the Red Barn. I had fun shooting this barn as I was looking for something bit more abstract. I thought the red color and single window worked here.
While in the Palouse I have a favorite place I like to visit every time. It is an old Texaco Station that was moved to a location of a mechanic. He also has collected a large number of old trucks. You could spend several hours at this location shooting all there is on the property. This is a long lens shot I mad of the truck cabs.
The Palouse a small corner of Southeast Washington is a beautiful region that attracts photographers in the spring and during middle to late August. It has one of the richest soils in the country and it’s an area that is famous for growing wheat and other similar crops. I have visited the Palouse many times and it always provides me with a ton of new images a sit is a dynamic landscape, always changing. This is one of the more iconic pictures of the Palouse. A hillside, harvester and windmill. Shot with a Fuji XT-1.
