Tag Archives: turbines

Wind Turbines

When I took the flight to DC for work recently, I got to see the countryside to the west of DC in nice light as we descended later in the day.  Shooting the ground form an airliner window is never an ideal thing.  The window quality is not going to be great so having a clean shot is a crapshoot.  The distance also means that things are never as contrasty as they seem to the naked eye and editing often leaves a result which looks a bit harsh.

Low light can help a bit but being lower down is the best way of getting something reasonable.  As we came across the hills running in towards our destination, I saw a lot of wind turbines.  These were in line along ridge tops on the hills to maximize their exposure to the prevailing wind.  The shadows they cast looked neat too.  I tried my best to get some shots with my M6 and some of them came out okay.  Shooting through multiple layers of non-optical quality transparencies is not going to be ideal though.

Gehrke Windmill Garden

Heading out of Grand Coulee took me through a town imaginatively named Electric City.  I had done a little Googling before making the trip and one of the things I saw in the area was the Gehrke Windmill Garden.  I had no idea whether this was worth a look but since I was going to be there, why not stop off.  It was a strange little installation.  Next to a park, it was set in the middle of the parking lot.  Fencing surrounded the garden and within it were a wide array of wind turbines made from anything that the creator could get their hands on.  Water funnel, cups, bicycle wheels – you name it.  They had been roped in to action as a windmill.  All this was right next to the road.  Definitely not something I would make a specific visit for but a novelty to check out while passing by – I didn’t even need to take a side turning to get there!