Dawn at the Ethanol Plant

Ethanol Plant, Predawn
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A few years ago, I attended a lecture by local artist David Allen, who is known for painting urban scenes. He suggested the local ethanol plant was really an interesting place, with its perpetual cloud of steam and numerous lights. I drive by the place frequently and have even made a couple furtive attempts to snap a picture when traffic was light and I could pull off on the shoulder of the highway that goes by the plant.

This morning, I decided to make a concerted effort to get a decent picture of the ethanol plant around dawn. I started taking pictures from across the highway before dawn, as in the picture at the beginning of this post. Then I found a dirt lane paralleling the railroad tracks that go by the plant. Seeing no "Keep Out" sign or gate, I took the lane until I had a clear view of the plant. Fog shrouded the cornfield in front of the plant, and the sun was beginning to illuminate the skies. The tree to the right provides some perspective.

Ethanol Plant, Dawn
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As the sun rose and the fog burned off, the sky became more colorful, and the plant came into sharper focus.

Ethanol Plant, Sunrise
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