Here we are in the midst of summer, and it’s hot all around the world, even in North Dakota, where summer is as short as winter is long. This week, Anne challenges us to share our summer activities. She writes, “Depending on where you live, summer may be super hot, hot, mild or even cool. What do you do during your summer daze?” You can read her entire challenge post here.

For my response, I looked through my gallery of over 11,000 North Dakota images for opportunities to take a new look at my summer photos. An AI tool I use often, Copilot, reminded me of a simple Lightroom Classic trick: open the Library Filter’s Metadata panel and add a ‘Month’ column. Once that field is in place, shift‑selecting June, July, and August instantly pulls every summer photo across all years. It gave me a perfect multi‑year pool to start building this week’s response. I highlighted my folder of North Dakota published images, and the trick worked so well that I thought I’d share it here for anyone using Lightroom Classic who hasn’t discovered it yet.

I decided to reprocess my choices from the original RAW files to be consistent with my newest processing style and to increase the previously published resolution. The featured image above was taken in Fargo during a walk through a North Fargo neighborhood, just as a street soccer game was getting underway.

Summer in North Dakota gets people out of their houses and into their cars. It’s road‑trip season, and the North Dakota Badlands remain one of the state’s major summer attractions. Photogenic views abound throughout the park. This scene was captured from the Painted Canyon Rest Area just off Interstate 94 near Medora, North Dakota.

Just a couple of miles from the rest area is the town of Medora and the entrance to the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Medora is full of history and comes alive in the summer, celebrating the life, adventures, and larger‑than‑life spirit of Theodore Roosevelt during the years he spent in the North Dakota Badlands. Medora is over a four-hour road trip from Fargo, but this year, I’ve got a new reason to visit. The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library opened with a celebration on July 4, 2026.

For years, we’ve looked forward to summer and the opening game of the Fargo–Moorhead Red Hawks, a minor‑league team that has won the hearts of baseball fans in both Fargo and nearby Moorhead, Minnesota. This shot was taken from the stands in 2014. I admit I don’t take my camera there much anymore because of the protective safety netting installed a few years ago. There’s no longer a spectator space where an amateur photographer can get a clean image like this one. That doesn’t stop me from going to the games, however—there’s nothing like a burger or hot dog “dinner” while cheering on our favorite team.

Cruise nights and impromptu car shows are a popular summer attraction in North Dakota. Once a month in West Fargo from June through September, an average of 500 classic cars draw about 10,000 people on the third Thursday of the summer months. The last month of the season usually brings the biggest crowd. This image was taken in June 2015, and attendance has only grown since then.

Norwegian and German settlers helped build North Dakota’s population in the 19th century. During the summer months, lederhosen and concertinas still make their way to picnics and folk fests across the state. For years, Norsk Høstfest in Minot was one of the region’s largest celebrations of Scandinavian heritage, though it’s no longer held. Even so, smaller community events continue to honor the traditions brought here by both Norwegian and German settlers.

For 32 years, Jamestown has hosted the Jamestown Kite Festival at Meidinger Park Field. It remains a free, family‑friendly, three‑day summer event organized by Jamestown Parks and Recreation and the Wings on Strings Kite Club, drawing kite flyers from across the U.S. and Canada. On a blustery day in June 2019, we watched kids, amateurs, and exhibition groups like the professional team 180 GO! put on a great show. Flying four-line Revolution-brand kites, they moved in tight formation—hovering, darting, and spinning in unison high above the prairie grass.

As an active private pilot until I hung up my amateur wings, I’ve always enjoyed the summer fly-ins, Wings & Wheels events, and full-on air shows like the Fargo AirSho I photographed in 2024. I am looking forward to August 2027 when the AirSho is next scheduled to demonstrate precision flying skills in the skies over Fargo. During my time in the Civil Air Patrol, I often participated in rescue and flood mitigation exercises held by local squadrons and the North Dakota Wing. Training exercises like those ramp up during the summer months to maintain readiness year-round.

Summer is the growing season in North Dakota. Farmers here raise a remarkably wide range of crops, from staples like wheat, corn, and soybeans to specialty crops such as canola, dry beans, chickpeas, and sugarbeets. As the season progresses, my favorite North Dakota crop is the sunflower—partly for its beauty and partly for the way it brightens entire fields. Last year, more than 556,000 acres (225,000 hectares) were harvested statewide. This final image in my response is an homage to Anne’s challenge and her beautiful sunflower‑field photo. I’ve always thought the Beatles missed an opportunity—the song really should have been “Sunflower Fields Forever.”

That’s all for my response this week. Thanks to Anne for challenging us to share photographs of “those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.” It gave me the perfect excuse to say nice things about summers in North Dakota (as short as they are). Next week it’s Patti’s turn to host the Lens-Artists Challenge. Be sure to follow her here so you don’t miss her challenge when it goes live on Saturday, August 1 at noon Eastern Time.

If you’re sharing a Lens‑Artists Challenge response for the first time, welcome—we’d love to visit your post. To participate, publish your take on this week’s theme, link back to this page, and add the Lens‑Artists tag so others can discover your work. You’ll find more details on how the challenge works here.

John Steiner