Merry Christmas!

The Badlands

This past weekend I went hiking with a friend in the Badlands. It was the warmest day in weeks, a balmy 50 degrees! The clouds kept playing with us. It was bright blue one minute and then gray and brown tones the next. The colors of the Badlands are more vibrant in the spring and after it rains, but we still enjoyed with beauty of these incredible landforms. 

We started on the east end of Castle Trail, meandered off the trail a while and then continued on it. We then took the Medicine Root/Castle Trail loop with a lunch stop at Saddle Pass, totaling 6.6 miles. 

Taken from a peak near Saddle Pass.

My friend noticed this herd of big horn sheep. We crept closer and closer to them, watching them scurry over humanly impassable rocks (at least rocks I probably wouldn't have the nerve to try and climb).

 We also encountered several herds of deer.

 

October Sky

Sylvan Lake

Since the very first time I visited Sylvan Lake (Custer State Park, South Dakota) I have always loved it. Though a man-made lake it still captures the absolute beauty of the Black Hills.

Fall Leaves {A Little Abstract Fine Art}

I've wanted to try this for a long time and have been waiting for the leaves to change. I went to the trees surrounding my house and all these photos are as I took them.

To get this painted look I simply moved my camera to the right as soon as I hit the shutter, keeping the camera in motion until it closed. Similar to a panning effect.

As I pressed the shutter on this photo, I moved the camera around in a circular motion.

These last two photos were taken with my camera lens at 24mm and then zooming into 200mm as soon as I hit the shutter. It took a few tries to get the look I wanted and am loving the results!

Devils Tower {Take 2}

I got up before sunrise and drove to this location to shoot the Tower as the first rays of the day found it's face.

How I would have loved to have been on the plane to get a different perspective, but am satisfied with my ground level view for now.

Back in the day I shot this photo...just kidding. I love the aged appearance of sepia. I thought this was a perfect image to add that dated look with the long horn steers and buffalo in the foreground.

Instead of black and white, I added a look of infrared film to this one.

Before the entrance of the park is this lovely red rock.

I hiked the Red Beds Trail around Devils Tower. An absolutely beautiful hike! It's filled with diverse terrain. This is the view from the south side. I really enjoyed being able to look out so far to the valley below.

This little lady visited with me for about five minutes. We didn't say much, just enjoyed the morning. 

I felt like I'd stepped into a completely different world on this east part of the trail. Absolutely stunning! 

Beautiful butte, beautiful morning! I look forward to revisiting and taking my children on this hike.

Devils Tower {Take 1}

I recently had the chance to visit Devils Tower and do some hiking. I've never visited this incredible butte before. I found it to be absolutely breathtaking!

When I headed back to my hotel I passed this little building. It was very dark out but with my steady tripod and a long shutter speed I was able to capture this:

B&W Sky {view from my window}

Those who know me have heard me talk about the majestic view from my living room window. 

Here it is on two occasions: a peaceful evening, and a storm rolling in. 

The colors in the original photo are beautiful but I wanted to see how the mood, tone and texture changed in B&W. I think I could just take each one in all day. :)

South Dakota Summer Night Sky

My first experiment with shooting the night sky. It's a bit addicting. I just may have to go out again tonight and try somethings different. :)

Flax Season {Take 2}

A few weeks ago the kids and I ventured out to another blooming flax field. In the previous post I zeroed in more to see the lovely blooms. In contrast, this post features the entire field being shot from a distance to show the vast beauty of billions of blue flowers lifting their heads together.

This is truly one of my new found favorite discoveries about South Dakota.

Flax Season

 Several of our local farms have been planting flax the past few years, much to many residents delight. A flax field in full bloom is purely a joy to behold. 

 Each morning about two hours after sunrise a new blossom blooms and then falls later in the day. The plants continue this for about a week and then the seeds start to form. 

In the moonlight? 

No, flax need the sunshine in order to open and they've dropped the blossom long before the moon comes out. I was playing around with my editing software but this could pass for moonlight if one didn't understand how the plants function.