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.