I always think its a neat effect when fresh snow accumulates on uneven surfaces, like it does on these rocks in in Little Spearfish Creek, Spearfish Canyon, South Dakota.
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Darkness Descending
Snow and fog in the hills beyond with clearer conditions below provide a dark and dramatic backdrop to the subject farmstead.
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Orion Through the Clouds
The other evening I went out with the idea of capturing the Orion Nebula rising over Spearfish Canyon near Savoy, SD with a snowy forest as a foreground. Things didn’t work out as planned. For one thing, the wind came up during the day and blew most of the snow off the tree branches and for another, clouds came rolling in. Luckily I was able to get a shot before the stars were completely obscured and while the Orion constellation was still visible. I guess I’ll have to wait for another snowy night to capture the magenta cloud I was expecting to see surrounding the constellation.
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Fresh Snow Before Dawn
I tried to get out to this spot on Iron creek in Spearfish Canyon before twilight to capture a fresh snow that was clinging to the tree branches and canyon walls. It’s kind of a messy image because of all the wind damage this area got a couple of years ago, but I like the cold wintry mood it conveys.
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Cottonwood Art Patterns
I came across a huge cottonwood tree in Nebraska that had died and fallen over. The bark had stripped away revealing interesting patterns in the wood so, using my 100mm macro lens, I composed this closeup image. Maybe not everyone’s cup of tea, but art and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
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Merry Christmas!
A Christmas Card
Love the Chaos
Most of the time I like to simplify my images, but occasionally I’ll embrace the chaos.
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Dripping Moss
We’re not too far from winter here in the Black Hills of South Dakota, so the sun is pretty low in the sky for much of the morning. This makes lighting conditions ideal for capturing back/side lit subjects, such as these mossy pine branches.
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Autumn at Owl Creek
Most of the aspen leaves in the Black Hills of South Dakota have fallen by the time this image was made, but it looks like these trees are just reaching their peek autumn color.
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Sunrise on Owl Creek
I arrived a little too early at this location on Owl Creek at the Belle Fourche Reservoir in South Dakota, and since it was a new location I had trouble finding a decent composition in the near dark. As the morning sun was rising and the dramatic sky quickly washing out, I had to settle on this scene. Not bad, but I would have liked to feature the creek more prominently in the image. That’s why scouting a location before hand is so important.
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Autumn Moods
This image reminds me of the different moods autumn seems to invoke. The vibrant leaves, the brown and rust colored grasses, gray sky and a chill in the air, all signal the end of summer and the approaching cold winter.
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Fallen Leaves
Just because the leaves have fallen doesn’t mean the autumn color is over.
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Anybody See a Comet?
If you look very carefully in the middle left portion of the image, right where the sky meets the top of the canyon, you can just faintly make out the end of it’s tail. I was estimating this particular comet would be in more of a westerly position and a bit higher in the sky for this shooting location, but sadly, not to be. But hey, the moon came up, lit the canyon, and I got a fairly pleasant picture. Sometimes even the failures can be successful (with right attitude of course)
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Autumn Creek
Every year about his time, I try to hike up Devils Bathtub trail in Spearfish Canyon, South Dakota to capture the creek and the autumn leaves. This flat and tranquil section of the stream reflects the vibrant fall colors while providing a subtle peek of what lies just below the water’s surface.
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Bucking Mule Falls
Another image from our trip to the Wyoming Bighorn Mountains, A five mile out and back hike along a very pleasant trail takes you to an overlook that’s definitely worth the trip, the highlight being Bucking Mule Falls. This is a handheld picture I shot while getting as close to the abyss as I dared.
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The Bighorn Basin
Between the small Wyoming towns of Burgess Junction and Lovell on hwy 14, there is a pull out that overlooks the Bighorn Basin on the western side of the Bighorn mountains. It’s a magnificent view and no photograph can do it justice, but this is my humble attempt.
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Hazy Days of Summer
This is what the sun looks like as it rises through smoke from wildfires out west. Is this what they mean by the “hazy days of summer”?
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Surprise Aurora
I returned to the spot I shot my last post, this time looking for a starry night sky to compliment the lake and Bear Butte. Instead, I was surprised by a little aurora action. I’m not complaining.
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Black and White or Color?
The question isn’t, “what’s more appealing, black and white or color”, but what makes each appealing. The answers will be different for each observer.
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Where I Lost My Phone
I went to the place where I shot the image a couple of posts ago looking for a new composition. I found and shot several, but when I got back to my vehicle I discovered I didn’t have my phone. Panicked, I tried retracing my steps to all the places I stopped to photograph but couldn’t find it. Later I came back with my wife hoping we could use her phone to call mine and locate it that way. Nope, no service, so after searching most of the afternoon, we gave up.
That night I went through the images I shot and discovered one place I hadn’t looked so I printed that photo and, with very low expectations, set out the next morning for another search. As you can see by the image, the area was covered with thick ferns so I had to get down on my belly to see under the canopy, and after several minutes of crawling around like this, what do you know, I FOUND IT!!! I guess life can sometimes be fair after all.
