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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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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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.

Wet Summer

This year hasn’t been one for the record books as far as rain is concerned, but you couldn’t tell it by how lush the foliage is in the Black Hills this summer. This image was made at Iron Creek in Spearfish Canyon, South Dakota, and is a perfect example of what I’m talking about.

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Summer Ferns

Not usually plentiful in the Black Hills, but this year large groves can be found if you know where to look. This very large growth provides a thick canopy over the forest floor almost like a jungle in itself. Be sure to tread lightly though, as the plant stems are very fragile.

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The Overseer

Shot literally feet from an earlier post in Spearfish Canyon, this composition features the same foliage but the little flower at the top seems to be overseeing the chaos of the surrounding leaves. A challenge in this image was balancing lights and darks to keep the flower from blowing while still maintaining enough light in the shadows so detail in the leaves stood out.

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Lost in a Crowd

One of the most challenging things for me when it comes to capturing close ups of wild plans and flowers is identifying a subject that brings together a subject that brings together various photographic elements that makes the image interesting and pleasing to the eye.

For me the star of the show is the smaller leaf in the center. It has a more vibrant yellow color and is nicely framed by the twig coming in from the right. The larger leaves seem to be milling about randomly while giving the little guy some space.

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