Milky Way Over Spearfish Creek

This year I really wanted to capture the milky way rising above Spearfish Creek, but the problem was finding a spot in the canyon that provided a reasonably good opening to the southern sky. After stopping at all the car pull-offs that looked promising, I found this location and returned when the milky way core was visible over the canyon walls and surrounding forest. With no wind the conditions were perfect for long exposures of the sky, ground and creek.

Click the title above to like and comment.

Fog and Rain

We had pretty good rain in the Black Hills recently and this always seems to produce a mist of fog that moves rather rapidly through the peaks and valleys which, as any landscape photographer knows, provides some dramatic effects and contrast. These pine trees stood alone atop a rocky knoll and the fog in background provided some very good color contrast. The only challenge was waiting for the right moment to release the shutter because the fog was drifting in and out and varying in intensity. I wanted to be able to make out the trees in the background, but one second there was no fog at all and the next everything was completely obscured from view. (The fact that it was raining off and on didn’t help either).

To like or comment, click the title above.

Dirty Snow

My mother always told me never to eat snow and now I know why. From my back deck the snow looks white and pristine, but up close, not so much. This macro image shows what lurks just out of eyesight. I think it makes a good abstract image, but not very appetizing.

Spring Snow on Spearfish Mountain

I found a new vantage point for photographing Spearfish Mountain near Spearfish, SD and tried to make a panorama, unfortunately I got a little rushed because of bad weather moving in and I didn’t overlay the photos enough for the software to stitch. This was the best framed shot out of the series, so I converted to B&W and called it good. I’m looking forward to returning to this spot in the future and hopefully not make any more rookie mistakes.