Just before dawn, earth and sky wake to another day.
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Swimming Leaves
Its a little sad to see the last of the colorful fall leaves washing down the creeks and streams of the Black Hills, but at least we had a nice run of good weather to be able to get out and enjoy them.
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Rising
I took a drive to the summit of Cement Ridge Lookout Tower in the Black Hills of Wyoming hoping to get a panoramic image of the fall colors in the valley below with the rising sun providing directional light. Well, heavy fog blew up that idea so I started searching for more intimate scenes and caught this small birch tree rising from the dense foliage instead. Since it had already lost its leaves, it stands in stark contrast to the surrounding brush and the fog in the background adds a little mystery.
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I Needed Hip-waders
I hope this image conveys a feeling of a foggy, damp and dreary day, because it certainly was. Shot in Spearfish Canyon, SD in early October, I should have had hip-waders on because by the time I slogged through the wet brush, my jeans were soaked
Color Guard
Autumn colors are on full display in this image made on a cloudy day in the Black Hills of South Dakota. I went with a panoramic composition to capture as much of the brush in the foreground, and aspen trees in the background to provoke the feeling of a very vibrant color guard, making a formidable barrier to what lies beyond.
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Golden Frame
While the weather holds, I’ve been trying to get into Spearfish Canyon as much as possible to capture the autumn colors. I really like the way the golden colored aspens are framing Spearfish creek in this image.
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A $1M View
This image was made for a Real Estate agent I do photography for and it’s the view from the back patio of a home near Hill City, SD. One of the best views of Black Elk Peak you’ll ever find.
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Red Grass
On a day that was forecast to be in the nineties it was sure cool on this particular morning in Spearfish Canyon (about 42F). It was an early September morning when this image was made and the reddish color of the grass tells me Autumn isn’t far off.
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Just as Beautiful at Night
Last week’s post was an image of Roughlock Falls in Spearfish Canyon shot in early morning and converted to black and white. This is an image captured a few days (nights) later as the Milky Way core was moving across the falls and canyon. With a little bit of light painting on the falls and some long exposure photography to bring out the Milky Way, I think it’s just as beautiful.
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Black and White Instead of Green
This image of Rough Lock Falls in Spearfish Canyon was made in August when most of the grass, shrubs and trees are green. It’s pleasant to look at in person but doesn’t photograph particularly well without some directional light (which there wasn’t when I took this shot). Black and white on the other hand plays up the contrast between the shadows and highlights more effectively giving the image a grungy pop.
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Waiting For The Days Business
This table at the Rough Lock Falls picnic area looks pretty lonely but I’m sure in a few hours after this image was made it got plenty of business, especially with the Sturgis Rally going on and this being one of the more popular tourist spots in Spearfish Canyon.
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Milky Way From Another Vantage Point
This is another image of the Milky Way passing over Devils Tower, Wyoming made on the same night as my last blog post, but from a different vantage point.
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Oh What a Night
I can’t remember a more comfortable and quiet evening at Devils Tower, Wyoming. It was in mid July and the temperature was around 70f and not even a hint of a breeze. Absolutely tranquil and beautiful.
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Winter Mountain
I took this panoramic image of Bear Butte in 2021 just before twilight and right after a fresh blanket of snow had fallen. It was a windless and cold evening and the silence was broken only by an occasional truck or car passing in the distance. After shooting about a dozen photos that would eventually make up the pano, it was quite relaxing just to linger until dark.
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Fire in the Rain
The rising sun casts a fiery glow behind a sheet of rain produced by this summer thunderstorm.
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More Iron Creek
Since there’s a lot of water flowing through Iron Creek in Spearfish Canyon, I’m spending a lot of time around these small falls trying to compose as many shots as I can while these watery conditions exist. I only wish there were more wild flowers around to add a little splash of color.
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Water Designs
I’ve seen other photographers capture small waterfalls and the patterns the bubbles make as they circle and swirl about before finally heading downstream. I think there needs to be a bit more water flow in this image to really churn up a lot of bubbles, so I’ll keep going back to Iron and Spearfish Creeks in search of more favorable watery designs.
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The Main Attraction
These very dramatic thunderstorm clouds developed to the north of Spearfish, SD and were really impressive as the storm moved off to the east. The only problem was that I didn’t have an object or landscape of much interest to photograph with them, so I just made the sky the main attraction.
Another Version
This is the same composition of a shot I posted a couple of week ago, but the difference is the foreground is lit by artificial light. The first post was ambient light brought out by a very long exposure. is this one better? I don’t think so, just another version.
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Blood Moon
The total lunar eclipse was visible over Devils Tower, Wyoming on May 15 of this year, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss the chance to photograph it. I used two cameras, one for the tower and foreground and the other to capture the phases of the eclipse. Total shooting time was over four hours. Obviously this image is made up of several photos blended in post production, so it’s considered a composite.
Many photographers consider composites fake and not “real” photography, but I believe that if you’re honest about it with your audience and try to stay as true as possible to the scene as it existed at the time of shooting, then I don’t have any issues. Anyway, let me know what you think. To like or comment, click the title above.
