Moonscape

I’m starting to get into the habit of photographing this scene in various weather conditions and times of the day (and night). A 30% waxing gibbous moon almost makes it seem like daytime and only the stars let you know that it’s long past sunset. Besides the moon, the other bright object just above the horizon is Jupiter setting in the west. The reddish color cast in the pine trees is the result of using my hydrogen alpha modified Cannon 5D III. This is a six shot vertical panorama at 24mm focal length.

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Sunset in Spearfish Canyon

Looking south in Spearfish Canyon in the South Dakota Black Hills, the low clouds and cliff faces catch the last light of the setting sun on a cold winter evening.

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Looking for a Perfect Sunset

I’ve been to this spot on Little Spearfish Creek many times looking for a dramatic sunset, but haven’t come away with the photo I’m imagining. On this evening I was ready to pack it in when a flock of geese landed not far away (look closely in the center right of the frame) and I thought it would make a cool shot if they would just swim a little closer. It wasn’t to be as it started getting dark and the geese were staying put, but I did get this image at almost twilight that I’m reasonably happy with.

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Another Owl Creek Image

Here is another image I shot at Owl Creek on the same cold, grey day as my last post. I got as close to the creek as I could without getting wet in order to capture the ice floating down stream and the reflections of the mid-ground trees.

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Uncooperative Sky

I was at this location on Owl Creek last December and captured a sunrise image I was fairly happy with. I returned a few day ago after our latest snow storm hoping to get another colorful sunrise, but the sky didn’t clear as it was supposed to so all I got was flat gray clouds, ergo the black and white processing.

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Spring Creek Reflections

Another image from my little hike along Spring Creek in the Black Hills. I was particularly amazed at the clarity of the reflection in the flowing waters of the stream. I don’t think it would have been any better if a giant mirror had been placed there.

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Spring Creek Pillars

I took a short hike along spring creek near Rapid City, South Dakota on a warm winter day and found these old pillars in the middle of the stream. They make an interesting subject, but I wonder what their purpose once was.

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It Never Freezes

This image was made at a spot on Little Spearfish Creek about 3/4 of the way down stream from Rough Lock Falls in Spearfish Canyon. The temperature was well below 0 deg/f and had been for several days but, except for some paper thin ice at the edges, the water never freezes. Its always baffled me because further down stream and at lower elevations the creek freezes solid. Comment by clicking on the title above if you know the answer.

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Does This Image Say Cold?

I hope so, because is sure was. -17 deg F to be exact, but it was an image I had imagined ever since I shot this same image last fall and hope to get another one this summer.

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Rocks, Ice and Snow

On a cold January morning the sun just manages to peek between the clouds and the horizon bathing Bear Butte mountain and the low clouds in orange light. Ice and snow around the foreground rocks tell a cold story of winter’s arrival.

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Natural Pattern

At first glance it might be tough to figure out whats going on in this image. If you haven’t guessed, its my neighbor’s bottom deck after a heavy snow we had last week. The pattern was created by the fresh snow falling down between the deck boards and joists. I thought it looked kind of cool.

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Slippery Photography

It was really slippery getting to this shooting spot on Bear Butte Lake and like a dummy I left my crampons in the truck. I managed to stay on my feet (and knees) and captured a snow covered lake and Bear Butte Mountain a day after out first winter storm.

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Snowless Solstice

Shot at dawn on the new winter solstice, the one thing conspicuously absent in this image is snow. Kind of unusual for us, but it is cold enough to freeze this river solid.

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Alone

One small sprig stands alone in the frozen waters of Iron Creek as another cold winter descends in the Black Hills.

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Warm Morning Hike

This image was made on perhaps the last warm, snow-less morning in Spearfish Canyon, especially since we’re into December.

Birch Blizzard

This thick birch grove is really chaotic and it made hard to come up with a pleasing composition. In the end, I found a shooting spot on the edge of the grove, shot through the many branches and twigs with a small aperture and changed the image to black and white. Sort of looks like a snowy storm.

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Black Hills Bayou

We may not have the marsh or swamp, but we do have the moss covered trees.

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South Dakota Rain Forest

By the looks of this image, you’d think it was shot in the pacific northwest instead of semi-arid South Dakota.

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Afternooner

A couple of years ago we were at the arts festival in Custer State Park, SD and decided to go for a little hike after lunch. The light was pretty harsh but the calm winds made for some really nice reflections in this small pond. I guess there are some nice images to he had even in the afternoon sun.

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Aspen Twigs

What I like about this image are the random tangle of twigs that seem to frame the patchy splashes of color in these aspens.

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