The towering granite presidential faces of Mount Rushmore are an imposing presence. Surrounded by trees, the mountain captures the serenity and grandeur of the landscape. The ruggedness of the stone, enhances the monument’s timeless appeal.

This photo is from our second trip to South Dakota and Mount Rushmore.  Surprisingly, on the first trip, I took a number of photos of the monument but only posted two – one of the faces lit up at night and one of monument as viewed through the Doane Robinson Tunnel in Custer State Park.

On this evening, there was quite a but of haze in the air and in my effort to clean up and sharpen the image it made the rough texture and various cracks and veins running through the granite more pronounced.  It’s almost distracting, but I kinda like it. Full disclosure: The sky was actually a bland, solid gray.  I thought these guys deserved a better background so I digitally replaced the sky with a soft sunset.

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