South Dakota
Patriots Tunnel Vision
As cars drive through the Doane Robinson Tunnel in Custer State Park in South Dakota they get a perfectly framed view of the Mount Rushmore monument.
The scenic roadway through Custer State Park were carefully planned and tunnels dug to frame the monument. Very cool to see.
You can get a better view of the monument in this photo by clicking on the image. When you do, a much larger version will open in a new browser tab.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me ([email protected]) for digital purchase and licensing options.
Timeworn Topography
A rugged Badlands landscape features a prominent rock formation layered with sedimentary rock. I took this shot while driving through the Badlands National Park in South Dakota. (My wife was actually doing the driving.)
When processing this image, I spent a good deal of time experimenting with replacing the sky. The sky you see is the sky that was present at the time of this photo. I think it looks pretty lackluster and wondered if I could get a more dramatic look. Everything I tried just didn’t seem to fit so I left it au natural.
You can view a larger, more detailed version of this image by clicking on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me ([email protected]) for digital purchase and licensing options.
Eight Point Guard
This whitetail buck was standing guard as his mate grazed in the lush grasses of a clearing at Custer State Park in South Dakota.
You don’t have to look very closely to see the flies on this guy. There were many more that were swarming around these deer. In fact, the little dots of light, like bokeh, in this image are out of focus flies.
I happened along this pair while they were busy enjoying an early evening meal. As soon as I approached, the buck turned and faced me for the moment you see here and then, with a snort, turned and both ran off.
You can get a larger view of the deer and count the flies by clicking on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me ([email protected]) for digital purchase and licensing options.
Hiking Cathedral Spires Trail
On our recent trip to Custer State Park, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, we did a lot of hiking. This was one of the trails we enjoyed – Cathedral Spires Trail. The “needles” rock formations were fun to explore.
The Cathedral Spires Trail is located inside an area of Custer State Park known as the Needles. As you might expect, it can be found on Needles Highway. The trail is approximately 1.5 miles one way.
This photo was taken with my fisheye lens. It provides a very wide view but also gives it that curving inward look. My hiking partner and beautiful wife is pictured on the trail ahead of me.
You can get a larger more detailed version of this image by clicking on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me ([email protected]) for digital purchase and licensing options.
Western Salsify
While hiking though the woods in South Dakota we came upon this blooming weed. It is western salsify. It is also known as goat’s beard. It has been described as a dandelion on steroids because it looks similar to a dandelion but the plant can grow to several fee tall and the bloom can span 4-5 inches.
You can view the very cool details of this image by clicking on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me ([email protected]) for digital purchase and licensing options.
Home On the Range
A resident of Custer State Park in South Dakota, this prairie dog is poised at the entrance to his den – ready to jump in if I got any closer.
I was using a 300mm lens, so I wasn’t that close to begin with (maybe 30ft), but they are pretty skittish creatures. The prairie dog dens dot the landscape at the park. It’s fun to visit a prairie dog village and hear the chatter and warning signals they create.
You can get a better, larger view of this critter by clicking on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me ([email protected]) for digital purchase and licensing options.
Spearfish Falls
This is a vertical panorama of Spearfish Falls; a popular attraction of Spearfish Canyon in the Black Hills area of South Dakota. Spearfish Canyon was one of my favorite areas. Highway US-14A winds through an incredibly beautiful, deep and narrow gorge with a small but active river running alongside the road. This is also where we saw mountain goats along the roadway and on the hills.
This is a panoramic image (3 individual photos joined together) because the observation spot is so close to the falls, I couldn’t fit the whole thing in the frame using the lens I had with me. We were close enough to feel the mist/spray from the falls.
This photo was taken on a cool, dreary day and, in fact, it started to rain on us; which hastened our departure. To get to the falls there is a nice half-mile trail. This photo was taken in mid-September so the flow is considerably less than you would experience in the spring.
You can get a better, more detailed view (if you have a large monitor) by clicking on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me ([email protected]) for digital purchase and licensing options.
A Herd Mentality
Note: Don’t try to comprehend this photo by the view on this page. Click the photo and see it span your entire screen.
The original image is a very large, panoramic photo (more than 18,000 pixels wide). I features the Bison herd at Custer State Park in the Black Hills area of South Dakota. There hundreds of American Buffalo in this image – on the plain and on the hills in the background.
If you could really zoom in, you would also see about eight prairie dogs and four magpies in the photo, as well. But they are really small and you have to zoom in a lot. (I’m not sure you can really see them on this compressed version of the original.)
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me ([email protected]) for digital purchase and licensing options.
A Begging Burro
This is one of the friendly “begging burros” of Custer State Park in the Black Hills area of South Dakota.
These burros have been peaceful residents of Custer State Park for nearly a century. They were first used as pack animals to get visitors from Sylvan Lake Lodge up the steep path to the summit of Black Elk Peak, the highest point in the U.S. east of the Rockies. When those tourist trips ended, the working burros were released to the wild and the small herd have been a favorite of Custer State Park visitors ever since.
On our trip to Custer, these were my wife’s favorite and we had to stop and feed and pet the burros. She got to know them pretty well. The one pictured here is a female and the mother of a young colt. She also seemed to be the ring leader and could be pretty pushy and rude to the others when tourists would offer apples and carrots and such.
You can get a better, more detailed view of this friendly face by clicking on the photo. When you do, a larger version will open in a new browser tab.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me ([email protected]) for digital purchase and licensing options.
Buffalo Grass
American bison roam the prairie in Custer State Park. In this shot I was focused on the prairie grasses. This is one of those images that I would usually pass by but, for some reason, it struck a chord with me.
Custer State Park is in Custer County, in the Black Hills area of South Dakota. The park has a managed heard of about 1,500 bison. On any given day you will see many of them as you drive the roads of the park. In fact, sometimes they are on the road.
If you’re into grass, you can click on the photo and view a larger, more detailed version.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me ([email protected]) for digital purchase and licensing options.