Badlands National Park, South Dakota, Part 7A – Day 4

It was another heavily overcast morning in Badlands National Park with sporadic light rain.

Traffic Stop, Badlands NP, September 18, 2022, PM, iPhone Photo through the windshield

These female Bighorns and lambs were in no hurry and did not care that they were holding me up in my quest for early morning photos.

Bighorn, Badlands NP, September 18, 2022, PM, iPhone Photo

Shooting under the heavy overcast, most of my images were dark.  I brightened them, but did not want to overdo that and ruin the reality.  These images look better on a large screen with proper brightness for viewing images, but may look very dark in this blog post, especially if viewed on a small screen.  Some of these images have embedded links to the images on Flickr, where these usually look much better than in this blog.

Sunrise Mute
Orange Horizon
Layered Morning
Sky Soft
Ravine Maze
Rain Horizon
Distant Storm
Storm Horizon
Clearing Badlands Storm
Badlands Sky
Morning Spotlights
Morning Spotlights 2

I shot all of these image at a number of different viewpoints along SD240, the main road through the park.  I met a young lady from Michigan, who was also shooting images.  We seemed to be stopping at the same places for awhile.  She observed that the color in the badlands rocks were more saturated when wet.  I told her that she had discovered the reason geologists like to view wet rocks, rather than dry ones.

To be continued,

Ken

Badlands National Park, South Dakota, Part 6

I returned to the Yellow Mounds area of Badlands National Park for sunset golden hour photography on my third full day in this area.

Yellow Mounds, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

I had to watch closely to keep my shadow out of a number of my late day images.  Looking closely, one can see the shadow of that foreground Rabbit Bush on the far side of the ravine.

Yellow Mounds 2, Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Yellow Mounds 3, Badlands Np, South Dakota
Yellow Mounds 4, Badlands NP
Badlands and Grasslands, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

That’s it for this shoot,

Ken

 

Badlands National Park, South Dakota, Part 5 – Scouting

Due to unfavorable weather conditions, I did not get out early for morning photos on the third full day in the Badlands NP area.  Instead, I drove through more of the park in the morning hours, scouting more potential shooting locations.

Badlands NP, September 17, 2022, AM, iPhone Photo 1
Badlands NP, September 17, 2022, AM, iPhone Photo 2
Badlands NP, September 17, 2022, AM, iPhone Photo 3
Badlands NP, September 17, 2022, AM, iPhone Photo 4
Badlands NP, September 17, 2022, AM, iPhone Photo 5
Badlands NP, September 17, 2022, AM, iPhone Photo 6
Badlands NP, September 17, 2022, AM, iPhone Photo 7
Cloud Tracks, Badlands NP, September 17, 2022, PM, iPhone Photo

I checked out many locations along SD Route 240 this morning, shooting many iPhone photos, most of which were uninspiring.  The few posted here are the ones I found most interesting and showing potential for golden hour photography.

As I backtracked out of the park, I spotted a couple of Bighorn sheep high up on a ridge.  I stopped, put my big zoom lens on my camera and shot a few images.

Bighorns, Badlands NP
Bighorn blending into the background, Badlands NP

Until today’s sunset shoot,

Ken

Badlands National Park, South Dakota, Part 3A, Scouting Photos

After my early morning sunrise session, I scouted other areas along SD Route 240 for potential sunset today and/or sunrise locations tomorrow morning.  As typical, I used my iPhone for the scouting photos, so that I could move around more easily, unhindered by heavy camera gear.

Badlands NP, September 16, 2022, PM, iPhone Photo 1

My first scouting stop was a viewing area designated as “Yellow Mounds Overlook”, where I climbed a steep slope to check out the views from a higher elevation, after scanning the area from the parking lot.

Badlands NP, September 16, 2022, PM, iPhone Photo 2
Badlands NP, September 16, 2022, PM, iPhone Photo 3
Badlands NP, September 16, 2022, PM, iPhone Photo 4

I continued along SD 240, stopping to check out the views from other pullouts.

Badlands NP, September 16, 2022, PM, iPhone Photo 5
Badlands NP, September 16, 2022, PM, iPhone Photo 6
Badlands NP, September 16, 2022, PM, iPhone Photo 7

At each location, I made a number of images, testing compositional variations.  This post contains a few selected images from a few of those stops.

Badlands NP, September 16, 2022, PM, iPhone Photo 8
Badlands NP, September 16, 2022, PM, iPhone Photo 9

Until next time,

Ken

Badlands National Park, South Dakota, Part 3

Continued from Part 2, Day one AM

I continued driving SD Route 240 through Badlands National Park looking for other photography opportunities.

Yes, my collar is the latest fashion here.

Near one pullout there was a small herd of Bighorn sheep posing for the park visitors that had begun to filter into the park.  It might not be appropriate to refer to these Bighorn as “wildlife”, since they do not pay much attention at all to the visitors, do not appear aggressive (at least, these ewe and lambs) and can be approached fairly closely.  Yet, I put on my big zoom, just to be able to shoot from a distance without getting so close as to possible startle or cause them to move away.

Basking in Sun and Nature’s Garden
Undercover Operator
Can you hear me now?
Bighorn Lamb
Shutting out the tourist hoard
No, I’m not getting up to pose.

Today’s journey through Badlands National Park will continue,

Ken

Badlands National Park, South Dakota, Part 2

I had decided to shoot at one of the overlooks in Badlands National Park my first morning here, but when I arrive at that destination, I did not like the view and proceeded down the roadway to another pullout.  That pullout was intended as an overview of an area to the north, but I climbed a grassy slope on the opposite side of the roadway, anticipating better sunrise lighting on the features on that side of the roadway.  That is, if there was a sunrise this heavily overcast morning, after a storm came through during the night.

Sky Notch
Overcast Ridge
Dark Morning
Into the Badlands

Looks like no golden hour this morning, but the clouds are dramatic.

Into the Badlands 2

With the sun just barely peeking through the heavily overcast horizon, I decided to move on down that roadway and look for other photographic opportunities.

Clearing Storm Clouds over Badlands
Hitchhiker
Pastel Morning
Morning Spotlight
Morning Color
Badland Morning
Badlands Meander
Mirrored

To be continued,

Ken

 

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 25 – Bentonite Hills

Continued from Part 24:

After sundown, I continued to shoot in the dimmer light, going back to some of the earlier locations to capture the scenes in muted light.

Bentonite Hills 9
Bentonite Hills 10
Bentonite Hills 11
Bentonite Hills 12
Bentonite Hills 13
Bentonite Hills 14
Face Off

Staring at this old tree I see what appears to be a fierce guardian of the hills, rising up from the desert sand, spreading its tentacles and roaring from its upper, dark center.  (Viewing on a large screen can help viewers see what I see, or else maybe I’m off my tree).

Contortionist
Twisted
Bentonite Hills 15
Rest Time

This concludes the Capitol reef portion of this trip.  I’ve just got a few other miscellaneous items and experiences from this trip to share.

Ken

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 24 – Bentonite Hills

Bentonite Hills 1, Desert, Bentonite Hills and Old Tree

On the final day of our time in Capitol Reef National Park, we photographed around some of the many bentonite hills in the northern portion of the park and/or along the roadway into Cathedral Valley.  The area where we photographed may actually be outside the park boundary on BLM or private land.  We had driven past these hills numerous times during out trips into and out of Cathedral Valley.

Bentonite Hills 2, Desert, Bentonite Hills and Old Tree

There were a number of old, gnarly trees in this area, so I used those and other desert vegetation as foreground for photographs of the colorful hills.

Bentonite Hills 3, Desert, Bentonite Hills and Old Tree
Bentonite Hills 4, Desert and Bentonite Hills
Scrubby Desert Vegetation, Rocks and Bentonite Hills
Hard Rock Desert and Bentonite Hills, Early Golden Hour
Bentonite Hills 5, Bentonite Hills Golden Hour
Bentonite Hills 6, Bentonite Hills Golden Hour
Bentonite Hills 7, Bentonite Hills Golden Hour
Bentonite Hills 8, Bentonite Hills Golden Hour

To be continued,

Ken

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 22 – Cathedral Valley Exploration

Layers of Mystery, iPhone Photo

My readers have already seen many photos of some of the fantastic, massive geological features in the Cathedral Valley portion of Capitol Reef National Park.  The long loop road through this area passes many such features.  We did not have time to explore around all of these and certainly not time to visit each area for golden hour sunrise or sunset photography.

But we did stop and walk around at some of the more easily accessible areas near the roadway.  Often, I would use my iPhone camera to capture the scenes, rather than lugging around a heavy DSLR and lens.

Magic Seeker, iPhone Photo
Desert Vortex – Sky and Earth, iPhone Photo
Rock Power, iPhone Photo
Commander/Tower of Power, iPhone Photo
Desert Sentinels/Commander and Sidekick, iPhone Photo
Cathedral Valley Scene, iPhone Photo
Sky Partitioner, iPhone Photo
Desert Sun, iPhone Photo
Serpent Sky, iPhone Photo
Halo, iPhone Photo

Until next time,

Ken

 

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 21 – Tree Creature

Tree Creature

As I was shooting the triple arch of the previous post, I noted an old tree on the sandy ridge below the arch.  Readers will already know that I have a fondness for  gnarly old trees.

This one reminded me of a weird looking creature crawling along the ground.  After taking the photo above, I noted some interesting features of the tree that reinforced my impression that this looked like an unusual creature.

Tree Creature Eyes

This feature looks like eyes of a mysterious creature.

Tree Creature Eyes – Black and White Version
Tree Creature Face

Eyes, nose and mouth of a tree creature.

Tree Creature Face, Black and White Version

Ken