This is a continuation of 2025 fall photography in Indiana.
Thanks for following, (and, yes, there will be more fall photos),
Ken
Impressions of Fall 2025 – Part 16
Tag: Landscape Photography
Impressions of Fall 2025 – Part 15
More 2025 fall photogrphy in Indiana.
Thanks for following and more fall photos to come,
Ken
Badlands National Park, June 2025 – Part 8 – Rain Everywhere
This is a continuation of rainy day, iPhone photography in Badlands NP, South Dakota in June of 2025.
I made many other iPhone images this rainy day, but these are representative of all the scenes.
I knew I could not return to my favorite camping area, which would be too muddy to get into and out of, so I went to the more popular, and usually crowded, Buffalo Gap Grassland BLM camping area on the north side of the park, thinking it might be more easily ingressed and egressed.
My assessment was partially correct. Going up the slight incline to the camping area along the badlands drop-off was easy, as the roadway was mostly rocky with only a few mud holes. However the roadway, where the campsites are set aside was already rutted by many camper passing through and the road has a slight tilt towards the west and my vehicle was fishtailing as I eased along it in 4 wheel drive. The campsites are just off of the roadway and there was a real danger of vehicles sliding into campers parked along the roadway. Indeed, campers watched carefully, as any vehicle passed by. I always swung as far away from the campers as possible before passing. As soon as I found an empty, flat campsite, I pulled in and breathed a sigh of relief. This site was at the base of a hill and I, too, watched with trepidation as any vehicle came down that hillside.
The next morning, I considered going to other scenic places within a few hours drive from the Badlands, but the wet weather pattern covered a large area of the country. So I decided it best to cut this trip short and head for home.
So far my visits to the Badlands National Park have not worked out in the best way for my photography intent, even though the scenery is fantastic.
That’s it for this photo trip.
Thanks for following,
Ken
Badlands National Park, June 2025 – Part 6 – Disappointment
Just before sunset time, I went to my pre-chosen location for sunset photography in Badlands National Park. It was heavily overcast and the prospects for golden hour light on the geological features in the park did not look promising.
Nevertheless, I made a few images prior to sunset time, hoping to maybe duplicate some compositions at golden hour.
At least the sky was dramatic, but the golden hour light never came.
Until next time,
Ken
Badlands National Park, June 2025 – Part 4 – Dancing Around the Hoodoo
There is a hoodoo in Badlands National Park that is visible from the paved road through the park. Getting close to the hoodoo requires hiking down the steep slope from the roadway and a short hike.
I made numerous iPhone camera shots as I walked around the hoodoo to show how a hoodoo can look considerably different from different points of view.
I think these make my point about “Dancing Around an Object” to photograph it.
Thanks for following and stay tuned for more Badlands scouting photos,
Ken
Badlands National Park, June 2025 – Part 3
At the very end of a visit to Badlands National Park several years ago, I thought I had found a really good place for sunset photography. So during this visit I found that location again and walked around during the day, scouting possible locations to return to at sunset. I used my iPhone camera to test a few compositions and capture a few micro-environmental images.
In ‘Dry Planet’ I wanted to show the similarity between the dry, white clay in the drainage patterns to the white clouds in the sky.
The dry drainage is waiting for more rain from those heavy clouds in the sky.
‘Dry Stream Bed’ features the same drainage as in ‘Anticipation’, from another view point.
The dry mud cracks into segments resembling a picture puzzle.
More scouting photos to come later,
Ken
Badlands National Park, June 2025 – Part 2
After photographing wildflower scenes around my campsite, I left the campsite to travel into Badlands National Park to scout locations for golden hour photography. But first, I drove around a little in the large public land area, where I was camped to get a better feel for the area and scout other possible campsites, in case my prefered location was again taken or the site I occupied on my first night here was taken, when I returned in the evening.
There are numerous road trails through this area, which is popular with off-road vehicle riders, who create their own trails with their dirt bikes, 4 wheelers and other vehicles. I traveled into the area a bit, but did not take time to fully explore the area, after I was satisfied that it would be no problem to easily find numerous suitable places to overnight here.
I parked along one of the trails on my way out, hiked up to the top of one of the many hills in this area and captured this pano:
There is a gravel road that leads from the small town of Interior, SD into Badlands NP, which I take as a short cut into the park, rather than following the highway to a main entrance. There is a sign indicating when one is entering the park on this backroad, but no entry station. The sign does inform that a permit or fee is required to be in the park, so anyone in the park might be asked by a ranger to show proof of fee payment or other permit. I have a Senior Pass, one of the few benefits of old age, so I never worry about having to show proof that I can be in a National Park.
I stopped on this gravel backroad to shoot a few images of the Badland features in the distance that appear to “erupt” out of the flat land in the foreground.
It was a mostly heavily overcast day with periodic light rain. I stopped at a number of the overlooks to snap a few scouting photos with my iPhone. The dramatic clouds in the sky made for interesting photos and I probably should have taken more time to capture better quality images with my Nikon Z8 and wide angle Z14-24mm lens. The Z8 is sealed well, but keeping rain drops off of the big lens glass can be a problem and I wanted to be able to scurry about quickly, so I left the big camera and lens in my vehicle, while I scouted various locations for shooting later in the day.
With the heavy cloud cover, not much direct light fell upon the badlands features, but occasionally a little light broke through the clouds to highlight some of the rocks.
The shape of the mound of dry, cracked, gray earth in the foreground bears a similarity with the shape of the rain clouds in the sky, yet the dryness of that mound of clay contrasts with the wetness of the clouds.
Lush green vegetation in the low areas contrasts with the almost barren rock in the background.
A meandering stream runs through the low area at the base of the badlands features.
More Badlands images later,
Ken
P.S. These images are best viewed on a large screen.
More Relics in Rural America – Part 5
This is a continuation of photography of old, abandoned homes or other structures that I’ve found, while traveling in middle America.
It is unusual for me to come across such finds as this late in the day with the sun low in the sky or with such great clouds in the sky from a clearing rain storm. I had to walk through tall grass to get near enough to shoot this old homestead in Middle America.
This tiny house (or storage building?) is behind the bigger house (first image).
Walking around to the back side of the tiny house, I found this pile of rocks from the collapsed structure, an old cast iron bathtub and other debris.
The title for this image is inspired by the small object I spotted in the upper left corner of the door frame. I know that object might be too small in this image for a viewer to identify, but it is an old Prince Albert tobacco tin. Prince Albert tobacco is still produced and it was very common and popular, when I was a kid growing up. Empty, discarded tins like this were common litter items back then.
There are two abandoned houses at this homestead, the one in the first image and the one in the image above.
Shooting the windmill from another direction, shows the first house and the tiny house in the background.
There are modern electric power generating windmills on the far horizon in this image, indicating the continuity of wind energy in Middle America from the past into the future.
Thanks for following,
Ken
More Relics in Rural America – Part 3
More photos taken in rural America, during an early June 2025 roadtrip.
My first inclination was to call this “Puddle House” for an obvious reason. I had to shoot this old, abandoned house from a fence line near the roadway with a big zoom to get the close up image.
More relics are just down the road,
Ken
Southern Utah March 2025 – White Rocks – Part 9
This is the final installment of photography in the area of Southern Utah known as ‘White Rocks’.
‘Rocky Slope’ give an indication of the environment one must navigate to photograph in this area.
‘Leaving White Rocks 1’ was chosen for Flickr’s Explore page.
And that’s a wrap,
Ken