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:

Earth – Sky 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.

Eruption

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.

Big Storm over Badlands
Distant Spotlight

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.

Rugged Earth and Tempestuous Sky
Symmetrical Contrast

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.

Lushness and Barrenness

Lush green vegetation in the low areas contrasts with the almost barren rock in the background.

Meander

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.

 

 

Windmills and Storm

On my way home from my March road trip, a fierce storm was blowing in from the west.  In the wide open space of the high plains, the distant storm front was visible for much of my journey.  The storm front itself was interesting, but when I came upon an area with windmills, I had to stop to capture a few images.

Windmills and Storm

This wide angle view captures the old ranch windmill and structure along with the modern, electric generating windmills in the distance and the massive storm clouds with rain in the distance.

I zoomed in to get more detail of the old windmill and its contrast with the modern windmills.

Windmills and Storm

Zooming in has the disadvantage of removing some of the storm clouds.

On the opposite side of the roadway there were more windmills much closer to the road.

Prairie Windmills and Storm

As I continued my journey to my overnight stop in Amarillo, Texas, the wind became more fierce, buffeting my vehicle all the way.  The wind whipped up much dust north of Amarillo.  The storm continued through out the night and I awoke to a dusting of snow and a light blowing snow, which continued for a short distance on the final day of my homeward bound journey.

I arrive home safely in the afternoon and now I have to look forward to another, as yet unplanned journey.

Until then,

Ken

 

 

Alabama Hills Scouting Photos Part 8

This is the final part of exploring Alabama Hills, California and capturing scouting photos with a phone camera.

Rocks Against the Sky

The rock on the right reminds me of a turtle stretching its neck out to bask in sunlight.

Mountain Storm
Forlorn
Rock Walker
Sky Pointers
Desert Wildflowers
Sky Pointers 2

Sky Pointers 2 is a view from behind Sky Pointers.

Sky Awe

The rock on the left seems especially in awe of the sky.

Sky Awe 2
Sierra Nevada Storm
Agape

I promise to move on to photos from other areas in upcoming posts,

Ken

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 25 – Another Sunset Shoot

This is a continuation of a late day shoot in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, March 2023.

Storm Light 13
Storm Shooter

My oldest son (on top of the peak in the lower right) shot the storm from other higher elevation vantage points and complained that I did not come up to join him.  I have not seen his photos, so I don’t know how to compare his to mine, but he is of the opinion that he had better views than I did.  I was busy shooting what I saw from my location and I thought I might miss out on the scene by taking time to move elsewhere and at least I know that we did not get identical shots.

Storm Shooter 2
When Gold Turns to Pink
Mystical Desert
Sunset Clouds and Distant Storm
Over The Hill Storm
Over The Hill Storm 2
Desert Eve
Storm Light 14
Storm Light 15
Storm Light 16

This wraps up today’s sunset shoot.  Next up, sunrise in the desert near the campground in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

Until then,

Ken.

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 24 – Another Sunset Shoot

This is a continuation of a March 2023 sunset shoot in Valley of Fire, Nevada.

Seeking Shelter
Skyline
Calm before the Storm
Light before the Dark
Skylight
Storm Light

I made many images with the late day light changing as the sun sank into the western horizon with clouds moving overhead and a distant storm on the easterly horizon.  I’m presenting a few selected images in this post.

Storm Light 6
Storm Light 7
Storm Light 10
Optical Filters
Storm Light 11

To be continued,

Ken

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 23 – Another Sunset Shoot

Hourglass

It seems suitable, at this time of the day, that the clouds in the sky and the geology in Valley of Fire, Nevada came together to create an hourglass shape, if one has the imagination to see it.

Light before the Storm

Another late day storm was brewing over the desert, which resulted in dramatic sky for background.

The Light and the Storm

I composed this image to have the rocks along the diagonal pointing towards the distant storm.

Then I thought maybe I had too much in this image, so I moved in close to the end portion of the foreground rock, keeping a portion of the little bush at the edge of the rock.

The Light and the Storm 2

This emphasized the foreground rock, but reduced the background and the stormy, cloudy sky, which I think is not an improvement.  The wider angle view is better, I think.

The Light and the Storm 3

I like the way the rock texture looks, even on its own, but with the late day light and a stormy sky background it seems to really pop.

The Light and the Storm 4

In this image I like the foreground shadows that contrast with the late day light on the middle ground and the background sky and the rugged geology.

Skyway – Walk this way to reach the clouds.
Symmetric Reflection – Earth and Sky Symmetry

Maybe the correct word is “symmetrical”, but the image is not exactly symmetrical, so I will stick with the “Symmetric” label.

Storm Reveal

I used the many linear features in the rock as leading lines in this photo, which is a cropped version of the original.  The original included much more of the foreground, as I like those linear features, but upon reviewing, I thought maybe I over did it with the foreground.

Rain Wish

To be continued with much more of that late day desert storm,

 

Ken

 

 

 

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 12 – Sunset Shoot

Desert Gold
Jug Handle Arches
Arch View
Relentless Evolution 1

There was a late day storm on the eastern horizon during this cloudy, sunset shoot.  Such desert storms contribute to the slow, but certain evolution of the rock features found here.  These are a few of those images.

Relentless Evolution 2

I made many images, capturing the changes in the sky as the storm and the late day lighting progressed.

Relentless Evolution 3
Relentless Evolution 4
Relentless Evolution 5
Relentless Evolution 6
Relentless Evolution 7
Evolution Layers

I hope the similarity of these images is not boring to the reader.  It was fascinating to see how the sky changed with the storm’s advanced across the landscape and the subtle changes in the light on the landscape.

Until next time,

Ken

Badlands National Park, South Dakota, Part 4

After my morning excursion into Badlands National Park, I returned to the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands Campground Area, picked another campsite, had lunch and waited until it was time to go out again for sunset photography.

Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, September 16, 2022, PM, iPhone Photo 1
Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, September 16, 2022, PM, iPhone Photo 2

As the afternoon progressed, like yesterday, storm clouds began gathering.

Visitors, Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, South Dakota
Praire Storm
Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, Campsite 2

Rain soon began to fall with gusty winds.  It was apparent that the storm was too fierce for me to venture back out for a late day shoot.  Now I have to look forward to another morning shoot.

Until then,

Ken

 

Grand Canyon, North Rim, July 2021, Part 8

Storm Over The Canyon

At the outward end of our hike, we scrambled onto boulders for good views of the canyon and the distant storm.

Boulders, Canyon and Storm Clouds

The best view into the canyon was in one direction, so I shot in that direction, towards the distant storm, varying the foreground and the horizontal and vertical angles, experimenting with compositional variations with the same general view of the canyon.

Canyon and Storm

I used the portion of the canyon immediately below the view point as a leading line towards the main canyon and the storm in the distance.

Canyon, Canyon Rim and Storm
Canyon and Storm
Approaching Storm
Boulders, Canyon and Storm
Stormy Outlook
Dark Canyon
Distant Storm
Storm’s A Coming

Unlike those that are naturally artistic, I often do not immediately see “the composition” that I want.  I enjoy trying different compositions and I’m often surprised at how I perceive the results, after having time to review and edit the photos.   Often, the images I like the best are not the ones that others favor, which may be an indication of my natural bent towards seeing things in a more scientifically curious way,  rather than in an artistic manner.

As always, readers comments and opinions are welcome,

Ken

Grand Canyon, North Rim, July 2021, Part 6

Storm Clouds and Canyon 1

We did not get to see golden hour sunset light on this shoot, but the distant storm and the heavy clouds approaching were good photographic subjects.

Storm Clouds and Canyon 2

At the risk of being monotonous, I will post a number of images with the main emphasis upon the storm clouds over the Grand Canyon.

Storm Clouds and Canyon 3
Storm Clouds and Canyon 4
Storm Clouds and Canyon 5

Images 3 and 4 are my favorites of this series, impressive clouds over a magnificent canyon.  There were occasional lightening bolts in the distant storm, but I was not fortunate enough to capture any of the sporadic lightening in my shots.

Until next time,

Ken