Dakota Sun Journal

Reaching for the Last of the Light

2011-12-31T20:49:00.000-08:00

New wallpaper

2011-12-20T20:55:00.000-08:00

I've got this as my desktop right now, mostly because it's got some holidays colors to it.

Looking back at 2011

2011-11-17T20:03:00.000-08:00

I've been going back at looking at my photos from this year - I guess it's that time of year. Overall I didn't get a lot of photo opps this year. Too busy with the Shootout, flooding in some favorite locations including some favorite fall spots made things difficult.
But I did get a trip into the Southwest. My new favorite spot out of that was White Sands National Monument. I spent a day and a half there and would go back if it wasn't in a remote place. I have a few more from there to come.

Fall abstract

2011-11-07T20:53:00.000-08:00

Finally, some shooting time

2011-10-05T19:50:00.001-07:00

It's been a pretty busy summer and not much good for shooting. I did get a few of the good old river sunset shots like above, always good a good spot for some reflection.
I'm hoping that I get a little fall shooting in soon, after the Roundup, the Shootout, the Hunt, the Vikings games and more hunting.....sometime.

Lots of water

2011-09-03T19:53:00.000-07:00

There's still a lot of water around Pierre, but at least there's more access to the river now that it's going down. This was taken at Little Bend Rec Area, just before the moonrise in the shot below.

Full Moon over the Missouri

2011-08-21T16:35:00.000-07:00

I don't believe it's too often that you get a full moon right at dusk, but I caught this one last week. I was coming up right behind me and luckily I was at Little Bend Rec Area, so I had angles of the river all around me.

Lensbaby tests

2011-07-24T14:51:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough to win a discount on a Lensbaby at a photo workshop I attended. After debating what to get, I finally got a Composer Pro with the new sweet 35 optic. I got out and tested it out this weekend. It's certainly interesting to work with and follows along with some of my abstract work. It does take practice and somefore thought on what your subject will be.

When it works, the result are pretty interesting. Figuring out where to put the sweet spot is the key and I've got to find some more subject material. I don't know whether I'll keep it or not yet, but it certainly is interesting and satisfies my Lensbaby itch.

Waiting for light

2011-07-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

I went out to a favorite spot above the dam last week, but there was a light rain, so I sat back and waited. It was good just to sit under the shelter and think and take in the smell and sound of the gentle rain, it's always peaceful up there.
The rained moved on after a long while and the sunset passed. But the soft dusk light settled in over the river and the clouds moved in and mimicked the shapes of the bluffs. The best light is always worth the wait.

The Bath Fireworks

2011-07-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

I got a few good photos at the Bath fireworks this year. This is my favorite of the bunch. It's a 10 second exposure and I think a 640 ISO.

Another view on Monument Valley

2011-06-26T12:29:00.000-07:00

Round Rock

2011-06-12T20:17:00.000-07:00

As best as I can find, this is called Round Rock. It's just north of Chinle, Arizona. I had been following clouds all day and looking for scenery to go with them, when this appeared. It worked well, even though this is in the late morning sun.

Monument Valley

2011-05-14T22:42:00.000-07:00

This has been my favorite photo of the trip so far. I just like the way all the elements come together. I'll post more on it after I tweak it a bit.

White Sands Sunset

2011-05-04T20:33:00.000-07:00

I almost left Alamogordo today. I was thinking of moving on to another spot, but the traveling had caught up with me and I decided to stop and rest for a day. I would have been happy with what I had got here already. It's hard not to come up with something at White Sands. So I went out for the sunset tonight and was rewarded with this. Compose and wait - that's what Sam Abell repeated over and over at his lecture I went to last month.

I don't have photoshop with me on this trip. So I can't wait to get this batch back home to work with. I tried a little hdr as well, so it will be interesting to see how it works.

White Sands NP

2011-05-03T21:58:00.000-07:00

Carlsbad Caverns NP

2011-05-03T21:50:00.000-07:00

El Capitan

2011-05-03T21:46:00.000-07:00

This is the Guadalupe Mountains National Park version of El Capitan. I had to do a b&w, because I feel an Ansel Adams tringe whenever I'm in the southwest. It is about the only thing to see in the park for photos. It's mostly a hiking area with some very cool trails.

Big Bend misc.

2011-05-03T21:39:00.000-07:00

Big Bend, pt 2.

2011-05-03T21:35:00.000-07:00

The photo above is my general perception of Big Bend. Very rugged high desert, very hazy. It's probably best to shoot in winter. Great hiking country. Very, very remote.

Below is St Elena Canyon, which with the right conditions, is one of the signature shots of Big Bend. If I had walked across the water to the left, I would have been in Mexico. Didn't have a passport, so I didn't chance it. That is the Rio Grande, all about 15 foot across. I did dip my toes in just a bit.

Big Bend NP, Pt 1

2011-05-03T21:25:00.001-07:00

Well, this is actually on the morning of day 3 of my vacation. The day one drive was great, but day two was a chore and I'm glad to have west Texas off my checklist. I knew going in that Big Bend National Park probably wasn't going to present a lot of good photo opps for me. I think it's a place you really, really have to know and work. But I can mark it off as done now.

I got a quick sunrise. The weather was the nice surprise. It never got over 65F the whole time I was in Texas. But the cool weather brought in some fog and clouds as well.

The Chisos Mountains were fogged in most of the morning. I managed a few shots of them. The other bad thing down here is that everything is extremely dry, so there's little in the way of macro potential on the ground.

Capitol Geese

2011-03-20T14:16:00.000-07:00

This was just ten days ago on Capitol Lake. There were as many geese as I've ever seen on the lake in the last month or so. But in less then a week, there are all gone. They've all headed north except for the few stragglers that stay around in the summer.

Thinking lilacs.

2011-02-23T19:18:00.000-08:00

Sunset on the turbines

2011-02-13T19:42:00.000-08:00

A shot from a few weeks ago when the sunset was glowing off the turbines on the Oahe Dam.

Fall Oahe Sunset

2011-01-12T20:12:00.000-08:00

It's been too cold to get out to take many photos lately, so I'm starting to go through some of last year's. This was one of the last of last year's photos. It's taken on Lake Oahe at one of my best overlooks.

Finally fall.

2010-10-03T20:13:00.000-07:00

I've finally gotten a chance to get out a try a few more fall abstracts. It's going by too fast this year, but luckily the colors are turning slowly around here. I'm really hoping to get a few evenings to shoot this week, so more to come.

Sunflower abstract wallpaper

2010-08-02T20:42:00.000-07:00

2010-07-21T19:52:00.000-07:00

A sample of some flower abstracts I did tonight just walking around the neighborhood. The dark yellow and dark greens really work well for this. I would have more but the rain storms pushed me back inside.

Bluffs abstract

2010-07-11T16:00:00.000-07:00

I haven't had much time lately to do any of my own work. This is a recent abstract and a subject I'm still working on. Here I'm working with the green grass of the bluffs and some storm clouds that were moving in. It needs a bit of work yet, but it's getting closer to what I'm trying for.

Bath Fireworks

2010-07-11T15:47:00.000-07:00

These are my fireworks photos for the year. They are from my hometown of Bath. It's a smaller show and a bit unpredictable, but that's all part of what makes it special. Hope everyone got a chance to shoot some fireworks this year!

From the files: Sunrise at Oxbow Bend.

2010-06-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

This is from deep in my files, but still about one of my favorite shots. And I can't stop playing with it in photoshop, it comes out different every time. This was taken at Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton National Park in October 2006.

Capitol Sunset

2010-05-23T20:13:00.000-07:00

This was taken from one of my best spots in Pierre, on the Capitol Lake pennisula. I've haven't had much luck with good clouds and weather yet this spring, but hopefully there are some more good spring sunsets coming.

Lilac wallpaper

2010-05-03T21:25:00.000-07:00

Spring greens wallpaper

2010-04-26T19:39:00.000-07:00

My favorite of the spring abstracts I've been able to do so far. Makes a great wallpaper and I'm considering getting a metallic pring of it.

Spring greens.

2010-04-19T18:29:00.000-07:00

I got the light I was looking for on LaFramboise tonight. It was just backlit a bit to bring out more of the new spring green colors.

Green spring abstracts

2010-04-18T19:45:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting for spring colors to arrive. I got a little lucky today with some trees on LaFramboise Island showing the first hints of green. The motion helps bring out the colors even more. More to come.

Capitol spring

2010-04-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

This is from a few years ago, it's not quite at this point this year. These apple trees seem to only be in full bloom for a few days, so it's hard to get them with the right weather. And the perfect angle, a bit lower, would be in the middle of the Missouri River. This is taken from LaFramboise Island right across the causeway.

Spring flowers wallpaper 2

2010-04-02T08:48:00.000-07:00

More spring flowers. This is from Arches National Park from my trip last spring.

Spring blossom wallpaper

2010-03-21T14:44:00.000-07:00

Apple blossoms from last year with an abstract twist.

Canyonlands wallpaper

2010-03-07T18:27:00.000-08:00

Here's a wallpaper from Canyonlands National Park. This is an overlook in the Needles district and gives you a bit of an idea of how vast and rugged the Needles and Maze districts are.

Think spring wallpaper

2010-02-22T18:25:00.000-08:00

A wallpaper for everyone thinking of spring (even though there's supposedly a few more weeks of winter left!).

Back to Arches.

2010-02-02T19:35:00.000-08:00

I've got a few friends planning Southwestern trips this spring, and it sparked me to go back and share a few more photos from my trip last spring. This is from the Balanced Rock area with the La Sal Mountains in the far distant. All in Arches National Park. I'm beginning to get spring fever and feeling a need to visit a National Park again soon. So if anyone has any ideas, let me know.

Sunset ice wallpaper.

2010-01-27T18:33:00.000-08:00

This is a simple abstract I caught a few weeks ago above the dam of Lake Oahe. It was just at sunset and the ice crystals in the snow reflected the setting sun rays. It's a much bigger area then it looks like in the photo. The overlooks above the dam are always good at the end of the day.

Buffalo snow wallpaper

2010-01-18T21:15:00.000-08:00

Winter abstract wallpaper

2010-01-13T18:51:00.000-08:00

I've been working on some new winter abstracts. The snows around here give me a good background to work with. It really can set off and frame the right subjects. It takes a little more work to find the right subjects and a variety of them. But at least the weather looks to cooperate for a while now, so hopefully there is more to come.

Frosty Wallpaper

2010-01-09T20:51:00.000-08:00

I just thought I'd add photos to use as wallpapers from time to time, because that's what I'm always doing with them. I'm calling this one Picasso on Ice. This is taken in the leisure of my own living room. After all, they say the best photos are in your own backyard. Unless it's too cold, then they just might be in the living room. Click on the photo to enlarge and then add it as a wallpaper.

Shots not in the calendar.

2010-01-06T18:55:00.000-08:00

I thought I show a few more shots I liked from last year - ones that almost made my calendar! Seeing that it is blizzarding here again and not quite suitable for outdoor photography, I need something to post.
This is the Green River Overlook in Canyonlands National Park. I walked around the area for a while after shooting nearby Mesa Arch at sunrise. I came across these two rocks to balance the depth of the landscape. I shot it in color as well, but I like the subtle difference in the gray tones of the rocks. It would be nice to be there and warm right now! Canyonlands is one of those places that really rewards you for just taking your time and just wandering looking to see what might jump out to you. That's what a photo vacation should be all about.
Now I'm going to be checking on vacation time in the Southwest again!

Oahe Eagles

2009-12-20T09:58:00.000-08:00

I did a quick run up to the Oahe Dam on Saturday to check on eagles. I quickly ran into about two dozen without even trying to hard to look for them. They were in their usual roosting spots like below. It's fun to see them, although they aren't very tolerant of being approached around here unlike some places I've been.

I did run into a couple sitting right in trees right next to the river like the one above. He stuck around while I shot our of my car. I find as long as I don't stay too long (a minute or so tops) and don't get out of the truck, that there's a chance they will stay still.

The big groups below are in a roosting spot off the river a few hundred yards in a grove of cottonwoods. There was about 20 that I could see, and there's always more that are hidden behind the trees. I usually don't disturb them here - you're not supposed to enter early or late in the day. But I've never had much luck anyway, they fly off before you can get too close.

Best of 2009. Mesa Arch.

2009-12-08T22:19:00.000-08:00

Another of my favorites from the last year. This is sunrise at Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park. Every photographer needs to (and almost all have) get up at 4am and shoot the arch while the sun hits the rocks below it to make it glow. (It glows much more than this, I just like this shot.) Canyonlands is one of those places that almost seems to big to shoot at times. It's landscapes are overwhelming and really varied. I've been there twice and have just caught a few of the highlights. I hope to go back again, it's one of my favorite places.
I still need to do a little touchup on the photo, but it should be easy to make a nice shot out of it.

Best of 2009. Green tree light.

2009-12-04T21:47:00.000-08:00

Well, it's officially getting cold this week. And I somehow haven't come up with a good (reason to do a) winter series of photos. So I thought I'd at least go through and show a few of my favorites from the last year.
I just got the one above printed from MPIX on metallic papar and it's looks great on it. I like this one because it was a bit unexpected, at least more so than some of the abstracts. The rays of green from behind the tree really came out with just a little photoshop. Now if I can come up with a few more.

Sunset abstracts.

2009-11-29T20:17:00.000-08:00

It was a good weekend for sunsets over the Thanksgiving weekend. I only got out to shoot one, the rest of the time I was out in the fields chasing pheasants. I was going to post a standard one I got from the end of my parent's driveway, but it looked like I had a run on them on here lately. So this is an abstract sunset and the first I've done this way, so I think the technique still needs some work.

Buffalo Horizon

2009-11-14T18:51:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to get a few local buffalo shots for a while, so I headed north of town to see if I could catch the Triple U herd close to the fence. It wasn't a bad sunset, but it faded pretty fast. I'll have to try them again soon with all the good clean winter skies.

Oahe sunset.

2009-11-09T19:42:00.000-08:00

A few quick shots from the overlooks above Lake Oahe. It's a great spot this time of year because the sunset lines up down the longest stretch of water. And the crisp cool air (as long as there is no wind) brings out some nice clear skies.

A little last bit of fall, pt. 2.

2009-11-03T18:18:00.000-08:00

The nice fall weather is finally here, but the leaves are all on the ground for the most part. But that's not all bad and makes for some interesting mingling of colors, textures and shapes on the ground.
I did get a lot of photos taken this fall, more than I realized until I started looking at all of them. Hopefully I'll get some time to add more now that things slow down a bit. Hope you enjoy them.

A bit of fall left.

2009-10-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

There is still quite a bit of fall left. But I keep worrying that there a precious few photo hours left. If only we could have another month of autumn leaves and weather. As long as the weather is better than what we have had this October, anyway. But I did get out for a couple of hours today and this is one of my favorites I got from all that I took. I'm hoping for one more good weekend with some color to work with and I think I'll be happy with this year's efforts.

A sharper look.

2009-10-12T19:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn't have the wind to play with for a couple of days. And besides, I have to give my

lens a good workout on occasion. After all, I have a very nice 60 macro that begs to be used in the fall, so I had to get a couple of sharp photos.

A porpourri of colors is always beneath my feet when I'm down at Oahe Downstream area.

I like the simplicity of the browns below.

More color abstracts.

2009-10-07T15:58:00.000-07:00

More fun with some extreme abstracts with the fall colors. Above is a small grove of trees with red leaves and yellow trees in the background.

Above, a splash of green, red and yellow leaves close together.

Below, a tree trunk with changing leaves.

Fall abstracts.

2009-10-05T20:57:00.000-07:00

I didn't have any wind or light to work with this last Sunday, so I had improvise a bit. This are just some crazy

abstracts that I ended up with. Lots of fun and color and a lot of trial and error that I'm still working with.

It's a great time to work with the leaves right now, with the different contrasts in color.

More extreme impressions.

2009-09-21T21:52:00.000-07:00

These are a bit more extreme example of some of the techniques I've been working on lately.

Mostly, they are about 2 seconds exposures with a little camera pan or tilt. And just a little work in Photoshop, although it looks like more than it really is.

They are interesting and fun to work with. And if nothing else, they make good computer wallpaper.

This was a long exposure, no pan, and strong backlighting from the sun.

The one below is a second and a half pan on the horizon.

Fall photo of the day.

2009-09-14T20:15:00.000-07:00

I got another chance to shoot today and another windy day. So here's the latest in my Wind Brushed photos. The contrast of the greens and yellows this time of year really makes the shot. Hopefully there is a lot more to come.

First Fall Photos

2009-09-13T19:46:00.000-07:00

I've been anxious to get out and try to get some new fall photos and today was a perfect day for what I wanted to do. A little overcast and some wind, which isn't the norm for photos. But for taking these, it was perfect.

I know cattails aren't fall stuff, but I've been thinking about getting a shot like this all summer. Their contrast really helps them stand out in the flowing grass.

These are two of my favorites so far. I really didn't expect much today, really. The colors are just getting started and I didn't know if I would have much to work with. But I took a lot anyway. And then the fun begins when I start seeing them and working with them in photoshop. There are always some that I didn't think much of when I was taking then, but they really turn out to be something fun after all.

Back to Utah

2009-09-02T18:42:00.000-07:00

I'm long overdue on sharing many of my photos from my spring trip to Utah.
So I'm going to start throwing a few in the mix from time to time.

The landscape is truly amazing. Red rock, blue skys and more different rock formations than you could shoot in a year. These are all in about the same area in Arches National Park. The rock below is Balanced Rock, one of the icons of the west, with the La Sal Mountains in the background.

Summer survivors

2009-08-31T19:58:00.000-07:00

I've grown found of shooting the last flowers of summer. I mean, anybody can shoot the perfect beautiful flowers, the early ones you see in June. But these just seem to have more character. They have taken all summer could throw at them, the sun, wind, rain and storms. Exposed to all the elements, and yet they still are there, giving their all every morning. They just seem to have a story to tell, a history of their. I think they are truly mesmerizing.

Stormy light in Pierre.

2009-08-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

This is after a recent storm heading through Pierre. There was a quick ribbon of sunset that came through, I almost didn't even bother trying to shoot it. But it kept getting better and better looking, so I ran over to the Capitol and grabbed about 6 shots before it all went away.

Howard, Colorado

2009-06-16T20:04:00.000-07:00

The inspiration for my new blog header and one of my stops on my southeast trip this year. It was nice to see the Howard, Colorado sign set perfectly against the mountains.