Christmas wishes!

 This will probably be my last post before Christmas.  This is just to thank everyone that follows my little wanderings and wish you all a wonderful and safe and beautiful Christmas season!  Today's photo's were taken this morning at my church here in Spearfish.  Everything is ready for the services this week. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!

Going Home, part 2

I finally finished up the best photos from my couple of hours at the old farm in North Dakota.  I have included the link to the flicker set that you can see them all.  For my interested family and friends, let me know if you want any print copies or a soft cover booklet that will contain all of the pictures.  Here is the link to see them at flickr,  The farm.

Here is one of my favorites of the old grain bins.  As a girl, these were my secret hideaway because it was far enough from the house no one could find me except the cats.  Sitting in the shade with a book or just picking flowers around them was one of my escapes (and when you have a family of 8 kids you want all the peace and quiet you can find).

Winter in the Canyon

With our snow fast leaving us in Spearfish, I headed into the hills and Spearfish Canyon to enjoy our warmer day today.  One of my favorite spots is the small dam just south east of Savoy.  Today's calm weather added to the serenity of the location.  The downside is that the days turn dark a little earlier in the depth of the canyon.

The water is so calm a ripple shows up on the open water

A close up below the dam face

Wild horses

I am trying to get caught up on images from the summer and fall.  Here are a couple of the wild horses from T. Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, taken in August during our family reunion.  While they don't appear to "wild", they are one of the several small bands of wild horses that run in the park.
The green grass is nice reminder of warmer days (hard to image how green it still was in August in the Badlands too).

It's Christmas!

One of my favorite times of the year and we have snow!  Tonight the DC Historic Fish Hatchery kicked off the season with luminaries, holiday lights and an open house.  Here are a couple of the shots I took to help you get in the Christmas mood too!

The managers residence

Looking toward the museum

November storm

Today marked our first "real" winter storm just in time to usher November out.  Reports of 8-24 inches in the Spearfish area and lots of wind kept me inside today.  But as the wind died and the sun poked out around 3:30 I couldn't resist and bundled up to take a couple of shots from outside my doorway and front garage area.  These shots may seem redundant but the beauty of living on this hillside and the changing seasons is a wonderful draw for me.  Wish I could get rid of a few of the high line wires and buildings that block my view of Lookout Mt. but can't have everything.

As I ventured around the front of the garage, a lone doe was making her way down from the hill into the little opening on the side of the town house.  These first two are of her.

She catch's me taking her photo

The click startled her and she was a little more wary

The remaining two shots are of Lookout and the twilight sun at 4:15. 

Lookout Mt from my driveway

Setting sun from my front walk

Catching up

With our snow coming today, I thought it would be a good day to catch up some editing.  So from a September jaunt to Bear Butte, here are a couple of my favorites from that afternoon.  In each of these I did some fun editing techniques.  The first, an old tractor and hay bales I used the Orton technique to soften the edges and bring out more color.  The shoot of Bear Butte itself was a little dull so I added some canvas texture to give it a painterly look.

November

A bed of leaves in Spearfish Canyon and some final color with a touch of texture.

On black with a bit of a paintbrush technique

Fall is here and the leaves are almost gone in the Spearfish area.  Before the winter comes in full I thought I would play with the leaves that are left.  Here are a couple of interpretations from the last week.  

I would love your feedback as always.

A natural shot of a dry leaf on black

Going Home

Early in September, I took a road trip to North Dakota, my home state.  One of the destinations was my original farm home near Northgate.  This was my first visit to the old farm in nearly 10 years.  Today I wanted to share just a couple of the images I captured in that visit. 

 Above is a look at the house and the old "smokehouse" that was one of the first buildings on the farmstead.  

 From the west side driveway, looking into the yard and north to the Saskatchewan, Canada border. The yard looked quite different as many of the trees have been lost over the years, including a huge evergreen that would have hidden the house in this view.

 The old pump is still there.  My best memory is the taste of the water from this well. It was the best tasting water I have ever had.   I helped carry a lot of pails of water to the house from this pump.

Still standing as sentry's over the prairie and just a mile east of the farm is the two elevators at Northgate.  The village is almost gone and the elevators are slowly crumbling. 

October in Spearfish Canyon

Spf Canyon Fall 1 orton-4416, originally uploaded by Sue Gannaway.

A brisk October day adds drama to Spearfish Canyon. The sun managed to break through for a few minutes and lighted the Canyon walls. I processed this with a technique called orton to soften and brighten the colors.

Late Fall

We have been experiencing such a long and warm fall.  That's fun for a photographer and golfer.  Yesterday was spent doing both.  I'ts wonderful when you have the golf course to yourself and can take time to snap some fun photos.  Here are a couple including one of a turkey gobbler overlooking his brood from the tee box.  These are all from Elkhorn Ridge Golf Club east of Spearfish.

Looking toward the #3 hole across the gully

An orton version of the 4th green at Elkhorn Ridge Golf Club

Waiting for his harem

Water

Early morning at the Fish Hook dam

This small dam is located inside Game Lodge campground

It has been a busy couple of weeks and I am still just getting organized from our trip to Custer State Park.  It has become a fall tradition for Scott and I to spend a few days toward the end of September camping in the Park.  It's a great time to visit Custer State Park because of the fall colors as well as being much less crowded.  The weather was beautiful, clear and warm the entire time we visited.  And I was amazed at the water for so late in the year!  So I captured a couple of small water falls (actually small dams) as well as Sylvan Lake. 

Fall colors at Sylvan Lake

Gift products for Christmas

I have been working on some new things for my product lines and would love any feedback.  These are a couple of poster prints I am selling from images here in the Black Hills.  All posters are available in two sizes for now, 8 1/2 x 11 or 12 x 14.  They don't show the white border, but all are centered on a white glossy poster print and come packaged with a backing board ready to frame.  I will have these uploaded later today to my website at dakotaimpressionsphoto.com along with some others I have done. 

Sunrise and stars

Two different times of day (or night) is my subject today.  Last week I spent several days camping in Custer State Park with my husband.  One of my wishes was to attempt shooting star trails with a lake background.  So Friday night my sweet husband accompanied me to Sylvan Lake and patiently waited for an hour and a half (well past his usual bedtime) while I played with several different attempts.  It was the perfect night, the sky was clear as a bell and the stars were bright!  I couldn't think of a more fun way to spend some time "under the stars" than snuggled with my husband waiting for the time to pass.

Sylvan Lake rocks "painted" with flashlight

I couldn't pass up a chance to share a gorgeous sunrise this morning  over Bear Butte.  This was taken from a ridge line between Whitewood and Spearfish. 

Sunrise over Bear Butte this morning

Black Hills Shoot Out

This past weekend I spent time as an ambassador to the Black Hills Shoot Out sponsored jointly by the South Dakota Department of Tourism and Black Hills State University.  A shout out to the organizers including Chad Coppes for putting together a great first time event.  I had fun directing our out of state visitors to the beauty of the Black Hills including Devils Tower, Spearfish Canyon and Badlands National Park.  The weather made for some interesting shooting including a dreary non-sunrise at Badlands on Sunday.  But the drama of fog gave me some interesting images of Devils Tower! A scare Saturday night when I thought I had lost nearly 400 images as I accidentally formatted my card, and then a save thanks to Steve Babbit who directed me to Photo Rescue. Now begins the process of downloading and processing nearly 900 images shot over the last two weeks.

Here in the meantime is some of my favorites from Saturday at the Shoot Out.

From a couple of miles out Devils Tower looms in the fog

Spirit cloth hangs from a tree limb at the base of Devils Tower

The brink of Roughlock Falls

Sunrise and sunset

Back at home and catching up!  I spent all of last week on a road trip to my home state of North Dakota.  I covered a large section of the state and of course caught a couple of sunrise and sunset shots.  I ended my journey by returning through Pierre, SD.  I will be sharing some of that journey over the next few days and weeks. I have a lot of editing to do and with the weather still nice here in Spearfish, have plans to get a few more days of the Fall colors before resting for a while. 

A foggy Red River near Grand Forks, ND just at sunrise

A North Dakota sunset at a wind farm near Cando

Sully County, South Dakota near Pierre

Fall is in the air

My last post for a week as I prepare to head out to North Dakota.  A beautiful morning beckoned me to check out the color change in Spearfish Canyon today.  Already a touch of golds is starting.  From my perspective this morning we may be in for an earlier peak of color this year.  Some of the leaves are already falling with little change.  I hope that by the time I return it won't be too late for the colors this year.  These couple of shots are along the banks of the creek near kissing rock where I found these well colored leaves hugging the shoreline.

Along the creek side a batch of color.

A closer look with the creek in the background

The final image is using the Orton effect to blur the leaves and create more color. 

Leaves and water in Orton

Beautiful Lawrence County

Sitting on the edge of the Black Hills I think Lawrence County is one of the prettiest areas in South Dakota.  A combination of prairie meeting the hills makes a nice mix of countryside to photograph.  Here are a couple of shots from last week as I followed the Miles City-Deadwood wagon train into Spearfish.  The green summer grass is taking on a warm yellow tone as Fall closes in.  And of course the beautiful blue skies of a South Dakota late summer day make the colors pop. This first shot is enhanced with a technique to soften and slightly blur the scene, called the Orton effect, I love what it does to the colors.

Sunflowers and hayfield (orton)

 

 

 

Fence line and hills

Wagon Train

I spent a couple of days this week following the Miles City to Deadwood trail ride and wagon train as it go closer to Spearfish.  Wednesday afternoon I caught up with the group as they made their way to evening camp south of the Belle Fourche River in Wyoming.  Friday they pushed into Spearfish along the Red Water road to the High Plains Western Heritage Center.  Here are a couple of those shots, I will have more posted later this weekend at my flickr account. 

Gene Johnson of Spearfish and his mules

End of a long day!

 

 

Wagons west of Spearfish Friday

End of the day in Spearfish at HPWHC

Bear Butte Summer Storm

Sunday's drive home from Pierre started in the heat of a central South Dakota afternoon and ended in a cool afternoon thunderstorm over the Black Hills.  Because of car problems we didn't dare stop the car, but when the outline of the Black Hills appeared on the horizon with a line of thunderstorms, I couldn't resist trying to capture it.  So while sitting in the back seat I fired off a burst of shots and hoped for the best.  The beauty of the sunlight streaming through the breaks of the clouds highlighted the western landscape.  And since our car's air conditioner wasn't functioning, the cool summer shower that greeted us at home was an extra blessing!

Approaching the Black Hills from Hwy 34.

I also decided to convert these to black and white to enhance the feeling of the darkening skies and streaming sunbeams.

Rain showers sweep over the eastern slope of the Black Hills