Deadwood Library

Something different yesterday.  An assignment to take photos of the Deadwood library.  Recently repainted this historic building is a beauty! 

Badlands morning

badlands_8211, originally uploaded by Sue Gannaway.

Another photo from my trip to the Badlands National Park South Unit last Tuesday. This photo is just south of the little town of Scenic. Taken not long after sunrise, you can see the deep shadows in the rugged butte. The peaceful morning was only broken by the sounds of dozens of meadowlarks surrounding me. What a great morning!

More from the Badlands

Yesterday I spent most of the morning in the South Unit of Badlands National Park in
 South Dakota.  Here are a couple of more images that I got finished today.  As I was shooting a park ranger stopped by and mentioned she was looking for Mt. Sheep.  I didn't realize there was any in the South Unit, but this the second photo is taken of the ridge area they are usually found. This is about 2 miles west of the visitors center on BIA 2.  Unfortunately for me, I didn't spot any of the Mt. Sheep on this trip.  For more photos from the day go here. 

April morning in the Badlands

It is really starting to feel like Spring has arrived!  An early morning drive from Rapid City to the Badlands confirmed it for me. I arrived just as the sun was rising over a marsh just south of the little town of Senic. 
 
A couple of miles down the road, with the sun on the rise dozens of meadowlarks filled the air with their song.  One of them willingly sat long enough for his portrait all while singing his heart out!

 This is a great time to visit the Badlands and of course early mornings are an added experience for the peace and quiet.  There are few visitors yet and very soon the grass will be greener and flowers will be out.  Tomorrow, more pictures from my morning jaunt through the South Unit of Badlands National Park.

April in Spearfish Canyon

Yesterday was one of those almost perfect spring days. A light breeze and beautiful blue spring sky.  I took a drive up Spearfish Canyon to see how the snow was melting.  A quick stop at Bridal Vale Falls in full sun is my first shot here.   This is the best time to get a good view of the entire falls before the leaves come on.

While it seems like there is a lot of snow still left, the smaller flow of the falls and Spearfish Creek seem to indicate a dryer spring in the canyon than I anticipated.  The lower creek nearer Spearfish is almost entirely dry yet, and even above the intake, you can see it is not nearly as full as I expected.

The photo below is one of the creek itself looking north down the canyon.  This is about 8 miles up the canyon from Spearfish.  I added a small border to make it stand out a little.

Once more, I have posted more photos from yesterday on flickr.  Hope you enjoy and happy Spring!

Spring time in the South Dakota Capitol

I am posting a couple of the photos I took over the weekend in Pierre at the state capitol grounds.  When we lived in Pierre, this was a favorite place for the kids especially feeding the geese at Capitol Lake.  While its still early, the grass was greening up, there was a light breeze in the air and a few geese were still on the lake.  The shot of the memorial fountain was taken from the peninsula on the lake. I added an Orton effect to soften the colors.  The second are some of the geese floating along on the lake.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Easter Weekend

Saturday we left for Pierre to enjoy Easter weekend with our daughter.  We also had some free time during the day so I took the opportunity to shoot a few photos.  These are just a few of what I took.  Saturday evening a spring storm was brewing and as we drove from my brothers place north of Pierre to pick up the kids, I snapped this through the windshield.  

Here is another shot of the same storm as

it rolled in over Lake Oahe just north of

Pierre.  Other than a few sprinkles, luckily

nothing more came of it.  This photo was

taken as the sun set over the water and

the storm clouds were at their peak.

Saturday afternoon was pleasant and a walk around the state Capitol grounds was enjoyable.
While there was not a lot of color yet, the grass is starting to green. 

I have posted more photos at flickr.com from my day in Pierre.  Click here to go to those.

April Snow brings May Flowers?

It looks like our snow may be over for now, and its so wet that it's falling off the trees already.  Here are a couple of photos just outside my door this morning.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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North Dakota Badlands

Since it looks like I will be stuck inside for a couple of days, I pulled out some older photos to edit.  I had almost forgotten these from a trip to Medora, North Dakota two years ago.  But as I start planning my summer shooting schedule, a return trip to the Badlands is on the list.  So just for fun here are a couple of those from fall of 2008.  Above is a mare and foal from the wild horse herd.

This shot was made as the full moon rose over Medora as we arrived for the Musical.