Ghost Town Hunting

An abandoned building on the edge of Dewey, SD

I took the week off before Christmas this year in part because I wanted to go ghost town hunting in Western South Dakota. Ghost towns offer some pretty interesting photo ops as well as give my back road meanderings some focus and purpose. I saw a lot of country side I had not seen before and want to go back out this spring to find some more. This post shows some of what I found last month. Click on the photo for a larger file to view and enjoy!

Along the Cheyenne River in the southwest corner of the state is the old town sight of Burdock. There are no buildings left, just a sign marking the spot. I was able to see and photograph a Bald Eagle at the sight though.

The next series of shots are from Dewey, SD. Dewey lies a little further north up the Cheyenne River along the railroad line. The internet told me that Dewey was a ghost town, but I found out that wasn't completely true as there are one or two inhabited houses in what used to be the town. There are, however, several abandoned buildings including a school and a church, so I guess it could be considered a "near" ghost town.

The next two photos are of Ardmore, SD. This town lies south of Edgemont very near the Nebraska state line. I arrived just before sunset and it was eerie. It was almost like every inhabitant just up and left sometime in the 1980s and left everything as is. The only activity I witnessed was two trains rolling through just fifteen minutes apart.

I tried to visit a few more sights in the Black Hills area, but I couldn't find one and the other was only accessible via snowmobile. So I next went up to the Short Pine Hills area of northwestern SD to find Harding, SD. On my way there, I was able to capture this magnificent Golden Eagle in flight.

Here is a shot of downtown Harding. Just as I snapped this shot a gentleman arrived in his pick-up and I asked if this was indeed Harding and he told me "You are smack dab in the middle of it." We chatted for a few minutes. He was the only resident and owned everything on his side of the road. I didn't stay to much longer to explore as the day was getting late and I had a couple more hours to drive that night to get home.

The next two shots are of Huseboe or Lightcap, SD at dawn. Apparently it was originally called Huseboe due to who owned the store, then changed names when some of the buildings were bought by a man with the last name of Lightcap. There is only one building still standing on the town site now. When I was a kid I seem to remember three standing. There are remains of at least three other buildings there. Just a quarter mile to the north, the Lightcap schoolhouse still stands as well. My great aunt used to help run the store I'm told. My aunt has also told me she helped at the store one summer when she was a teenager. This site is about 15 miles north of Isabel, SD on highway 65.

The last ghost town I went to investigate was Okobojo which lies northeast of Pierre, SD. I did not shoot any photos there but I was able to spot and shoot a couple photos of this snowy owl that was perched on a round bale. I have not seen a snowy owl in South Dakota before, so I was pretty pumped to see this one.

Another Year Passes

A shot taken at the Sioux Empire Fair in August.

With 2011 coming to a close, I thought it would be a good time to add some of my favorite photos that I had not posted yet. I also thought that since I did not get Christmas cards out this year, I could use this blog as a quick update on my year. Don't worry, I'll try to be brief.

2011 was the "year of photography" for me as a lot of really cool things happened because of this hobby of mine. First of all, I had the honor of working more and more with the good folks at South Dakota Magazine in both contributing to the magazine itself as well as writing an e-column twice a month starting in August. It has been a fun challenge to not only get better at photography (so I had some decent photos to share), but also try to get better at writing with a purpose in mind. If you are interested in seeing the ten columns I have produced so far, here is a link that will list them all for you:

http://southdakotamagazine.com/article?articleAuthor=christian+begeman

This year, I had two more photos make the "Daily Dozen" at National Geographic's "yourshot" web page. They've also added two of my photos to the National Geographic stock site, so that is kind of fun. I also created a photo book in honor of my hometown's centennial. During the centennial itself, I spent three days with the wagon train documenting the journey across the plains west of town and then creating DVDs of the experience. Some of the footage was noticed by South Dakota State University's advertising agency and they are now using it in SDSU's advertising campaign.

I also changed roles at my day job at Midcontinent Communications this spring and am now "Special Projects Coordinator." It basically means I get to edit and shoot more photos and video for the company itself. It has been a nice change and I think I'm finally starting to settle into the role a bit better.

I've also been able to create a few time lapse videos this year that have gained some nice attention on the web with many views from all over the world. The UND Hockey piece called "Border War" that I created in February has almost 10,000 plays last I checked. For a full list of videos I've created you can check out my Vimeo page here:

http://vimeo.com/user3508912/videos

The year has not been without sadness and some trials. One of those was losing my uncle (artist Jack Reich) this year. He and his work has always inspired me to be a better photographer.

As I look back on the year, it's hard to believe that so much has happened and that my shutter has fired so many times. I wouldn't have it any other way as the majority of the time there is scene in front of the lens that shows off the Creator's wondrous work. God is good, all the time. I appreciate you stopping by and checking out my work, feel free to comment or contact me as I'd love to hear from you. Click on the images for a larger file to view and Happy New Year!

A monarch butterfly found unexpectedly (while working on a different project) in Duel County in late August.

This double rainbow was the result of a windstorm coupled with a fast moving rain shower near Vivian, SD in October.

The last light of the setting sun turned the grass in this grove of trees a beautiful shade of orange just north of Lake Vermillion. Taken in November.

Sunrise in the Badlands on Thanksgiving Day morning.

One of my best shots of elk ever. This was early morning in Wind Cave National Park in late December.

A light snowfall adds an interesting background to this bald eagle perched along the park road at the border of Custer State Park and Wind Cave National Park.

A couple Sioux Falls holiday light icons in the same shot. KELO's tv tower and the giant evergreen on Minnesota avenue.

West River Highlights - December 2011

A group of mule deer south of Midland, SD

I was able to take some vacation time right before Christmas this year. I borrowed a long lens from a friend at work and went on a quest for western South Dakota wildlife, ghost towns and to just simply wander on some back roads. This post will give you a general overview on some of the sights I was able to see. I'll follow up in a day or two with another post on the ghost town quest. In the meantime, enjoy the photos (click on each image for a larger file to view) and thanks for stopping by!

A new view of the Badlands (at least for me) as I approached the park on the White River gravel road that you take a few miles south of Kadoka. Great scenery along this road. I wish I would have known about it a lot sooner than now!

A couple shots of a nice mule buck that crossed road in the Badlands right in front of me. This was near the Bigfoot Pass viewpoint I believe.

Here are a few shots of sunrise at Wind Cave National Park. At first light, the coyotes began to call each other from opposite ridges. It was really quite something to listen to.

The color from the early morning clouds gave a unique hue to this shot of a grazing elk in Wind Cave National Park.

I stayed in a cabin at Game Lodge area of Custer State Park. I was the only one there for three nights. Solitude is bliss. Here is a two hour exposure of the stars wheeling around the North Star just 50 yards behind the cabin I stayed in.

After my stay in the hills I traveled north towards the Slim Buttes and Short Pine Hills area of northwestern SD. The day was overcast with occasional heavy snow flurries. The photo below is haystack butte in Butte county and it reminded me of the paintings my late uncle Jack Reich would paint. I swear this exact scene is in one of his paintings. I just can't remember which.

I had never been to the Short Pine Hills before so the below photos are my first views of the Eastern portion. The highest point is called Moreau Peak. I grew up along the Moreau River further west of these hills. In fact, the southern branch of the Moreau River originates in these hills if I read the map correctly.

Here is a shot of the West Pine Hills.

Looking back to the East Pine Hills from the road that goes through the ghost town of Harding, SD.

Here is a shot of one of my favorite views of the Moreau River. The bend in river to the right contained our "fishing hole" that my brothers and I spent time in search of catfish as well as other things.

Another lovely west river sunset just south and east of Isabel, SD at an abandoned farmstead.

I saved my favorite for last. This is a shot of the sunset on Christmas Day out near Thunder Butte. It was an amazing show. I need to take more vacation time like this!

Dakota Marker 2011 Project

My latest time lapse project was the Dakota Marker football game held at Coughlin Alumni Stadium in Brookings, SD on October 22nd. I had four cameras working throughout the day. I also tried some super slo-mo shots in this piece. I'm happy with how it turned out and hopefully you will enjoy it as well. Thanks for stopping by.

Isabel Centennial Wagon Train - Day 3

Thursday, August 4th we waited to leave later in the day in order to get to town in the afternoon. So I spent a good chunk of the morning wildflower hunting in Firesteel creek near camp. The first five images below are some of what I found.

Back on the trail.

I thought this was in interesting image of the prairie grass bent in a new trail after all the wagons had passed over.

Finally here is a short video of the wagon train in motion. I created DVDs of the event so feel free to contact me if you are interested in ordering. Thanks for viewing!