Black Hills Autumn

Vanocker Canyon Road

Spending a week in the Black Hills of South Dakota during Fall has been on my bucket list for quite some time.  This year I was able to make it happen.  I spent a lot of time in the northern hills in and around Spearfish Canyon.  I also spent a couple days roaming Custer State Park.  Here are some of the photos from the week featuring fall colors.  If you are interested more specifically in my Spearfish Canyon and/or Custer State Park photos, then check out my state park page over at South Dakota Magazine's website:  http://southdakotamagazine.com/stateparks.  CSP's photos and column will be the grand finale to the series and the plan is to have it posted on Monday, October 15th.  Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for stopping by!

Aspen and an abandoned building near Custer Peak

Little Spearfish Creek in full afternoon sunlight.

Some colorful leaves at Red Gate/White Gate hiking area.

Backlit Aspen leaves in Custer State Park.

More color from Custer State Park.

A mountain blue bird near the buffalo corral in Custer State Park.  The fall colors of the creek in the distance made for a nice background.

Bison grazing along the wildlife loop road.

Whitetail buck in a thistle patch as the last light of the day shoots through the valley near the Badger Hole area in Custer State Park.

Colorful leaves in the waters of a small creek near the Game Lodge camp grounds in Custer State Park.

Majestic Aspen near Mystic, SD.

Falling Water - Colored Leaves

Spearfish Falls - September 2012

Autumn in the Black Hills of South Dakota plus waterfalls equal bliss for a nature photographer.  Here are a few of my favorites from my wanderings a few weeks ago.  Click on image for a larger file to view and enjoy a little of God's creative wonder! 

Spearfish Falls

The lower portion of Roughlock Falls.

A couple photos of upper Roughlock Falls.

Water falling along the Red Gate/White Gate Trail in the northern Hills.

Little Spearfish Creek between Roughlock Falls and Spearfish Falls on a perfect autumn morning.

Brown trout about to swallow an aquatic insect floating on the surface.

High Country Sunsets

Sunset at Pactola Reservoir west of Rapid City

I was blessed to spend a week wandering the Black Hills during the third week of September this year.  While there I witnessed a couple amazing sunsets.  Here are some shots of both for you.  Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for checking in.

A couple more of the Pactola sunset as the colors progressed through the evening.

A few evenings later, I took in this great sunset over Stockade Lake just east of Custer, SD.

Badlands in September

Three Bighorn rams graze near a prairie dog town in Badlands National Park.

It has become a common practice for me to detour through Badlands National Park on my way to and from the Black Hills.  Last week Sunday and the following Saturday was no exception.  I was lucky enough to get close to wildlife on both occasions as well as capture a little fall color this time around.  Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for stopping by!

Badlands Boys Club (a bachelor herd of Mule Deer near the Quinn road)

A coyote loped by me as he hunted in one of the many prairie dog towns on the way to the Sage Creek Wilderness Area.

Bison just before sunset at the Sage Creek Wilderness Area.

On my return trip yesterday morning, I was able to capture some of the fall color in the draws of Sage Creek Wilderness Area.

Bison dot the flat lands beyond Sage Creek proper.

Another coyote came out of the badlands and into a prairie dog town as I was driving by.

Fall color with the Badlands formations on the horizon.

Late Summer Thunder (and Lightning)

Ominous clouds and rain ahead  of the setting sun over an abandoned farmstead between Spencer and Salem, SD.

The evening of September 4th saw a swift moving thunderstorm system move through the southeastern part of South Dakota.  The 2012 storm season didn't amount to much this year so I decided to drive west to meet the front and see if I could get any interesting photos.  This post consists of my best shots of the night. Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for stopping by!

Sunset colors paint the backside of a thunderhead south of Spencer, SD.

An old barn with with a lightning strike in the background.

A couple shots of lightning an another abandoned house north and a little west of Salem, SD.

The Cutting Room Floor

Water skiing at sunset at Little Moreau Recreation Area in July.

My summer photography has been focused on South Dakota State Parks for my online column over at www.southdakotamagazine.com: (http://southdakotamagazine.com/stateparks).  Typically an average of 20 or so photos are posted with each column. That means interesting shots are sometimes left on the cutting room floor.  This happens mostly because I have similar shots already picked out and I'd rather show a variety rather than four different angles of the same flower. That said, I decided to post some of my favorite shots that were edited out of the columns on this post as I still like them.  Click on a image for a larger file to view and thanks for stopping by!

Fawn at sunset at Little Moreau Recreation Area in early August.

A crab spider perched on a sunflower.

A couple shots of a wildflower I couldn't ID for sure.  A friend of mine thinks it could be a dotted gayfeather but I'm leaning towards western ironweed... which appears to be a showier version than just regular ironweed.  Either way, it is a cool looking flower.

Rain drops on leaves at Lake Alvin Recreation Area after a light shower went through in the morning.

Sunset at Lake Alvin's fishing dock.

A couple versions of me experimenting with long exposures at the boat dock at Lake Alvin.  I had the shutter open for 25 to 30 seconds and walked into the shot with a Colman lantern (on dim) and then painted my silhouette at the end of the dock with a flashlight once I got there. Being able to see the Milky Way in the southern sky this close to Sioux Falls was an added bonus.