April's Best

Salem United Methodist Church on the Minnesota border east of Dell Rapids, SD.

Old Man Winter stayed around most of April this year in South Dakota.  The weather provided some nice opportunities to play around in the black and white medium if nothing else.  The four of my favorite shots from this month are all black and white.  More than half of the shots this month come from my late month trip out to Butte County to photograph the Greater Sage Grouse mating dance.  For more photos of that trip as well as some video I shot of the birds, check out my e-column over at southdakotamagazine.com:  http://southdakotamagazine.com/sage-grouse-courtship-2013

A wider shot of Salem United Methodist Church featuring fresh snow and a beautiful sky.

St. Paul Lutheran Church in Union County - celebrating 150 years of existence later this year. 

When I saw this abandoned school house in Butte County, Alice Cooper's lyric "School's out forever" immediately came to mind.

A snow flurry breaking up at sunset just east of Hartford, SD.

Post sunset colors over the pinnacle formation of Badlands National Park.

Same as above but about 10 minutes later into the evening.

Greater Sage Grouse dancing on a lek in Butte County.

Showing off the tail feathers.

Pronghorn and Bison in Custer State Park.

Bison calf nibbling spring's first green grass.

I found this Tom displaying along Highway 79 in near the Butte and Harding county line in northwest SD.