November 2021

An early November sunset sky over the Falls of the Big Sioux River in downtown Sioux Falls, SD

November of 2021 was tough for me to find time to get out into nature for photos. I did, however, get to shoot photos from the sidelines during my nephews 9A Football Championship game. Also, I was able to take a leisurely day of backroads on my way back from visiting family for the Thanksgiving holiday. This trip yielded great birding opportunities as the last of the snow geese were on their way through and plenty of raptors were around. At Blue Blanket lake alone, I saw up to eight bald eagles keeping their eye on a group of geese resting near the last of the open water. I didn't know if I'd be able to have a full dozen photos to show this month, but the post Thanksgiving trip also produced a superb sunset in Clark County as you will see below. Thanks for checking in and as usual, click on an image for a larger file to view and have a great holiday season!

Faint northern lights above the calm waters of Scotts Slough near Hartford, SD

My nephew at the 9A FB championship game in Vermillion, SD

My nephew at the 9A FB championship game in Vermillion, SD

Juvenile Bald Eagle at Blue Blanket lake near Selby, SD

Juvenile Bald Eagle in flight

Bald Eagle at Sand Lake National Wildlife Reserve in Brown County, SD

Bald Eagle along Highway 10 west of Britton, SD

Short-eared Owl at Waubay National Wildlife Refuge in Day County, SD

Sunset skies in rural Clark County, SD

Good Hope County church in rural Clark County, SD

Sunset skies in rural Clark County, SD

February 2020

Sunset light above Lake Madison Lutheran of rural Lake County, SD

I wasn't able to get out much in February. I took a long drive on a Saturday in the middle of the month after a large snow and wind event in the northeast part of the state to look for snowy owls. I did not locate any, but was able to capture some interesting views of the snowy vistas as you'll see in this column.  Then the month ended up with prep work for basketball tournament time in Sioux Falls. I did some time-lapse work with the Arc of Dreams sculpture that arcs over the Big Sioux River between 6th and 8th Street, downtown Sioux Falls. I also started to shoot action photos of the NSIC basketball tourney. The first game saw a full house between Northern State and Augustana and shooting action photos with a full crowd always makes for better photos so I'm including few of my favs from that February 29th afternoon as well. As alway click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for checking in!

Snowy patterns and designs

Deer and plenty of snow in the Coteau Hills of Deuel County, SD

The old Glenwood community building surrounded by winter

A snowman using the biffy out back?  Possibly.

A late winter sunset in rural Lake County

A barbed wire evening scene in rural Lake County

A yellow bus passed in front of the Arc of Dreams during a two second exposure. This image was taken from the 6th Street bridge and part of a time-lapse sequence.

The Sioux Falls Pentagon nearly full for the first NSIC tourney game

Parker Fox of NSU about to dunk

The Sioux Falls Pentagon

Another dunk about to hammer home from St Cloud State over Upper Iowa

March 2019

A late March sunset reflecting gold on meltwater

March had me indoors for the majority of the month capturing basketball action in Sioux Falls. Which was probably OK as the weather outside was chaotic at best.  The last thrashes of winter which arrived with rain, wet snow, ice dams and floodwaters as well as something called a bomb cyclone all affected the area throughout the month. Finding eye pleasing nature scenes to photograph therefore became a bit difficult.  So, there is a handful of my favorite sports photos from the month mixed in the 12 this time around.  Hope you don't mind.  There is a reason they call it March Madness (and CBS copyrighted the term).  As always, click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for checking in! 

A multi-image panoramic of the Sanford Pentagon during the men's NSIC championship game

A genuine buzzer beater in the semi-finals as the tourney MVP,  passes the ball to a freshman off the Northern State University bench who then proceeds to put a floater up in the lane for the win... and the NSU heavy crowd went nuts.

South Dakota State University's women's basketball team won the Summit League Tournament and here is a reflection looking into the trophy as it was handed over to the team to be hoisted in victory.

This photo is memorable as it captures the moment of celebration immediately after Macy Miller surpassed the all-time Summit League scoring mark... And it happened during a huge run that brought the Jacks from 10 down to up 10.  The Premiere Center crowd made of mostly SDSU fans was deafening. Hairs stood up on the back of my neck.

An early spring robin at Newton Hills State Park

Eastern Bluebird at Newton Hills State Park

Meltwater on top of Lake Vermillion catching the gold of the late winter sunset.

American Tree Sparrow in the evening light at Palisades State Park

A squirrel's front door at Palisades State Park

A sunset view from the hotel room deck where I stayed for the last few days of March and the first few days of April in Orange Beach, Alabama.  It was a much needed vacation.

While in Alabama, I saw three "new to me" warblers including this Pine Warbler at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge.

March 2018

An abandoned country school with outhouse north of Miller, SD

March of 2018 has been colder and more wintery than the last handful of Marches.  The first half of the month I was quite busy following sports indoors with all the basketball seasons coming to an end. The last half of the month I tried to get out and witness the waterfowl migrations that pass through every early spring, but there were only a handful of good weather days to choose from.  Finally at the end of the month I was able to travel through the state to go visit family for an early Easter so had a couple more opportunities to shoot photos then.  All that equates to my favorite twelve photos of the month posted here.  Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for checking in!

The Denny Sanford Center at near capacity for the USD v SDSU Summit League Championship game in Sioux Falls

A bald eagle perched on a icy tree near Silver Lake north of Freeman, SD

Thousands of snow geese near Freeman, SD (This is what the bald eagles are following this time of year)

One of two snowy owls north of Emery, SD I was surprised to see while out and about.  Seems late for them to still be around in the middle of March.

The 2nd Snowy Owl north of Emery, SD

A rare (nearly) clear sky sunset with geese flying north

Sunset over Highway 42 a couple days after the first day of spring

A red-winged blackbird taking flight in western Minnehaha County, SD

A couple ducks escaping into the sunset near Humboldt, SD

A bald eagle in flight north of Miller, SD

Abandoned north of Miller, SD

February's Best

Sunset over Skrefsrud Lutheran Church on Super Bowl Sunday.

Even though the month isn't quite over yet, I wanted to gather and post February's shots this weekend as I will be in travel mode the rest of the month.  As I mentioned in January's post, I'm trying something new in 2013. My goal is to post my 12 favorite or most "significant" photos of the month once a month, each month.  So at the end of the year I should have 144 photos altogether.  Two months down, ten to go...  Hope you like the photos and thanks for stopping by.

Taken a few minutes later the shot above as the colors deepened.

A wide angle shot to show the swath of color across the western sky.  It was one of those unique post sunset scenes we get here in South Dakota.

Switching gears to a shot of Frost Arena before the SDSU-USD men's basketball game.  I added a tilt-shift look to the shot in post.  Fun to be there to take in the festivities.

An abandoned farmstead shortly before a rain/snowstorm moved into the southeastern part of the state.

The last light of the day colored the distant tree line with red hues as these Brookings County deer grazed in open field.

Oslo Church near Lake Campbell in southern Brookings County taken on the same evening as the shot above.

A prairie windmill standing alone against the sunset sky over southern Hutchinson County.

Just a bit up the road from the windmill above stands this small barn.

Hoarfrost and an old barn in McCook County.  The deep blue sky just after the fog lifted in the morning made for great fun playing with black and white options in Apple's Aperture.

Another old barn site in southern McCook County framed by a frosty tree along the county road.