June 2021

First light on Bear Butte after a rain storm 

Hard to believe June has come and gone. I covered a lot of ground and saw some unique botany, met some new friends and hung out with old friends and family. Just what a June should be. It was difficult to pull a dozen favorites together for the month, but that is also how it should be a for a camera slinger. Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for stopping by!

White Beardtongue at sunset

An Entwife found in SD SoDak

Praire Flameflower at the Dells of the Big Sioux

Blue butterfly portrait

Fenceline sunset

The last of the Yucca blooms

Tall White Bog Orchid

Spotted Coral Root Orchid

Storm brewing over barbwire

Lightning dancing over the Northern Black Hills

Meade County sunset

May 2021

 

Perkins County sunset over Brushy country school

  

Macro of the stamen of a wild geranium at Sica Hollow State Park

Newly laid Monarch Butterfly egg on Milkweed plant in rural Deuel County

Eastern Red Columbine

Violet Wood Sorrel in bloom

Downy Paintbrush beginning to bloom at Badlands National Park

An old country school with Bear Butte bathed in morning clouds

Clouds on Bear Butte

Raccoon family

Yellow Warbler

Prairie smoke with shooting stars in the background

Great horned owl fledgling

April 2021

Double rainbow after an early April thunderstorm

Sharp lighting at sunset beyond Willow Creek Lutheran near Dell Rapids, SD

Sharp-tail grouse at Ft. Pierre National Grasslands

Pasqueflower at the Cave Hills in Harding County, SD

Pasqueflower in rural Deuel County, SD

Bloodroot at Union Grove State Park

Trout Lily at Union Grove State Park

Bee on Bloodroot blossom

Yellow-rumped warbler at Palisades State Park

Wild turkey in rural Minnehaha County, SD

Ruby-crowned Kinglet at Terrace Park in Sioux Falls

Plum blossoms in the evening light at Big Sioux Recreation Area

March 2021

Sunset beyond a old country school

The first part of March was quite difficult to get out of doors and into the great wide open for photography. The weather was fine, but I was swamped with work at the day job. A couple images shown here are composites of time lapses I created for said day job. The traffic light photos of downtown Sioux Falls were created from around 20 to 25 minutes of multiple long exposure traffic shots. These images were all pulled together into time lapses used to support Midco Sports Network's basketball tournament coverage. Later in the month I found the first blooming pasqueflowers (for me) of the young spring season. Then at the very end of the month I took a trip to the Fort Pierre area to sit in a blind in order to watch the Greater Prairie-chickens dance and boom for their hens on a lek in rural Stanley County. All in all, it was pretty photogenic month as far as Marches go. Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for checking in!

About 20 minutes of traffic on 6th Street in downtown Sioux Falls

Traffic composite looking north over Minnesota Avenue in Sioux Falls

Spring equinox sunset in rural Lincoln County

Frost melt reflects the sunlight and trees above a newly blooming snow trillium wildflower in Newton Hills State Park

Snail shell found in the leaf litter of Newton Hills State park

First pasqueflower of the year in rural Hanson County, SD

A bouquet of South Dakota's state flower

Sunset in rural SE SoDak

Greater Prairie-chicken dancing to impress a hen

Greater Prairie-chicken at Fort Pierre National Grasslands

Pronghorn in the morning light

 

February 2021

February sunset on fresh snowfall

With a mild winter nearly all winter this time around, the temperatures dropped to below zero for nearly two weeks straight once we got to February. That plus a lot of work at the day job kept me from getting out much with camera in hand. Even so, the times I did escape provided photography magic nonetheless. Here are twelve photos to remember February of 2021 by. Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for checking in!

Deep winter stars cape above an outbuilding in rural Turner County, SD

The old Brothersfield Evangelical United Brethren church under the winter stars

Early winter shadows

Late light on a winter's day

Benton Lutheran's silhouetted steeple at sunset

Prairie windmill at sunset

Nearing sunset after a fresh snowfall earlier in the day

Winter poetry written with the evening light

Fog rising in the Big Sioux River Valley after the sun went down

Late winter fog in the evening

A watercolor winter scene over the Big Sioux River Valley