June's Best

The Milky Way over a country church south of Canova, SD.

June was a whirlwind of great photo opportunities for me.  Two great displays of northern lights, one at the beginning of the month and one to close it out, plus a trip to Montana, Wyoming and many points in between filled my month up full.  Wouldn't want it any other way.  Click on an image for a larger file to view and enjoy a small slice of God's creativity!

Aurora Borealis and a prairie windmill about 10 miles west of Colton, SD.

A little wider shot of the same aurora as above with what I think was the International Space Station streaking across the night sky.

Here is a shot of I-90 near Sturgis, SD from Avalanche Road.  I'm in the midst of doing a photo column series on SD landmarks for southdakotamagazine.com.  This photo is from my post on the hogback and racetrack surrounding the Black Hills.  Here is a link for more: http://southdakotamagazine.com/hogback-racetrack

Lupine flowers in bloom above the shores of Jackson Lake with Wyoming's mighty Tetons on the horizon.

The last light of the day colors the clouds above the Grand Tetons.

Springtime in the Rocky Mountains is a great time to see and photograph wildflowers.  This is a scarlet gilia fairy trumpet.

Blue Camas filled this meadow as the evening light shone through the aspen grove.

My last morning in the mountains I got up early to get the first light of the day hitting Mount Moran with the Snake River in the foreground.  If you'd like to see more photos from the trip please check this link out:
http://cbegeman.smugmug.com/Photography/Rocky-Mountain-Spring-2013/30149550_FWVwBd#!i=2592497148&k=hRNFP6R

My most recent column at southdakotamagazine.com featured the narrows of the Big Bend area on the Missouri River system in central South Dakota.  I visited three times in late May and June to capture quite a variety of wildflowers.  My last trip was dedicated to all the blooming yucca on the hillsides.  

A macro shot of a yucca moth inside a flower.  For more pics from this column check out this link:
http://southdakotamagazine.com/bends-narrows-missouri-river

As a wonderful finale, I was able to witness a Kp7 geomagnetic storm on the night of June 28th-29th.  This photo was taken just east of Hartford, SD just a bit after midnight.  

May's Best

An early May sunset just east of Hartford, SD 

May was a great month of shooting photos in South Dakota.  A late spring finally sprung and brought with it great opportunities.  From colorful cloud sunsets to spring's first flowers as well as the arrival of warm weather birds, it was a fun filled month with the camera.  Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for stopping by!

Another evening just a few days later brought these colorful clouds to the same windmill and small outbuilding as above

A lone pasque flower at sunset in Hanson County.

A group of three pasques just unfurling for the spring

An unused barn at sunset in northwest Minnehaha County

Same barn as above but a little later in the evening as the post sunset color turned pink and purple

A spring storm over the Spirit Mound in Union County

A couple enjoys the SD sunset from atop the Spirit Mound, I spent a few evening there for a column I did for southdakotamagazine.com.  Here is a link: http://southdakotamagazine.com/spirit-mound-begeman

A full rainbow after the sun had set at Badlands National Park.  Some of the most amazing light I have ever seen.

My first time seeing and shooting a Western Tanager at Fort Meade Recreation area outside of Sturgis, SD

A burrowing owl on the edge of a prairie dog town near the four corners bridge in west central SD

One of my favorite SD scenes is this old barn with Bear Butte in the background.  This was taken a day before the black hills were deluged by 5 plus inches of rain.

A little bonus shot for you.  I played around to get a faux black and white infrared version of the shot above and really liked how it turned out.  I don't know which version I like better.  What do you think?

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.

March's Best

Volcan De Agua - Near Antigua, Guatemala

The last month has been a whirlwind of travel.  I was in Guatemala doing some work for Hope Haven International the last week of February.  I did some comet chasing the second week of March closer to central South Dakota and then left for Tanzania (East Africa) and Oman (Arabian Peninsula) respectively for the last two weeks of March.  Picking twelve favorites from all that travel was hard to to, but here they are for you.  Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for checking in!

A rural Mayan child looks watches a Hope Haven International's wheelchair fitting sessions.

A face of a elderly Mayan woman on the streets of Antigua, Guatemala.

The waxing moon and comet Pan-STARRS in Aurora County, South Dakota.

I found a lone prairie windmill to help me frame this shot before the moon and comet sank below the horizon.

Sunrise over a bay of Lake Victoria in East Africa.

A Mwanza Agama Rock Lizard sunning himself on rock on the edge of Lake Victoria.

An African Fish Eagle taking off.

African Fish Eagle in flight.

I was able to take a boat ride on a traditional (and leaky) fishing boat.

A ghost crab curiously watching me on the shores of the Arabian Sea in Oman.

These African Monarchs or Plain Tiger Monarchs were congregating all over the short, woody plants along the beach we camped along near the little village of Fins, Oman.

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.