Tag Archives: Badlands National Park

Fire in the Sky

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‘Sunset from Norbeck Pass’
Badlands National Park, SD

My previous post was from my last day in the Badlands. This image was my greeting on my first evening in the Park. It was a great way to start my Badlands adventure. During my seven day excursion, we photographed scenic vistas, intimate vignettes, wildlife, old abandoned buildings, sunsets, sunrises, harsh mid day brightness, color, infrared, and many other perspectives. The workshop was an opportunity to play and experiment, as well as creating serious images.

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Color in the Badlands

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‘Light Rain Over the Badlands’
Badlands National Park, SD

I just returned from a great workshop with Tony Sweet and Sue Milestone in the Badlands of South Dakota. During our last day, we had some light rain which highlighted the striking colors over the terrain. The slight moisture brought out the normally subdued colors. What a beautiful sight!

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The Badlands

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The Badlands National Park, South Dakota

The Badlands were formed by a series of depositions and then erosion. Seventy-five million years ago, the area what is now the Badlands was a part of an inland sea extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the North Pole. The lowest levels are sea bed depositions. From 75 to 45million years ago, plate movement gradually forced up the Rocky Mountains and created a depression which is now the Badlands. During this period, erosion from the raising mountains and volcanic action deposited various layers of material in the depression. Starting about 500,000 years ago the Cheyenne and White Rivers carved out the deep valleys through the area. Torrential rain storms and wind have been eroding the area at a rate of one inch per year.

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Looking Back, Looking Forward

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“The Badlands”
Wall, South Dakota

I’ve been laid up for the last couple of weeks and have not been able to get out and do any photographing. As such, I have been catching up on various photography topics. Jason O’Dell just put out a webcast on the Badlands that caught my eye. Jason, thanks for the stimulus. I was there for just a few hours as I drove across country from Philadelphia to Washighton. The day wasn’t the best for photography, but I was able to come up with a few that had potential. My visit was more of a scouting trip, hopefully for a return visit when I can spend the time to explore. I look back to my short visit. I look forward to when I will return.

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Badlands: Yellow Hills

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160619_Badlands Yellow HillsFuji X-T1, XF 18-135mm @ 105mm, f/11, 1/340 sec, ISO 400

Along the northwest section of the park drive, yellow hills and green valleys provided a change in color contrast of the landscape.  This post concludes my quick trip through the badlands.  Some day I hope to go back and explore the area at a more leisurely pace.

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Badlands Sunrise

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160614_Badlands SunriseFuji X-T1, XF10-24mm @24mm. f/22. 1/13 sec, ISO 1600

The sky was very dark and covered with clouds. The landscape was very dark and covered with shadows.  Then for a few seconds the sun popped out in a small gap in the clouds.  The landscape opened up its arms for me to enjoy.  The three hour drive starting at 3:00 AM to catch the sunrise was worth it!

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Badlands National Park

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160604_Badlands 2Fuji X-T1, EF 18-135mm @ 31mm, f/16, 1/110 sec, ISO 800

I walked down into the basin of the Badlands and looked up to see the towering, eroded hills behind me.  I processed this image to separate the foreground from the background by adding a touch of NIK’s Color EFEX Pro graduated fog to the background.  I should have shot this image at a wider aperture to produce a natural effect.  Lesson Learned:  Take my time, work the image from different settings and exposures to create the effects that bring out specific elements of the subject.

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