RETROSPECTS 2023 - #1

Anvil clouds, Sage Creek Valley, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

As the year comes slowly but surely to an end I already look back and start analyzing what have been the best photography moments in 2023. During the short trip to Badlands National Park in early June I had definitely some good opportunities for wildlife and landscape shooting. These cumulonimbus incus, also called anvil clouds, moved towards the campsite rapidly, but the thunderstorm was mild and only little rain hit the ground. The bison trail in the grass leads the eye nicely along Sage Creek Valley and towards the clouds.

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 31 mm, 1/100 s, f/8, ISO 100, camera setting : Monochrome / red filter

VISIT DURING ”MOON WHEN THE GRASS IS UP”

View from Sage Creek Rim Road at sunset, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

The month with daylight longer than in any other one comes slowly but surely to an end. The Sioux called this period of time ”Strawberry Moon”, ”Moon of Making Fat”, or ”Moon When The Grass is Up” (source: Saga of the Sioux, by Dwight John Zimmerman). The visit in Badlands National Park, one of my favorite places to be, was certainly a highlight in June for me. In my younger years I read a lot of books about the Native Americans that called this place home. Their stories about dealing with all aspects of nature, surviving in all kinds of weather, and hunting for bison and other wildlife to make a living have always fascinated me. The tragedy how they were conquered by white people still touches me and this is one of the reasons why I feel very emotional when I’m out west in these places. This time I finally was able to visit the site of the infamous Wounded Knee Massacre, just south of Badlands National Park.

Although more than 130 years ago there was certainly no road here on top of the Sage Creek Rim, but I’m sure the view to the southeast wasn’t much different for a hunter or warrior who came up here.

STILL LOVE THE RED FILTER

Approaching thunderstorm, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

If you camp out west in a small tent it is mandatory to have always an eye on the weather. This approaching thunderstorm turned out relatively harmless. It came with a little bit of lightning, not even close, and some rain for the night. Letting this opportunity to make a photo pass by was not an option. The question was, how to capture the drama in the sky?

Back in the days of black & white film a red filter in front of the lens was the way to go. We made the click and then waited for the results until the film was developed. Today with a mirrorless camera things are a lot easier. While shooting always in RAW format, all what it takes is to set the camera to B&W and include the settings for a red filter (or any other setting you may have in mind). In the viewfinder or on screen in the back of the camera we can then evaluate the results immediately and decide if it matches our vision for the final image. If not, we can always revert to the color data embedded in the RAW file and let our creativity go in a different direction.

The results for this photo match pretty much the settings I had used already in the camera. I like the drama a red filter can produce. Very little is tweaked in post process on the computer at home. The landscape doesn’t take the stage, just gets a hint of light, while the clouds are clearly the subject that tells the story of this evening ten days ago in the Badlands.

NATURE CLICKS #562 - COMMON NIGHTHAWK

Common Nighthawk, Badlands, South Dakota

Shortly after the encounter of an Upland Sandpiper (see my last blog post if you missed it) I found this Common Nighthawk sitting on another fence post along Conata Road, just outside of Badlands National Park. The wide open grasslands are an ideal habitat for this bird, who feeds on insects. I read that one bird eats upwards of 500 mosquitoes in a single day. Its enormous mouth surrounded by bristles is perfectly suited for aerial capture.

The nighthawk wasn’t bothered by my presence and gave me plenty of time to come back with a number of sharp photos. I have seen Common Nighthawks before, mostly in flight, but it was the first time I was able to add this bird to my photo library and to share a picture with you here in my blog.

NATURE CLICKS #561 - UPLAND SANDPIPER

Upland Sandpiper, Badlands, South Dakota

The Upland Sandpiper is considered the ”shorebird of the prairie”. Most of other sandpiper species are usually found near water, this species calls the grasslands its home. I found this bird just outside the border of Badlands National Park. It had rained the day before my arrival in the area. The fence post the bird was perched on was next to a water filled ditch along Conata Road, a gravel road that cuts for fifteen miles through the grasslands of Conata Basin south of the national park. This road has been a good spot for bird watching and photography for me during spring time in the last couple years and it didn’t disappoint this year either. Upland Sandpipers spend the winters down in South America and even there they prefer the pampas and grassy areas of pastures and fields.

The wide open landscape allows for a nice and smooth background and while the sandpiper was not on the driver side, I carefully sneaked out of the car and made the click handholding camera and long lens.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG,….@ 850 mm, 1/1600 s, f/9, ISO400, slight crop

THE CUTENESS BONUS

Young Black-tailed Prairie Dogs, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

At every visit in Badlands National Park, South Dakota I have photographed Black-tailed Prairie Dogs but never the babies when they were the first days above the ground. The little ones are absolutely adorable and I enjoyed spending the early morning with them a week ago. The little pups remain up to seven weeks below ground and that’s why I probably never saw them during the month of May in other years. Prairie dogs are cute no matter what, but having their pups in the picture gives it an extra cuteness bonus…

I shot most of the time with the 1.4 teleconverter attached to the SIGMA 150-600, giving me a focal length up to 850 mm. For some pictures a slight cosmetic crop was applied.

All images: Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG

SPENDING TIME WITH BISON

American Bison, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

It’s all about knowing where to find them and predicting when the light is right for a photo of the iconic American Bison in Badlands National Park. However, once more I didn’t find the herd of female bison with their calves. I tried it since three years now but had again no luck to photograph new born calves with their mothers. It’s a big area and not every part is easy to access. Instead I took my chances to work with several of the big bison bulls that stay away from the herd at this time of the year. Some of them were testing their strength for the mating season already and displayed their pure power to each other by making all kinds of noise and even bumping heads occasionally.

There are different ways to tell the story about this majestic animal. Including the Badlands in the background, with early morning light touching both, animal and landscape, leaves no doubt about the presence of the bison out in the great plains. On the other hand a detail shot of the head gives an idea how powerful this wild animal is and a worn out horn gives evidence that many challenges are waiting in their daily life.

A GORGEOUS MORNING

Early morning in Badlands National Park, South Dakota

I took the tent and camping gear with me last week on the business trip, spent the weekend in the beloved Badlands, and will continue tomorrow morning with more business in the wonderful state of South Dakota. Badlands is definitely one of my favorite places to photograph wildlife and landscape and it is the national park I visited the most so far.

Saturday morning I was out of my sleeping bag before anybody else and way before sunrise in the small Sage Creek Campground on the westside of the park. At sunrise time not much happened because a big cloud stood in front of the big light source, but a little later it slowly moved away and the Badlands were touched by the soft and warm light of the morning sun.

NATURE CLICKS #518 - BURROWING OWL

Burrowing Owl, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Just because the burrowing Owl is diurnal, means active during the day while most other owl species are nocturnal, it still remains a challenge to get close to one of them. It has been a thrill again during our visit in Badlands National Park to see and photograph this small owl. They find good places for nesting in abandoned burrows of prairie dogs, who are plentiful in many areas of the Badlands.

Two spots where I found the Burrowing Owl last year didn’t seem to have them this spring but we found several owls at other places. This photo is definitely my favorite picture of the whole trip. We were cruising with slow speed by car and looking for all kinds of wildlife, when I saw suddenly this beautiful owl sitting on a small ridge right above Sage Creek Road. This dusty gravel road connects the remote west entrance of the park with the famous Badlands Loop Road and with the town of Wall, South Dakota. While you may find some Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep along the Loop Road, for all the other critters and birds Sage Creek Road is the place to be, unless you hike into the backcountry.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S,   @ 600 mm, 1/640 s, f/6.3, ISO 200

OFF THE BEATEN PATH

View from Sheep Mountain Table, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

We spent the weekend in one of our favorite areas, Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Spring is a great time for wildlife photography in this area, but I like to start with one of the landscape images from this weekend to give friends and followers of my blog that are not so familiar with the Badlands an idea about this rugged terrain. The photo was made at the edge of Sheep Mountain Table, in the Stronghold Unit of the park, which is also part of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Most visitors of the national park will never go to this part in the southwest, because it is off the beaten path and a bit away from the easily accessible North Unit. Its beauty is nevertheless unsurpassed.

Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4,   @70 mm, 1/250 s, f/10, ISO100

IN THE VIEWFINDER

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

In a blog post last year I called the mountain on the left hand side the ‘Winking Mountain’. I don’t know if it even has an official name but I thought that name would fit…  This is another picture I made in Badlands National Park during our vacation trip in 2020. It was made from a different vantage point, that includes the mountain, but doesn’t make it the central subject of the photo.

When you are on a road trip you can’t always be choosy about the time at a particular location. This was late morning and the colors were already kinda soft. Darkening the sky brings the clouds to our attention and gives the scene a bit more drama. Finally working on the contrast with the highlights and black sliders in Adobe Lightroom allowed me to create the photo I had in mind while looking through the viewfinder.

NATURE CLICKS #475 - LEAST CHIPMUNK

Least Chipmunk, Little Missouri National Grasslands, North Dakota, September 2020

The Least Chipmunk is the smallest of its kind here in North America but it is the most widespread. We don’t have it here in Iowa but during our trip through the Dakotas and eastern Montana we had a chance to watch these agile little fellows several times. Seeds, berries, nuts, fruits and insects are on their menu and most of the time we saw them chewing or carry something to their burrow.

Sure, this is not a critter that is difficult to photograph but therefore the photo has to be a little different. Light, color, or gesture  This Least Chipmunk was busy finding something in this tree but when he or she paused and observed the surrounding neighborhood, it was time to press the shutter release button of the camera.

1/320 s, f/6.3, ISO 320, @600 mm, with Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head;

MA-KO’-SHI-KA

During the height of a day areas of badlands do not always reveal their beauty completely. This is in particular true for days with a lot of sunshine and hazy weather conditions. That wasn’t any different at our next destination, Makoshika State Park in eastern Montana. It is the largest state park in Montana (11,538 acres, 46.7 square kilometer) and the name originates from the Lakota phrase Ma-ko’-shi-ka, meaning ‘bad land’ or ‘bad earth’. The park is not just known for its badland formations but also for fossil remains of Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops and others. (source: http://stateparks.mt.gov/makoshika/)

Getting out of the sleeping bag at dawn and having the camera ready before the first rays of sun hit the rocks isn’t always easy, but there was no regret when the warm light started filling the canyons below our campsite.

All images: Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4G ED VR

THE WINKING MOUNTAIN

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

There are moments when the light unfolds in front of the lens where I clearly know that the final photo will be a black & white version. Not necessarily because the lack of colors, but indeed because of its graphic impact. This is true in particular if the landscape of so called badlands is your subject. Look at the mountain, hit by the bright light. Can you see how it talks, one eye open and the other one winking at us? OK, I admit I didn’t see that detail when I took the picture, but I saw seven different plains between foreground and sky, each of them in a different light, and that got me all excited to make the click.

STOP FOR THE PRONGHORN

Pronghorn, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

After eleven hours on the road you just want to get to the campsite, pitch your tent, and open a beer. As we entered Badlands National Park, South Dakota on the first day of the trip, this beautiful Pronghorn male stood next to the gravel road. We have been in this place many times before over the years and it felt like someone welcomed us back. You know you have arrived “Out West” when you see the first Pronghorn at close range. You gotta stop for the picture, the beer had to wait…