A UNIQUE ROCK

Little Missouri National Grassland, North Dakota, September 2020

When we drove by at this solitary towering sandstone rock on the way to the Elkhorn unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the morning, I saw some potential for a black & white image if some elements in the sky would be present. The unique shape of this rock drew our attention and how long it took for wind, rain, and snow to form it from sandstone that ones was a layer of sand on the bottom of a shallow sea, filled with abundant marine life.

While driving back from President Roosevelt’s former ranch in the afternoon a few clouds just moved through and we tried to take advantage of it. I remember that I had the camera slightly tilted to the right to give the grassy slope a little less presence in the photo. Other than climbing up the steep slope, it was an easy click to be made. In post process I applied a red filter B&W preset to make the sky darker and let the rock and single cloud stand out.

LOCATIONS: BACKBONE STATE PARK / IOWA

In my last blog post I mentioned a location here in eastern Iowa we hadn’t visited for a while but a nice hike last Sunday made me considering it more often for future wildlife or landscape shootings.

Backbone State Park is a heavily forested area, mainly oaks and maples, measuring over 2000 acres (8.1 km2). As part of the driftless area it was left unglaciated during the last ice age. It has an interesting geology with ancient dolomite formations dating from the Silurian period. A large ridge of rock divides the park, resembling a spine, and lends its name to the park and adjacent forest. The area is characterized by active springs, caves, sinkholes and karsts. (source: Wikipedia)

A lake was created by building a dam across the Maquoketa River in 1933/34 and during my hike along the shore I found ducks, geese, a pair of Hooded Mergansers, and finally saw three Eastern Phoebes catching insects by perching on branches hanging over the water. The phoebe is a sure sign that spring is just around the corner, despite the fact that we had some light snow again today…

It was the pattern of old snow below one of the rock formations that made me push the shutter button. At this time of the year (no sign of any green yet) and with last Sunday’s gray overcast it was not so easy to “romance” the landscape. I tried to combine the textures of the grass, snow, rocks, and the trees on the slope and let the river guide the eye through the image.

Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4G ED VR, @ 200 mm, 1/320 s, f/8, ISO 200

SCALE AND PROPORTION

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South unit, North Dakota

If you follow my photography since a while already you may have recognized that I hardly ever have people in my landscape pictures. This is just my style and the way I like it. But sometimes I make an exception. The two young men are clearly not the subject of my photo but their presence and size helps to give some scale and proportion to my subject, the rock formations of this canyon, illuminated by the setting sun. I have the same image without the two guys but finally I like this one better for said reason.

On a side note, the two discussed having a wedding shoot between these rocks and how they wanted to do it. I thought it was a great idea and out of the ordinary.