These are wide images, so you may want to rotate your phone.
This fall, I was finally able to take a little more time to explore the Badlands in South Dakota. Even though it resides in my home state, I have ignored it far too long in terms of a thorough, investigative photo trip. We spent some time on our way through to the Black Hills, and drove back through again on the way home to see the Badlands in late afternoon light. Thankfully, conditions cooperated and gave us all kinds of different light and clouds.
The earth twists and turns, forming all kinds of photographic possibilities. So this bad land is actually dream land for photographers like me.
So why is it called the Badlands?
The early French fur traders called the White River badlands les mauvaises terres à traverser or 'bad lands to traverse', perhaps influenced by the Lakota people who moved there in the late 1700s and who referred to the terrain as mako sica, meaning 'bad land' or 'eroded land'.
Read all about this majestic place.
Here's my first batch of pictures of the Badlands.
I hate saying this, but this time around, compression really crushed the nuances in these photos of the Badlands. The colors are hard to describe, and these don't do them justice, but still have to show them to you...
Thanks to the willpower of my family, we started the trek from Sioux Falls South Dakota at 3am so we could make it to the Badlands by sunrise. We were not disappointed.
The textured trails led to the amazing shapes jutting out from the earth.
The sun kissed the surfaces and unveiled all the subtle surpirses.
I wanted to capture an image that showed the vastness of the Badlands.
An elevated lookout point in the Badlands showed the wildly changing ways of the Badlands from one point to another.
Along the way, we were greeted by bighorn sheep.
I came across this view and couldn't believe the wide scale view of the terrain. The glowing golden tree in the distance made it more perfect than I could imagine. The full size of this picture measures 10-feet long in full resolution.
This is an area that is easy to pass by. As we drove I saw a blink of colored foliage. After walking down the path, I was greeting by all kinds of fall colors. More pictures to come of this scene!
I walked along this amazing place when I discovered this ball of tiny, dazzling leaves. The sun would catch them in just the right way to reveal that it truly was a glittering prize.
The cloud patterns would add even more to these amazing scenes.
I look forward to taking another photo trip to the Badlands at a different time of year to see the differences. I have to say, the subtle tones and colors in fall are pretty remarkable and will be hard to beat.
