Twoyaking

Twoyaking: The act of paddling with one regular sized person and one smaller person (preferably the larger persons child) in a one person boat. It is not exactly the easiest thing to do; taking photos from the kayak – made harder still with the addition of a 10 year old to the small boat. The missed shots mean nothing though, when compared to the time we’ve been having paddling about together. If you have the chance to cruise around in a kayak with your kid, I strongly recommend it especially if there’s the possible inclusion of beavers. This was our second adventure of this type, each has been exceptional. I’m having a hard time thinking of a better way to … Read More

Botany Canyon

My dear friend Lindsay and I wandered back to Botany Canyon this evening. It was a perfect evening in every sense of the word. Botany Canyon is for lack of better words, magical; all the way down to its geology. I’ll write up more about it tomorrow, mostly because I left the informational material we picked up in Lindsay’s car.

Yellowstone

Well, I took my extra day in Montana… My brother Jake and I did up Yellowstone, proper. Armed with a camera, some home brewed kombucha, wicked awesome, freshly made kale and quinoa salad; we hopped in the Prius hit the road for the largest super volcano in the world. The day was nothing less than epic. We got out of town at about 10:30 am (Only about 30 minutes later than planned) and got back to down at 10:45 pm. It was just over 12 hours of quality brother/sister/grizzly bear/elk/buffalo/geyser/raven/waterfall fun time. Oh and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the headstands. We drove to the West Gate of Yellowstone via the beautiful (if a bit foggy) Big Sky … Read More

Time Flies

Forgive me; this is going to get a little sentimental. Today we attended my daughter’s 5th grade graduation celebration. She’s closing the chapter on her elementary years and moving onto middle school. With most of life’s milestones, I am able to roll over them without much friction, but this one is hitting a little harder than the “first tooth” and the “no training wheels bike ride”. She’s growing up and she is doing a fine job. She is a wonderfully delightful young lady. As a mother I am constantly second guessing my parenting but I have no choice but to trudge onward and continue doing the best I can. She’s taken huge steps towards the independent direction but there are … Read More

Boats and Birds and Hail Storms

The clock was ticking by way too slowly for such a perfect spring Friday afternoon. I got a Facebook message from a dear  friend informing me that he and his family were in town for the weekend and wanted to get together. I told him that I had made plans to join some friends who were planning to camp at Center Lake in Custer State Park. They were eager to join the party and even offered to swoop me and Anna up and give us a ride. It was wonderful to see them again and catch up. Since our last encounter they had welcomed their son (2 and a half) into their lives. He was pure delight and I was so pleased … Read More

Mothers Day

I’m not sure it’s possible to have a better weekend. Aside from it being Mother’s Day weekend, and having a delightfully wonderful daughter and pretty much the best mom on the planet, I also was able to sneak in a hike and wrapped up the weekend with something so unexpectedly amazing I sincerely questioned whether or not I was awake or dreaming. _________________________________ F R I D A Y _________________________________ Anna (my daughter) and I kicked off the weekend with another evening drive out east of town. It was a pretty typical drive, but it did afford us a shower in a decent rain storm and a glimpse of some new-to-this-earth animals who were as fresh as they were cute. … Read More

The Osprey that Got Away

I was with a group of about 7 paddlers today at Jenny Gulch. I had to fallen behind the pack to make sure Tuesday was on the right side of the lake for the return home when I noticed an osprey flying along the opposite side of the water line and land in a tree not too far from me. I  thought about it for a while and almost passed it by, but decided to go ahead and try to get some shots. I paddled closer and closer to the tree where the raptor was perched, clicking along the way.  About 20 feet from the bird I noticed  that he  was bobbing his head back and forth – my camera … Read More

Cheyenne River and Beyond

I’ve been in the herd of buffalo at the Wild Idea Buffalo Ranch countless times before and it is never anything less than a mind blowing experience. But this weekend I got to experience the herd one on one – just me and them (and a 4 wheeler). I quickly jotted down notes as Jill told me, over the phone, which gates to go through and what direction to go to get to the buffalo. I didn’t really need to, I was so hungry for the experience, it seemed that her words just seared themselves in my brain. I took the long way to the ranch from HWY 79 onto the Lower Spring Creek Road. I stopped to snap a shot or two along … Read More

A different kind of May Day

There is a cadre of reasons why we Jump into one of the coldest lakes in the Black Hills each May Day This year, May 1st came after the conclusion of April (like it does every year). But this year’s April was not only the coldest April we’ve ever had in the Hills, but more snow fell in the month of April than has ever fallen in any month the Black Hills in recorded history (Now, I’ll encourage you to take a moment and ponder that a little bit if you need to… let it sink in). On top of all that it was also about 38 degrees at Pactola last night. I think you’re beginning to grasp what I’m getting at, … Read More

Happy Birthday Mom!

  I really didn’t wake up this morning thinking I would be out taking pictures of bluebirds… but to be honest, even if wasn’t a snow day, I would have likely found a way to wriggle out of work and go shooting. It was simply breath taking outside. They called a winter weather warning last night, which I instantly shrugged off. I was certain that because I was so sick of snow, it was just going to… not snow. But apparently my desire for the contrary wasn’t enough and the snow gods decided to give us one more dose of the white stuff. It dumped nearly 9 inches while we slept and when we woke up we were gifted yet another snow day. Now, could … Read More

Fly By

Its snowing again… Its April 21st… I’m over it. Yesterday though, was a gift. It was supposed to rain but it held off long enough for the sun to come out and melt off a majority of what we were given earlier in the week. Signs of spring are everywhere, but no where more than with in the mysterious dances of our feathered friends. I took a drive with my mom through the back roads to the north east of us and then a second trip into the woods with my cousin to find the blue birds. I’m not sure why its all about birds right now, but it seems to be regardless of intent. I’m enjoying my time with them though. … Read More

Chasing Meadowlarks

Once again, the question arose; “Do I want to go hills or plains?” this time though, the sky made the decision for me. Usually when I’m facing this decision I am trying to figure out which way to head out of town, but yesterday I was trying to decide which way to drive home from Spearfish. I looked towards the Black Hills and they were covered with grey flat clouds, to the east the sky was broken, brightly contrasted between the deep thick dark blue storm clouds and the bright white where the sun was trying to break through. You could just tell that was where the cool stuff was. I used the GPS on my phone to suggest a … Read More

Magic Ice

Last year, somewhere around the end of March, a group of us ventured out in search of some water to throw our kayaks in. For some reason, we thought Deerfield Lake (the coldest, highest lake in the Black Hills) was the best place to go. First we stopped off at Flag Mountain to stretch our legs and enjoy a good view. There we noticed we could see all the way to the lake and were heartbroken by its very obvious still-frozen-ness. We decided that there was no harm in venturing down there anyway and took the road through Reynolds Prairie and down to the Northwest side of the lake. To our delight, we were greeted with a roughly 6-10 foot ribbon of water … Read More

New ground and friendly faces.

Today, the weather was perfect. That perfect early spring temperature where you feel the sun melt into your skin for the first time in months, where it almost hurts it feels so good. Today was also Good Friday and by all accounts and purposes that was a good enough reason to blow off work and run off to the hills with a pack of dogs and my favorite blond friend Jax. We decided to stroll into uncharted territory and check out the Trail head at the base of the Pactola Dam. The funny thing about the hike was that, despite it being new territory to us, we knew a handful of the first people we ran into out there.  That didn’t last long though, we were … Read More

ART ALLEY: vulnerable beauty, organic creation, endless potential

There is something interesting unfolding in my city right now. Rapid City, South Dakota is a funny place, it isn’t quite big and it isn’t quite small. Within that conundrum we find ourselves with problems that no one has ever really dealt with before. Our current turmoil seems to be bubbling over a (not so) secret gem located in the heart of our downtown: Art Alley. Back in 2003(ish) a group of people decided to combat a vandalism problem in an alley through encouragement. This story was recently told by Dennis Halterman at an Art Ally Guild meeting: (forgive me Dennis, I am paraphrasing because I didn’t take very good notes) “There has always been vandalism back there. I was talking to a gentleman the other day who was telling me … Read More

Ooops…

I dont know about you but I am ready for spring. Its not to say I’m not thoroughly enjoying my adventures out into the elements, but today we had a pretty close brush with vulnerability I could have done with out. When Amy got in the van I simply said, “Hills or Prairie?” To which she replied “prairie.” We decided the best route would be south on HWY 79 and then east on Lower Spring Creek Road. The occasional snow drift across the road didn’t get to bad until we were pretty much all the way out into Nowhere. You see, out there there is not much to block the wind or anything that might get caught up in it. Last week it was dust, this … Read More

At Last

Three excursions, and a couple hundred miles later I finally found the illusive big horned sheep in the Badlands – the weather was incredible (and I don’t mean that in a “it was really nice out” kind of way) I think we experienced nearly every form of weather there is on our trip including a body beating dust and wind storm that was out of this world. We survived though and got a couple great photos along the way. I think all in all the lesson I learned over the last 3 days is simply enjoy the ride. My quest to find these sheep lead me all over the Black Hills (and beyond) and I met some other fine creatures along the way. These … Read More

Winter Coats

The infamous Black Hills weather stayed true to its reputation today as I drove to the same spot I visited 2 days ago when I left work because of a severe case of spring fever. Today though, instead of been met with sunshine and lazy wildlife I was greeted with what we lovingly refer to as a freak Spring blizzard. I swear I have never seen snow flakes so big in my life. I was able to find a few willing beasts out there who showed their good sides for the camera.

Custer State Safari

Today, much to my boss’ schigrin, I took the afternoon off and B-lined it for the Wild Life Loop in Custer State Park. I was actually looking for some big horned sheep but came up empty handed on that front. All was not lost though, I was able to spot a few very nice critters down there and even some nice light to capture them in. Here’s a couple shots from the day.

Why I LOVE my iPhone…

Over the weekend, we headed East to the Cheyenne River Ranch to visit our favorite Wild Idea Buffalos. The trip didn’t disappoint and I could go on and on about the morning spent with buffalo, but I think that’s a whole separate post. What I want to talk about here has to do with the above photo.  I snapped the shot on the way back from the ranch… right out the front windshield of the truck. I took the shot because the moment inspired me. I used my iPhone because it was in my lap. The big camera was all packed up in the bag and not as accessible. But perhaps the coolest thing was that I was able to do the photo editing and upload it … Read More

MY Top 8 photos from 2011

Well, It has been quite a year. I feel that I’ve grown leaps and bounds this year as a photographer, and with the addition of the new 5D(!!!!!!!) the sky’s the limit for 2012. I thought I’d take a minute and pull my favorite photos from this past year and tell you a little bit about the shots.              

Big Fish

I had the pleasure of snapping this today, while were out on a photoshoot. If you dont know about those little Strider bikes, get on that there googles and check um out. There’s super.

Happy Halloween.

Whoops. Looks like Fort Fear has done it again, no time for anything besides Fort Fear. But, here it is Halloween and I’m completly spent. I have no energy for anything, yet my mind wonders and I’m thinking, “what can i throw together last minute for a costume” (and by last minute, I mean, in like 20 minutes.) I wanted to pop on though, and post this song for the day… cause it fits. Tombstones and a Bottle of Whiskey Happy Halloween!

Inventory

… We walked through the isles of the grocery store this morning as Anna gathered her supplies for her first day of business outside of Asio Studio – She got her lemonade, her cups and some ribbon. The ribbon is to wrap around her stories. That’s right, she’s selling lemonade AND stories. I believe her first one is about a Jelly Fish who runs for president. Come on by sometime in the future and get yourself a glass of cool lemonade for $0.50 or pick up an original story by Anna for $5.00. She’s awesome!

Lang Termes plays First Friday

I had a great weekend. It was a different kind of weekend filled with peace and friendship. I may post on that later, but I want to spend this time talking about how we kicked off the weekend. Asio packed up early and headed north for First Friday in Spearfish. My cousin Lang Termes was headlining. We stopped off to see Grandpa before we headed downtown to hear Lang. Here are a few shots I took at the concert. [photospace]

Enterprising

My daughter has informed me that she is going to sell enough lemonade and raise enough money for the two of us to go to Hawaii. Now, I’m fairly certain I am perfectly ok with this plan… so much so that I created this sign for the front of her stand. Now maybe she can talk her Uncle D into making her a sweet store front…

Julie’s Lamps

Dylan and I have been making trips up to Rockerville to take photos of Julie Lien’s beautiful lamps. When she asked me if I wanted to do the photos of her lamps I jumped at the chance, one because it was a way to get paid to take pictures and two because I knew it was going to be a challenge. Boy was I right. These lamps are tricky, and each one has its own personality, but I’ve truely enjoyed the chance to figure out how to capture each one. I look forward to more trips up the hill in the future, but for now, here’s what I’ve got. [photospace]

Anna in the Clouds

This pic was shot the other day up on Skyline after Summer Nights downtown Rapid City.