Category Archives: Badlands
Prairie Dog Love
Friends, this morning is about prairie dogs, especially why there are so many in the North Dakota Badlands, Love ! Prairie Dog Love starts with a simple hug and a kiss.
Leads to large litters of 4-6 little ones
Then lots of work, feeding and taking care of little ones leaves the adults all tuckered out in the late afternoon.
Lighting Lesson
Friends, Practicing my hdr technique, this image was composited from three exposures, one right on and one overexposed and one underexposed. The sky was trying to wash out and the shadows on the right trees were getting lost in the dark. So hdr was used to reclaim those details. When I first explored the world of photography, I was told to put the sun at my back and shoot, but this often results in a flat image with details obscured. While attending a workshop on butterfly photography, the leader emphasized that the wing details can be enhanced by side lighting, This hill is a great example of side lighting bringing out the erosion details. So are you going to try??, til Tomorrow MJ
Flower Details
Friends, I am editing some flower images from our badlands trip this spring. I cannot decide whether I like the grainy image at the top or the bottom softer version of this image. Which do you like the best? Either way I think the bottom treatment is a way to reduce the grainy noise that i sometimes get in my images or maybe i am going in circles. In the bottom image I have softened the details then run the Nik Colorefex Low Key filter. In the top image I have run the Low Key filter directly over the Extract Detail filter. I think that there is a dramatic difference. Hmmmm, a constant learning process til Tomorrow MJ
Stampede
Friends, on our recent trip to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, we found ourselves parked in front of a stampeding herd of Bison. A storm was moving in and they were leaving the high ground and moving into the ravines and gullies. I added the lightning for a more dramatic effect. Can you see the baby bison hurrying along, til Tomorrow MJ
Portrait or Blur
Friends, these images are two renditions of a western kingbird, which do you like, the sharp portrait or the pleasing blur,?, i personally like the blur because it is a challenge to capture and it is a bit different. These birds are often perched on top of the prairie dog mounds and constantly shopping for insects . til Tomorrow MJ
Weekly Photo Challenge:Companion
Friends, Jim and Bubba are my companions on most of my adventures, especially those away from home, we like to travel and this image was taken on our spring trip to badlands, South Dakota and North Dakota to compare notes on geology, plants, animals and weather. The North Dakota bads won in my judgement, but I also have a sentimental attachment there as my grandparents lived there when i was a child. Now with Jim and Bubba I travel the badlands searching for what I have already found, love, til Tomorrow MJ
Prairie Smoke
Friends, this tiny flower is commonly called prairie smoke and when the flowers are in this red phase, the name is not appropriate, but when the prairie is covered with the exploded seed head as in the image below, one can see the resemblance to smoke rising from the grasses. til Tomorrow MJ
Badlands Flicker
Friends, back to the badlands today with this Northern Flicker singing in the cottonwoods of the Cottonwood Campground. This site was once my grandfather and grandmothers ranch where they raised five children on the banks of the Little Missouri River. Today campers and birds and an occasional bison that wanders thru are the inhabitants. til Tomorrow MJ
Vetch
Friends, this little vetch is greeting the morning with a purple glow, I am experimenting with a foggy blurred attitude, but the sun is shining so I guess i will venture outdoors and go look for some birdies, til Tomorrow MJ
Badger Digs
Friends, you may ask yourself while traveling thru Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the North Dakota Badlands, why are all these prairie dog towns here? Well to feed the badgers and coyotes. This little badger was digging furiously into a prairie dog hole, but the dogs were running out the back door as he was digging into the front door. The joke is on him, see the dirt on his nose, til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 