Airshow - Practice Round

This weekend is the Sioux Falls Airshow. It is a great event and best of all it is FREE!

I took today off to do some practice shooting of the planes since they go through their practice rounds also. I am still in awe that they can even get off the ground let alone flipping this way and that and flying upside down! The practice round went ok for me. I have got a few settings figured out on my camera which helped a lot.  FYI----I went through one 8GB card just shooting today! YIKES!  

I sure do love the old planes, but the vapor trails around the jets are pretty darn cool also.  

Our local camera shop, Harold's Photo and Tamron Lenses are sponsoring a workshop this weekend in conjunction with the airshow.  We will be photographing the planes pretty early tomorrow morning and shooting throughout the day....I CAN'T WAIT! 

If you are in town, get out there an enjoy this awesome event, but make sure you stay hydrated and have sunscreen!

Here are a few of the images from my practice round!

(I am saving some of the Blue Angel photos for a future post!)

Bad River Road.......

The human spirit needs places where nature

has not been rearranged by the hand of man. ~Author Unknown

This past weekend we were visiting friends in Pierre, SD.  Saturday morning I was able to sneak out and do a little photo shooting along the Bad River Road

just south and west of Ft Pierre, SD. 

This is an amazing area with stunning prairie views and no lack of wildlife. 

I was even lucky enough to see Ted Turner's HUGE herd of buffalo!  Turner owns 141,357 acres along the Bad River. I am not sure how many head of buffalo he has at the Bad River Ranch, but the estimate total head of buffalo at all the ranches he owns is around 55,000!

I was tempted to call this entry bird on a post. You will get the point as you look at the photos. I had one hawk sit on a post and pose for me, stretching out his wing.  At one point it seemed like there were hawks on every other fence post!  I have never seen so many in one area.

The list of wildlife from the early morning trip goes as follows: buffalo, deer, antelope with two kids, snake, wild turkey, hawks, burrowing owls, prairie dogs, phesants and numerous birds!

I also took a not so great picture of a burrowing owl poking its head out of a burrow. From what I have read they like living around burrowing mamals. The will take over the burrow or make their own and line it with cow pies or some sort of animal dung! Now there is a nice

potpourri scent you won't find at any big box store! 

This is a wonderful area to take an early morning drive. It is just what the human spirit needs.

You can always find something on the Prairie to shoot!

This past Sunday, I decided to head to Blue Mound State Park in Luverne, MN for some photo ops.  It was on a recommendation from a previous visit to come back in June or July, because the prairie flowers would be blooming.   Even though the one plant I wanted to photograph, Prairie Smoke, had already bloomed in May, I did find some interesting subjects not to mention the clouds!

Vertical Buildings................

Beautiful buildings are more than scientific. They are true organisms, spiritually conceived; works of art, using the best technology by inspiration rather than the idiosyncrasies of mere taste or any averaging by the committee mind. - Frank Lloyd Wright

Last weekend we ventured to Minneapolis for the weekend. We stayed downtown to be in the heart of the city and  I am sure glad we did as it allowed some urban photography.

I have always been drawn to architecture, from my high school drafting classes to architectural engineering classes at the local vo-tech. There is just something about the simple lines of some buildings and the very detailed craftsmanship of the older buildings that pull me in every time.

1880 Town Revisited?

This is another shot from the 1880's Town in South Dakota, taken a couple weeks ago. The magic of photoshop made this a real interesting image!

Camera Clubs Converge on 1880 Town

A couple photographers had an idea to gather camera club members and photography lovers from around the state. The idea was to meet at a central location, shoot, network and have some fun.

The name: South Dakota Camera Club Roundup
The location: 1880 Town

Information was sent out. The day arrived and little did we know, that Mother Nature would have a BIG hand in the event.

Friday evening we were to meet at the 1880 town around 6pm and shoot until 9pm-ish. The sky looked a little iffy, but we all forged on and snapped pictures.  Those of us that stuck it out were treated to the forming of a wall cloud and great lightening.  We hoped that Saturday morning the skies would clear and we would have great weather, but it was not to be. A few more brave souls arrived for the morning shoot. There was a lot of talking about future events like this one and a little more picture taking.   Oh, and we also saw a film crew getting ready to shoot a pilot for a movie about a Chinese cowboy.  Interesting concept!

Thanks to Chad Coppess and Ted Ayers for getting this off the ground. I look forward to more photography adventures from around our state! 

Here are a few shots from the weekend.....

Good evening blog readers!

I haven't been doing much photography as of late, but hope to get out there in the next few weeks.

In the mean time, I thought I would pass along some information to my faithful three readers about events currently going on and upcoming in the local area.

The Washington Pavilion has a great exhibit called, Ansel Adams: Masterworks. This is an exhibition that features a collection of 48 works by Ansel Adams. The exhibition runs until June 3.

A new exhibit will be featured at the Washington Pavilion May 18- August 12 called Beauty in the Beast featuring works by Mary Groth, Nancyjane Huel, Dale Lamphere and Paul Schiller. 

If you plan it right you can see both of the exhibits above in just one trip, but time is running!

The Camera Club Roundup is a new event that will draw photographers from the area for a unique place to photograph, at the 1880 town.  The event is free, except for admission to the 1880 town. No real set schedule. Just a bunch of shutterbugs gathering to have fun. The dates for this event are May 18-19. You don't have to be a camera club member to join in on the fun.  More information about the event can be found here.

Get out there and enjoy life!