Sunrises everywhere are spectacular. The Badlands takes it to the extreme. We all headed out just before daybreak to the Badlands of South Dakota. As we arrived the very first of the sun’s rays were beginning to show. As the light began to shine across the Badlands, we all were amazed at the color and formations of the Badlands. I have never seen such a landscape! The Canyons, and rock formations show various levels of color and texture, and change throughout the sunrise. Truly something to see with your own eyes! Our Mentors, Layne Kennedy and Mark Alberhasky, once again lived up to and exceed expectations of the group. Both have a great passion (and patience) for teaching and photography. They took the time where available…(on the bus, at the locations, at meal breaks) to answer questions, guide us along, and finally, to solve problems that we may have ran into.
From the Badlands we traveled off to a Prairie Dog town. These little guys are the funniest and energetic critters to watch. They bark at you and sound like a large squeaky toy. And just as you get close they pop down into their holes only to pop up elsewhere. As they wait and check out who is watching them, they make a wonderful subject against the meadows and fields of wild flowers.
We traveled through the Black Hills to Custer State Forrest, and the Game Lodge. On Saturday, it was off to the Wild Mustang Sanctuary. This wonderful ranch allows a place for mustangs and other horses to roam free on a large area in pretty much their natural habitat. These are “wild” mustangs and don’t really take to people normally, but allowed for all of us to get some close to them, and take some wonderful shots. This ranch was one of the areas where “
Dances with Wolves” was filmed. On this ranch are areas that the Native Americans still use for ceremonies and celebrations. It’s truly an experience that makes you realize the history of the area. Also, located on some of the rock formations are Petroglyphs. Ancient drawings and carvings of early man. Really fascinating to see.
The Wildlife loop of Custer Forrest is home to many different creatures and birds. In this trek, our timing could not have been better. The Bison were calving, and there were numerous opportunities for us to photograph new born with their mothers. The Prong Horn deer where everywhere. They are a bit skittish, but did not always run right away, so there was ample time to get great shots of them. The Wild Burrows are not as intimidated by people. They love to check for handouts, and get a little bit pushy about it. They will actually stick their heads in the windows of cars if they think they can get some food.
The weather was very forgiving, and did it’s best to hold off the rain, and the cloud cover was very conducive of soft light. And sometimes there were some awe inspiring moments captured.
Sunday took us to some inspirational work. Mt Rushmore is something of a patriotic sculpture that has many different angles to get photographed from. The tour bus driver did some creative driving as you take the small roads through tunnels of solid rock that really are meant for horse and buggy, not HUGETOUR BUSES, but he got us through them effortlessly. You have to walk around the Presidential Trail to get the various angles and options of photographing it. Throughout the park, you will find various different subjects including Mountain Goats and the Sculpture’s Studio. From here, traveling to the next monument, we stopped at Crazy Horse. This is a work in progress, and there is distinctive angles and options for this site. The progress is slow on the mountain, but is something to compare to the model. Really something to see and follow its progress.
A trek would not be complete without having an opportunity to work with a model, and South Dakota was no exception. We worked with a fly fisherman in one of the streams located in the Black Hills area. This gave everyone the opportunity to work with light and shadow while trying to get the perfect fly fisherman shot.
The Mentor Series team ALWAYS matches some of the greatest photographers/mentors with the trips and locations.
- Chauncey Davis
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