Your photos could use more South Dakota!

Thinking about a photography trip to South Dakota's Great Faces and Great Places? Hopefully you will find something useful here for making your own South Dakota photographs. You can search posts in the "Topics list" at the right or scroll down to see the most recent. By clicking on each individual photo, you can see a larger version. Enjoy...and please feel free to leave a comment!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Buffalo auction action

For a first-timer, the annual Custer State Park Buffalo Auction is an interesting site. While not as picturesque as the Buffalo Roundup that brings the animals into holding corrals, the auction serves an even bigger purpose in selling off excess animals to keep the park's herd down to a manageable size.

Most of the over 200 bison sold during the auction are auctioned off one-by-one.


Buyers come from across the country to start or build up their own ranch herds. Many of the animals are also sold for meat. A raised catwalk above the main sale arena allows different angles for photography.


Taking pictures like this and the first one above is relatively simple because the buffalo are behind heavy metal fences and gates.


The auction is held roughly one month after the roundup each year, mid-November. If you're interested, the 2009 sales totals and averages are listed at the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks website.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Spokane ghost town

Well, my little teasers about the 1890 ghost town of Spokane seem to have drawn quite a bit of interest, so here's the rest of the story.

Spokane can be found in the southern Black Hills' Custer County just off the Iron Mountain Road/Highway 16A very near it's intersection with the southern end of Forest Service Road 330. This is just north of northern border of Custer State Park and the Spokane Creek Campground. This is also very near the intersection with the "Playhouse Road" or Forest Service Road 753. GPS coordinates are N43-50.573 W103-23.031.

If you are on the Iron Mountain Road and come to the gravel Road 330, turn north, but only for a few yards before you will see a dirt road heading east into the trees with a secure Forest Service gate on it. Park here and hike up the gated road about one-half mile to find the first buildings. This is also a well-traveled horse path, so watch for four-legged traffic.

Spokane is probably one of the larger collections of ghost town buildings anywhere in the Black Hills. I did not even photograph every building I saw, and I'm guessing that I missed a few more scattered in the trees.


In Watson Parker and Hugh Lambert's book "Black Hills Ghost Towns," published in 1974, pictures show large headframe and mill buildings that I did not find. I wouldn't be surprised if they are no longer standing.

Spokane's schoolhouse is the largest building I did see. Unfortunately someone has stripped the siding and left it in danger of collapsing under a heavy snow or wind.



Very interesting is this root cellar (or bomb shelter, or dynamite storage facility?) with solid concrete walls and ceiling.



Most of the town is located in a fairly open valley, but wandering up the nearby tree-covered hillsides reveals more like this large house with a couple small mine pits in the yard.




An extra bonus for lovers of "old stuff," several cars are deteriorating along with the structures. One even has the looks of use as a race car before finding it's permanent resting spot here.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Spokane ghost town details

Before we get to exactly how to find and photograph the many buildings left standing in the Black Hills ghost town of Spokane, here are a few details available with a little exploring.

Several cars are scattered throughout the town, all showing the wear and tear of years of neglect and well-armed vandals (or maybe a Bonnie & Clyde style ambush?).




The buildings are likewise victims of weathering, but many are still standing tall considering the decades they have been unoccupied.


Speaking of vandalism, please resist the temptation to damage the antiquities or take a piece of history home with you. Your photos should be enough of a souvenir to remind you of your visit.


Next up will be views of the buildings and surrounding area.

www.dakotagraph.com

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Southern Black Hills ghost towns

For those of us who enjoy rustic remnants of days gone by, the Southern Black Hills of South Dakota can be a treasure trove of photo subjects.

A couple days of driving the highways and back roads of the Custer/Pringle/Edgemont areas can reveal many crumbling cabins and other artifacts of the early days of mining and homesteading. Here are just a few samples.

There's not much left of the town of Moon at the junctions of Forest Service roads 117 and 301, which is about as far straight west of Hill City as you can go and stay in South Dakota.


At the southern end of the same Forest Service Road 117, near it's junction with Highway 16 at the Wyoming border stands this lonely cabin.


About 11 miles south of Custer on Highway 385, the town of Pringle claims to be the "Elk Capitol of South Dakota." You can find a great set of old buildings and vehicles to work the angles with just north of town.






Heading into the extreme southwest corner of the state and eight miles south of Edgemont you will find the tiny ghost town of Provo. It is now the graveyard for hundreds of automobiles, which can make many fun photos.


If you like to explore places like this, I'll have a post about the ghost town of Spokane soon.

www.dakotagraph.com

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Budget Travel photo contest

Budget Travel magazine is running a photo contest that really needs some South Dakota images, don't you think?

Enter at Budget Travel Photo Contest. Deadline is December 1.

I don't see anything about prizes other than being published in the magazine, but that would pretty cool by itself.

www.dakotagraph.com

Monday, November 2, 2009

2010 Dakotagraph Calendars available

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I think having H1N1 flu for over a week is a pretty good excuse.

Anyway, just in time for holiday shopping, the new 2010 Dakotagraph calendars are available now along with a host of other great gifts for your favorite photography buff at cafepress.com. This year's calendar features wildlife from South Dakota and Wyoming.



Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Motorsports in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes

I promise I'll get back to South Dakota images soon, but for now here's some auto racing from Elko Speedway in Minnesota.

Shooting things just for fun frees up the creativity to try things that might not work in other photos. With fast-moving brightly-colored cars in dim lighting, camera settings and techniques fall into that "creative" space. A slow shutter speed, panning with the cars and then just a "little bit" of over-saturation in Photoshop yielded these fun images.




www.dakotagraph.com

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