Photos from the Dakotas

In May, I taught two photo workshops in the Dakotas. The first was in the Badlands and Black Hills and the second was in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Both were great.

I love those areas of the Dakotas and always look forward to visiting them. This trip was no different and we had stunning conditions for photography on both workshops.

The first workshop was in the Badlands and Black Hills. During that workshop a participant was surprised that I was teaching how to shoot into the sun at sunrise and sunset. On other workshops that he had taken, the instructors shot away from the sunset to capture the light.

I think both approaches work well. I do notice that shots into the sun with the sun showing a starburst tend to do better on social media than sidelight photos. But that shouldn’t stop you from taking both types.

Both direct shots and sidelight shots can be stunning and during sunrises and sunsets, you should be watching for them. Here are a few examples of sidelight shots. The first two are after sunrise, and the last two are before sunset.

The last one is from a location where at this time of the year, you can’t see the sun at sunset. But the light across those ancient rocks is so beautiful at sunset.

After the Badlands and Black Hills workshop was over, I had a few days. I decided to shoot a new sunset spot to see how it would go. Before that I went to Hot Springs, SD to get dinner, and then I detoured to the national cemetery. Despite having lived in Rapid City and explored the Hot Springs area often, I had never stopped at the VA hospital in Hot Springs before. That was a mistake! It’s beautiful. It was opened in 1907 and is still in operation today.

This relates a bit to my last newsletter. Don’t pass up stuff on the way to your destination. I was running late and almost skipped getting this building under the blue sky with the golden sidelight splashing across its sandstone bricks, because I was focused on getting to a new sunset spot.

In Theodore Roosevelt National Park, I shot more into the sun at sunrises and sunsets because that area works so well for those types of shots, but I found a “new” sidelight location. I had shot near this spot in the past, but I usually did sunset with the group in another spot. Well, this group didn’t like the other spot, so we changed locations and got this.

Here are two shots shooting directly into the sunrise or sunset, respectively.

I also shot more infrared in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I love that infrared works well in the middle of the day when traditional color photography might not.

After I started sharing TRNP photos from the trip, I got a comment on a post that a person thought the Teddy Roosevelt was the most boring national park. While that might have been true for her, I often find that opening my eyes and looking around in an area that might seem boring changes my perspective. While I love TRNP, I do try to see new things on each visit. And seeing sidelight at sunrise and sunset in the park was a new perspective for me.

Until next time

To sum up, don’t get caught just shooting into the sun at sunrise or sunset, and don’t get caught just shooting sidelight at sunrise or sunset. You can do both, and both can result in stunning photos.

I’m taking a break for the Dakotas in 2025, but I plan on bringing back the Dakotas into my 2026 workshop lineup. If you are interested, let me know. If you’re interested in infrared, then consider snagging the open space on my Aug 15-18, North Shore Infrared Adventure.

I’ll close out with an IR false color shot of a storm that passed north of us in TRNP. There was one passing south of us, too. We were in the right spot to avoid both. I’ll see you again in two weeks.