In the badlands ...... Jerry Mercier

It was an hour before sunrise when I got to the east side of Badlands National Park.

Just in time.

I walked along the wall of eroded rock formations looking to create interesting images using the shapes and colors in the morning sky.

Occasionally I pointed my camera to the west, where pyramid shaped rocks caught the early morning light.

But I was pretty certain everything good was going to be to the east.

There were clouds to catch the light and color.

And the sun was just about to rise.

I was all alone as the sun broke the horizon and I laughed out loud when I realized just how cool this sunrise might be.

As the sun became visible in the gap between rock formations, I realized by moving my tripod a few inches or several feet I'd be able to control the placement and amount of sun in each frame. 

This was perfect. 

I could decide if the sun was left, right, or center in the frame and just how much I included.

I happily kept at it until the light started to get a bit flat. 

Then made a quick stop at one of my favorite spots, knowing the light wouldn't be the best. It was just good to be there, pictures or not.

Then I put the camera away, grabbed the tripod and made my way back to the car.

I knew if I hurried, I could make it to this spot before the shadows disappeared. I wanted to try adding a person to the image and did, but it didn't really work.

So, I went back to just badlands. What a great morning.

At sunrise ..... Jerry Mercier

 I got to a small lake in northern Wisconsin half an hour before sunrise.

The weather report called for 40% cloud cover and 3mph winds.

Lucky for me, they were right.

I quicky set up the tripod and got to work. 

I was hoping for more dramatic sunrise colors but was happy with the reflections and clouds that I got.

Only 25 minutes after I arrived, shortly after I made this image most of the clouds disappeared.

I stayed for half an hour more and captured these reflections on the other side of the lake.

On the way back ...... Jerry Mercier

In April 2015 my dad and I drove from Wisconsin to western South Dakota to spend a couple of days at Badlands National Park and Custer State Park.

On our way back we happened to be driving by a wind farm in southwestern Minnesota just before sunrise.

Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and because the eastern sky was a beautiful orange.

We pulled off I-90, I got a camera out and started to capture some images.

I liked the juxtaposition of wind energy and solar and it was very lucky how the timing, angles and colors all came together.

After only ten minutes the sun was high above the wind turbines and most of the color was muted. 

I took that as my cue to quit shooting and put the camera away. Then we got back on I-90 heading east to Wisconsin.

A sunflower ...... Jerry Mercier

 I found one very good-looking sunflower in northern Wisconsin a few days ago.

It was evening and already in shadow when I first saw it, so I thought I'd photograph it the next afternoon. I didn't. 

It was rainy, windy and overcast for the next two days. Finally, on the third day the sun was out, so I gave it a try.

Lucky for me the flower was no worse for wear and still looked great.

It was one of eight plants and the only one with good color and attractive petals.

(Though several bumble bees visited while I made these photos and they seemed to find them all attractive.)

The temperature was 83 degrees and felt hot.

I wanted to ensure I created some decent images, as it would likely be my only chance to photograph sunflowers this year.

So I stayed at it. Trying different angles and compositions.

Shooting in full sunlight as well as in shade.

Occasionally the wind was pretty brisk and a moving flower doesn't make for sharp images.

So, I pressed on. 

Waiting for the sun to reappear and the wind to stop, if only for a minute.

And I'm glad that I did.

In the end I made several hundred photos of the sunflower that will take a bit of time to edit, but I already know I like eleven of them. 

Lake Superior sunrise ..... Jerry Mercier

Waiting on sunrise along the shore of Lake Superior near Washburn Wisconsin.

After a short wait a bit of color started to show.

As the sun tried to make it through the clouds the water turned silver with touches of hot pink on the horizon.

Just a few minutes later, dark clouds and fiery reds.

And then it was gone.

Leaving simple patterns and pastels.

And finally, a lone cloud along the shoreline.

Warm in the badlands.... Jerry Mercier

It was overcast in late November and cold where I lived in Wisconsin. Winter was gonna last a long time. I checked the weather forecast for Wall South Dakota and it said several days of sun and highs in the 70s. 

With that I put my stuff in the car and headed west.

Ten hours later I was in Badlands National Park making images at sunrise and thankful that I made the choice.

The light didn't last long before the sun disappeared behind clouds but that was alright with me. I put my camera away and drove through the park towards the city of Wall. It was warm and I had my windows open.

The plan was to stop at Wall Drug. (just because I was near Wall Drug) Then get some gas and food and head back to the park by early afternoon and see what I could do with sunset. (above is the park road)

Everything went to plan and early afternoon found me a mile or so from the car amid some cool looking eroded rock formations.

The days aren't very long in western South Dakota in late November so I had to hustle to get some images as the sun moved towards the horizon.

When I say hustle, I mean I was literally running to get to the different rock formations. Always playing with colors, sky, shadows and light.

The variables constantly changing as I hurried to capture the beauty around me.

Often I've found it impossible to hide my shadow while photographing the landscape out there.

Since that's the case. I've embraced my shadow and started intentionally incorporating it into some of the images as in the photo above.

The idea is to have fun and just keep moving until sunset. There are so many beautiful features and such a limited amount of time before the light's gone.

The difference between great colors and pretty mundane stuff can be the matter of a few inches or feet one way or the other. 

The angles between the lens, rocks and sun make all the difference. I'm not sure how big this feature appears here, but in real life it's more than a quarter mile around it and some of it is impassable due to vertical rock walls and other features.

The point being, I had to cover a lot of ground to get where I needed to be to make the images I was hoping for. And it was a lot of fun.

So I'm really glad it was warm in Badlands National Park last November and I decided to go out there.