From the previous blog, you can tell I have been out shooting a few picks. The pictures were from the Black Hills Photo Shoot Out last weekend in the Black Hills of SD. What a vast array of subjects to photograph in the Hills.
This was the first year of the shoot out and from what I understand, it will not be the one and only! It was a lot of fun. Friday evening was sort of a social gathering of sorts and meeting some of the "celebrity" local photographers. I picked up Paul Horsted's books and of course he was kind enough to autograph it for me.
Saturday morning was a long drive for me. We decided to stay in Custer for our vacation and also to be closer to the EARLY morning session on Sunday. So, I hit the road and traveled to Spearfish. It is just under a two hour drive. My first session was "Black Hills Up Close". We did a little mile hike into the Roughlock Falls area in Spearfish Canyon. Even though the sky was overcast it was a nice little trek. We were able to photograph Roughlock Falls and then do some macro shooting along the trail on the way back. Macro shooting is all up close stuff. There is so much you can do with macro it can be overwhelming as to what to focus on and shoot. I was just doing some random shots of leaves, foliage and such.
The Saturday afternoon session was the Jeep Tour. Let me just say, that this was well worth the money for the workshop! Jerry Rawlings lead the tour with a bunch of his friends and their trusty steeds (Jeeps) and one town car (Ford Explorer) as they call it. It was great that Jerry's friends chipped in to help out their buddy and show us an area of Spearfish Canyon that not many get to see. We drove through the Wharf Gold Mine, the only active gold mine in the hills. We made a stop at Preston which is now a ghost town. There are only two buildings standing and one caved in log cabin. There is also an old cemetery there with only one stone carved headstone dating 1905. The others are made out of wood and are no longer legible. The next stop was the rim of Spearfish Canyon. It was AMAZING from up there! I can only imagine what the colors would be like this weekend when the aspens have turned. We were almost above the Roughlock Falls / Spearfish Falls area. After taking a vote, we drove over to another place on the rim for another view. All I can say is WOW! We headed back to Spearfish but not until we made one more stop to take pics. It was just before we got back to the Wharf Mine. All of a sudden the jeeps were pulling over and it was like a Chinese fire drill....people grabbing camera equipment and running across the road to capture the event. There it was, Spearfish Mountain, just the top peaking through the clouds. The clouds made it look like an island! AMAZING! We made it back down a little later than we were expected, but it was our choice to seek out the other view from the rim. Saturday night was our keynote speaker, George Lepp. He is an awesome photographer that lives in Colorado Springs. Check out his web page here. Of course I had to buy his wildlife photography book. His wife also had a hand in writing the book so they both signed it and then George personalized it for me. He is a nice guy. He had never been in the Black Hills to shoot before and was enjoying it. After the session it was the long drive back to Custer. This time I had two fellow photographers following me to the cabin,Cycling Cathy and Sandy Brady. We all stayed at the same resort on Saturday and Sunday evening.
Sunday morning we (me, Cycling Cathy and Sandy) got up EARLY and left the cabin by 5am to make it to our meeting place by 5:45am at the buffalo coral area in the wildlife loop area of Custer State Park. The morning was very foggy so not a great amount to shoot but we did find, spiders, and foliage. Then it was off to find the BIG guys, buffalo. After taking a bit of a break, Cycling Cathy and I headed to the bathroom and when we came out of the house, everyone was gone! We tried to find them but no luck so we did our own adventure through Custer State Park. We saw prairie dogs, buffalo, bull elk just harvested by a hunter, pronghorn antelope and of course the scenery and company was awesome! We headed back to Custer and hooked up with Kris for some sandwiches, soup and of course any cyclist favorite desert, pie!
The Sunday afternoon session was Spokane Ghost Town. What a place! There are quite a few buildings standing there yet, but some are far apart from each other. Lots of old cars around also and one grave at the top of the hill which stated the fella had been murdered because of a mine claim dispute. I have to say that I was getting very tired at that point and my pictures sure showed it. I wasn't really setting up my shots like I should as that session progressed but that is ok....it was still fun to hike around an take it all in. We, me and Cycling Cathy, headed back to town and hooked up with Sandy and Kris and after getting cleaned up, we headed to downtown Custer to the Bugling Bull. Kind of a sports bar on one side and a nice restaurant on the other side. GOOD FOOD and I got to try out some Crow Peak beer! YUMMY!
Monday, Kris and I headed home but not until we drove the Needles Hwy and by Mt Rushmore. I was SO TIRED and starting to come down with a cold but of course couldn't sleep in the car for whatever reason. Abe on the other hand had no problem at all sleeping!
The Shoot Out was AWESOME! If you get a chance to go to this event in the future, you will not be disappointed! Check out the pool pictures from the event here.
Mt Rushmore
"George"
Needles Highway-Black Hills, SD
"The Beast"-Spokane Ghost Town-Black Hills, SD
Spokane Ghost Town-Black Hills, SD
Spokane Ghost Town-Black Hills, SD
Black Hills Photo Shoot Out - Jeep Tour Crew! 
Roughlock Falls, Spearfish, SD
Roughlock Falls, Spearfish, SD
Afternoon, kids.
It has been awhile but this seems to be a trend anymore with my blog. Sorry, other things going on that require attention these days and are a bit more important...sorry.
Random thoughts:
Wallpaper boarder shouldn't take 10 hours to take down when using a steamer.
When tying a mattress and box springs to the top of a SUV, make sure you can still get in the SUV and didn't tie the doors shut.
Things ALWAYS take longer than they should.
Beergina still has a LOT of beer in her.
Why don't parents teach their kids respect anymore?
I am blessed to have truly awesome friends in my life.
After three applications of Off the skeeters still bite.
How many skeeter bites can I get in a season?
Loving my Versus HD and DVR to watch the Tour De France!
Thank you to all that have fought for our freedom.
What happened to, "kids are meant to be seen and not heard?"
Nasty TDF stage today, lot of crashes, I don't like that much.
Have I told you how much I HATE CANCER?
Wish I had more four day weekends.
Today is National Cancer Survivors Day! A big hug to those that have been to hell and back fighting the fight! You truly inspire us all.
To those that have lost the fight, you inspired us with your courage by meeting this nasty disease head on. We carry your spirit with us always...........
LIVESTRONG.............
It has been a VERY last few months learning all sorts at the new job. Last week as some of you know I spent the week in Mason City, Ia, home of our metal door and frame supplier. It was a week of education learning products, pricing and then estimating software. The folks there treated us very nice and are a great bunch of people. I did however sneak out a few night to take some pictures, of course.
Lamp post at the Frank Lloyd Wright house in Mason City, IA.
Art at an art park in Mason City, IA
Tulip after a shower at the city park in Mason City, IA
Stage at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Ia. Where did this week go? UGH!
This week has also had a few low spots. A friends mom had surgery, cancer / tumor was found, she had a stroke during the surgery, trouble coming off the ventilator and is now in hospice. She is still fighting and I can only pray she goes to be with God soon. She has struggle so much the last few years.......I also found out today another friend has been battling breast cancer for a month. Good God, can we have some good news soon?
Thoughts and prayer go out to those who struggle daily to survive.............
This guy was on the look out for his hen!
No, the eagle wasn't looking for Pheasants, it was flying over the dam. He was a bit out of range for my lens but still fun to picturize!
This hen, sitting on a branch in a plum thicket, was trying to hide from the roosters. She did fly out of the thicket and about six roosters went after her. She did escape!
Not really all in focus but kind of like the movement going on.
This guy was strutting his stuff looking for a hen.I already have a week and a few days under my belt at the new job. Things are going well. It is a matter of relearning how this company does things compared to my old place of employment. It is odd to start a new job and know some things, so it is not all completely new. I have been busy nonetheless, so haven't been on facebook, twitter and the blogging radar feeds much. The thing I REALLY miss is my boy. After going to work with me in the afternoons for 6 years, Abe is now staying home. I never asked to take Abe to work in the new place and will not, at this point, I don't think. I think he is adjusting better than I am. I miss sitting at my desk and knowing he was within an arms reach of a quick scratching. I have been trying to do other actives with him to make this easy for both of us. We have gone for ice cream, he loves the end of the cone. We are also playing in the backyard at lunch. Makes me feel a bit better and I am guessing it helps him also, I hope! Abe is in charge of homeland security and taking care of Wrigs, the bird.
Last weekend we hit the Sons of Norway torsk feed(no, not Abe, he stayed home!)! YUMMY! You know they call it poor man's lobster right? It was good. Also served was potatoes, lefsa, coleslaw and meatballs all served family style and all you can eat! Then for desert we had orange sherbet or sherbert as some called it. It sounds odd but was a great complement to the meal. Of course there was endless coffee, albeit not egg coffee! We opted for water and milk. It was a lot of fun and ya, for sure, ve vill be goin to tis ting again next year, then there.
We also hit a movie at the cheap theaters. It was Sherlock Holmes. The movie was ok, but Kris was not happy as it depicted Mr Holmes as kind of a wild man. I have never read the books, but in the movie he wasn't wearing the tell tale hat and wasn't smoking his special pipe either. Taking liberties with some of the characters iconic symbols is not right, in my book ; )
Sunday was grocery shopping and trying out a new mac and cheese recipe. Reuben mac and cheese. It was interesting, don't get me wrong, it was good, but not sure I would have it as my go to mac and cheese meal. It has a mustard cheese sauce with corn beef and sauerkraut in it. You can find the recipe on Food Tv as it is a Rachael Ray meal. Yes, I am toooo lazy to post the link, sorry!
The weather continues to be gloomy. Rain, fog, melting snow makes it look so dirty outside. Abe is not liking it either as the piles of snow in the backyard he used to walk all over are so soft he falls through them, now. Makes it hard for us to play out there.
Well, that is all for now. Get out there and do something GREAT this week! You know you can!
We had a great day. We decided since it was nice that we would go to the Great Plains Zoo and walk. Of course you know me, I had to bring along the camera. A lot of the animals that pretty much just lay around in the spring and summer were out wondering around. It was fun to see!
Callie was the star of the day. She is an Amur Tiger and the only one 
Black Bears
Snow Leopard (first time I had seen it off the rock!)
Cheetah 
More Cheetahs
Little monkey eating lettuce. He was hard to take a picture of as 
