Back to open skies....

After spending the night on the bank of the Platte River with more than a 100,000 sandhill cranes roosting nearby, we decided to visit the Black Hills of South Dakota.

 

It was only about 400 miles, but might as well have been a world away. Here my son's walking on the plains under billowing clouds in Custer State Park.

 

 

 

These prairie and cloud photos are what I was hoping to get while we were there.

 

 

 

While I was making these images the wind kicked up and was gusting at more than 30mph.

 

 

 

I stashed my hat in my camera bag before it blew away and kept shooting until I lost the sun to a hazy western sky.

 

 

 

A herd of grazing bison.

 

 

 



The sun had disappeared shortly after that bison shot, so I felt really lucky when sunset turned out like this.

 

 

 

It wasn't a sky full of color, but by isolating the clouds that were catching some light and silhouetting the hills it worked.

 

 

 

 

 

We stayed until well after sunset and made the most of the light.

 

 

 

Once the light disappeared we sat on a rock rubbed smooth by bison and took it all in. Then I put the cameras away and it was time to start our 12 hour drive back to Wisconsin.