The Big, Bad Badlands

On the way home from my recent Colorado photography trip, I decided to stop by the Badlands NP in South Dakota. This park also has a herd of Bighorn Sheep that I wanted to photograph. But I also photographed several other wildlife species and some landscapes of the wonderful scenery of the Badlands. Over the past few years, Badlands NP has become one of my favorite national parks, and I have made an honest effort to stop by the Badlands whenever I am traveling west. Here are a few of my favorite landscape images of this incredible place:

Badlands NP landscape

Badlands NP landscape

Badlands NP landscape

Badlands NP landscape

All of these images are HDR (High Dynamic Range) images, made by combining 5 images (each with varying exposure settings) in Photomatix Pro software. Why did I use the HDR technique? The landscape, as incredible as it is, was enhanced with some wonderful clouds overhead. In order to capture the details of both the landscape and the clouds, I shot 5 images of each scene (at 0.0 EV, +1.0 EV, +2.0 EV, -1.0 EV, and -2.0 EV) and then combined them into one image. I used to not like HDR images, primarily because so many of the HDR images are “over-done” and look so fake. But using a bit of restraint, HDR can really pull out the details of the entire image. I now anxiously look to use HDR in scenics, whenever there is a wide range of detail and light.

Photography Equipment Used:

  • Canon 1D Mark 3 body
  • Tamron 17mm-35mm, f/2.8 – f/4 lens
  • Bogen 3221 tripod, with Kirk Ent. HD ballhead
  • ISO 200
  • Aperture f/22
  • Shutter Speed variable, depending on exposure (via Exposure Compensation)

 

 

Posted in HDR, Landscape Photography, Nature Photography, Travel Photography
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