This year we decided to adventure to the Badlands of South Dakota. There is an overlooked National Park with fascinating land features and biodiversity that parallels some of the more famous parks. The unique features beckoned us to try our best to capture the magic through photography.

Josh and his friend Brad have been going on photo trips together for years. Oddly, the Badlands are equidistant from both of our houses, within 5 miles to be exact. Given that this park was an easy driving distance from both of us, we decided we’d meet up and make a long weekend of camping and photo attempts at this other worldly place.

The terrain is really unbelievable, what looks like super thirsty land, dry and cracked, gives way to bright green grasses and wild flowers. The mineral content in the clay exudes vibrant colors, reds, browns and even bright yellow. Then there are the rocky peaks that loom over the rolling and sometimes craggy, red and white striped hills. Deep canyons, steep rocky outcroppings, and high plains are home to diverse animal species. Buffalo, big horn sheep, prairie dogs, and everything in between make their homes in this quiet park.

Enjoy the video below of our first day in the park. We spent the day driving around trying to wrap our heads around the location and hoping to find a good spot for sunset. As is common with landscape photography, the beautiful sunset light and color was everywhere that we weren’t.

Springtime buffalo losing their winter ruff in preparation for the hot summer. Big Horn Sheep with new spring babies.

The first time we travel to a new location we often struggle to find compositions and are generally uncertain about where and how the light works. This is truly what excites me. It is such a challenge to find something to shoot within the sunrise/sunset time constraints. It is interesting to note that during a trip you can feel like nothing turned out right and then months after, when revisiting the collection you seem to find some really nice photos. I felt this way after this trip. Though thrilled to have had the opportunity to experience such a wonderful place, I didn’t feel that my photos gave it justice. Five months later, I think that there are some very nice photos that capture the beauty, the ruggedness and the uniqueness of this wonderful place. I hope you enjoy my photos and the video.