Evening at Cascade Falls, May 31, 2019

Keith Memorial Cascade Falls in the Black Hills National Forest, May 2019. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Cascade Falls is a beautiful place, despite the signs warning about poison ivy and rattlesnakes. So far, I’ve only seen one snake, and it wasn’t one of those. I like the evening light back lighting the waterfall and throwing a shadow from the grass in the middle. This is a long enough exposure to record some motion in the water, giving it a brushed look. The foreground foliage and darker background elements anchor the central rocks and water. A few things to fix: lens flare in the top center, and a few errant lines on the right.

Butte and Clouds at Fort Robinson, May 16, 2019

Clouds over a butte near Cherry Creek Pond in Fort Robinson State Park, May 2019. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

A composition on a flat plane, cut in the middle. This breaks the rule that says you can't have a real or implied line in the middle and the rule that says you have to have something in the foreground to go with something in the background. I feel like the ultimate rebel, and this would get an F in any decent photography course.

I liked the mirror effect created by the similar shapes of the clouds and butte. With the cloud positioned directly above the butte, the effect is magnified, and I find my eye jumping between the two objects, finding new details to match and compare. It's interesting to play with an arrangement that's a little less traditional.

Sunset at the Black Hills Overlook, May 15, 2019

Yucca at the Black Hills Overlook in the Nebraska National Forest, May 2019. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Sunset at the Black Hills Overlook, and while the sky was looking good, the sun was hiding behind the thunderheads, leaving the ground looking a bit flat. I liked the composition, which has more yucca than the usual single that I put in my foregrounds. To open up the shadows, I did some selective dodging on the yucca. The result isn't perfect, and certainly isn't realistic, but it provides an eyeline from fore to aft, and ground to sky. Plus we get two middle ground elements: the yucca group and the rugged ridge away yonder.

An Evening at the Black Hills Overlook, May 15, 2019

 

Evening clouds at Chadron State Park, May 2019. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Bare tree overlooking a valley at the Nebraska National Forest, May 2019. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Looking toward sunset at the Black Hills Overlook in the Nebraska National Forest, May 2019. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Yucca at the Black Hills Overlook in the Nebraska National Forest, May 2019. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Tree at sunset in the Nebraska National Forest, May 2019. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Yucca and grass at sunset in the Nebraska National Forest, May 2019. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Out on the Water, Box Butte Reservoir, May 10, 2019

Dock at Box Butte Reservoir, May 2019. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

A study in organized elements. The clean lines of the dock and horizon are offset by the clouds and water. But even those have their own order. I am fascinated by the scale of lighting on distant objects like clouds and the moon. The principles are the same as an object 10 feet from me, but the scale makes it hard to figure the line from sun to highlight and cast shadow. If you drop too far down that rabbit hole, you might decide that the earth is flat. Obviously not. It's cylindrical.