Dam Motion Blur, August 31, 2019

Water cascades down the spillway at Tie Hack Reservoir, Bighorn National Forest, August 2019. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

Water spills down the stepped wall of the Tie Hack Reservoir. The steps are large, but you feel like you could get quite the experience trying to climb against the flow of water. I have increased the contrast to showcase the idea of graphite on textured paper, which seems appropriate for the scene. There is plenty of variety on each step. The curves and splashes of the water are all subtly different.

Flowers and Yucca in the Nebraska National Forest, August 23, 2019

Sunflower double exposure at the Black Hills Overlook in the Nebraska National Forest, August 2019. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

This is a double exposure with a focus shift. One frame is focused on the flowers, the other on the yucca leaves. The unfocused areas in each frame create haloes of color and tone around the sharper elements. I like the sense of sharp and unsharp this technique brings. There are little details, like the stem of the foreground flower, that draw the eye as you try to make sense of what’s in the scene.

Rattlesnake at Toadstool Park, August 18, 2019

A prairie rattlesnake tests the air for danger at Toadstool Geological Park in August 2019. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

I went from 2005 to 2018 without seeing any rattlesnakes at Toadstool Park. Then I saw just a hint of one slithering away and rattling in 2018. Here in 2019, this is rattlesnake number three, the second for just this visit! Fortunately, I had a long lens and was able to take some photos from a safe distance. Probably irritated the snake to no end. It just wanted to relax and think about digesting its last meal.

Dropkicking Moth, August 17, 2019

Moths at Keith Cascade Springs in the Black Hills National Forest, August 2019. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

I have a nice, cleanly focused and arranged photo of these moths on the thistle, complete with a spider below them. But let’s talk about this shot, which is obviously a failure because of all the blur. But wait, is that moth kicking the other off the flower? What kind of moth combat is this? It’s whimsical in a violent sort of way. I’m not a fan of the stem in the background that cuts through the frame. Put that on the list of things to remove in post, along with the little bit of thistle poking up from the bottom of the frame.

Historical Photography Exhibit

A historical exhibit about Chadron State College was shown in the Fall of 2019. One of my long-term projects at CSC has been to archive the various historical photos from the college’s history. For this exhibit, I selected a number of photos and put them in a slideshow, which ran alongside various other artifacts in the show.

Moth at Fort Robinson State Park, July 14, 2019

Moth at Fort Robinson State Park, July 2019. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

I am always drawn to a cooperative butterfly or moth, and sometimes I have a lens that can focus close enough to show the critter. In addition to the great wing coloration, I like the detail of the grass, a combination of points and curves to mirror the antennae and wings of the moth.

Evening at Fort Robinson State Park, July 8, 2019

Ridge lines at Smiley Canyon in Fort Robinson State Park, July 2019. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

I have been drawn to the hills around Smiley Canyon at Fort Robinson. When the sun gets low they show up as a lovely set of lines. This is a simple composition anchored by the single tree in the foreground. I like the on-off pattern of tree to hills to trees to … more hills! Capped by another set of lines in the clouds. It’s nothing but lines all the way down. Here’s something else I want to see more—the tiny line of trees on the distant horizon. I need to set up an Andreas Feininger New York skyline from 20 miles away kind of long lens. A 500mm with a double extender on a small sensor. In the end it will be a blurry heat haze mess that’s just a line of tree silhouettes, but it’ll be MY blurry hazy mess.