Late Spring Scenes in South Dakota

Purple rockets along a creek just east of Custer State Park in late May.

 Where has the month of June gone?  As usual, spring has flown by.  Things have been hot and dry in all of South Dakota the latter part of June.  Here are some photos dating back to late May and into mid-June when things were a little newer and greener.  I was asked to create a promotional video for my employer, Midcontinent Communications, to play at the Sioux Falls Jazzfest that required me to travel across the state this spring looking for wonderful scenery.  I took some photos along the way... most of them are posted here for you.  

If you are interested, here is a link to the final video for Midco that welcomes headliner Joe Walsh to the Jazzfest festivities: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yK86JXvDN0  

It was fun to put together, all shots are from my camera either in video mode or still frame timelapse style.  All but four or five of the shots are new this spring.  I hope you enjoy it:  

A red winged blackbird perched above a sea a purple just outside of Custer State Park.

A buffalo calf rolls around playfully in the dirt of Custer State Park.

Pronghorn enjoying a picturesque evening at Custer State Park.

Blue bird of Custer State Park.  I love these little lightning bolts of blue!

A badlands prairie dog that proves you that even eating to much salad will cause weight issues.

Sunlight and cloud shadows created interesting views of the Badlands.

Badlands Bighorn taking a break in the clover.

My old friend, Mr. Wile. E. Coyote looked a little straggly from losing his winter coat. (update - I've been informed this guy probably was suffering from the "mange" skin issue caused by mites.  Coyotes should not have all their hair gone on the tail even during spring shedding.)

Sunset light on the back end of some rain clouds taken on the northwest edge of Sioux Falls.

A mid-June thunderhead northeast of Oacoma, SD

Same cloud as above but a little later on in the evening.

Two views of a colorful sunset over Skunk Creek, just west of Sioux Falls.

Scenes from the Big Apple

Grand Central Station in Manhattan.

New York City.  What a place!  I had a lot of fun playing tourist in between the MLB games we attended.  Here are some of my favorite shots and/or favorite places that I was able to experience while in the big apple.  Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for stopping by.

The Empire State building taken from Citi Field at sunset.  I used my 70-300mm telephoto to pull in the building silhouette as well as the passing airliner.

LaGuardia airport and then the Bronx are on the horizon line in this sunset shot taken from Citi Field.

The Brooklyn Bridge from Brooklyn.  I love this bridge.  We took the train to Brooklyn so we could walk across it to the Manhattan side.  This is a true piece of history and an impressive site as well.

A panoramic of Brooklyn Bridge looking towards lower Manhattan from the Brooklyn side.

Lower Manhattan from the pier across the East River.

A view of Midtown Manhattan from about halfway across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Looking back towards Brooklyn.

Lower Manhattan from the Empire State Building.

A closer look at the new World Trade Center Building going up near ground zero.  The red, white and blue lighting is pretty cool.

Times Square lights the buildings from below in this shot looking North from the Empire State Building.

A multi-image vertical panoramic of the 9/11 Memorial.  Words are hard to describe being there and remembering.

The water falling is said to represent the amount of tears that fell due to loss of life and loved ones.

For those of you that know me, you know I'm a big fan of Seinfeld.  This is the restaurant storefront they used in the show every time George, Jerry, Elaine and Kramer went to the "coffee shop."  We went in an had some pie.  Very cool. 

Baseball in the Big Apple

Brandon Phillips flashes his trademark smile before the game against the Mets at Citi Field on Sunday, June 17th, 2012
Ever since I was a kid, I've wanted to visit New York City.  I was drawn to it because it had the biggest population of the US, the tallest buildings and so many movies and TV shows were based there.  Well it took nearly 40 years, but I finally made the trip with a friend from work.  Our main goal was to take in 4 baseball games, two at Citi Field and two at Yankee stadium.  I'd get to see my beloved Reds complete a sweep of the Mets and he'd get to watch his Braves lose one and win one at Yankee Stadium.  We also played tourist, but I'll post those photos later.  This post is dedicated mostly to the Reds - Mets games I saw.  There isn't a whole lot of things I'd rather do than take in a MLB games featuring the Reds... especially when they win.  Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for stopping by. 

Citi Field from our seats on Saturday.  We had near perfect weather for every game.

Homer Bailey got the win for the Reds Saturday night.

Manager Dusty Baker and 1st base coach Billy Hatcher (who was also the 90 World Series Champ team for the Reds).

The best 1st baseman in baseball, Joey Votto.

Outfielders Chris Heisey and Jay Bruce compare notes before the game.

Super Bowl Champion Eli Manning and his daughter threw out the first pitch on Sunday.  It was Father's Day.

Brandon Phillips acknowledging his fans.  If you aren't a fan, you should be.

Red's Ace, Johnny Cueto pitched well for the win on Sunday.

This is one of my favorite photos of the day, taken by my friend Nick Peterson.  Johnny Cueto took a timeout for dizziness and Nick snapped this photo of Joey Votto waiting patiently for the action to resume.

Joey Votto raking out another hit.

Brandon Phillips flashing his gold glove.

For some reason, I quit taking frames after this photo and I'm still kicking myself for that as Brandon proceeded to flip the ball through his legs to Zach Cozart to start a double play.  I was on him and in focus... it would have been a great shot.  Don't know why I failed to get it.

Brandon Phillips making contact.

The only homer we saw was Jay Bruce's towering blast to right field.   In this photo, he's about to get a single if I remember correctly.

Yankee Stadium on Monday, June 18th against the Braves.  I didn't take very many photos of this series as we didn't sit as close to the action as we did at Citi Field.

Ghost Town Hunting - Chapter III

What is left of Sitka, SD in Walworth County

During my travels across the state in late May, I was able to visit two more authentic South Dakota Ghost Towns, both of which are located East River.  Sitka, a few miles east of Mobridge, SD in Walworth county as well as Argonne, SD which is in Miner County.  Neither have any residents left and both have only a few of the buildings remaining.  Click on an image for a larger file to view and thanks for stopping by.

Abandoned residence in Sitka.

The old outhouse is leaning a bit nowadays!

Argonne appears to have been on an old railroad line.  There are a nice stand of trees among the town's abandoned streets and lots.  Only a few buildings remain as well as an old bank vault.  I got there in the evening as the sun was getting ready to set.  It was eerily beautiful.