Oct 15, 2021 | AF-S 50mm f1.4G, Nikon D300, Nikon D300 Salad, Wind Cave
Nikon D300 Salad | Wind Cave NP Lone Tree Each national park has a character of it’s own. “Solitude” describes Wind Cave NP, above the ground, particularly in the off-season. At solitary Wind Cave, it’s all about the land and its wildlife; a nature photographer’s heaven. This image tries to capture some of that solitude with a lonely gravel road as far as the eye can see.
The Back Story A decent image of this tree had eluded me for several years. I have probably taken hundreds of images of this tree. I have returned several times since my first trip to Wind Cave NP. Each time capturing images of this lone road tree. Note: I post an image everyday at hankconrad.com.
Details….
| Event | Drive through Wind Cave NP |
| Location | Wind Cave NP |
| Date/Time | 5/03/2010 2:00pm Local Time |
| Weather | Partly Cloudy | 61°F | Light Winds |
| Method | Simple click along the Wind Cave NP gravel road. |
| Gear | Nikon D300 with an AF-S 50mm f1.4G lens |
Exposure
| 50mm (75mm) f/16 1/400s 0ev 400iso |
| Post | |
May 12, 2021 | AF-S DX 12-24mm f4G IF ED, Daily Image 2021, Landscape Portfolio Posts, Nikon D200, Wind Cave
Landscape Portfolio | Road Tree Each national park has a character of it’s own. “Solitude” describes Wind Cave NP, above the ground, particularly in the off-season. At solitary Wind Cave, it’s all about the land and its wildlife; a nature photographer’s heaven. This image tries to capture some of that solitude with a lonely gravel road as far as the eye can see.
The Back Story A really good image of this tree had eluded me for several years. I have probably taken hundreds of images of this tree. It all started on my first trip to Wind Cave NP in 2008. Wind Cave is secluded and quiet with a feeling of remoteness. You can drive through the park on the one gravel road, stop the car, turn off the engine, and hear: nothing, for a moment, then the sounds of nature. It is totally quiet of the sounds of man and screaming with the sounds of pure nature. I have returned several times since my first trip. Each time capturing images of this lone road tree. This image is one of my one. For more about Wind Cave NP, see Solitude @ Wind Cave | a 7 Image Story.
Details…
| Event | An Afternoon at Wind Cave NP |
| Location | Wind Cave National Park near center of the park at the “Y” in the gravel road |
| Date/Time | 5/30/2009 1:50 pm Local Time |
| Weather | Fair | 70°F | Light Wind |
| Method | Drive the gravel road. Stop, position tripod for composition, and wait for nice clouds |
| Gear | Nikon D200 with 12-24 mm zoom lens |
Jan 2, 2021 | AF-S PC-E 24mm f/3.5D ED, Daily Image 2021, Fine Art Portfolio, Fine Art Portfolio Posts, Nikon D3x, Wind Cave
Fine Art Portfolio | Wind Cave Lone Tree Each national park has a character of it’s own. “Solitude” describes Wind Cave NP, above the ground, particularly in the off-season. At solitary Wind Cave, it’s all about the land and its wildlife; a nature photographer’s heaven. This image tries to capture some of that solitude with a lonely gravel road as far as the eye can see. The tree is almost a silhouette against the wild clouds of a stormy day.
The Back Story A really good image of this tree had eluded me for several years. I have probably taken hundreds of images of this tree. However, this image is the first that I really like. It all started on my first trip to Wind Cave NP in 2008. Wind Cave is secluded and quiet with a feeling of remoteness. You can drive through the park on the one gravel road, stop the car, turn off the engine, and hear: nothing, for a moment, then the sounds of nature. It is totally quiet of the sounds of man and screaming with the sounds of pure nature. I have returned several times since my first trip. Each time capturing images of this lone road tree. Sometimes the sky was not creative, sometimes I did not get the angle, etc. I tried color, HDR , and now B&W. When the composition is off; well, it’s off. Perhaps, my eye for composition is getting better. Perhaps, it was just luck. Anyway, this image is my best so far. For more about Wind Cave NP, see Solitude @ Wind Cave | a 7 Image Story.
Details…
| Event | Wind Cave Photo Drive |
| Location | Wind Cave National Park near center of the park “Y” in the road |
| Date/Time | 5/02/2011 3:40 pm Local Time |
| Weather | Partly Cloudy | 30°F | Light Winds |
| Method | Drive the gravel road. Stop, position tripod for composition, and wait for nice clouds. |
| Gear | Nikon D3x with 24mm PC-E lens, Tripod. |
Mar 25, 2020 | AF-S PC-E 24mm f/3.5D ED, Daily Image 2020, Nikon D3x, The Sunday Drive, Wind Cave
The Sunday Drive | By Lone Trees If you are lucky enough to live close to Wind Cave NP, it’s a great place for a nice, quiet Sunday drive. You can drive through the park on its one gravel road, stop the car, turn off the engine, and hear nothing but the sounds of nature. It’s totally quiet of the sounds of man and screaming with the sounds of nature. For the whole story with all images, see The Sunday Drive | a 7 Image Story.
Mar 22, 2020 | 1 VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6, 7 Image Stories, AF-S 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED, AF-S DX VR 18-200mm f3.5-5.6G IF-ED, AF-S PC-E 24mm f/3.5D ED, Arizona, Illinois, Montana, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon D200, Nikon D3x, Nikon P7000, Places, The Sunday Drive, Wind Cave, Yellowstone
The Sunday Drive | a 7 Image Story When I was a young boy growing up on a Midwest farm, my parents often took a Sunday drive. It became a bit of a tradition. Now, we did not go every Sunday, but fairly often. Sometimes, the purpose was to “look at the crops.” Sometimes, it was to “just to get off the farm.” Sometimes, it was a short ride; sometimes a long ride. Occasionally, the Sunday drive took us all the way to Chicago’s Midway Airport to watch the planes land and take-off. Apparently, my parents were not the only ones to partake in this “tradition.” The Sunday drive was a relatively inexpensive way to showdown, spend family time, and enjoy the world around us.
Why remember those Sunday Drives now? With the world in crisis mode over the corona virus, states and even countries are issuing stay at home orders. It’s forcing us to slowdown a bit and value the simpler things in life. More people seem to be going for walks. Although the stay at home orders generally discourage travel by car except for the essentials, the slowdown somehow reminded me of those Sunday Drives. As some of the restrictions are raised, maybe the Sunday drive will make a resurgence. Or, perhaps a Sunday walk or bike ride will take its place.
Thru the Woods Spring is technically here. A nice spring snow shower made beautiful surroundings on my way to the grocery store this morning. The stay at home order does not say you must take the shortest route to the store. This route may be less traveled, but its beauty improved my mood for the day. On Gravel Roads The countryside in Montana contains numerous gravel roads running along old fence lines. Unless you live in a large city, back country, gravel roads aren’t all that far away for a lazy Sunday drive. In the Hills Arizona can get pretty hot in the summer. A nice Sunday drive into the mountains can show you breathtaking beauty as well as much cooler air. And in the winter months, snow and ski runs might great you at the end of the road. Over the Snow Most of us don’t live close enough to Yellowstone NP to go for a Sunday drive. Still, many of us live near hills and mountains. When covered with snow, they make a nice scenic day drive.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category The Sunday Drive.
Click any image below for a slide show.
Nov 18, 2019 | AF-S PC-E 24mm f/3.5D ED, Black & White, Daily Image 2019, Fine Art, Fine Art, Nikon D3x, Wind Cave
Fine Art | Wind Cave Lone Tree Perhaps my favorite national park, Wind Cave never disappoints. This lone tree has been one of my most frequent subjects at Wind Cave. Many times the sky and weather didn’t cooperate with my visit. Still, Wind Cave is just a great park; secluded and quiet with a feeling of remoteness. You can drive through the park on the one gravel road, stop the car, turn off the engine, and hear: nothing, for a moment, then the sounds of nature. It is totally quiet of the sounds of man and screaming with the sounds of pure nature. It’s a place to make a photograph. For the whole story with all images, see Fine Art | a 7 Image Story.
Nov 17, 2019 | 7 Image Stories, AF-S 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED, AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 ED VR II, AF-S PC-E 24mm f/3.5D ED, Black & White, Fine Art, Fine Art, Grand Tetons, Gray Wolf, Hyalite Canyon, Montana, Nature, Nikon D3x, Places, Wind Cave, Yellowstone
Fine Art | a 7 Image Story My idea of fine art images consists mostly of black & white compositions with definite contrasts and contours. These images were converted to black & white from color since it makes better B&W images than shooting directly in B&W. Interestingly, when capturing each of these images, I captured them with the idea that they would end up being B&W. Since they were captured in raw format, each image required some post processing. These images mostly come from my travels through national parks in the American West. See more fine art in my Fine Art Portfolio.
Yellowstone There’s nothing like Yellowstone in the winter. Yellowstone always provides perspective and introspection. The experience changes on every new trip to Yellowstone with new vistas, wildlife, challenges, and accomplishments. My visit, when this First Snow mountain image was captured, was indeed very short; only one day. The park was officially closed except for the north entrance and the road to Cooke City through Lamar Valley. The mountain image comes from a place close to the north entrance. A snowstorm had fallen the night before, covering everything in sparkling fresh snow. The Yellowstone River, flowing north out of the park, was not frozen due to the thermal features of the park.
The Yellowstone Tree image came from a another trip in the fall. Ground water and steam runoff from Yellowstone’s thermal features periodically floods the area around these lodgepole pine trees; killing them. Several geysers can be seen steaming in the background. Then silica precipitates upon the dead tree trunks creating the white “bobby sock” trees. This silica slowly impregnates the wood and over time, could eventually petrify the wood. These striking trees stand tall against mostly clear skies.
The Hyalite Canyon stream winds down the mountain. As it gets wider and narrower, the flow gets slower or faster. Slow the shutter speed and time smooths the water’s rough edges. The mountain stream image was captured between wet snow showers. Slow down the exposure for the stream to blur and you get a simple, long click. After experimenting with a variable ND filter to get a good shutter speed, it occurred to me to make it a black & white image. The light coming off the blurred water will make good contrast.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Fine Art.
Click any image below for a slide show.
Feb 26, 2019 | 7 Image Story Posts, AF-S PC-E 24mm f/3.5D ED, Daily Image 2019, Lone Tree, Nikon D3x, The Lone Tree, Wind Cave
The Lone Tree | Wind Cave This lone tree has been my most frequent subject at Wind Cave. The sky and weather didn’t always cooperate with my visit. For the whole story with all images, see The Lone Tree | a 7 Image Story.
