Badlands National Park is a strange and wonderful place. Maybe even more so than nearby Wall Drug. If you have been to both you understand this statement. If you’ve been to one but not the other then you are either a road warrior or a National Park hound as I am cruising through the area declaring that you’ll do the other one on the next visit. Wall is just outside the park and both are a fantasyland built on very different fantasies!
If you have been to both you are undoubtedly smiling now.
Until this years visit to Bandlands National Park I had never visited Wall Drug in the tiny city of Wall S.D. or nearby Rapid City as well. For years on other visits I’d been bombarded with bumper stickers for hundreds of miles in any direction and now I know why! I’m not sure if Wall Drug is larger than the city it takes its name from but surely the clientele must easily out number the citizenry at most hours of the day ten fold or more. Both the Park and Wall Drug must be seen to be believed!
Like most of our national parks this one is built with auto mobility in mind. Trails in most areas are easily accessible and the roads, as few as they are, will bring you close to some fabulous features in minutes. It’s a great place to scout during the hours of flat or non light and then get to when images need to be made.
In this images a 10 minute walk/hike was all that was needed to be “knee-deep” in the badlands. Looking for a way to show shape and texture where the image focal point is in the distance is always one of the first problems I try to solve. In this case a weathered mound of sand and stone told my story. The only clouds in the sky at sunrise were the ones you see in this image so exposure was not a concern. I had even light across the entire frame except for a few shadows that I felt would render some mystery.
If this images does not invite a visit then I’ll see you instead at Wall Drug. It’s a great place to scout also!
A 3ss graduated neutral density filter along with a color intensifier helped hold the highlights and punched the beautiful sandstone reds.
