Tag: wildflowers

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West River Odyssey

By Christian Begeman

My immediate family gathered this month in Mobridge. It was the first time we’d all been together in several years. From a family of six on the farm to a family of more than 20 scattered from Sioux Falls to California seems pretty amazing, but probably not that uncommon. I grew up roughly 60 miles west and 10 miles south of Mobridge near the Moreau River breaks. I don’t get back in that country near enough, but this was a good year to go. The rain has been abundant and the wildflowers profuse. Last season was dry, and it seems all that stunted life from a year ago has burst into its fullest measure this time around.

Before heading home, I took a notable detour to the beautiful Matthews Opera House in Spearfish to take in my friend Eliza Blue’s new album release concert. From there I wandered down through Custer State Park, where I reveled in a summer thunderstorm (until a few large hailstones caused me to flee south into Wind Cave National Park). Then I spent a day and a half in the Badlands, where I had good luck watching burrowing owls take care of their young. After that, I made my way north to the rolling hills of Perkins and Corson counties.

The real surprise of the journey was an impromptu photo tour just northwest of Bison. Sion Hanson is a friend of a friend who asked if I’d be willing to take some photos of him and some of the landmarks on his land for his grandkids. Hanson turned 60 this year and wants to pass along a little bit of the family history and legacy in images as well as stories. I didn’t quite know what to expect as we pulled out of the yard and headed north along a wheat field through the tall grass. Then we crested the hill.

As I mentioned, I grew up near the rugged and rolling hills of the Moreau River breaks along the Dewey and Ziebach county line, so I have a near-and-dear appreciation for the long draws and short grass hills topped with gravel, yucca and Black Samson flowers (also known as wild purple coneflower). What now opened before us was the south edge of the Grand River breaks, and it was breathtaking. The short grass prairie had taller than normal grass waving in the wind, and it was ablaze with wildflowers, particularly Black Samson. One of the long draws before us was where Hanson’s grandfather and grandmother had a sod house built back when the land opened for settlement in the early 1900s. Hanson’s granddad was a freight wagon driver who hauled goods to Bison from the nearest train depot to the north. Each trip was a two-day journey. We saw parts of the old road from Bison to Hettinger that survived as a fire trail, at least into the 1970s. It is mostly overgrown now.

It was an unexpected and enjoyable trip to some of our state’s truly wide-open and rugged country. To hear the history of it as well as help a new friend keep the stories and places alive for his family was quite an honor. Those couple hours of looking over the land, reminiscing and simply enjoying the view was a good reminder of how strong the family unit was and still is in these open prairies of our great state. It was only fitting that my next few days of vacation were spent making new memories with my own family at the end of this summer’s West River odyssey.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.

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Down and Dirty

By Christian Begeman

This June, I’ve reacquainted myself with my macro lens. In doing so, I experienced a brief stare down with a badger and I discovered flowers that I’d never knew existed with names like Nodding Trillium and Smooth Solomon’s Seal. Whoever came up with those flower names must have had poetic sensibilities.

Personally, I struggle to write sound poetry, but I do try from time to time. Often the muse is the simple beauty found in the prairies and hills we call home. While I may labor to describe the pleasures of spring with words, the camera lens has no such dilemma. So, as the days lengthen and the earth turns green, it’s hard for me to stay indoors and not explore what is out beyond the next hill.

An old photography adage says that the worst in weather produces the best photos. We’ve had a lot of rain here in southeastern South Dakota this spring and one evening after work, I couldn’t resist the rain-induced cabin fever that had grown for most of the week. So I grabbed the macro lens, a powerful handheld LED flashlight and headed for Lake Vermillion Recreation Area near Canistota. The walking trail there has always produced wildflowers in June. It is easy to find and photograph prairie coneflowers, Black-eyed Susan as well as prairie rose and common milkweed. Since it was raining steadily, I took a second jacket to cover my camera when not in use and I took the flashlight to add some artificial light to the raindrops adorning the tall grass and flower petals. An hour later and drenched, I happily tumbled back into my truck. The cabin fever was gone, and I discovered the prairie was as beautiful as ever adorned and accented with raindrops.

Macro photography isn’t always easy. I have the grass stains and ripped jeans to prove it. Even a gentle breeze can cause the roses and clover to dance and sway, often away from the perfect focus or composition. Ants, spiders, beetles and bugs abound in the undergrowth, too. A photographer must put away any insect squeamishness to get down and dirty in the macro world. Actually, these tiny creatures turn out to be surprisingly interesting to look at through the macro lens. Some are quite beautiful to photograph.

My favorite time this June was sitting quietly for over an hour on a small hillside in Oakwood Lakes State Park in a patch of white petaled Canada anemones. Small orange butterflies (who were quite skilled at avoiding the camera) fluttered about, and bright blue damselflies perched on tall stems riding out the strongest of breezes. I can’t remember the last time I sat down in a patch of prairie like that, just taking in all of nature’s bounty, looking for beauty in the details and finding it everywhere I turned.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.

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Hell Canyon’s Flower Power

By Michael Zimny

Sometimes you’re cruising through the apocalyptic burn scar seared into the beautiful Black Hills by the Jasper Fire and you start to sob. But take heart, tree lovers! There is more to see here than just a timber bone yard. Those noble ponderosa didn’t perish for naught. As their bodies lie moldering on a montane open grave, the sun that sustained them now sustains a vast, kaleidoscopic wildflower riot — as varied in form as in color. You just have to get a little closer to see them.

The Hell Canyon Trail, just west of Jewel Cave National Monument (on Black Hills National Forest land) will get you there. The 5-plus mile loop, rated moderate in terms of difficulty, explores sunny slopes where the inferno raged and low-lying bottomlands that were mostly spared.

“Hell Canyon is a good place to see early-blooming plants because it has a lot of exposure,” says Cheryl Mayer, a Forest Service Botany Technician who rock climbs in her spare time.

“And you get a variety of habitat types. You get your upper canyon, which [after the fire] is now grassland, prairie-type habitats. Then when you turn the corner and come into the canyon bottom you get some different plant communities. The fire didn’t burn as hot in the bottom, so there’s still the overstory of pine — and you see some communities that are dominated with more deciduous types of overstory, like box elder and chokecherry. You get a lot of variety of vegetation types in a pretty short, accessible loop.”

With Mayer as a guide, we encountered lanceleaf bluebell, some late-blooming pasque (as well as others gone to seed), Wyoming kitten-tail, sand lily, Nuttall’s violet, hairy puccoon, Rocky Mountain iris (not quite bloomed yet), wild blue flax, Missouri milkvetch, silver bladderpod, longspur violet, rock clematis, Western red currant, golden sweetpea, serviceberry, alyssum-leaf phlox, shooting star, mouse-ear chickweed, pincushion cactus, prairie smoke, wild strawberry, bastard toadflax, rock cress, tufted milkvetch, kinnikinnick, slender lip ferns thriving in rock crevices, buttercup, heartleaf alexander, Canada violet, early cinquefoil, box elder in flower, larkspur and valerian.

Later in the season: “You’ll get a different assortment,” Mayer says. “There will be some different flowering shrubs, like chokecherry. You’ll see more rock mountain iris in bloom. You’ll see death camas on the higher, more barren slopes.”

So there you have it. If you’ve been looking for ways to make wildflower-watching sound more badass, just say you’re going to spot some death camas on a barren Hell Canyon slope.

Michael Zimny is the social media engagement specialist for South Dakota Public Broadcasting in Vermillion. He blogs for SDPB and contributes arts columns to the South Dakota Magazine website.

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Over 700 Years in the Making

Good Earth State Park at Blood Run, South Dakota’s newest state park just southeast of Sioux Falls, is one of the oldest sites of long-term human habitation in the United States. Rebecca Johnson, our special projects coordinator, visited the National Historic Landmark recently to hike the trails. Here are some of her photos.

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Signs of Life

By Christian Begeman

Spring’s arrival can be fickle in these parts. I suppose I should consider the starts and stops of warm weather in March and April as a lesson in patience. It’s not easy, but once the long arm of winter finally exits for good, it makes the heady days of late spring all the better. For the last five years, I’ve compiled a”spring journal,” as the land awakens with life in South Dakota. It’s a true testament to our state’s varied weather that as I write this, it is raining here in northeast Sioux Falls, while most of the prairie west of the Missouri has seen snow all day. The good news is that snow means moisture and April snow always melts quickly. Here’s to another spring awakening in South Dakota!

February 20

A week and a half of unseasonably warm temperatures melted all the snow and brought my first sighting of snow geese in McCook County.

March 16

While driving the backroads of Clay County, I stopped to shoot a weathered, white barn against the soft sunset colors. The air was warm with a touch of humidity and I smelled”spring” for the first time in 2017.

March 20

I was in Lake County near Lake Madison Lutheran in a quest to photograph sunset on the first day of spring.

April 1

An epic dawn. I started in the darkness of a blind about 4 miles west of Highway 83 waiting to observe sharp-tailed grouse and greater prairie chickens perform their early spring dance. While waiting, a jaw-dropping sunrise sky filled the eastern horizon. I took a couple wide shots, then put on my long telephoto with hopes of getting a semi on the road to silhouette against the sky. Just as I got set, two cattle trucks topped the distant hill.

April 1

Grouse dance. As the morning brightened, the lek came alive with the sights and sounds of the grouse doing their thing. To my left were the sharp-tailed grouse, and to my right the prairie chickens held court. I couldn’t have asked for a better location to watch the events unfold.

April 1

Evening pasque. After taking a brief nap in Pierre, I headed back to Sioux Falls along the backroads. In Hanson County, I saw several stands of pasqueflowers in bloom. I spent an hour or two shooting their portraits in the last light of a rare day with no wind on the prairie hills.

April 8

Bloodroot were blooming at Union Grove on a 60-plus-degree afternoon. Since I was close, I drove to Spirit Mound Historic Prairie and came across a long ditch full of chorus frogs belting out their song. These little guys are barely bigger than my thumb, but sitting just 3 or 4 feet away from them, they made my ears ring.

April 13

I took a hike at Big Sioux Recreation area near Brandon after work. I found some plum brush in bloom and a handful of Ruby-crowned Kinglets foraging in the younger trees. It was the first time I actually saw and photographed the ruby crown for which they are named.

April 15

I drove back to my hometown of Isabel for Easter weekend. I left Sioux Falls while it was still dark in a thunderstorm and drove through rain all the way to the Missouri River. This is a view of Highway 212 in Faulk County with a rain shower in the distance and a unique rainbow over the Missouri River Hills in Potter County (near Whitlock Bay).

April 16

Easter sunset in northern Brule County saw the sun emerge on the horizon under low hanging rain clouds, which added unique and beautiful coloring to the western horizon.

April 17

70 degrees and sunshine inspired me to take a hike at Newton Hills State Park south of Canton. I spotted my first Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (I love that name) and a strikingly colored green dragonfly amonsgt the buds along Sergeant Creek.

April 21

Just before midnight, an outburst of northern lights illuminated the sky above a calm Scotts Slough northwest of Hartford. I enjoyed the late night show in a light jacket instead of a winter coat.

April 23

Blue sky, wispy clouds and blooming, fragrant plum brush highlight my hike at Good Earth State Park.

April 25

A rainy day in Sioux Falls and snow in much of the rest of the state. Hopefully this is truly the last gasp of Old Man Winter. Only time will tell.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.

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A Week at the Dells

By Christian Begeman

Six evenings and a day. That’s the time I set aside in the month of May to search out and photograph springtime ornaments at one of my favorite places found within 20 miles of my home. Six evenings and a day… and I wish I could have gone more. The place? The Dells of the Big Sioux River just south of Dell Rapids. The reason? To search for pretty little things to photograph. Things like wildflowers and warblers. The terrain is unique with steep cliffs, natural stairs and stony perches that help to get to eye level with our feathered friends. And to be honest, that’s really how I first came to think of the Dells as more than just a neat place where the river had cut through 40 feet of Sioux quartzite, carving an impressive canyon in the middle of the eastern South Dakota prairie.

A couple years ago, I stumbled upon the warbler migration that travels through our state in May right there at the Dells. As I was sitting on a stony perch watching for Baltimore Orioles and Northern Cardinals, I noticed a variety of birds deftly catching winged insects in the trees at my feet and eye level. These birds were new to me. I took their portraits as best I could, and discovered later that I had seen birds with names like the Magnolia Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler and Palm Warbler. I was hooked on warblers after that. This year, I saw a Blackpoll Warbler on his way from South America to Canada at the Dells, as well as a Blue-headed Vireo.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds are residents at the Dells as well. Five out of my seven times, I spotted a handsome male perched on a high branch surveying his kingdom of blooming honeysuckle and other wildflowers. The first day, he flew very near me and began to fly vigorously in a tight”u” shape while making noises with his wings. Later, I read it was his way of impressing the ladies. Turns out, there must have been one hiding in the leaves and branches and I actually spotted her a couple days later and almost on cue, the male did his”u” dance in the air again.

There are also big birds that call the Dells home. On the full day that I spent there, about mid-afternoon a Great Horned Owl started hooting from the other side of the cliffs. It wasn’t long until it flew out and perched on a branch to see what the commotion was (me). I’m sorry if I woke him from an afternoon snooze, but I’m grateful he decided to let me snap a couple photos.

Birds aren’t the only attraction for photography at the Dells. The cliffs themselves are incredible, and full of unique plants like fragile prickly pear cactus. If you have a macro lens, you could spend hours photographing the close-up details. I know because I did. I also saw three different kayakers and canoers plying the waters below, and someday would like to join them to see the view from the river level.

Six evenings and a day in May at the Dells. Not a bad way to experience spring in southeast South Dakota. I wish I could have gone more.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.

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Spring Awakening

By Christian Begeman

There is a light spring shower outside my window as I write this column. I left it open a crack so I could enjoy the wonderful smell of the rain. There are robins and grackles squabbling on the lawn and alfalfa field to the north. This morning I witnessed the return of the vibrant male barnswallow that has been using my backdoor light fixture for a nesting spot the last few years. My two favorite seasons in South Dakota are spring and fall. I like to think of them as the transition seasons. Spring signals the arrival of life and all its beauty, while fall means life is leaving with a final flourish. Both times of year call out to a wandering photographer. But now it is time to celebrate spring once again on the prairie. Here is a brief photographic journal of how the spring of 2016 has unfolded for me.

February 27

While driving the backroads of Moody County, I noticed the tell-tale ‘V’ formation of migrating snow geese. This is among the first harbingers of spring in eastern South Dakota.

March 5

So much for signs of spring, as a light snow dusted the farmlands west of Sioux Falls. Even though the high temp was in the upper 40s the following day, the snow remained for this portrait of very winter-like South Dakota sunset.

March 12

While travelling through Badlands National Park, I spotted a brilliant blue male Mountain Bluebird as well as a Western Meadowlark bursting with song on the northeast side of the park.

March 19

The temperatures were warmer than average in early March, which caused the state flower, the pasque, to bloom earlier than normal in many areas. Snow flurries on the 19th gave me an opportunity to photograph the tough little flower adorned with snow.

March 20

The official first day of spring was cloud free and relatively warm with plenty of sunshine. National Geographic‘s online photography community called Yourshot had a spring equinox assigment to find and photograph images that illustrated spring in your part of the country. In the afternoon, I found blooming snow trillium at Newton Hills State Park south of Canton, and in the evening I photographed beautiful patches of pasqueflowers along the hillsides next to Hanson Lake in Hanson County.

March 26

Winter had one final gasp as heavy snow fell in much of southeastern South Dakota. I spent a couple hours at the Sioux Falls Outdoor Campus looking for birds dealing with the weather. As I was about to leave I spotted a lone Cedar Waxwing foraging for any remaining berries from last autumn.

April 3

A very weak rain cloud hovered on the western skyline at sunset. The result was a brilliant sky as the setting sun painted the underside of the cloud in rural Lincoln County.

April 9

On my way to visit the near ghost town of Lily in Day County, I stopped at Horseshoe Lake to see various waterfowl bobbing on the waves. I was able to capture an interesting take-off of a pair of Lesser scaup ducks.

April 17

If anyone saw me in Union Grove State Park, they may have wondered why I was kneeling or lying along the roadside. I guess finding and photographing new spring blooms will do that to a photographer. The plum thickets were just starting to pop and I found Dutchman’s Breeches, wild white violets and a few beautiful White Trout Lilies that I’d never seen before. Although abundant in the states to the east, they are quite rare in South Dakota. They also go by such names as White Fawn Lily, White Dogtooth Violet and White Adder’s Tongue.

April 20

A second day of heavy rain in the Sioux Falls area found me trying to figure out a unique way to capture an image of the much needed April showers. Oddly enough, the answer was looking right at me through the windshield of my truck. I set up my tripod in the back seat, put the macro lens on and photographed raindrops on the glass with the lights of downtown Sioux Falls as a background.

April 22, early morning

The moon was full overnight, so I headed out to an abandoned farmhouse north of Silver Lake on the Hutchinson/Turner County line to capture the”Pink Moon” before it set. The Farmer’s Almanac says it is called the Pink Moon because of the herb moss pink, or wild ground phlox, which is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names include the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and among coastal tribes the Full Fish Moon, because this was the time that shad swam upstream to spawn.

April 22, early evening

After work I decided to look for signs of the annual warbler migration at Newton Hills State Park. There wasn’t much activity and I thought I was too early. Then right as I was about to leave, I noticed a pair of orange-crowned warblers deftly working a wild plum thicket in search of ants. The smell of the blossoms and beauty of the birds tell me that spring is finally here to stay.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.

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The Season of Color

By Christian Begeman

If you could pick a color to represent summer in South Dakota, what would it be? Azure blue for the summer sky? Maybe green with yellow tints for the prairie pastures? The colors of the rainbow we see after a spring storm? How about a mixture of orange and red for our signature sunsets? How do you color the serene night sky? I don’t know, but one thing is certain: summertime’s palette of color is vibrant and full of life. The rains have been good. For a few months out of the year our landscapes transition from drab tans and browns to lovely green accented with yellow, blue and red flowers. We may not have the vast carpets of wildflower fields like other parts of the world, but the summer wildflower season in South Dakota is still beautiful.

Much of the state is prairie landscape, which means outside of the farm fields, grass is king. However, summer wildflowers aren’t difficult to find. These bursts of color often accent the wide pastures with pleasant shades of yellow or purple. Coneflowers, sunflowers and milkweed also attract colorful butterflies, moths and even birds. A walk on a hillside that has never seen a plow always surprises me with the abundant variety of life mixed with the grasses. It is a great way to spend an afternoon or evening hike with your camera.

Earlier this month, I was surprised to see that you don’t even have to leave the confines Sioux Falls to find wildflowers in abundance. Just north of Cherapa Place on the east side of the Big Sioux River is a large area planted back to native grass and flowers. Such a display of natural color in the midst of our largest city is a feast for the eyes.

Flowers are fun to photograph any time of day, but I’ve had the best luck early in the morning, before the wind comes up and the dew dries. Flowers look good under clouds, too, because the light is diffused more evenly and the shadows are less harsh. My favorite time to hunt wildflowers, however, is early in the evening when the golden light colors the land with warm hues. A macro lens will work wonders, but it is not necessary. A wide-angle lens can take great photos of wildflowers too. I recommend getting down on your knees or even your stomach to shoot the flowers at eye level. Getting down in the grass and looking up provides new and creative perspectives for you and your camera. Be warned, however, that un-photogenic insects like ticks, spiders and ants also live at this level, so be mindful of where you settle in and always wear repellent.

As summer wanes, the sunflower season will get into full swing. You’ll see blooming blazing stars and ironweed, and monarch butterflies will begin their migration to Mexico. But there’s still plenty of time left in the season to find your summer color. Take a hike, bring your camera and enjoy the color of summer while it lasts.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.

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Dakota Awakening

By Christian Begeman

Another spring is settling in. I like to muse that the season is much more than simply another tilt of the planet back towards the sun. It’s the annual promise of new life. It’s another chance to smell rain on the wind. It’s another year to chase the light and see what is beyond the next bend. Springtime provides a lot to be thankful for, but also is a time of nostalgia for me. I remember life awakening on the farm, the smell of the first cut grass, the song of the meadowlark from a distant fencepost and the smell of plowed earth at planting time. This year, the season’s signature flourish of raindrops and rainbows have been few and far between, but thankfully that has not stopped the return of waterfowl on the wind, the greening of the grass and the budding of leaves. The songbirds and wildflowers are back, there’s new warmth in the breeze and the sky seems a bit more blue. Happy Spring everyone!

March 11

While checking the status of ice on area lakes, I startled a large group of migrating waterfowl hanging out in a pond of snowmelt near Silver Lake in northeast Hutchinson County.

March 20

On the official first day of spring I took a sunset hike around the edge of Buffalo Slough south of Chester. All ice is completely gone.

March 31

I found a rather large, wild pasqueflower patch a few miles south of Lake Vermillion including a lovely little natural bouquet of five.

April 4

Just like last spring, a lunar eclipse took place, but dawn approached too quickly to see the full”blood moon.” This photo was taken roughly 20 minutes before totality above Skresfrud Lutheran of rural Lincoln County. Since I was already up, I checked the bird feeders at Good Earth State Park and watched the early bird (robin) get its worm.

April 5

Temperatures reached the low 70s on this Easter Day. In the afternoon, I went looking for snow trillium at Newton Hills State Park and found many blossoms as well as a half dozen Question Mark butterflies soaking up the day’s warmth amongst the last year’s leaves.

April 12

A spring day for the books! First I explored Union Grove State Park to find an early flowering bush along the trail. Later, after a brief thunderstorm passed, an afternoon rainbow graced the sky over the fields of Union County. In the evening another rainbow appeared on the northwest edge of Vermillion and the magic was far from over. As I drove back to Sioux Falls, the setting sun painted the retreating rain clouds pink and blue north of Chancellor.

April 18

A steady, light rain fell for most of the afternoon in Sioux Falls. It was much needed moisture. I spent some time in the Japanese Garden area of Terrace Park to see if I could capture the mood of the day. I was accompanied by a variety of geese, ducks and songbirds, including a male northern cardinal with raindrops glistening on its vibrant feathers.


Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.

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Dirty Work

By Christian Begeman

I have to admit that my photography hobby could fool people at a casual glance. If you didn’t know me and happened to catch me when the photography muse strikes, I could forgive you for thinking that my elevator may not reach top floor. What other passion takes you out in the middle of clear, moonless nights for hours at a time miles from home … on a weeknight? What other hobby causes a grown man to sprawl spread eagle on the open prairie, awkwardly avoiding cactus and cowpies while brushing off bloodthirsty creepy crawlies just to get the best angle of light on a flower?

I’ve ripped countless jeans in far too many places from pesky barbed wire or simply awkward positioning in the heat of the photography moment. I single handedly keep insect repellent companies in business during the summer. I’ve gone to work looking like I was in a bar fight the night before because a gnat bit my eyelid and it nearly swelled shut. I got a satisfying kick out of saying,”you should have seen the other guy … squashed him like a bug,” to any co-worker who asked (and some who didn’t). Photography is probably proving that I’m a touch on the crazy side.

Lately, I’ve been obsessed by country churches and stormy skies. There is something, however, that can break me away even from those pursuits. Anytime I spot a patch of blooming wildflowers, I can’t help but grab a camera and start shooting. When I can get flowers with a country church, then it’s near photographic nirvana.

It’s been a late and wet spring. That means wildflowers have been going strong this year. I took a trip in late May to the western half of our state and found hillsides in bloom in Wind Cave National Park and Custer State Park. On my way back east, I stopped at Sica Hollow State Park to find more woodland beauties. Most of the spring flowers are done now, but the sunflowers, coneflower and prairie roses of early summer are out just waiting for you take their photos. Here are a couple suggestions on shooting wildflowers to get you prepared:

  • If possible, buy or borrow a macro lens. These lenses are engineered to allow very close focusing, which allows small buds and petals to appear large and detailed in a photograph. The first time I put on one my camera, I didn’t want to take it off for days. It can transform how you see a flower or even a bug.
  • Make use of a wide angle lens. Shooting as wide as possible does two things: it makes your depth of field rather big so more of the scene will be in focus, and it allows you to show the general area where the flowers are found. So you can show the entire hillside of flowers instead of just a few.
  • Don’t be afraid to get dirty. Anybody can shoot a flower from a standing eye level looking down. Interesting angles and details not always seen can be found at or below the flower’s level.
  • Watch for distractions in the shot. I’ve been frustrated more times than I like to admit when I notice an odd piece of grass in the composition that I didn’t notice while shooting. It is easy to get so focused on the flower that the surrounding details don’t get noticed. This is a tough one for me, but it pays to pay attention to everything in the frame.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.