One of My Favorite Places in the World

Red Palisades in Badlands National Park after a week of
rainy weather. I've never seen it so green!
This image was photographed with a hand-held
Kodak D812 during a light midday rain.

I love to travel.

I especially love our vagabond way my wife and I travel the United States: via towed camper. This gives us the flexibility to leave the unit so that we can explore with just the truck, pull into a rest area or a friendly merchant (Most Wal-Marts and Flying J's will let us do this.) for a quick overnight or only a nap.

Among the many places we've visited, my favorite (so far) is Badlands National Park in South Dakota, United States. This desolate and inhospitable bowl on the high prairies has a surreal beauty that changes view every few feet!

The last time we were there, rains poured on the area for the previous week. I had never seen it so green! The rain deepened the colors as it saturated the hills. No filters were necessary to enhance the otherwise subtle colors. The enhanced colors made the inconvenience of photographing in the rain worth the effort.

I hope to camp at the park a full week so I can take time to photograph more of the many moods of the Badlands. That may be a few years off.

Out and about

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Red Palisades, Badlands National Park
Copyright W. Clinton Hotaling

I will be the first to admit that I've been remiss in blogging this past few weeks. I have an explanation. Several in fact:

I travelled to the Black Hills area of South Dakota, including stops in Wall and the Badlands National Park. It rained A LOT during our trip. One benefit was that the Badlands greened up more than I ever saw it before. Photographing in the rain even enriched the color bands in the rocks.

My Mac CPU officially became a boat anchor. We found a new notebook at a bargain price, so I've been spending necessary time setting it up.

Our travel trailer just came back from the repair shop. Originally, we were just replacing the awning. The timing was fortunate, because we found some new roof leaks during our trip that the shop fixed for us while it was there.

All the wet weather speeds up the garden preparations. Plantings and cultivation cannot wait long before the mess gets away from us.



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Rapier scenario at White Lake Resort, Montello, Wisconsin
Copyright W. Clinton Hotaling

I've had two living history events this last month, one of them in the Black Hills, another in Montello. There was plenty of fencing to go around, in between the raindrops.

One thing that finally sunk into my brain: It really is the art of defence. I found that if I keep focused on preventing my opponent's blade from reaching me, I am suddenly a better fencer. People have noticed.

One of the good things I found out these past few weeks is the DeForest Photographers Group sponsored by the DeForest Library. Their next meeting is next week. I excited and a little apprehensive about meeting other photographers "in my back yard". That's almost literal, as the library is two blocks from my house. (Location! Location! Location!)

Oak Chair, Dragon Art Fair
W. Clinton Hotaling photo

I found this out at the Dragon Art Fair, also sponsored by the Library. Among the exhibitors was a wood carver that made this beautiful chair. It also had a beautiful price: $3000. As nice as it was, few people I know could afford it.

My wife and I found a great alternative to traditional bratwurst: chicken smoked sausage. High nutrition with little fat and plenty of flavor and texture. Yum! It also doesn't hurt that these are precooked and just need to be reheated.

Our community supported agriculture shares also started up this last month. Lots of veggies for the summer to supplement our garden.

I think the biggest lesson I've learned during this absence is the one of finding (or to refine) my vision and use that as I sort through my photographs to create my portfolios.  That will happen soon. Stay tuned.