
Photos: Animals of the Badlands, Tetons and Yellowstone | Landscapes of the Badlands, Tetons and Yellowstone
Leaving on a Friday we drove through the night to the Badlands National Park, arriving in time to get a few star photos and the sunrise. We camped a couple of days in the Badlands taking photos of Prairie Dogs, Mountain Bluebirds, Meadowlarks, and Bighorn sheep. We took sunrise and sunset photos each day and Milky Way stars photos at night. I found that the lighting that I preferred on the rocks of the Badlands was about 45 to 30 minutes before sunrise and about the same after sunset. The sunlight on a clear day was too contrasty and on a cloudy day too flat. Most were 10 to 30 second exposures at f/16 and ISO 100 (camera on a sturdy tripod of course). Night-time stars photos were mostly 30 second exposures at f/2.8 and a 17mm wide angle lens and ISO 2000-3200. We also saw a porcupine at night crossing the road, but didn't get photos. Leaving late in the day we were hoping to get to Devil's Tower, WY to take some Milky Way photos with the tower in the foreground. Unfortunately we were racing a cloud front that got there ahead of us, so we continued on toward Jackson, WY.


The return trip required another stop in the Badlands for more nighttime Milky Way photos, more sunrise photos and more Bighorn Sheep photos. It was a great trip. We didn't get much sleep, but did get lots of photos:
Animals/Birds of the Badlands, Tetons and Yellowstone | Landscapes/Stars of the Badlands, Tetons and Yellowstone