By Scott Shephard
The moon looks like a crescent moon but it is actually a lunar eclipse. My wife and I had driven east of Watertown to find a clear view of the night sky. By the time the moon was partially eclipsed, it had grown fairly dark. Thus, in this shot I am using an ISO setting that I tend to avoid. I had taken a few shots of the moon but then drove to a place where I could get something interesting in the foreground. The snow capped trees were perfect.
Canon 5D 1/80s f/6.3 ISO1000 195mm
To say that the Missouri River dams in South Dakota have changed the face of the river is an understatement. In the attempt to tame the river and tap its potential for irrigation and power, towns and burial burial sites were submerged and the original landscape of the "real" river was lost forever.
Though you can't see the Missouri River in this shot, you would if you walked up the hill you see in the background. This particular area is near the famous "Al's Oasis" restaurant in Central South Dakota. The evening before this picture was taken stormy weather moved through. But the morning dawned clear and bright.
This was a marginal day for "fun" photography because it was raining an cold. But I had felt obligated to get a few more fall shots before driving back to the warmth of our cabin. Heading home, I passed this almost barren oak tree with a misty backdrop and stopped to take a few pictures through the half-opened window of my truck.
It has been a wet winter in the Black Hills, which has left the reservoirs full and the creeks running high. I normally take a few photos at Iron Creek near our cabin when I am staying in the Hills. But when I drove to 
Yesterday, my 
The other day, I posted a somewhat rhetorical question on facebook which asked for ideas for photos that I might post. I actually got several suggestions. The most intriguing suggestion came from a former student of mine who said that she missed seeing the South Dakota sky.
This photo was taken in the Little Bend area of the Missouri River. I wasn't looking for a photograph on the morning I took this. I was actually making an ice run to the Little Bend Bait Shop, which was a few miles away from where I had docked my sailboat.
I wasn't trying to find another picture where