The Happy Fisherman

Most people fish Lake Oahe for its walleye. But my friend Peterson thought finding northerns would be just fine and on day two of our fishing/sailing expedition, this is what he found. I don't have a scale on my sailboat so we had to go looking for a fisherman who did. Total weight: 20.2 lbs. Scott has been fishing in Canada for 30 years but this is the largest northern he has ever caught. And I helped.If you want to see the exact location where we caught this fish, check out the Panoramio link. There may be more.

Rural Scene

I have mentioned that one of the virtues of my home town of 25,000 people is that I can get in my car and drive north and be a place as rural as any one could look for. This photo is evidence. I found this scene looking for sunrise shots. The color has not been manipulated or enhanced - this is what my camera saw. I guess the golden light and fog are "real."

Reminder of the Cold War

You may be surprised to learn that during the height of the Cold War, South Dakota was one of the ten most dangerous places to live in the US in the event of a nuclear war. We had few people and, aside from Ellsworth Air Force Base, few strategic targets. But what my state had was thousands of square miles of range land peppered with nuclear tipped Minute Man missiles. These missiles sites were like lightning rods: their intent was to protect our nation, but they also turned their locations in to attractive targets.This is one of several "missile flight" centers. These secured compounds were for maintenance and launch of nuclear warheads. Above ground, the places look fairly innocent. But deep underground in reinforced concrete bunkers, the launch commanders would receive their orders, program the flight paths of the missiles they controlled, and push the Big Red Button.*Today, the missiles have been removed, their underground silos imploded, and the missiles flight centers sit vacant. (Here's a broader view of the same site. Also, you can see this on Panoramio - perhaps as the Russians saw it on their own satellite photos.)Incidentally, one of these flight centers has been turned in to a very unique Bed and Breakfast, but you have to go way off the beaten path in South Dakota to sleep there. It's called Juliet 1 B&B and it's located in Opal, SD.(*Big Red Button is my very unofficial term for the launch mechanism.)

Their Day Is Coming

I had been at a meeting in the western part of our state and on the way back home, I stopped by the Spring Creek Marina north of Pierre on lake Oahe. The last time I saw these boats, they were still on the water. Now they sit patiently on their trailers, waiting to be put back in their element.My boat is in my driveway awaiting a few small repairs. In a couple weeks, I hope to have "Wandering Star" on the water and under sail.

Roller Coaster

This is the point where highway 34/73 crosses the Cheyenne River in west central South Dakota. This is a roller coaster road on a giant scale. What is most fascinating about the geography here is that these days the Cheyenne River is a mere trickle compared to the huge torrent it was millions of years ago, when it carved out this immense valley.See this place from space.

Relics

On the journey back to eastern South Dakota from a meeting in Deadwood, I decided to take the back way home. In my urge to get home I often drive by things that I think are photogenic. But on this trip I decided to stop when I saw interesting things.This creek bed is about 100 miles west of Pierre. Not everyone finds dead trees photogenic but I do. I debated about posting the photo in black and white but Deb said she liked the color version better. And she's always right.Here's the black and white version.

Pristine

I took this photo a year ago. I was visiting Wagner, SD, and decided to drive over to see the Fort Randall dam and Lake Francis Case. It was one of those spring mornings that was windless, clear and cool.In South Dakota, the Missouri River has been "domesticated" by a series of 4 dams, each of which provides flood control, electricity and large bodies of water that are perfect for fisherman and sailors, though sailors are in the clear minority.To see what the Missouri river looks like just below the dam, check out this photo. And here's a satellite view of this location.

Big Sky Over Mission Creek

My boat is parked in my driveway, dwarfing our little red Prius. There are many projects waiting for me but today it is rainy and cold. So I am spending time looking for photos of Lake Oahe and the Missouri River.This photo (taken with film in another century) looks north over the mouth of mission creek. The peninsula visible in the middle is called Mouse Island and I am guessing that the strip of land connecting the island will be under water this summer due to the fact that the reservoir is almost full. The boat is this photo is named Ariel and I sailed her for over 20 years.For a sense of the geography of this place, you really need to see this spot on my Panoramio web site.

Welcome!

The May issue of "Sailing Magazine" has hit the stands. And I'm proud to say that "Early Morning With Wandering Star" made it into that issue. If you have found your way to my blog from "Sailing Magazine," welcome.If you are just wanting to look at a few photos, you've come to the right place. If you are thinking about coming to Lake Oahe to sail and need more information, please contact me.If you'd like to see the photos in my blog tagged "sailing," click here.Here's the on line article (minus the photos).

Celebrating the Sun

In honor of Earth Day 2010, I looked for something in my collection that seemed appropriate and this was the best I could do. "What is it?" you ask. This is a small solar panel on my sailboat "Wandering Star." Here it is beaded with dew and just beginning to do it's work turning sun rays into energy to power essential things like my iPod.Sailboats, of course, are solar powered since without the sun, there would be no wind. The hull of my boat is white. But "Wandering Star" is really pretty green.Canon 5DII 1/500s f/10.0 ISO400 93mm
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

03-16-10 We're Seniors!

These girls are members of the class of 2009, which I'm sure was a great class. Every senior class is, isn't it? This photo was taken at the Powderpuff Football Game, which is part of our homecoming ritual. The seniors won. But they always do, since cheating and bribing of the referees is allowed.

On a technical note, this photo is an example of a technique I've used here before. It's a combination of "dragging the shutter" and zooming the lens at the same time. To drag the shutter, set the camera to "shutter priority," use a slow shutter speed (1/20 sec), and make sure the flash fires. To get the best result, you also have to make sure that either the subject moves or that the camera moves (or zooms). The result is occasionally an interesting ghosting effect.

Canon 5D 1/20s f/7.1 ISO500 24mm

02-18-10 A Single Tree

This is a quintessential South Dakota sunrise: a single tree and an expanse of prairie pasture. The tree and the sunrise are commonplace; but the clouds aren't. On this particular morning, I was struck by texture of the clouds and how there was a single band of sunlight along the horizon. Light like this is short lived. Usually, you can't say, "That's pretty - I'll go get my camera." By the time you have your camera, even if it is only minutes later, the moment has passed.

Canon 1D 1/60s f/2.8 ISO400 200mm