This has been a weird year for fall colors in western South Dakota’s prairie. Last year was amazing and I was so hoping for a repeat.

October is my favorite month and every year I look forward to the beauty of the changing colors. I used to live in Wisconsin and northeast Illinois where fall is spectacular! I have learned to appreciate and savor the color in the wide open spaces. Earlier this month the weather was very cold and we saw too much snow for this early in the season. Because of this, I’m convinced we lost a lot of color and most of the trees went straight to brown.

The evening of my anniversary, Marty and I went out for a drive through the northern parts of Jones County and onto Bad River Road. The leaves were just starting to peak their color and I had hopes of going out the next day but it was rainy and the snow came.

I have recently been inspired to really dig deep back into my roots of photography; exploring shafts of light and colors that pop out. If you and I have ever had a conversation about photography you know that I prefer a more traditional approach-doing as much of the work in camera with minimal digital developing. Because I shoot with a digital SLR in RAW files, there must be some developing done to finalize the image. Though this might not be a popular approach to photography these days with so much that digital development has to offer, this is what is true to who I am and what inspires my photography.

A few weeks ago, I went through Hanson Creek in search for what might still be left of color. I found this little pocket of light and knew I just had to get in closer.

If I hadn’t already been keyed into looking for light, I would have surely missed it. I love how the carefree sun cascades into this small part of the world. I  also enjoy the golden tones in the grasses, splashing with yellows. It’s not just the trees that turn out here, but the grasses as well.

Until next year!