Ron Shoots

I love a worm’s eye view. In this case, I was laying down in the middle of the road in Somewhere, South Dakota. Nixed the idea of being tethered to the laptop just in case I had to quickly jump out of the way. Finding new angles is the really fun part of photography and composition, then deciding on depth-of-field and focus points. This is my favorite shot of the day!

For a location shooter, weather is almost always an issue. I have a weather widget on my desktop and another drop-down weather-thingey on the menu bar. For me, a vacation is when I don’t have to watch the Weather Channel! Yesterday, I knew I would be coming close to Mt. Rushmore so I checked the weather. Every report said rain, rain and more rain. Bummmer. Anyway, I decided I would stay at a hotel in Rapid City, SD- about a 45 minute drive away just in case and it was getting late. My day had started in Montana on the north side of Yellowstone and I was ready to stop for the day after 14 hours of driving & shooting.

So this morning at 6:30am, I looked out and confirmed that yes indeed, the skies were cloudy and threatening rain. For once, the weather reports were correct, or so I thought… I needed to book a flight and do some email so an hour later, looked out the window again and the skies were beginning to clear! Finishing up in just a few minutes, I was out the door and on my way down to the scuptures. By the time I arrived, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky! I shot the basics and a few others so that our digital team will have some composite elements.

In retrospect, I probably should have stayed down in Keystone City at the base of the mountain, but the weather reports were not good. At least I was close. But close doesn’t always count when the weather can change in minutes. I’ve lucked out as well as missed the “2 minutes” of sunshine for the day many times before!

When looking for landscapes, I avoid the freeways and look for the small 2 lane highways, or even one-lane dirt roads. Sometimes the maps will help you out with green dots that mark the state-designated Scenic Byways. Even if there’s no interesting things to shoot, the drive is always more pleasant than blasting down the interstate at 70mph.

Today I lucked out! In the west, there’s amazing fall color- the aspens and cottonwoods are bright yellow. Not much other color though. I’ve been looking for the classic road and/or stream surrounded by fall color. This afternoon, I found both within a few hundred yards. See HOW I discovered this place below.

Here’s the scenes:

Here’s a “behind the scenes” snap- on the roads less traveled, you can (sometimes) park in the middle of the road!

The photo gods work in mysterious ways…

You just never know how you will find a location. Finding the “road less traveled” is sometimes a science, not an art. Actually today, it was the science of human physiology. You see, I had just finished off a 20 ounce coffee and needed to make a pit stop. Not seeing a rest area on my chosen two lane road, I pulled over to the side. After getting out, I looked up and there was another 2 lane road- my fall color road- right there!

The road is “Old Highway 16″ in northeast Wyoming. Look on the Where page, I’ve geo-marked the exact location.

Last time I saw the big spurting geyser thing, the time was mid-summer, about 42 degrees cold and raining sideways… but I, and my family, and a thousand tourists, braved the elements. The throngs started doing the “wave” and fake countdowns to pass the 30 minutes before the event. Who wouldn’t after driving all the way across the country?

Today was a perfect fall day. 62 degrees and only a hundred tourists, and I arrived about 2 minutes prior to eruption. I was in and out of the parking lot in less than 5 minutes!

OK, a visual pun, and not an original one at that, but I couldn’t resist! I guess I didn’t get to see too much of America when I was a kid so I have fun when visiting these geographical icons. Or is it the hours of endless driving and the need to squelch boredom?