Flushing The Brain {North Dakota Scenery}

Whether you are a business owner or artist, every so often you need to take a break from the world, get out of your office and… flush the brain. Although I could jokingly say it’s just an excuse to take a trip, truth is everyone needs to take a break now and then. Last October my good friend Ron and I took off for a a three day trip to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota.
We tent camped for a couple nights inside the park. Doing so allowed us to be up before sunrise and photograph late into the night. The North Dakota Badlands is a beautiful place to visit. The majority of the population thinks there is nothing too see in the upper midwest, but they are wrong. Maybe the benefit to being here is it is so far removed from the more populous cities that it just does not see the same traffic as more well known National Parks. The Badlands are full of wildlife, and majestic views. In fact one night after we were done photographing, we were driving with our hands out the windows shining our flashlites into the areas to the side of the road. I don’t know if you have ever seen a bison in real life, but they can be huge. And if you tangle with one, trust me you lose.
The goal of our trip was to get away from our hectic schedules and spend some time creating for ourselves. As I mentioned earlier, you can never leave it behind. I have come to accept that as a curse but more as a blessing. There is no doubt I was put on this earth to create images that impact peoples lives. Over the past six years one of the things I have really enjoyed is photographing at night under the stars. The image above is an image was photographed with a fisheye lens pretty much looking straight up. I really enjoy this image. It reminds me of what most people don’t get to see or even take the time to look up. It is the challenge and thought of creating images like this that helps to fuel our passion for what we do. It allows us to think outside of the box and try something completely different.
This summer we will be spending a full week inside the South Dakota Badlands National Park. I am really looking forward to the opportunity to photograph the Badlands and create images that reflect the remoteness and spectacular views of rural South Dakota.
This year our National Park Service celebrates its 100 year anniversary. We look forward to celebrating the occasion and sharing our images with you… Now put down the phone and go enjoy the world…