Kevin Palmer

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  • The first light of sunrise paints the top of the badlands with a brilliant orange glow. Located in western South Dakota on the edge of the Great Plains, this harsh landscape is home to bison, bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, prairie dogs, and other wildlife. By definition badlands are semiarid regions with sparse vegetation that experience high rates of erosion. Even though there are other places in the western US and throughout the world known as badlands, the term originated here in Badlands National Park. This is a special place, but unfortunately the person who decided to use it as a landfill didn't think so. When I peered into this steep ravine I spotted a couch that someone had rolled to the bottom.
    Badlands First Light
  • Bats emerged from their hiding places and fluttered about as the rumbles of thunder drew closer. A herd of bighorn sheep and a couple of bison were grazing around me as I awaited the arrival of the storm. The sun had already gone down over the South Dakota Badlands, but the nearly continuous flashes of lightning provided enough light for my camera. The storm was advancing slowly, but once this striated shelf cloud emerged ahead of the rain core, then it picked up speed. I could hear and smell the rain before I felt it. Once the wall of water hit, the downpour wouldn't let up until 3 hours later. This perhaps wasn't the best night to be camping in the Badlands. Although my tent held up well enough with minimal leakage, the entire campground was a muddy mess the next morning.
    Badlands Shelf Cloud
  • I arrived in Badlands National Park just in time to watch the first of 4 thunderstorms move through.
    Welcome to the Badlands
  • In front of me was a rainbow, lightning to the left, a colorful sunset behind me, and to my right were baby bighorn sheep prancing around. When the downpour ended and the sun came out, it was an overwhelming few minutes and I didn’t know where to point my camera. I was just lucky to be at this overlook in Badlands National Park. When the storm was closing in I made a bad decision to turn down a very muddy road. But somehow my car made it back out after spinning the wheels for 5 minutes. My last 2 visits to this South Dakota national park were both very short and involved waiting out heavy thunderstorms, which isn't all that enjoyable in a tent. One of these days I'll return when the weather is actually nice. But bad weather makes for the best pictures.
    Badlands Bow
  • While driving the Calypso Trail near Terry, Montana, I passed by this area of rust-colored badlands.
    Rusty Badlands
  • It was a colorful sunrise a the Terry Badlands. Scattered clouds lit up in every direction. The clouds also kept the morning cool before another very hot day.
    Terry Badlands Sunrise
  • A spire rises above the grassland along the Castle Trail in Badlands National Park.
    Badlands Spire
  • A flowering yucca plant stands out among the swaying grass in the sunrise light. Tucked away in a dusty corner of northwest Nebraska, the Toadstool Geological Area is a place very different than the rest of the state. It's similar to the Badlands of South Dakota, yet different. The badlands and geological formations here are very brittle and are constantly changing and being weathered away. Many of the toadstool formations that the park is named after are no longer standing.
    Yucca Badlands Sunrise
  • The first light of morning illuminates the McCullough Peak Badlands with the Beartooth Mountains in the distance. It was a very cold and windy morning.
    Badlands and Beartooths
  • A colorful sunset fills the sky above the McCullough Peak Badlands. This view is looking west towards Cody.
    McCullough Badlands Sunset
  • Multicolored badlands cover the northern portion of Petrified Forest National Park.
    Painted Badlands
  • Golden cottonwood trees line the banks of the Little Missouri River in the north unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park while the badlands glow in the evening light.
    Oxbow Badlands
  • A distant lightning storm moves south past the Badlands in South Dakota. The red sky in the west was casting a soft glow on the tops of the cliffs. This was a typical late summer evening when a thunderstorm formed over the Black Hills and moved out across the plains.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: August 7, 2013
    Stormy Badlands
  • A distant lightning storm moves south past the Badlands National Park. The red sky in the west was casting a soft glow on the tops of the cliffs. The black dots in the center are turkey vultures.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: August 7, 2013
    Badlands Lightning
  • Before leaving the East Block of Grasslands National Park I made a stop at the Killdeer Badlands. In contrast to other parts of the park, here there were some very colorful trees in between the hills.
    Killdeer Badlands
  • A supercell lurked in the darkness. Every few seconds a flash would illuminate the thundercloud and show a silhouette of the sharp spires of the Badlands. This was the 4th storm I watched this evening. Rumbles of thunder slowly grew louder as yet another storm approached from the west and threatened to block the view of this one. Badlands National Park is one of my favorite places to capture storms. Even when they’re 100 miles away, the views here are excellent. And distant storms are preferred when I’m camping. The Badlands are very exposed to the elements. There is no escaping the rain, wind, and mud. An earlier downpour soaked me to the skin but the wind that followed dried me in minutes. The mud is the type that cakes to the bottom of your shoes making every footstep heavier. But a few hours in the hot sun and the mud is baked dry. At the time of this picture tennis-ball sized hail was reported in the Pine Ridge Reservation to the south. The lights are from the metropolis of Interior, population 94. The lightning was mostly cloud-to-cloud; this was the only strike I captured out of 500 shots.
    Strike Beyond Interior
  • Badlands are a type of terrain that experiences rapid erosion, estimated to be an inch per year at Badlands National Park. Much of that erosion happens during thunderstorms like this one. When the downpour first started I was disappointed because I didn’t get any shots of the storm structure beforehand. But then there was a break in the rain. It lasted just long enough for me to rush back to this overlook and capture the dark menacing clouds above surrounded by two blueish-green rain cores. Hidden in the ravine below were big horn sheep climbing the steep muddy terrain. The second wall of water hit even heavier than the first and dropped visibility to almost zero. A local told me they had never seen a spring with more rain. And they were right, 2019 was to become the wettest year on record in western South Dakota.
    Wall of Water
  • Bats emerged from their hiding places and fluttered about as the rumbles of thunder drew closer. A herd of bighorn sheep and a couple of bison were grazing around me as I awaited the arrival of the storm. The sun had already gone down over the South Dakota Badlands, but the nearly continuous flashes of lightning provided enough light for my camera. The storm was advancing slowly, but once this striated shelf cloud emerged ahead of the rain core, then it picked up speed. I could hear and smell the rain before I felt it. Once the wall of water hit, the downpour wouldn't let up until 3 hours later. This perhaps wasn't the best night to be camping in the Badlands. Although my tent held up well enough with minimal leakage, the entire campground was a muddy mess the next morning.
    Out of the Darkness
  • The temperature topped 100°F as I drove down a dirt road called the Calypso Trail. The terrain of eastern Montana may appear boring at first. But the Terry Badlands area is filled with all kinds of geological wonders including toadstools, pillars, caves, and these natural bridges. I couldn't find much information on this place and getting here wasn't easy. Washouts, sand, and sinkholes make the road in very rough. Any rain will turn it to mud and make it impassable. Once at the end it's only a couple mile hike through fields of biting flies. I didn't even know there would be 3 natural bridges until I arrived. It was tricky to get all of them in one picture until I went underneath. Just past the bridges was a strange tunnel carved by water, with the roof collapsed in places. Some of the only shade in the area is found by standing underneath the bridges which are up to 50 feet long. This is a dry, desolate place, but still it has a certain beauty to it.
    All 3 Natural Bridges
  • Moonlight illuminates the badlands and grassland in South Dakota.
    Diverging Trail
  • This ladder/stairway is part of the Notch Trail in Badlands National Park.
    The Notch Trail
  • A lone bison grazes in the evening light in Badlands National Park. Cowbirds like to hang around bison because they stir up insects as they graze.
    Bison and Cowbird
  • There was a very colorful sunset on this evening over the badlands east of Cody. McCullough Peak on the upper right is the highest point in these remote badlands on BLM land.
    McCullough Peak Sunset
  • June is a great time of year to see baby bighorn sheep (lambs) at Badlands National Park. They are very agile and it's fun to watch them dash around the steep terrain.
    Big World Little Sheep
  • A small herd of bighorn sheep were grazing along one of the overlooks at Badlands National Park.
    Munching on Grass
  • Before visiting the Terry Badlands, I had no idea that Montana had it's own Chimney Rock. It looks remarkably similar to the one in Nebraska, but it's a little shorter. This one can be viewed from the rough road called the Calypso Trail.
    Montana's Chimney Rock
  • June is a great time of year to see baby bighorn sheep (lambs) at Badlands National Park. They are very agile and it's fun to watch them dash around the steep terrain.
    Bonding Moment
  • The last sunlight of the day shines on rock formations in the Terry Badlands.
    Golden Pyramid
  • It was a warm summer night at the Terry Badlands. I took this self-portait just before going to sleep at 1AM.
    Warm Montana Night
  • This storm to the south had some of the best structure of the year. But I decided to stay in the Badlands this day instead of chasing it. At least it made for a nice sunset here underneath the anvil.
    Spreading Anvil Sunset
  • Moonlight illuminates the top of the badlands in South Dakota.
    Summit Pass Moonlight
  • In front of me was a rainbow, lightning to the left, a colorful sunset behind me, and to my right were baby bighorn sheep prancing around. When the downpour ended and the sun came out, it was an overwhelming few minutes and I didn’t know where to point my camera. I was just lucky to be at this overlook in Badlands National Park. When the storm was closing in I made a bad decision to turn down a very muddy road. But somehow my car made it back out after spinning the wheels for 5 minutes. My last 2 visits to this South Dakota national park were both very short and involved waiting out heavy thunderstorms, which isn't all that enjoyable in a tent. One of these days I'll return when the weather is actually nice. But bad weather makes for the best pictures.
    End of the Storm
  • Early morning sunlight illuminates a striated portion of the badlands in South Dakota.
    Striped Hills
  • Tucked away in a dusty corner of northwest Nebraska, the Toadstool Geological Area is a place very different than the rest of the state. It's similar to the Badlands of South Dakota, yet different. The badlands and geological formations here are very brittle and are constantly changing and being weathered away. Many of the toadstool formations that the park is named after are no longer standing.
    Toadstool Moon
  • Tucked away in a dusty corner of northwest Nebraska, the Toadstool Geological Area is a place very different than the rest of the state. It's similar to the Badlands of South Dakota, yet different. The badlands and geological formations here are very brittle and are constantly changing and being weathered away. Many of the toadstool formations that the park is named after are no longer standing.
    Jumbled Toadstool Rocks
  • Even though I love thunderstorms, I was hoping for a clear sky to photograph the milky way since I was only in the Badlands one night. At 10 pm it didn't seem like it was going to happen so I returned to my campsite in Wall. But just before going to sleep at midnight I looked up and could see stars. So I drove the 20 minutes back to the overlook and saw this. Badlands National Park is one of the best places you can go for dark skies with very little light pollution. Although it wasn't very well defined, green airglow is visible in this shot. Even a very small town can have lights that reflect on the clouds and that is what the orange spots are.
    The Clearing
  • Evaporating rain known as virga hangs in the air above the McCullough Peak Badlands. In the background the Pryor Mountains can be seen.
    Buttes and Virga
  • The zodiacal light glowed in the west after sunset before the moon rose. The view was from my campsite in the McCullough Peaks Badlands and the lights are from the edge of Cody.
    Between the Lights
  • The first light of the day illuminates the Borrego Badlands while the moon sets in the west. This is looking towards Borrego Springs from Font's Point.
    Fonts Point Morning
  • As an evening storm approached, the sun came out for just a moment over the Badlands National Park. After driving and trying to make it to this overlook, this was the only shot I took before it was gone.
    Moment of Light
  • On my last morning in Anza Borrego Desert State Park, I drove to Fonts Point to shoot the sunrise. To get here you have to drive up a dry wash while avoiding the sandy areas. The colors were amazing, even 45 minutes before the sun rose, the clouds in the east were lit up with an intense red glow. The Borrego Badlands look similar to those found in South Dakota.
    Fonts Point Sunrise
  • Golden cottonwood trees glow under the badlands of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
    North Dakota Gold
  • Devil's Kitchen is an interesting geological area east of Greybull, Wyoming. Very colorful badland features range from red to yellow to white and change appearance depending on the light. I feel like anywhere else this would be a well-visited park. But there are no facilities at this out-of-the-way spot, not even information signs. I was wondering why this small cave smelled so bad, until I saw a dead vulture at the bottom.
    Stinky Cave
  • At first it had the appearance of puffy clouds on the southeast horizon. Then as it rose higher the Milky Way revealed more detail. The clouds were made not of water vapor, but of stars too numerous and densely packed to resolve individually. The bright core of the galaxy is split in two by a dark lane of cosmic dust known as the Great Rift. The Milky Way was soon followed by the rise of Jupiter, and then Saturn. Meanwhile shooting stars periodically flashed across the sky during the peak of the Lyrid meteor shower. The Lyrids are the oldest known meteor shower, first observed 2700 years ago. Of the 15 meteors I captured, this one was the brightest. Devil’s Kitchen is a small basin containing badlands-type terrain, but it may as well have been another planet. It’s a barren wasteland located on the west side of the Bighorn Mountains filled with fascinating geologic formations of all different colors. When I first found it last summer I knew I had to return to shoot it at night.
    Night at Devil's Kitchen
  • This bison bull used a post to scratch an itch on his belly.
    Scratching an Itch
  • After waiting out a heavy thunderstorm at the Pinnacles Overlook, the sun began to come out. Beautiful golden light illuminated everything, a double rainbow appeared with lightning, and bighorn sheep wandered around. It was an overwhelming few minutes as I didn't know where to point my camera.
    Weathered
  • I wondered around the bottom of Devil's Kitchen for awhile before the light faded. This fractal pattern in the dirt caught my eye.
    Fractals In the Dirt
  • On my last morning in Anza Borrego Desert State Park, I drove to Fonts Point to shoot the sunrise. To get here you have to drive up a dry wash while avoiding the sandy areas. The colors were amazing, even 45 minutes before the sun rose, the clouds in the east were lit up with an intense red glow. The clouds are reflected in the Salton Sea, California's largest lake. The lake was created in 1905 when engineers accidentally diverted the flow of the entire Colorado River for 2 years.
    Sliver of Gold
  • These cannonballs are an interesting geological formation in the north unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
    Broken Cannonballs
  • This natural bridge is found in Makoshika State Park in northeast Montana which is filled with many interesting geological formations.
    Makoshika Bridge
  • A tornado-warned supercell is the last thing I expected to see in Arizona in November. When I stopped in Petrified Forest National Park for a few hours, I noticed a strong storm heading for the Holbrook area. I briefly considered chasing it when I saw a velocity couplet on radar indicating rotation, but decided to stay in the national park instead. I forgot about it until later when I went up to Blue Mesa to shoot the sunset. I immediately noticed this mesocyclone to the west, backlit by the colors of sunset. A tornado never touched down. But I was glad I was able to photograph this storm with a beautiful landscape of colorful eroded buttes and mesas, even though I was 40 miles away.
    Arizona Mesocyclone
  • The sunrise filled the sky with color as seen from Font's Point in Anza Borrego Desert State Park.
    Across the Sky
  • On my last morning in Anza Borrego Desert State Park, I drove to Fonts Point to shoot the sunrise. To get here you have to drive up a dry wash while avoiding the sandy areas. The colors were amazing, even 45 minutes before the sun rose, the clouds in the east were lit up with an intense red glow. The clouds are reflected in the Salton Sea, California's largest lake. The lake was created in 1905 when engineers accidentally diverted the flow of the entire Colorado River for 2 years.
    Salton Sunrise
  • The milky way glows above the Little Missouri River, lined with golden cottonwood trees. Looking south, the skies were very dark here in the north unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. But there was a lot of light pollution present to the north from natural gas flaring in the Bakken oil field. This was taken on the last day of September.
    Theodore Roosevelt Milky Way
  • Golden cottonwood trees line the banks of the Little Missouri River in the north unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
    River Bend Autumn
  • Rain was falling from the clouds, but it evaporated into the dry air before reaching the ground. This is known as virga. The views were dramatic from the McCullough Peaks Badlands, especially when the sun came out and contrasted with the dark clouds.In the distance the snow capped Bighorn Mountains can be seen.
    Virga and Badlands
  • Badlands to Lagunas
  • Golden Badlands
  • Borrego Badlands Sunset
  • Rain was falling from the clouds, but it evaporated into the dry air before reaching the ground. This is known as virga. The views were dramatic from the McCullough Peaks Badlands, especially when the sun came out and contrasted with the dark clouds.In the distance the snow capped Bighorn Mountains can be seen.
    Vanishing Rain
  • Late evening sunlight cast shadows across the McCullough Peak Badlands.
    Lay of the Land
  • In the rolling hills and badlands in between Cody and Greybull, Wyoming, there is not much around. But there is a herd of about 100 wild mustangs living on BLM land. The first time I looked for them, they were nowhere to be found. But the second time I looked, I spotted the horses grazing on a distant ridge. After crossing a creek and following a two-track dirt road into the hills, I was able to get closer. While observing the herd, these two stallions emerged with determined looks on their faces and manes blowing around in the strong winds. They stopped not far in front of me, reared up on their hind legs, and sparred with each other. They only did this once, enough for me to get 1 picture, before walking away again.
    Fighting Stallions