Monday, May 28, 2012

Have a safe Memorial Day from Dakota Visions Photography, LLC

This holiday weekend, we have taken time to spend with our family and friends to remember the ultimate price that so many of our veterans have paid for our freedom. 

We hope you have the opportunity to read one of our previous posts about the life we live because of the veterans that have laid their life down for us.  Please take the time to read 'Fallen, but not forgotten...'.

We hope you have a safe and memorable Memorial Day Weekend.  We'll return after the long holiday weekend, so until then, we'll see you behind the lens...

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

T4T: Varina Patel and Blasphemy!

Two for Tuesday - our time to pass along the two websites that caught our attention this week. We hope you enjoy these links and encourage you to visit these sites.  So onto the picks - here is our Two for Tuesday sites for you to futz around with on this fine Tuesday...

Photography by Varina: http://www.photographybyvarina.com/

Varina Patel is a freelance wilderness and landscape photographer based in the United States. The worst enemy of a landscape photographer is a repetitive image gallery and chaotic composition. Varina takes aim and destroys these two photography foes. There is a beautiful, refreshing range in Varina's work: light and dark, color and monochrome, to macro and grandiose. Her compositions are clean and simple with subtle colors. Her processing looks vivid and real, not over-the-top or faked.

Varina states that "Nature is incredibly diverse - quiet streams and roaring waterfalls, burning desert sands and mossy riverbanks, silent snowfall and raging winter storms. This fantastic variety ensures that I can never photograph the same scene twice in the same way." Varina, we have become enthralled with your work because of its diversity and can't wait for your next photographs! 

Our favorite photographs are her 'Mantled in Mist' and stunning 'Great Egret'.  Great job, Varina and we'll be watching for more from you!

Nikon - Learn & Explore, Insights & Techniques: http://www.nikonusa.com/Learn-And-Explore/Photography-Techniques/index.page

Oh, the blasphemy...the SHAME!  A 'Canon' guy giving out a 'Nikon' website as a favorite!  I'm afraid to show my face at the next local photography get-together.  But, alas, the damage is done.  I've gone over to the dark side and seen the light...

I shall acquiesce, Nikon has a good...ok, great, website/blog filled with learning opportunities, insights, and techniques.  We stumbled upon the site when looking for a tutorial on how to shoot the solar eclipse this week, and lo and behold, there was more to the site than just Nikon advertisements!?! 

In all seriousness, the Nikon Learn & Explore tab has a great set of tools to increase your knowledge base.  From Fundamentals of Photography to advanced Shooting Techniques, the site is loaded with great learning opportunities.  Take the time to peruse around.  And just a hint - the techniques work with Canon cameras, too (in fact, some would argue with better results!)

These are our picks for this T4T Tuesday post! We hope you enjoyed the sites that we've found for you and spend some time this week getting to know them. Stop by their sites, add them to your Google+ circles, or give them a like on Facebook. Spread the word about the great work that is out there just waiting to be found...

And while you are at it, join us on Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ , or sneak a peek at our own photography on Dakota Visions Photography, LLC. Until next time, we'll see you behind the lens...

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Sunday, May 20, 2012

Weekly Photography Challenge: 'T' - The Tiny Ones...

It's that time of year in Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota...it's birthing season.  For this weekly photography challenge we chose to focus on the tiny ones.  Well, in this instance, the tiny ones are only tiny because they are compared to their 3/4 to full ton mothers! 

Custer State Park Black Hills SD Buffalo Bison Calves by Dakota Visions Photography LLC www.dakotavisions.com

The gestation period for an American Bison is roughly 9 months or 270-285 days.

Custer State Park Black Hills SD Buffalo Bison Calves by Dakota Visions Photography LLC www.dakotavisions.com

The average bison cow will produce a litter of one.

Custer State Park Black Hills SD Buffalo Bison Calves by Dakota Visions Photography LLC www.dakotavisions.com

The bison cow will leave the heard for one to two hours to have her calf, and then rejoin the herd.  The calf will be suckled by its mother for one year.  The calf will remain with the mother until roughly the age of three.

Custer State Park Black Hills SD Buffalo Bison Calves by Dakota Visions Photography LLC www.dakotavisions.com

We hope you enjoyed the photographs of the tiny ones roaming Custer State Park.  Keep an eye out for more photographs of the antelope and deer during this exciting birthing season!  If you have any 'T' photographs to share for our weekly challenge, just put the link to your photograph in the comment box below. Join us next week's photography challenge finding something starting with the letter 'U'.

And while you are at it, join us on Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ , or sneak a peek at our photography on Dakota Visions Photography, LLC. Until next time, we'll see you behind the lens...

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Sunday, May 13, 2012

Weekly Photography Challenge: 'S' Stavekirke Chapel

Stavkirke Chapel, or the Chapel in the Hills, was built in Rapid City in 1969 and is an exact copy of the famous 840 year old Borgund Church in Laerdal, Norway.  Found on the western edge of Rapid City, SD, the Chapel in the Hills is a quiet retreat open to all visitors. 

Stavekirke Chapel in Rapid City SD Black Hills by Dakota Visions Photography LLC www.dakotavisions.com

As a special ministry of the South Dakota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), the chapel reaches out to all seeking solace, all who are looking for a place to experience God's peace.

Stavekirke Chapel in Rapid City SD Black Hills by Dakota Visions Photography LLC www.dakotavisions.com

The Stavkirke Chapel was originally built as the home for the Lutheran Vespers radio ministry.  Today, visitors from around the world find the chapel to be a place of beauty and inspiration.  If you are interested in learning more about the church, its history, or architecture, please find their website here.

Stavekirke Chapel in Rapid City SD Black Hills by Dakota Visions Photography LLC www.dakotavisions.com

We hope you enjoyed these photographs from our weekly challenge. If you have any 'S' photographs to share for our weekly challenge, just put the link to your photograph in the comment box below. Join us next week's photography challenge finding something starting with the letter 'T'.

And while you are at it, join us on Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ , or sneak a peek at our photography on Dakota Visions Photography, LLC. Until next time, we'll see you behind the lens...

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Tuesday, May 8, 2012

T4T: Morning Light Photography and Ray's DPT

Two for Tuesday - our time to pass along the two websites that caught our attention this week. We hope you enjoy these links and encourage you to visit these sites.

As always, we have written permission to post and take a screen shot of these websites from the owners. So onto the picks - here is our Two for Tuesday sites for you to loiter in the lingering daylight hours with...

Portfolio/Gallery - Erik Stensland's Morning Light Photography

Images of RMNP: http://imagesofrmnp.com/
Another Google+ photographer that has blown us away!  Erik's main website focuses on the American Desert Southwest, the Pacific Northwest, and the United Kingdom.  All the photographs in the galleries have amazing color, composition, and vision.  And it doesn't hurt that he is a native Minnesotan!

But since we live in the Black Hills of South Dakota, his images of Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado touch our senses the most.  His photographs of Bear Lake and panoramic photos of the forest engulfed in clouds are our favorites.  Enjoy your time on Erik's sites.  Erik - congratulations on assembling such a stunning portfolio, and keep up the great work.


Photography Blog -  Ray Bilcliff's True Portraits

True Portraits: http://www.trueportraits.com/

So you've seen those beautiful photographs on Google+ from your circle feed, and they have a bunch of hashtags, like #Moonrise Monday & #Paintography attached.  You've thought to yourself, "What are those all about?!"  Well, we found most of them at Ray's 'The DPT List - Daily Photo Themes on Google+ ' page.  It has led to quite an interesting run of photographs and additional shares and +'s.

Ray also has a page on Paintography where we enjoyed his tutorial on 'Removing or fading the background to enhance the flower'.  So you ask, what is Paintography?!  "Creating a work of art from a photograph to make it look like an oil painting" using Photoshop and the Pixel Bender plug-in software.  Ray, keep up the tutorials and the curation of your lists - we will be watching (and participating)!

These are our picks for this T4T Tuesday post! We hope you enjoyed the sites that we've found for you and spend some time this week getting to know them. Stop by their sites, add them to your Google+ circles, or give them a like on Facebook. Spread the word about the great work that is out there just waiting to be found...

And while you are at it, join us on Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ , or sneak a peek at our own photography on Dakota Visions Photography, LLC. Until next time, we'll see you behind the lens...

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Sunday, May 6, 2012

Weekly Photography Challenge: 'R' - Reflections, Rest, and Relaxation

While resting in Rapid City, we found relaxation watching the reflections ever change in the water.

Water Reflections at Canyon Lake Park in Rapid City Black Hills by Dakota Visions Photography LLC www.dakotavisions.com

Reflections we failed to see until this weekly challenge.  Reflections we know we will be back to capture again on those still, summer nights.

Water Reflections at Canyon Lake Park in Rapid City Black Hills by Dakota Visions Photography LLC www.dakotavisions.com

Resting on the park bench.  Whether lonely, romantic, quixotic, or meditative - the wayfarers find solace in the peace of the water.

Water Reflections at Canyon Lake Park in Rapid City Black Hills by Dakota Visions Photography LLC www.dakotavisions.com

Relaxing along the path of life.  A lesson we all need to learn. 

We hope you enjoyed these photographs from our weekly challenge.  If you have any 'R' photographs to share for our weekly challenge, just put the link to your photograph in the comment box below. Join us next week's photography challenge finding something starting with the letter 'S'.

And while you are at it, join us on Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ , or sneak a peek at our photography on Dakota Visions Photography, LLC. Until next time, we'll see you behind the lens...

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Friday, May 4, 2012

Website Upgrade!

Because we have some of the greatest customers in the world, www.dakotavisions.com got an upgrade last night!  The website may have been down for a few hours, but we think it was worth the wait.  Check out some of the latest upgrades:
  1. Memory enhancements have allowed us to augment our photograph sizes to 64MB, allowing for better quality in the final printed product. 
  2. The Contact Page is now able to capture customer phone numbers when corresponding with us (if so desired), for more efficient customer service.
  3. Features making it easier for us to share directly to Facebook have been implemented.
  4. When accessing from a mobile device, customers now have options to save and share their Favorites from our site.
  5. The pinch-to-zoom gesture is now available while viewing photographs in a mobile browser.
We are sure these new features will provide an easier way to do business with us, here at Dakota Visions Photography, LLC.  We look forward to future upgrades to your service and viewing pleasure.

Visit us at: www.dakotavisions.com

Stay tuned as we upload photographs to their new, larger file size and continue to enhance the galleries found on our website with new photography.  And while you are at it, join us on Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ , or sneak a peek at our photography on Dakota Visions Photography, LLC.   Until next time, we'll see you behind the lens...

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