South Dakota

We visited South Dakota last month for a family reunion. Naturally, I took some time to knock a capitol off my bucket list. I was hoping for two, but Bismark, North Dakota was too far for a day trip. That said, the capitol in Pierre, South Dakota was quite nice. The weather was perfect, so I got my exterior shots and avoided the construction cranes behind the building. The legislature is only in session for a few months at the beginning of the year, so I pretty much had the building to myself; although, I did have a lovely chat with a staff member in the governor’s office.

Many of the shots are HDR to account for the poor lighting that is common in nearly every capitol building.

Why is there a picture of a banister? Look for the mistake in the posts. The builders made an intentional mistake to remind themselves to remain humble.

Our first stop of the trip was Mount Rushmore, where I was…whelmed. No disrespect to the folks who built it, but I imagined it would be bigger. Actually, I thought it would be closer. Most of the movies I recall featuring Mount Rushmore had more close-ups and brought us viewers more to eye level with the presidents. Imagine my surprise when I see the monument is way up high atop a mountain!

Still, it’s pretty cool. I especially like the profile view of Washington. That was a nice surprise.

I realized a little late into the trip—last couple nights—that I had access to truly dark sky for the first time in a while. This marked the first time Adrian has seen the star field, so he was excited. Michelle taught him about the Big Dipper, so we took many pictures of it.

Mistakes always have a way of surprising me. One of my favorite self-portraits was a mistake. I also really like the unfocused shot of the Big Dipper. It highlights just how bright the stars in that constellation truly are.

One of our last sites on the trip was Crazy Horse Monument. It’s nowhere near completion but will dwarf Mount Rushmore when it is completed. That hole in the mountain is about 40 feet wide by 100 feet high. We were short on time, so couldn’t take a tour, but did get to see the various objects on display in the museum.

Another good trip, and another capitol checked off the list. Perhaps I’ll visit again when I make it up to North Dakota.