Wakinyan Dawn, a photo from South Dakota, Midwest

Photographer's Note

Wakinyan Dawn

Sheridan Lake
The Black Hills
South Dakota

Wakinyan - the Thunderer, the one who is the voice of God. The combination of two words WAKAN and EYA. HOLY and HE SPEAKS. He is the voice, the messenger, the teacher, the judge of the people. When he speaks there must a listening and a full obedience.
http://www.bluecloud.org/glossarydakota.html

It is said that the Black Hills is the home of Wakinyan, the Thunderbeing whose belly rumbles and whose eyes flash with such ferocity that an adult can be killed, a tree can be split and a large area of forest can be ravaged by fire in an instant. Wakinyan resides at the granite core of the Hills,
http://www.lakotaarchives.com/laklandtxt.html

I found the early morning the time it was easiest to separate myself from the modern tourist oriented clutter of the Hills and get at the region's natural beauty. I started my morning at Sheridan Lake. My dawn accompanied by an early morning storm rolling overhead and a single heron enjoying the lake with me (he's in the workshop).

Silke, claudio74, vinu, adores, kiwi_explorer, Buin, jwmunro, Angelillo, dip, danos, plimrn, xuaxo, vbbreizh, gunbud, Zelanda, Henryk_Bilor, NellyD, testmaniac, t2l0c ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile

Critiques | Translate

Ann75 (0) 2007-08-17 8:56

Hello John,

What an amazing shot! The sky is so beautiful which reflects with the rest of the scenery on the calm waters of this lake. Great POV with great colours, lighting and details! Great work, John!

Greetings,
Ann

Merline (0) 2007-08-17 9:55

Hi John,

Superb picture of a beautiful landscape and mood. Dawn has something really special in ways of calmness and light. I do often have a preference for more muted tones and the dominance of the blue/grey with the subtle pink + the reflection in the water are great (sorry for my English).

It's a place on my list of travels, also a place to honour for its history and its people.
I have appreciated the notes enormously and also the workshop. A moment of grace.
Thanks
Michèle

Silke (3027) 2007-08-17 9:59

Wow! the depth of colour here is truly wonderful!
What a mood you have captured
TFs
silke

claudio74 (7263) 2007-08-17 11:37

Hello John
Great atmosphere well captured,the sky is perfect...with your picture we can "ear the silence".
Thanks for sharing
Regards from the Alps
Claude

Malyshev (2522) 2007-08-17 12:08

Hi,John!
Great again!!!
Fantastic atmosphere,wonderful colours and magic composition!
Bravo!
Yuri

vinu (129) 2007-08-17 13:14

Hi John

Beautifull shot. The reflections and colours are so well framed here.
Great detailes.
Regards,
vinushka

adores (46979) 2007-08-17 17:53

Hi John!
I like this, the composition and the colours, I like the way the pink colour gets mixed with the blue one.Then, the reflection is great. Good work!

gunbud (34066) 2007-08-17 20:30

Hi John,
You have wonderfully capture the magic of early morning, Stunning colors with a striking reflection and with beautifully mild and magic colors.
Regards, Tom

jurek1951 (42198) 2007-08-17 21:16

Hi John,
The colours are very intense. The composition is great,the reflections are just perfect,Amazing landscape.
Georg

kiwi_explorer (12209) 2007-08-18 3:28

Hi John,
That is one lovely dawn scene ... very tranquil and sooo peaceful ideal to do some meditation before the day starts. Beautifully captured and composed. Very good lighting manangement .... excellent work! tfs
Cheers,
Renier

jonathan_hart (21276) 2007-08-18 4:08

hey John
nice tones and reflections
calm place well framed, good depth
regards
jo

Buin (42580) 2007-08-18 6:42

Hallo John!
Not only "another sunrise" ... a very beautiful one. I lilke that you caught here not the screaming colours of sunrise but the first ones before day begins. The cloudy sky and the forested landscape with the lake - all together, an a bit mystic and calm symphony.
Greetings from summerly Germany - and have a nice weekend!
Frank

jwmunro (286) 2007-08-18 7:07

Hello John -

Very serene and beautiful to say the least. Isn't sunrise one of the best times of the day? It is quiet, peaceful, no one around except the birds, and perfect time to just focus on nature. If I was a religious person it would be the best time to communicate with "The Man." This is a well composed and executed image, every thing is almost perfect. Did you wait a longer and get an image with just a touch more detail? I do think a bit more detail would be nice. But, this is a keeper John.

Thank you for sharing.

John

barni (15751) 2007-08-18 9:11

Hello John
Très belle couleur.
Une bonne gestion de la lumière qui met en valeur le reflet.
Regards
Christophe

EOSF1 (1944) 2007-08-18 10:34

Well done John, very impressive picture of that new day. Artistically and technically very good. Thanks,

Mario

dip (23892) 2007-08-18 10:56

Hi John,
wonderful image,amazing colors and very good lights and pov,
very well done!
Regards.
Dimitris.

danos (110407) 2007-08-18 13:10

Hello John,
A first rate panoramic capture of Wakinyan Dawn. Indeed, it is so much better to provide the colourful horizontal view here. The subdued light, with the sun still painting pastoral colors in the clouds makes this a memorable shot.A well managed shot with the reflections on the water to create a romantic atmosphere and a nice stoke in your shot.Well done my friend.

Have a nice weekend,Danos

bracasha75 (24591) 2007-08-18 14:05

Hello John
Good Morning
Pure Nature and what we need more...?
Exellent my friend.I have a wish to writhe you match more but my Englich is bordered like a balcon...
I like this honastly
Cheers,Braca

evanrizo (462) 2007-08-18 15:19

Hi John, this is really superb, very good done to shot it at this moment.
The lightness gives the magical atmosphere with the excellent reflections.
Clever cropped with a very very good depth too.
Cheers
Evan

plimrn (21344) 2007-08-18 15:51

Hi John,
The early riser DOES get the photo. The morning light in the storm clouds and its reflection in the night-calmed lake is captured with excellent clarity.
I see I've been missing some great shots; you've been really busy lately. Also, I've been meaning to tell you how much I like your current profile photo; the love between you and your son is so very evident.
HLJ, Pat

leo61 (0) 2007-08-18 23:42

Hi John!
Good shot,well composed with the diagonal in the corner and a very calm atmosphere.Nice reflections and wonderful pink tones at the horizon.
Regards,Leo

Graal (103040) 2007-08-18 23:48

Hi John,
great nature, beautiful view and colours. I like the reflections and composition. Interesting place and informations. Good work.
Gr., Aleksander

kensimage (8563) 2007-08-18 23:50

It's a beautiful composition, John, with a lot of layers and depth, and a good balance of earth and sky. And of course you picked a beautiful time of day for the shot. I like the way the sunrise is subtle, not dominating the whole scene, keeping a quiet feel. Very nice! Regards, Ken.

Angelillo (9374) 2007-08-19 1:16

Hi John,

Good composition: the rocks in the foreground, the lake in diagonal, the dark background agains the colored sky... it's a very good sight of this place. The colors are beautiful: the mix of warm and cold colors works very well! Amazing! Thanks.

Greetings,
Angel.

:-) Tomorrow.

xuaxo (6854) 2007-08-19 7:09

Hi John,
As I wrote previously, I'm not a great enthusiast of reflections, but in this shot I appreciate very much the mysterious mood of all that almost darkness at dawn.
Regards,
F

vincz (19113) 2007-08-19 9:33

Beautiful colors, superb reflections. You mastered extremely well the light here. A true beauty.

-:) back soon

vbbreizh (2622) 2007-08-20 1:55

Hello John,
Very nice shot with a perfect control of the light.
Astonishing foreground and beautiful colors.
A great shot !..congratulations
Regards my friend,
Gilles

bruce_wayne (1507) 2007-08-21 2:53

Hi John
interesting sunset...there is strange atmosphere.Good reflections on the river...well done!!

ALessandro

Toba_O (123) 2007-08-21 8:38

Hello John,
fantastic picture
I like the colours,most of all the dark green of the right side
very good composition with reflection
well done
Toba

Henryk_Bilor (20803) 2007-08-22 1:48

Hello John
Amazing light with its reflection. Lovely place and composition.
Regards

Zelanda (5692) 2007-08-22 2:37

Hola John,
Precioso paisaje casi nocturno con gran perspectiva y estupendos reflejos.
Excelente POV y color.
Saludos cordiales
Ros

jemaflor (135484) 2007-08-22 3:35

Hi John,
Lovely colours for this well taken sunset, good exposure to give a pleasant shot, tfs.

NellyD (1874) 2007-08-23 7:43

Hi John,

Wow, that's an impressive view, I like this very much!
The reflections look great, excellent sharpness and great colours and depth.
Thanks for sharing!

Greetings, Nel

mesutilgim (0) 2007-08-25 12:53

Hello dear John,
Amazing, in fact more than amazing . A capture whit great compo, colors and pov. I am not a poet, but this shot would trigger everyone to poetry ! Colors , silhouettes; last but not least your great descriptions. A perfect TE work !
TFS and have a nice weekend
MESUT ILGIM

bigboroboy (1098) 2007-08-28 22:08

A wonderfully serene scene with gorgeous colours and a wonderful reflection in the lake. Another high quality landscape from you John. I could say that there could be more variety in your gallery but why should you when you are so talanted at landscape photography. Superb.

PHIL

testmaniac (13508) 2007-08-30 22:21

Hi John, very nice photo and perfect landscape!
Composition and colors are very good! This is great place!
TFS

Philip

anesugur (18789) 2007-09-03 23:44

Hi John,
Very good composition and atmosphere!
Light is great and colors are excellent.
Thanks and best wishes. Uğur

fserajian (2299) 2007-12-24 8:50

Hi John,

Well seen and presented under difficult lighting condition. The glowing sky gives it so much interest. TFS

Fara

t2l0c (38) 2008-02-13 12:54

This is a great photograph, it is very peaceful and relaxing just to look at. You have been able to capture that in this pic. The shadows of the trees are excellent and the colors are wonderful.
Tawnie

greg64g (11193) 2008-04-14 12:43

hi John

superb shot, i did a workshop to give more light
hope you ll like
cheers
greg

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