Horseshoe Canyon

We flew into Calgary early in the evening on August 24th. The next morning we drove two hours to the Badlands.

The first piece of it we encountered was a little west of Drumheller at Horseshoe Canyon, parts of which appear in these three photographs.

© 2017 Steven Schwartzman

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Canada has its Badlands, too

Only in May of this year did I finally make it to the Badlands of South Dakota. Even more recently than that, I learned that Alberta has Badlands as well. Did you know that?

We arrived in Calgary on the evening of August 24th, and on each of the next two days we drove out to see parts of the Badlands. Today’s photograph is from the afternoon of August 26th at the well-known hoodoos east of Drumheller. While the picture looks tranquil enough, the truth is that dozens of tourists were swarming over the area at the time, so I had to be patient and go through some contortions to get unencumbered pictures of this most famous part of the formations. I also had to aim so as to exclude the metal fences, stairs, and railings that have been installed to keep people from climbing on and further eroding the hoodoos.

© 2017 Steven Schwartzman

The colorful Badlands

Okay, so I’ve been holding out on you when it comes to the best color I saw in the Badlands of South Dakota on May 31st.

Well-travelled Austin photographer Rick Capozza explained the colors to me: “White layers are volcanic ash or tuff as they call it in Big Bend. Tan and gray are sand and gravel. Red and orange are iron oxide deposits, primarily ferric oxide. Purple shale colors represent manganese deposits and yellow layers are ferrous sulfate.”

© 2017 Steven Schwartzman

More from the Badlands

You didn’t think I’d go to South Dakota’s Badlands, spend seven hours there on May 31st, and dedicate only one post to it, did you? Of course not.

© 2017 Steven Schwartzman

The Badlands are good lands

First the Indians and then the other settlers who were trying to stay alive through farming and ranching referred to a particularly rugged portion of western South Dakota as Badlands, but the Badlands are good lands for a modern landscape photographer. In the top picture, look how the light and shadow delineated the steeply rising curves of the formations that were among the first we visited on the morning of May 31st. And look at how the delineation between light and dark took place on the ground at the base of nearby strata:

© 2017 Steven Schwartzman