I’ve been out of town for most of the last week. I, of course, took lots of images. But the main reason for the trip was to experience dark skies in South Dakota.
I’m lucky enough to have a friend from high school who lives on a farm away from city lights. For years we’ve talked about me going out there to see the stars.

So last week it finally came together and my sister and I drove out there. We were so lucky that the skies were clear for all three nights that we were there. We spent a few hours each of two nights staring up at the sky with warm breezes keeping the bugs at bay.
I have 3 sets of night images to process, the barn, a tractor and the gate. But I need to learn how to stitch skies and foregrounds together in Photoshop. The learning of that will likely take me awhile.

For now I’ll share these single take images of my sister and me. When I learn how to process the rest of them I’ll share those as well.
We had a great time and want to thank our hosts so much for sharing their lives and their skies with us!
(PS: WordPress makes everything darker. I’ve used the lighter of my images but if it’s still dark, try looking at these in a darkened room on a bigger than your phone screen.)
July 19, 2026 at 12:10 am
I’m glad you finally got there!
I’m all ear when you get some free time. (You? Free time? Yeah, right!)
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July 19, 2026 at 5:36 pm
The sky was amazing. I’m so glad we finally made it work too. The drive was long, but SD is such an interesting state, so many different kinds of landscape. Prairie grassland and mountains and rolling hills. It was all beautiful.
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July 19, 2026 at 12:06 pm
Omg gorgeous! These are not photos – they are fine art 💕💕💕
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July 19, 2026 at 5:37 pm
Thank you. I was pleased that night by what I could see on the back of the camera, and hoped it was as pretty on a bigger screen. It is.
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July 19, 2026 at 4:53 pm
Wow, so fabulous! I would love to visit a dark sky area some day, its on the bucket list!
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July 19, 2026 at 5:41 pm
I don’t know where you live, but there are dark sky maps available free online. You might be able to explore your state that way and figure out a place or two that aren’t to far away. OR you can go on a big adventure to somewhere really dark. It’s so fun to see the Milky Way with your eye v.s. counting on your camera to show you what’s up there.
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July 19, 2026 at 6:32 pm
The closest is the Adirondacks, about a 4-hr drive– I’ve thought about it, but it is tough to plan accommodations around a ‘maybe’ sky!
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July 19, 2026 at 6:38 pm
That is so true. It’s usually a 4 hour trip for me too. I have to randomly reserve a campsite 6 months prior to going, so you never know. It’s hard to do anything last minute. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve driven up north only to have clouds kill the night show. But I’m always glad to be up north and I always find something (multiple somethings usually) to photograph even if it isn’t my first choice.
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July 19, 2026 at 8:24 pm
Wow Dawn – your skies are so impressive! It looks like you could reach out and touch them! I heard about tomorrow’s planet alignment on the news today and it might be a photographic opportunity for you as well. I Googled so you know, if you didn’t already, what is happening: “On July 19, 2026, astronomy and astrology enthusiasts are observing two exciting, rare celestial alignments. For skywatchers, an impressive six-planet alignment (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus spreads across the evening sky.” If you Google, you’ll get the exact viewing time for your area, as the planets rise at different times.
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July 19, 2026 at 8:54 pm
Thanks for the info. I’ll see if I can see it.
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July 19, 2026 at 9:30 pm
You’re welcome Dawn – good luck!
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