By Seth A. McConnell

This is hands down one of the most bizarre images I’ve ever made and one of the strangest scenes I’ve ever come across. The concrete bust of President Obama is making its way from Houston to its new home in Lead and made a stop in Rapid City tonight. It was supposed to be in front of the Alex Johnson but wound up in the parking lot kitty corner to the historic downtown hotel. I spent 45 minutes in the parking lot hoping someone would come along to take a view of the over sized concrete bust but to no avail. I made several frames as I waited, shooting every angle and lens I had in my bag. This is not the best image I’ve ever made, in fact I’m actually cringing to put my name on it but there was not a lot I can do with a static object in an ugly parking lot. I do have some tighter images of the bust but the AP photos we ran last week were tight shots and there is an element of humor in this. How often do you see the 8 foot bust of a president bolted to the back of a truck?

-S

By Seth A. McConnell

The Black Hills saw its first official wild fire of the season when a lightning strike sparked a half acre blaze just south of Rapid City near Falling Rock this afternoon. I almost blew the call off when I heard it as we’ve had a massive amount of moisture this Spring and there was no way this could be true. It was a tiny blaze in rugged country and I almost didn’t make it back in but a neighbor on an ATV with the only public easement for the forest service road leading to the blaze offered me a ride. I didn’t catch his name and I didn’t get an opportunity to really thank him as he took off while I was shooting but it was a kind gesture and greatly appreciated. I didn’t make the most interesting photos in the world as it was a small blaze with little to no visible flames and a lot of smoke.
It was well worth the several miles of hiking to get back out of the fire area though. We had no fire season at all last year, it will be interesting to see what happens this year as we head into Summer this weekend and what July and August have in store.

-S

Old cars always make me think of my dad and going with him to Goodguys in the summer back home in California. If I could one day own a 1964 Mustang, I’d be a very happy girl.

by Kristina Barker

As I left work on Saturday afternoon, I made it as far as the burrito shop and then had to turn around and head back to work. A storm had been brewing for most of the morning and early afternoon. But by about 4 o’clock, as streams of cars are still pouring in downtown for Cruiser Nights, the storm was dumping good amounts of rain in Rapid City. We had word on the scanner that there was quite a bit of hail up on Sheridan Lake Road, so that was where I headed. Here’s a slideshow of my drive around part of the hills on Saturday.

by Kristina Barker

Sometimes at an assignment, you have no choice but to try out whatever it is that you are there to shoot. I didn’t really have time to say no, because not 20 seconds after someone handed me a rod at Trout Haven, I caught a fish.

by Kristina Barker

Took a drive near Whitewood on Tuesday on the way back from an assignment in Belle Fourche that was canceled. It was rainy and gray.

by Kristina Barker

by Kristina Barker