I've never been to the Midwest or 'Middle America.' The first time I went was in the Fall of 2017. We visited various places in the greater Black Hills region of South Dakota including: Mount Rushmore, Badlands National Park, and Devils Tower in Wyoming.
As someone who's only lived in coastal USA, it was an interesting experience to explore the Great Plains.
Badlands
Badlands
Badlands
Badlands National Park was breathtaking. It was an absolute absence of life, like being on another planet.
The geological formations of the Badlands were due to previously being a seafloor. The structures are breathtaking and empty, and it seems fun to imagine the surroundings of the park as underwater.
Badlands
Badlands
Badlands
Badlands
I only brought my 35mm toy camera with me on this trip and primarily used it at Badlands National Park. I'm very happy with the results however, as it was stunning to see and capture.
The contrast and saturation, that you can only get from a toy camera, was a great tool to convey the surreal experience of the entire park.
Badlands
Custer State Park
Black Hills, SD
Badlands
Another interesting tidbit about the region was learning that there are only a few species of trees that grow in the area. After visiting numerous state parks in the region, it became easy to spot all the aspen trees.
And there were indeed a lot of wild bison.