Yellow Mounds Overlook

Yellow Mounds Overlook is a scenic pullout on the Badlands Loop Road in the heart of Badlands National Park. What you look at from here is a run of low mounds banded in yellow, pink, red and grey, a stretch of much more colourful rock than the plain grey and tan formations throughout the rest of the park. The yellow comes from an old fossil soil layer. The park lets you explore around the pullouts so instead of just shooting from the overlook you can wander among the mounds and experiment with various compositions to suit your shooting style. Late afternoon light warms the yellows and pinks and throws shadow into the dips between mounds, which gives the scene depth. Midday sun flattens the colour out. An overcast sky works very well here too since soft light actually deepens the pastel tones rather than washing them. A longer lens picks out a single striped slope or you can experiment with using a wide lens for the sweep of the whole area. Since this overlook is inside the Natinal Park you will have to pay the park entrance fee to access it. The overlook is open any time, so it is also a great spot to experiment with night photography. It is one of numerous overlooks along the loop, so plan on stopping numerous times along your drive. (Badlands National Park, South Dakota, United States)