During my recent road trip through South Dakota, I decided to spend my last day visiting some tourist attractions in Rapid City: Bear Country, USA and Reptile Gardens.

The day started very early in Deadwood. I left the hotel in Deadwood at 5:45 AM for a sunrise photo shoot outside of Bear Butte State Park. From there, I drove directly to Bear Country, USA.

The reviews of Bear Country were mostly positive, but several stated frustration with the crowds. The first, and largest, section of the park is a wildlife drive-through area. The reviews pointed to traffic jams with travel times of up to two hours to proceed the few miles through this section. I had visions of the nightmare that I experienced while visiting the Fossil Rim Wildlife Park in Texas a couple of years ago. But, my South Dakota visit took place during the off season. I saw just two cars during the entire drive-through wildlife experience.

The photography opportunities were limited during the drive-through experience because it is required to have the car windows up at all times. I proceeded quickly through this section of the park as I was mostly interested in the "Babyland" area at the end of the loop drive.

"Babyland" did not disappoint! First, the exhibits were ideal for photography. There were no obstructions (i.e., cages, fences, glass) between the animals and the visitors. Tripods were permitted. And, there were several exhibits and a variety of interesting young animals to photograph.

I arrived at the park at 10:00 am and kept shooting until 4:00 pm! Capturing good photographs was very challenging...so I stayed for several hours to improve my chances of getting several factors to come together into the frame at once: nice lighting, a good pose and expression. Most shots had to be timed for the lighting as often times the sunlight was very harsh and with too much contrast. I would usually wait until a cloud passed in front of the sun before shooting for a softer look. Waiting for the right pose also took some time. These young animals were sleeping much of the time or facing away from the lens. But, every so often I would catch a good pose and expression under nice lighting.

BobcatBobcat (Lynx rufus) at Bear Country USA at 13820 US-16 in Rapid City, South Dakota on November 2, 2015

Arctic FoxBaby Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) at Bear Country USA at 13820 US-16 in Rapid City, South Dakota on November 2, 2015

Black bear cubBlack bear cub (Ursus americanus) at Bear Country USA at 13820 US-16 in Rapid City, South Dakota on November 2, 2015

To view more of my portraits of these young animals, please click here.

By the time I was done shooting at Bear Country, USA, Reptile Gardens was closed. Reptile Gardens will have to wait until next time.