That's a great shot Rich - the dry land makes for a great image in creating the parched land pattern - the tree is quite unique as well - hope you guys get some much needed rain there soon, but in the meantime, Great Capture!!!!!!!!

Whoa, after such a wet year, now you are having very dry and hot. Excellent detail and textures, and like the funny looking tree.

Wonderful shot showing the cracked dry terrain! Very unusual landscape with a unique growing tree.

This photo does tell a story of the dry conditions and the little vegetation that is able to live there. This tree is wonderful and a great find, Rich.

Cool picture. The pattern in dry soil like that has a mathematical regularity. I think it is a variation of a "Voronoi tesselation." How's that for a fancy description? Good luck.

So many people pass through the badlands areas, in both South and North Dakota, and take photos and photos and photos, but they're almost always wide vistas to show the colors, geologic layers, and varying horizon lines. Only a couple times (and that includes my own submission) have I seen a close view of the crazily eroded clay surface, looking for all the world like dinosaur skin. Including that small cedar and the green growth is a nice touch, plus you found a spot to shoot that allowed you to include a small view of the distant buttes. It's a shot that belongs in a brochure at the Badlands National Park's interpretive center. Faved.

-Nik