By Scott Shephard

Deb and I are blessed by many things, including our ability over the last several years to travel to other countries. As you know, I love taking pictures, but our travel has never been planned around my photography. Instead it is all about exploring and experiencing different places and cultures and, from time to time, intentionally getting off the beaten path. If I found a good photo opportunity, it was serendipitous. Such was the case with this photo.

Deb and I were the only English speaking guests at a hotel near Lake Bohinj (pronounced bow-heen) in north central Slovenia. As is often the case, I woke up before sunrise and told Deb that I was going to take the rental car and wander a little bit. It turns out that it had rained the night before and the first thing that drew me as I drove were some boats tied up to docks along The lake. There were several types of boats here, but the ones that caught my eye were these beautifully crafted vessels, freshly varnished and waiting for another day of tourists to rent them. It turns out that wooden boats are a deep tradition in Slovenia and from what I’ve read, there is a special joy in their construction and in their use.

I spent at least a half an hour taking photos of these boats. The people who made them likely didn’t speak my language nor I theirs. But the craftsmen and their boats spoke to me on this morning in a way that didn’t need language or translation.

Canon 5DII 1/40 sec f/5.6 ISO 400