02-28-09 Iron Creek In Spring

By Scott Shephard

Iron Creek is only a few miles from our cabin in the Black Hills of South Dakota. This small pool has been the subject of my attention many times and this photo was taken in April of 2007. It had rained the night before, which increased the volume of water running through the creek. The rain also gave a wet look to the rocks, which helps create the atmosphere in this photo.

For this picture I put my camera on a tripod, which is standing in the water. I'm balancing precariously on rocks, trying not to let my feet slip into the icy stream. The secret to getting the milky look of the water in a photo like this is a timed exposure - in this case the shutter was open for 4 seconds. If I get a good photo when I come to this place, I'm happy. But just spending time in this serene place is enough for me. Can you hear the sound of the creek, the breeze in the branches of the trees and the birdsong?

Canon 5D f22 4s Canon 24-105mm 4.0L (35mm) iso100

02-27-09 Public Display of Affection - Barcelona, Spain

By Scott Shephard

And now, as Rocky would say in the "Rocky and Bullwinkle Show," for "something completely different." Aside from my portraiture, I don't take many photos of people. But this is one of my favorites. I was in Barcelona Spain with a student group in the summer of 2003. We were visiting the famous Park Goell, designed by Antoni Gaudi. The trio in this photo was sitting on one of the mosaic covered benches on the terrace that overlooks the city. In our culture public displays of affection are frowned upon. But in Spain. . . why not? The couple is oblivious to the hundreds of tourists like me who were sharing their space. But my favorite part of the photo is their friend, whose frown is mysterious. Is he disgusted with his friends, does he feel left out, or is he just bored? Who knows.

Canon 1D f9 1/400 iso320 135mm lens unknow (Photo taken on July 17, 2003)

02-26-09 Lake Oahe Sunset

By Scott Shephard

This photo was taken about 20 miles south of the "212 Bridge" photo that was posted yesterday. In this photo I am looking west across Lake Oahe towards the confluence of the Cheyenne and the Missouri Rivers. The wind had died and I was bathed in the lingering warmth of the sun. And, aside from the creaking of the tiller in its fittings on the back of the boat, I was engulfed in near total silence. When the wind blows hard, this place can be very intimidating. But on an evening like this, it is spiritual.

02-25-09 212 Bridge - Missouri River, South Dakota

By Scott Shephard

This is the Highway 212 bridge across the Missouri River in South Dakota. There are some who would say that large parts of South Dakota are barren and unremarkable. But, of course, I disagree. I think there is true beauty in the openness and expansiveness of the plains. This is especially true at sunrise, when this photo was taken. On this morning I was on my way to the Little Bend area of the Missouri River for another sailing outing. This view of the river is the first view I get when I am on a sailing trip. At this juncture, I don't cross the river but turn south along highway 1804. I am only 30 minutes away from picking up my boat. And only 60 minutes from casting off on the third largest reservoir in the United States - Lake Oahe.

Canon 5D f18 1/50 iso250 43mm Canon 24-105 4.0L (Photo taken August 16, 2005)

02-24-09 Gig Harbor, Washington

By Scott Shephard

This photo is really two photos that I layered in Photoshop. One photo is exposed for the sky and the other is exposed for the water. If I had taken only one photo, I would have been able to get either the interesting clouds, which are fairly bright, or I would have gotten the sky reflected in the water, which is the darkest part of this scene. I often layer photos but normally I use a tripod. Because I had no tripod, I had to try hard to get exactly the same thing in both frames. I was close but not perfect. The hard part was aligning the masts in the sailboats.

Canon 5D, 24-105 4.0, variable exposures, iso 400

02-23-09 Rain Drenched Leaves - Hawaii

We were visiting our son Jon, who lives in Kona, Hawaii, in March, 2008, and ended up driving to the famous Painted Church, which is about 30 minutes from Kona. Though Kona is on the sunny side of the island, it had just rained, which was fine, because the overcast skies created a very soft light and the rain left all of the vegetation sprinkled with water. This is a very simple photo: the green stripes, the random arrangement of the leaves and the rain drops create the interest. I shoot a lot of vegetation and find that dark green is especially hard to shoot because in trying to expose the dark part of the photo, the highlights are easily blown out. Maybe this photo appeals to me right now because as I look out my window, I see snow.

Canon 5D, 24-105 4.0, f7.1, 1/125, 400 iso

02-22-09 Fallen

It was a cool, rainy day in Olympia, Washington, the day I took this. My wife, my mother-in-law and I had just visited the state capitol grounds and were driving through the historical neighborhood just south of the capitol building. I had stopped the car to get out to photograph a beautiful, brilliant red tree framed by a wooden fence. When I was walking back to the car, I looked down and snapped this photo almost as an afterthought.

Canon 5D f5.0 1/100 400 iso Canon 24-105 4.0 October 31, 2008

2009 02-21 Looking-West

By Scott Shephard

View fullsize

I took this photo from one of my favorite places anywhere in the world. I was enjoying a warm summer afternoon on “the rock,” which is about 3 miles from our cabin in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Experts say that you never shoot a photo directly into the sun so I guess I broke the rule, though the sun was obscured by the clouds. They call them “black” but the Hills look blue to me.

Camera unknown f8.0 1/400 Canon 70-200 2.8 August 3, 2003