11-01-12 Halloween

Portrait of Valerie Fredericksen by Watertown, SD, photographer Scott ShephardSeveral of my studio photography students spent most of the day yesterday getting face paint applied and then documenting their efforts in the studio. The makeup artist was Alli, who is also a talented photographer. The subject of this portrait is Valerie, who is a talented photographer, too. And she is a natural in front of the camera. :-)Canon 5DIII 1/125s f/8.0 ISO200 70mm

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10-31-12 Mysterious

Canon 5DIII 1/160s f/2.8 ISO320 200mm

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10-30-12 Rise and Shine

Warm sunlight bathes the east facade of the Terry Redlin Center in Watertown, South Dakota.

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10-29-12 Straight Up

Codington Country Court House by Scott ShephardIf you were to lie flat on your back in the central chamber of the Codington County Court House, this is what you'd see. I didn't lie on my back to get this photo, though I did lie my Canon camera on its back. It helped to use the 16mm-35mm lens. :-)

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10-28-12 Leafy Roof

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10-27-12 Serenade

This photo documents both an impromptu performance by our son Brian and my Mom's last Thanksgiving outing in 2008. I had forgotten about this photo and I'm happy I'm a packrat.

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10-26-12 Aspen

Well, how about another golden aspen tree? This photo was taken a few years ago near Center Lake in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

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10-25-12 Variations On A Theme

It was on this day in 2009 that my mother died. And it was on the same date years before that that her mother and my grandmother died. So these roses are for Bernice and Ida. The "roses" are really the same rose with 4 different HDR treatments.

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10-24-12 The Voice

The pipe organ at the Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis by Scott ShephardBehind the altar and looking the opposite direction of yesterday's photo, is the choir and above that are these beautiful trumpet-like pipes of the pipe organ of the Basilica of St. Mary. I couldn't resist posting a third, and final, hdr image from my shoot last Saturday.I have never been in this church during a service. Generally, I've been there on a Saturday morning and it is, well. . . , quiet as a church. But I imagine the sound of the organ and a full choir in this space would be enough to inspire, even if the architecture didn't.

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10-23-12 Behind the Altar

I took several HDR photos while I was in the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. The photo I posted a couple days ago was my attempt at a photo that shows the whole dynamic range of the Basilica from shadows to highlights.Today's attempt used the same software (Photomatix) but I've chosen the "Surreal" filter. Why? I don't have a good answer except that it's trendy right now. And, like other trendy things, it will no doubt look outdated and odd before long. Some will say that it does already. . .

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10-22-12 The Pumpkin Patch

There's something about a sunlit field of pumkins along the highway that says, "Stop and take a photo or two!" And that's what we did. Unfortunately, highway 212 west of Minneapolis isn't the best place to stop along the side of the road. Worried that I might get a ticket, I worked fast - pumpkin paparazzi.Canon 5DIII 1/4000s f/2.8 ISO200 200mm

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10-21-12 The Basilica of St. Mary

My original post was to be a black and white photo, but I just found a new HDR processing tool and I am thrilled with the results. As far as HDR goes, I would say that this photo is a very pure example of what can happen when you take three exposures for varying degrees of light and shadow and put them together to show a photo of a room the way our eyes would see them.Heres a version that stretches reality a little bit.Canon 5DIII 1s f/8.0 ISO400 16mm

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