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By Scott Shephard

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Most of the photography I do is very personal and maybe even selfish. I rarely think, "What will they say about this one?" when I push the shutter button. When I frame something, I am more often studying the object being photographed than I am recording it for posterity.Thus, the details that I often capture, such as the back of my daughter-in-law's wedding dress, are nothing more than . . . details. Later, when I am sifting through my photo collection, some of the details jump out at me. And so I present today's Picture of the Day.What I like about this picture isn't my doing - I like the symmetry of each button and loop and their symmetrical relationship to each other. I also like the curves and lines that adorn this dress. Finally, I like the warm, soft light that plays on this subject.The light wasn't my doing either. I just found it. And often that's what photographers do best.

Canon 5DII 70-200mm 2.8 1/250s f/3.5 ISO400 200mm

Another Cute Kitten Photo

My son Brian helped me resurrect some photos I had taken years ago. There were 90 in the collection but I chose this one, mainly because of the amazing blue eyes. I'm guessing that not everyone looking at my blog thinks every kitten is automatically photogenic. You'll have to move on to other things if you are one of those people. . . .Subscribe to A Photo A Day by Email

Basketball Hex

At the Watertown Civic Arena, the south bleachers put the fans pretty close to the action. In this case a Roosevelt basketball player is getting some friendly help from the Watertown fans as he attempts to throw the ball inbounds. He seems oblivious.I find it interesting to study the various expressions on the faces of the Watertown fans. Are we showing good sportsmanship here? I don't think so, but I'm a little old fashioned. . .Subscribe to A Photo A Day by Email

Little Lizard

This little guy briefly flitted into view, posed for this photo and then flitted back into hiding. This is a gecko, as you may know, and you find them in unlikely places in Hawaii, including bedroom wall and bathroom mirrors. They are harmless and, as you can see here, colorful.Subscribe to A Photo A Day by Email

A View From My Window?

The actual view from my window today shows bare tree, evergreens that seem less green than they did a month ago and a thin layer of snow and ice trying to cover what is left of the grass in our back yard.The scene you are looking at today appears only when I close my eyes and think of Mexico. . . .

11-23-10 Wonderful Freckles

I went looking for a portrait to post today, in part because I don't post many and I thought it would be a good change of pace. As I was looking, this one jumped out at me.There is really nothing fancy about this shot. It is a fairly standard head shot done outdoors in open shade. I know it's outdoors because I can see the sky in the catchlights of Amanda's eyes. The photographer is reflected there, as well, if you look closely enough.What struck me about this photo is that the subject is clearly very relaxed and she has a very real smile - maybe even a Mona Lisa smile. I also like Amanda's freckles. Generally, the eyes are the focal point in a head shot. And then what? In this case the answer is the pattern of freckles playing across her face gives the viewer's eyes something more to do. My experience in taking photos of young people is that they wish they didn't have freckles. But in Amanda's case, I'm glad she did.

13,910

In keeping with my "Big Island Diversity" thread, I thought I'd post one more photo, this time from the top of Mauna Kea. This photo shows where the title of this post comes from, though the official height of Mauna Kea is 13,796 ft. My Garmin GPS uses satellites to estimate altitude and so it has us a little higher than we really are.This photo, incidentally, was taken the same day as this photo. I would have no photo if it weren't for my adventurous brother-in-law, who convinced us we needed to go to the top of Hawaii. My wife kept her eyes shut on part of the drive up and I didn't like the idea of wind chill and snow. That's why we left South Dakota for our brief trip to visit our son Jon a few years ago!

To the Sea

In a quest to find something a little different to post, I came across a small collection of photos I have from a few years ago called "Around the House." I'll admit that I wander around from time to time looking for things that catch my eye. On this occasion, I found these shells, which are displayed in our main bathroom.I was using my macro lens and focusing on rigdes and edges. In processing this photo, I used a filter that gave the image a look as if it had been shot on film - in this case Kodak Portra 160VC, a film I used from time to time. Among other things, the filter adds grain and lint.Do I miss film? I miss it no more than I miss a phone that is permanently attached to a wall . . . .

The Inner Sanctum

It may seem a little odd that I am posting a photo like this but it is rare that my desk is this clean. Thus, to commorate this rarity, I am sharing my workspace with the world. I don't keep a timer going, but I'm guessing I spend about 4 hours a day here. Thus I have many tools to keep me entertained.

An Adventurous Spirit

I have said before that our youngest son Jon tends to take us to interesting places when he is in charge of the itinerary. Here's a good example: we are in the Waipio Valley on the Big Island. Contrast this with the photo of Hawaii I posted a couple days ago and you will also see what I mean by "diversity" on the Big Island.

Unlimited Variety

The Big Island of Hawaii is a remarkable place, with snow capped peaks, humid rain forests and barren terrain that looks like is could be from another universe. This photo was taken near the famous green sand beach near the southern tip of the island. Our son Jon took us there and I thought it was going to ruin the truck we we in. But I'm glad we went.

Frosty Hangers On

I was about ready to leave for work yesterday but I made the mistake of stepping into my back yard. What drew me was that I could see that we had gotten a good frost during the night. The other thing that drew me was the soft, filtered light coming from very thin cloud cover. This is an average bush, with average leaves. But it is very special light.The other thing that helps this photo is the selective focus. You may see this photo differently, but my eyes are drawn initially to the top right corner because that is the brightest part of the photo. But I linger there only briefly because I am looking for something more sharply focused. So I follow the line of the branch until I lock on to the well-focused orange backlit leaf. Did I think of all of this before I pushed the shutter release? As Sarah Palin (and many South Dakotans, as well) would say, "Youbetcha!"I ended up taking 50 photos yesterday morning but this is my favorite - at least right now.