02-04-14 Dreaming of Fall Colors

This photo was taken a few years ago on a visit to the Yashiro Japanese Garden in Olympia, Washington. Our timing was perfect (and lucky) and the garden was, as any hunter might say, "a target rich environment."

Canon 5D 1/60s f/4.0 ISO400 105mm

[maxbutton id="21"]

Dreaming of Fall Colors by Scott Shephard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

2014 01-20 Tradition

I'm guessing that a photo of freshly made Chex mix doesn't carry much punch with the readers of this blog. But I'm posting it anyway because in the Shephard household, it is very much a traditional December/January snack. But this batch is a real treat because the Chex mix generally goes away along with the Christmas cookies, Christmas lights and Christmas trees.

And all of this has me thinking of traditional seasonal foods. What are your favorites?

Canon 5DIII 1/2s f/4.0 ISO250 90mm

01-05-14 Frosty Triptych

In honor of a predicted afternoon temperature of -15 F today*, I have left the tropics to return to a subject I started a few days ago: window frost. This time, I've created another triptych.** And even though I was amazed the first time I studied these macro photos, I am just amazed today.

If those of us in the Great Plains need a reason to feel good about our weather, people in the tropics never get to see beautiful, frosty windows.

*That's -26 for the Celsius fans. **Thanks again Dennis Newman for the inspiration.

Canon 5DIII 1/125s f/5.0 ISO100 100mm

12-30-13 Jack Frost

When you look closely at the amazing details of a frosty window it's not hard to understand why someone chose to personify the creator under the name of Jack Frost. Ever since I was a child, I've been fascinated by the seemingly random yet ordered patterns of the kind seen in this photo.

Unfortunately, due to improved window glazing, this kind of window frost is less often seen. But fortunately my son and his family live in a venerable older home in St. Paul, MN. They may not appreciate the heating bills but I appreciate the beauty of Jack Frost's art.

If you would like to see more of this series (8 more photos) click here.

Canon 5DIII 1/60s f/5.6 ISO100 100mm

12-11-13 The End of the Season

When Deb and I paid the entrance fee for the Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha, Nebraska, a few weeks ago, we weren't expecting much given that the gardens were past bloom and prepared for winter. But we were surprised by what we found. And even if we hadn't found anything worth seeing, it would have been good just to stroll through a largely deserted landscape on a nice November day.

I suspect that many gardeners would feel that what you are seeing here is a mess that needs to be cleaned up. But I see a great mix of lines, colors and textures. This isn't quite like Monet's famous lily ponds at Giverney but this but perhaps a way to pay tribute the one of my favorite artists.

Canon 5DIII 1/250s f/5.0 ISO200 100mm

12-09-13 Where I Want To Be

My friend Dennis Newman, who is an artist and an art/photography instructor, says that good art (including photographs) should invoke emotion. I heard him say that about a year ago and since then I have tested most of the photos I post here with this question: "What do I want my viewers to feel and think?" Not all of the photos I post have a certain answer to this question, though I've been posting long enough to know that what I feel as the photographer isn't always the same as what you feel as the viewer. Such is the nature of art. . .

A problem that photographers often have is that a photo that they have taken invokes strong emotion in them but is otherwise meaningless to their audience. And perhaps today's photo is an example. Many might say, "An orange float in a big, nondescript body of water? Big deal!"

But if you live where it is very cold (-9 fahrenheit in South Dakota today), and if you live where the world appears predominantly in tones of white and gray (South Dakota in December) and if you love warm sun and water (I do) and if you love the solitude and silence on a reservoir on the high plains (me, again) and if you like the color blue (guess who?) then you can't help but feel something when you see this photo.

And if I am the only one, oh well. Not everything I photograph turns out to be art. . . .

GoPro Hero III Black Edition 1/589s f/2.8 ISO100 2.77mm (35mm eq:15mm)

11-26-13 Another Time and Another Place

I suppose I should be posting something slightly more seasonal, shouldn't I? But perhaps these purple iris are blooming somewhere in Australia, where summer is about to begin. So I would suggest they are seasonal.

Frankly, I wasn't looking for a flower photo for this blog today; I was just looking for a colorful photo I could work on with a new version of Perfect Photo Suite 8, which just hit the market today. I like the software and, of course, I like the flowers.

Canon 5DIII 1/320s f/2.8 ISO250 100mm

11-20-13 Fall Colors At the Lauritzen Gardens, Omaha

The leaves have turned and fallen in Watertown, SD, but I discovered that if you go south about 300 hundred miles, you will find that you can still find fall colors. These leaves were photographed at the Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha and though the flowers beds were tilled and ready for winter, there was still plenty to enjoy.

The way leaves fall is random, of course, but if I had arranged these leaves, I would have put them just like this.

Canon 5DIII 1/200s f/4.5 ISO200 100mm

11-11-13 A Little Color

My blog has been dominated by monotones lately so I decided it was time to brighten things up a bit. These leaves were found in a small park below the state capitol building in Salt Lake City Utah.

Canon 5DIII 1/80s f/3.5 ISO400 100mm

[maxbutton id="18"]

11-02-13 Patterns

Why take a perfectly good colored, fall foliage photo and turn it into an antique-looking sepia-toned print? I guess I was playing. And I am more interested in having you see the incredible symmetry of nature than I am about have you see the bright color.

Canon 5DIII 1/200s f/3.5 ISO400 100mm

[maxbutton id="19"]

10-27-13 "What You Are Now, We Once Were. . . "

In all of my travels, perhaps the most bizarre place I have ever visited is the Capuchin Crypt in Rome. I have no photos of my own of this place because photography is prohibited, but here's a photo that gives you a sense of the place. It has room after room decorated with the bones of deceased monks. Hanging in the crypt near the many skeletons is a plaque that reads: "What you are now, we once were. What we are now, you will be." That's a happy thought, isn't it?

When I see vast fields of withered sunflowers, I can't help but think of this plaque, because, to me, dried sunflowers look like withered skeletons hanging their heads. Like all flowers, they show their beauty and all too soon, they pass on. Just like us, I suppose. . .

Astute readers of this blog may be inclined to think that, combined with yesterday's post, I am on an existential kick. "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace" blah, blah, blah.

But don't worry. I am happy, well adjusted and I rarely recite somber soliloquies like Macbeth's. I'll try to find something bright and happy for tomorrow's post.

Canon 5DIII 1/640s f/4.0 ISO100 102mm