By Scott Shephard

Deb and I are encamped at the Interstate State Park campground on a week-long trek into Wisconsin. This relatively small campground hugs the Saint Croix River, which forms the boundary between Minnesota and Wisconsin before it enters the Mississipi River southeast of the Twin Cities. It is the perfect place to be on a beautiful morning in early May.

I had been working on old photos when I decided to put the window shade up and this is more or less what I saw when I looked out the window.

Of course, I saw it in color. But more importantly, I saw the gentle shading of the trees, the relative brightness of the subtly backlit nascent leaves. I saw lines and textures galore. I stepped out of the camper and took a few photos.

When I worked on this photo a few minutes later, I liked the color version but I loved the black and white version - largely because it best shows all of the things I saw, including lines, textures and shading. This is why, in the age of color photography, some photographers still use black and white. Ansel Adams and Edward Weston are my role models.

As I was working, I looked out the window I saw that the sun had risen above the the river banks and bathed this scene in light. I stepped out again and took a few more photos of the same scene.

But I liked my first effort. In black and white.

(PS I rarely do this but today I am posting two other versions of the same scene. Pick your favorite. Or not.)

Canon R5 f/4.5 1/125 sec ISO 800