Scott Shephard

I apologize for the cheesy title today. I toyed with several others and a close contender was “Haystack.” Yes, it’s a bit literal but it isn’t cheesy. I also apologize for the somewhat self-indulgent nature of this blog lately but my unstated theme these days is “Reminiscence,” which is bound to induce selfish introspection.

I have a few observations to make about this photo:

1. I didn’t take this picture. My camera had a 10 second timer but it would have been hard to trigger the mechanism, run to my position and get Deb to look adoringly at me like she is in this photo. (She is!).

2. I remember this day - we were at the old, DeGeest farm south of Miller. What I remember is that Deb and I made the trip on our own. But the photos prove otherwise: her whole family was there. So much for historic accuracy when it comes to relying on distant memory. This fact does reveal something about my psyche at the time: Deb was like a bright light in my life casting everything else in shadow. Such is love. . .

3. They don’t make haystacks like this anymore do they? Imagine a modern version of this where we are instead leaning comfortably against a giant white, plastic wrapped round hay bale. Ugh!

I promise that I will not be pictured in tomorrow’s photo. But it will be one I took and because of that, I will be there - I feel strongly that though we are behind the lens, every photographer is present in a well made picture.

Honeywell Pentax SP500 Kodak Tri-X Pan film