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I took this photo during the famous Sturgis Rally Week in Keystone, SD, in 2002. The photo isn't the art, of course. The beautifully chromed and crafted engine of the Harley Davidson is.
Incidentally, this photo shows up as part of a tutorial on a web site called Tutzor. This tutorial turns various parts of photos into a chrome horse.
Canon 1D 1/250s f/8.0 ISO400 70mm
Here's another macro photo that renders the subject a little abstractly. Donna, my neighbor, urged me to check out her roses and this is what I saw. Thanks, Donna, for growing them!
Canon 5DII 1/80s f/6.3 ISO200 100mm
Here's another photo of sun-ripened crops - this time a seemingly endless field of sunflowers. Sunflowers are a bit of a paradox in that I don't know if there is a crop in South Dakota that is more beautiful when it is in its prime or more ugly when it is ready to be harvested.
Here's a close-up of one of the flowers. (Click here)
1/320s f/6.3 ISO400 300mm Canon 1DII
This cemetery is in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina. After visiting the famous Stari Most, which was destroyed in late 1993 during the war in Yugoslavia, Deb and I wandered off the beaten path. We ended up in a cemetery. This one is the final resting place of young men who died in the Yugoslavian war in the 1990s.
Almost all of the "inhabitants" of this cemetery were around 30 years old when they died. And all died in 1993 or 1994. I learned later that cemetery occupies a plot of land that was a park before the war. The dead were buried under cover of night because snipers couldn't see in the dark.
A few minutes after leaving the cemetery, we ran in to a man and his young son. He told us he had left Mostar to start and new life in Germany but was home visiting his sister. When we told him we had just been to the Muslim cemetery, he said, "Most of those guys were my friends."
Am am not the only traveler to comment on this cemetery check out Dag Trygsland's post from late last year.
If you go to Olympia, WA, be sure to find the Japanese Garden. It is a beautiful, serene enclave surrounding by fairly busy streets and office buildings. I was there is late November and it was raining. (Is that the norm at this time of year?). I had taken a few photographs of this tree from the front and then decided to look at the tree from behind. And this is what I saw.
The color is striking, of course, but so, too, are the twisted, near-black branches. I could have photographed for quite a while but the rain and my wife suggested that I should move on.
Canon 5D 1/60s f/4.5 ISO400 58mm (Canon 24-105 f/4.0L)
There are so many lines and geometric shapes in this photo and perhaps too many places for the eye to look. But the main point is intended to be the dark figure closest to the camera. He seems solitary but that's a bit of an irony because the night we were in Tokyo every place we went was crowded with throngs of umbrella carrying people. This pedestrian walkway was the sole exception - at least at the moment I took this photo.
Did I work hard to get this picture? Did I have to wait for just the right moment? Nope. In fact this is really more of a snap shot. I was with a group of 4 other people and because it was raining, we were on the move and the rest of the group wasn't likely to be real patient with my attempt to capture the right moment.
Canon 1DII f/5.6 1/80 Canon 24-70mm 2.8L 40mm ISO 800
I often find that some photos become favorites more for sentimental reasons than for aesthetic considerations. This photo is perhaps the best example I have of that. Pictured is the Mission Creek area near the Little Bend of the Missouri River. I have spent the night in my sailboat, Ariel, which is named after a sea spirit in Shakespeare's play The Tempest. I have walked up on to a bluff and am looking northeast over a glass-smooth body of water.
Is this a great photo? No. Is is one of my favorites? Yes. But only because it helps me remember what it's like to be in (for me) the perfect place: warm, quiet and utterly peaceful.
Incidentally, I use this photo to illustrate the rule of thirds and the principle that the eye is typically drawn to the brightest part of the picture, which is my sailboat.
No photo info: this is a scan of a film image (so 20th century!)
This photo was taken the same day the other Votive Candle post was taken. This time I was experimenting with the amazing Canon 1.2 50mm lens I travel with. This lens is excellent for poorly lit interiors, such as a cathedral. It is also very good at creating a very narrow depth of field, as in this photo. I'm not sure that this is a good photo, given that there isn't a real good focal point. But some people have told me they like it.
Also, I use this photo to illustrate what photographers call bokeh, which is the term used to describe the brighter, out-of-focus points in a photo. Some lenses have good bokeh and many don't. Needless to say, the Canon 50mm 1.2 gives great bokeh.
Canon 5D f/2.8 Canon 50mm 1.2L 50mm 1/250 ISO 400
By Scott Shephard
Iron Creek is only a few miles from our cabin in the Black Hills of South Dakota. This small pool has been the subject of my attention many times and this photo was taken in April of 2007. It had rained the night before, which increased the volume of water running through the creek. The rain also gave a wet look to the rocks, which helps create the atmosphere in this photo.
For this picture I put my camera on a tripod, which is standing in the water. I'm balancing precariously on rocks, trying not to let my feet slip into the icy stream. The secret to getting the milky look of the water in a photo like this is a timed exposure - in this case the shutter was open for 4 seconds. If I get a good photo when I come to this place, I'm happy. But just spending time in this serene place is enough for me. Can you hear the sound of the creek, the breeze in the branches of the trees and the birdsong?
Canon 5D f22 4s Canon 24-105mm 4.0L (35mm) iso100
By Scott Shephard
And now, as Rocky would say in the "Rocky and Bullwinkle Show," for "something completely different." Aside from my portraiture, I don't take many photos of people. But this is one of my favorites. I was in Barcelona Spain with a student group in the summer of 2003. We were visiting the famous Park Goell, designed by Antoni Gaudi. The trio in this photo was sitting on one of the mosaic covered benches on the terrace that overlooks the city. In our culture public displays of affection are frowned upon. But in Spain. . . why not? The couple is oblivious to the hundreds of tourists like me who were sharing their space. But my favorite part of the photo is their friend, whose frown is mysterious. Is he disgusted with his friends, does he feel left out, or is he just bored? Who knows.
Canon 1D f9 1/400 iso320 135mm lens unknow (Photo taken on July 17, 2003)
By Scott Shephard
This photo was taken about 20 miles south of the "212 Bridge" photo that was posted yesterday. In this photo I am looking west across Lake Oahe towards the confluence of the Cheyenne and the Missouri Rivers. The wind had died and I was bathed in the lingering warmth of the sun. And, aside from the creaking of the tiller in its fittings on the back of the boat, I was engulfed in near total silence. When the wind blows hard, this place can be very intimidating. But on an evening like this, it is spiritual.
