04-27-13 Classic Chevrolet

Lake Area Technical Institute hosted its annual car show today. It's a chance for car enthusiasts to show and see some great cars. It's also a chance to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

But for a photographer like me, it also offers an opportunity to get lost in the amazing details that most cars offer the eye. And though there were many cars present, this 1938 Chevrolet called me more than all of the rest. I'm not sure what it was that made me take so many photos but I think it was the beautiful soft green paint and the soft round curves.

This car, incidentally, was restored and shown by local auto restorer Randy Gribble. I didn't stay to see who won today, but this car would certainly get my vote.

To see more of this auto and to purchase prints, click here.

Canon 5DIII 1/320s f/2.8 ISO1600 30mm

04-25-13 Whose Woods These Are . . .

Here's another photo from the snowy walk I made with my friend Dennis N. This was taken a little bit before the one from yesterday. And what stopped me in my tracks were Dennis' tracks.

As with almost all of the photos I took on this outing, this is an HDR photo. I think that HDR is one way to preserve detail in snow, which would normally be fairly non-descript in its pure white form.

The title? It's the first line of Frost's famous poem "Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening":

Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village, though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

04-24-13 Ready To Fall (HDR)

When I saw these leaves a couple of days ago on a photo walk in the Norbeck Wildlife Preserves along Iron Creek in the Black Hills, I was intrigued that they had hung on for the whole winter. Most leaves drop in the fall, of course. But these high marks for persistence.

The other intriguing feature is that if you look closely, you can see that tiny buds are starting to form and I'm guessing that is a week or so the old leaves will drop and the new ones will debut. Sadly, I won't be there to witness it, since I live 8 hours away from this scene.

And now for shameless commerce: If you would like to join me this summer is the Black Hills for a Photo Adventures, check this out. But hurry, registration is very limited.

04-23-13 After the Snow

A late spring snow storm hit our part of the Black Hills and left 10" of beautiful snow. And so, a friend and I ventured back to Iron Creek to see what things looked liked. As much as I have photographed this spot, I have never photographed it with this much snow. For me, then, it was a rare opportunity.

Hiking along the creek for a half mile was made difficult by the relatively deep snow but ours were the first footsteps along the trail and there was something satisfying about that.

I took quite a few HDR photos but this is one that I'm keeping. Stylistically, it is similar to yesterday's post and I guess that's what I was after. Is is a good photo? I don't know - I have an emotional (and physical) investment in this one right now and so my judgement is clouded. But even if I hadn't gotten a single good photo yesterday, I would have said that my "photo walk" was worth it. As Harry Chapin said, "It's the goin' not the gettin' there that's good."

In the event that you might be interested in joining me this summer in the beautiful Black Hills for my Black Hills Photo Adventure, check it out here.

04-22-13 Spring Melt (HDR)

I am in the Black Hills to attend the annual TIE convention. But given a little time yesterday morning, I went out to my favorite spots to take even more photos of the same scenery. But this time there was good flow in Iron Creek and there was snow left from the most recent snow fall. And so I got a look unlike others I've taken along this creek. The other feature I liked about this scene were the bright orange tree leaves along the right side of the photo. I'm guessing in another week or two, those leaves will disappear and the new ones will bud out.

So this is a transient scene, in many ways. In fact a Greek atmonist philosopher named Heraclitus said that you "could never step in the same stream twice" because all of nature is in a constant state of flux: panta rei or "everything flows." Good photographers understand this and their best photos are captured at the right moment.

(I should say that this is an HDR photo and that's why there is a bit of a surreal look here.)

A few more photos here.

04-21-13 Not Done Yet

2013 04-21 Not Done Yet by Scott Shephard

04-20-13 Dubrovnik Mosaic

2013 04-20 Dubrovnik Mosaic

04-19-13 Underground Vienna

04-18-13 California, Not South Dakota

In case you think I'm finding real beds of flowers popping up through the permafrost of South Dakota, I'm not. But I do have photos of beds of flower, like these, which I found at the Mission at San Juan Capistrano in southern California.

04-17-13 The Getty Center, Los Angeles

04-11-13 Aspirations

Regular readers of this blog might have noticed that what I call "A Photo A Day" has recently been "A Photo Once and A While." Quite honestly, I'm fighting through the worst "blogging slump" I've had in four years. I can't say why except that I'm a little jaded right now. I enjoy teaching photography at Lake Area Technical Institute, and I love my students but I am realizing that as much as teaching photography has given me, it also takes something away. I'm not complaining and I'll have plenty of time to recharge in a few short weeks.

I will also admit that I'm a little bored with the dew dappled flower photos I post. But I posting one today, mainly because yet another winter storm has hit South Dakota and I'm looking out my window at at least 8 inches of new snow with more coming down. So my impulse was to find something colorful, and a set of iris photos I took last spring jumped out at me. I hope you like the one I've "developed."

And, before I leave, a word about words. . .

Finding a title for my photos is sometimes hard. And it could be that even my title today is a bit redundant. But I like the word "aspiration," which has the Greek word "spiro" as its root. Spiro means "to breathe." Per-spire literally means "to breathe through." Re-spire means "breathe again." But "aspire," or as in the title, "aspiration", is a little more complicated. I'll take the dictionary definition: an aspiration is "a hope or ambition of achieving something." This iris aspires but probably doesn't know it, especially today as it sleeps beneath a soft blanket of fresh, white snow.

Do I dare say that I am inspired (look that one up!) by what I just wrote. Today I have hopes and ambitions. I hope you do, too.

04-03-13 A Good Wind

As the last snow melts and as the temperatures warm into the 50s, is hard not to start thinking of summer. And for me summer equals sailing. And so today I went looking for something that evokes warmer weather. In two more months, maybe I'll be on my boat on amazing Lake Oahe. . .