11-08-13 More Details

I spent 10 minutes looking for worthy details surrounding the door of the Codington County Court House. They weren't hard to find.

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11-07-13 Details

This is a photo of some of the excellent architectural detail work surrounding the south door of the Codington County Court House in Watertown, South Dakota. While our LATI photo students were photographing interior details, I stepped out to get these details, knowing that the strong, angular morning light would help dramatize them.

Canon 5DIII 1/4000s f/2.8 ISO200 140mm

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11-05-13 The Golden Hour

The "golden hour" is generally defined as the hour of sunlight just before sunset. It is particularly conducive to natural light portraiture, though other things, including landscapes and cityscapes, look better in this light, too.

I also think that there is a golden hour in the morning. But to catch it on a summer morning in South Dakota means being out sometime around 4:30 am, which is not exactly "golden" for most portrait subjects. But I will say that Lonesome Lake, where I took this photo, is flattered by this light. Even my 59 year old face might have been improved by the soft cloud and fog filtered light present on this morning. :-)

Canon 5DIII f/16.0 ISO100 85mm

11-04-13 Glenyce Jane

I can't help it. Here's a photo of Glenyce Jane Shephard striking a pose with her grandma Deb. Great faces. And wonderful catchlights in Glenyce's eyes.

Canon 5DIII 1/100s f/3.2 ISO400 100mm

11-03-13 State House (HDR)

I won't say much about this photo though I will suggest that this is an example of HDR (high dynamic range) photography doing what it is supposed to do: allow the camera to render the complete tonality of a scene that varies from very dark to very bright.

Like yesterday's post, I have a colored version of this but I prefer the black and white version, in part because the other Utah capitol photo I have posted is black and white, too.

Canon 5DIII 1/400s f/6.3 ISO400 24mm

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

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11-01-13 A View East from Antelope Island (Great Salt Lake)

I spent about two hours on Antelope Island on my recent visit to Antelope Island. I've already commented about my general experience there so I guess I'll keep this post simple: this is native grass, backlit by sun framing part of the Great Salt Lake and the Wasatch mountains in the background.

Canon 5DIII 1/60s f/18.0 ISO320 100mm

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10-31-13 Utah State Capitol Building (HDR)

When I walked into the Utah State Capitol building at 8am a couple days ago, I didn't know what to expect. It was, of course, architecturally impressive. But I was even more impressed by the fact that I had the place to myself. The dominant feature of the interior of the capitol is the white and gray marble that decorates it and though this photo started out in full color, I chose black and white to help you see this.

I'm not sure that perfectl symmetry results in "art" but my architectural interiors are often characterized by this. And I'll have to admit that I worked pretty hard at getting the two halves perfectly balanced in this scene.

Shame on me, incidentally, for not bringing a tripod on this trip. Shooting HDR series in marginal light is made much more hit and miss. I know that any photographer worth his/her salt works with one. Shooting HDR series in marginal light is difficult. From now on, I will try not to leave home without one. . .

Canon 5DIII 1/13s f/8.0 ISO1250 24mm

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10-30-13 Salt Lake City Court House (HDR)

During our recent stay in Salt Lake City we had a room with a view. I took several photos of the courthouse as seen from our room but I liked this one best, largely because of the way the strong sunlight helps light up the building against the distant cloud covered landscape. I walked over to visit the court house but it is much less ornate in the interior public spaces.

Canon 5DIII f/8.0 ISO125 100mm

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10-29-13 Antelope Island - Great Salt Lake

I am in Salt Lake City for a couple days and on my first morning, I drove north to Antelope Island State Park. Part of what intrigued me was the fact that the island was connected to land by a long causeway across part of the Great Lake Lake. It turns out that much of the water had evaporated and so I drove across flats of brownish white minerals.

Antelope Island was well worth the visit, partly because of the soft fall colors but largely because at this time of year, there are few visitors and so I felt like I was alone on this island. I also was lucky because there were fairly thin clouds covering the recently risen sun and that helped create strong, soft light. (Oxymoron?)

Canon 5DIII 1/250s f/11.0 ISO200 40mm

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10-28-13 Trust

I went looking for something that made me smile and this photo of father Brian holding daughter Glenyce upside down is the first thing I found. I used to hang him upside down when he was two feet tall and so Brian is obligated to continue the tradition. No children were harmed in the making of this photo. :-)

Canon 5DIII 1/50s f/5.6 ISO1600 32mm

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