12-11-13 The End of the Season

When Deb and I paid the entrance fee for the Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha, Nebraska, a few weeks ago, we weren't expecting much given that the gardens were past bloom and prepared for winter. But we were surprised by what we found. And even if we hadn't found anything worth seeing, it would have been good just to stroll through a largely deserted landscape on a nice November day.

I suspect that many gardeners would feel that what you are seeing here is a mess that needs to be cleaned up. But I see a great mix of lines, colors and textures. This isn't quite like Monet's famous lily ponds at Giverney but this but perhaps a way to pay tribute the one of my favorite artists.

Canon 5DIII 1/250s f/5.0 ISO200 100mm

12-09-13 Where I Want To Be

My friend Dennis Newman, who is an artist and an art/photography instructor, says that good art (including photographs) should invoke emotion. I heard him say that about a year ago and since then I have tested most of the photos I post here with this question: "What do I want my viewers to feel and think?" Not all of the photos I post have a certain answer to this question, though I've been posting long enough to know that what I feel as the photographer isn't always the same as what you feel as the viewer. Such is the nature of art. . .

A problem that photographers often have is that a photo that they have taken invokes strong emotion in them but is otherwise meaningless to their audience. And perhaps today's photo is an example. Many might say, "An orange float in a big, nondescript body of water? Big deal!"

But if you live where it is very cold (-9 fahrenheit in South Dakota today), and if you live where the world appears predominantly in tones of white and gray (South Dakota in December) and if you love warm sun and water (I do) and if you love the solitude and silence on a reservoir on the high plains (me, again) and if you like the color blue (guess who?) then you can't help but feel something when you see this photo.

And if I am the only one, oh well. Not everything I photograph turns out to be art. . . .

GoPro Hero III Black Edition 1/589s f/2.8 ISO100 2.77mm (35mm eq:15mm)

12-02-13 Caribbean Shores

So today's photo is a huge leap from what I've been posting the last couple days. Is there some plan that I have so that I can keep my viewers off balance? No. In fact, the number of views I get when I post kids goes way up. Today's photo won't get a third of the hits yesterday's got. But that's OK with me. . . .

Geographic Note:

The island upon which we have landed with our dinghy (that's our larger vessel in the background) is called Sandy Cay, which is just a short distance from Jost Van Dyke. (Click here to see it on a map.)

Canon 5DIII 1/500s f/10.0 ISO200 16mm

Caribbean Shores by Scott Shephard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

11-14-13 The Festival of Trees Metal Print Is Here!

Each year I donate a photo to the Lake Area Technical Institute Foundation to be auctioned at their annual Festival of Trees, which is quickly approaching. The photo usually has a winter theme and this year's picture is called "Spring Melt" and was photographed along Iron Creek last April.

Being a perfectionist, I rarely like my photos in print form but I have to say that this one, printed on metal, is pretty special. Of course it helps to have such great scenery. :-)

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

11-01-13 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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10-29-13 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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10-18-13 Hope

My friend, Scott, may dispute my choice of the word "hope" in the title of this post. I have no idea if he was hopeful when he took his rod and reel out into the gentle surf at sunset on a perfect October evening along the Florida Gulf Coast.

I know he would rather catch fish than not when he casts. But I wonder if his fishing isn't sometimes like my photo hunting: it is often less about getting a photo that is a "keeper" than it is about the hunt for the photo.

Scott didn't catch anything of significance on this particular outing but he didn't seem too depressed when he came back to our room. He will live to fish another day. . . .

Canon 5DIII 1/250s f/2.8 ISO500 70mm

10-10-13 Change of Seasons

The Lake Area Technical Institute Photo/Media class took its annual field trip to Sica Hollow, near Sisseton, South Dakota yesterday. Finding a perfect day near mid October in South Dakota is difficult but we got lucky. With little wind, blue skies and temperatures in the low 70s, it's hard not to think that life is good.

We don't get a riot of color in the fall as some states that I've been to do, but if you look, you can find good examples of the flamboyance of fall. I guess these leaves are in the throes of death. But they are going out in style.

Canon 5DIII 1/400s f/2.8 ISO400 100mm

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10-08-13 Atmosphere

Our journey into Glacier Bay in southeast Alaska on the Un-Cruise Adventures Safari Endeavor was unlike anything I have ever experienced. What I remember most about this place was the eerie, fog-shrouded silence.The fog certainly muted the colors of the rocks and trees on shore but it also seemed to mute the steady drone of the diesel engines of our ship.

This photo is one of those shots where I was in the right place at the right time. Besides the blue tones of the rock and the wispy white of the fog, I like the arching line of the ledge the pine trees are growing on.

As with so many things that we experienced in Alaska, I will say, "You had to be there," though I think this photo gives a pretty good sense of what this particular place was like.

Canon 5DIII 1/800s f/6.3 ISO400 175mm

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10-04-13 Variation On A Harvest Moon

In case you are counting, this is the third Harvest Moon photo I've posted in the last couple weeks. Why do I repeat myself? In part because I like full moons. And thieves, sailors, lovers and vampires love them. But the best reason is to illustrate the fact that the same subject (the moon) can have very different looks given the variables of time, place and composition.

This shot is very similar to this one. But I thought I would show you how I experimented with the leading lines that were present - in particular, the road, the fence and the horizon. Incidentally, this is an HDR photo in which I combined two exposures. Which do I like better? I can't say. . . .

Canon 5DIII 1/80s f/13.0 ISO200 200mm

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10-01-13 West of the River

Yes, it is October 1st but no, the snow hasn't started falling yet. But it could do so soon. Such is the nature of living in the upper Great Plains. I'm guessing that some of my readers are more enthralled with snow than I am. I would also guess that many of those same people live in places where snow is a bit of a novelty. But it isn't a novelty to me: I don't like winter all that much, in spite of the fact that it provides attractive photo opportunities from time to time.

Incidentally, this isn't the first time I've photographed this scene.

Click here to see green grass.

Click here to see even this same scene on the same day in different light.

Canon 5DII 1/200s f/7.1 ISO400 58mm