04-29-13 Rite of Spring

By Scott Shephard

2013 04-29 Rite of Spring by Scott Shephard

I would be the first to say that my crocus photo is nothing to write home to Mom about. But these flowers are significant to me for two reasons: first, they are the first flowers to appear in my wife's garden this spring. And given that we have endured a fairly long winter here in South Dakota, even little yellow flowers are cause for celebration.

The other reason is that this photo is one of about 240 photos of the same subject over a two hour period that I took as part of a time lapse study. This was my first effort at this kind of photography and though I don't know that I have the patience to do it often, I am happy with my first attempt. Here's the exciting YouTube video, soon to go viral, no doubt. Incidentally, the two hours have been compressed into 14 seconds.

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

04-18-13 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.

04-11-13 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.

03-25-13 Snowy Patterns

As much as I like green and as much as I get tired of the monotonous tones of winter, I do like rare cases when wet snow falls without much wind. And this photo is what we get when that happens. This photo is a bit of a jumble and seems almost abstract, but I guess that's what I like about it.And if you study this photo closely, you will find that I was paying attention to the rule of thirds. And maybe if you look closely again, you will find the hidden man in the tree???Canon 5DIII 1/1250s f/4.5 ISO320 200mm

03-17-13 Late Summer

I suspect that there is nothing all that special about prairie grass, unless, of course, you live where there is no prairie. Or, like me, live where there is no living grass right now. And, as I know I've said, when I am feeling SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) kick in, I go looking for photos I took in better weather.This clump of grass lived on the bluffs overlooking the Little Bend of the Missouri River on Lake Oahe. In late July, 2012, I took close to 50 photos of this grass one morning, mainly because the wind was gusty and the grass wouldn't sit still. I imagine that taking photos of children might be like that. Though children offer considerably greater diversity, don't they?

03-14-13 Portugal!

The thing I remember about the day we spent on Tavira Beach on the south coast of Portugal, which is considered one of the best beaches in Portugal, is that it was cold and windy. By "cold" I think it must have been in the low 70s. Boy, do I long for the cool 70s!

03-11-13 Footprints In the Snow

Big Foot? Sasquatch? The UPS Man? No. Just me.