03-04-09 Take A Leap (02)

By Scott Shephard

This photo was taken on Battle Creek at what is called "the Hippy Hole" or "Big Falls," near Rockerville, SD. My friend, Scott, and I were staying at our family's Black Hills cabin for a few days and decided to try to find this spot. Though it was somewhat difficult to get to, it was worth the effort. Initially, we had the place to ourselves but eventually several teens showed up to enjoy the amazing natural pool.

This photo is lucky, given the composition of the two jumpers - both are frozen in their jumps and in fair focus. The main figure in the green suit was doing a back flip and the one on the left looks like he's headed for a belly flop (though he lands feet first). The fall from the ledge to the water, incidentally, is about 15 feet.

Canon 5D f7.1 1/500 Canon 24-105mm 4.0L (24mm) iso500

03-03-09 Take A Leap (01)

By Scott Shephard

This is South Point on the Big Island of Hawaii. South Point is billed as the southern-most point of the United States. So why not jump off the edge of the US? I didn't jump but my son, Brian, did. I love the scream that seems to be frozen at the time the photo was taken. It turns out that Brian over-rotated and landed a little on his tailbone, which hurt for a few days after this jump. I sometimes use this picture to illustrate the concept of a "leap of faith." It is one of my favorite family photos.

Canon 1D f16 1/640 Lens unknown 28mm iso500

03-02-09 Kunsthistorisches Museum - Vienna, Austria

By Scott Shephard

So here's the second of my "Museum Interiors" theme. The Kunsthisoriches Museum is one my favorites, largely because of the Brueghel Room, which is not the room we are seeing here. Another thing I like about this museum is the fact that there are the large, welcoming sofas - very user friendly. Incidentally, my wife, Deb, is in this picture. She looks likes she's enjoying art though I think she is enjoying the rest, as well.

Canon 5D f1.2 1/60 Canon 50mm 1.2L iso400

03-01-09 Art Institute of Chicago - "Paris Street; Rainy Day"

By Scott Shephard

As you can tell, this painting by Gustave Caillebotte dominates the gallery it is housed in. What I enjoy about candid art gallery shots is that there is a bit of irony of looking at a picture (as you are) of people looking at pictures. Photos like this seem convey quite and calm. I also enjoy seeing how people are grouped and wondering what they are seeing.

02-27-09 Public Display of Affection - Barcelona, Spain

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)

02-24-09 Gig Harbor, Washington

By Scott Shephard

This photo is really two photos that I layered in Photoshop. One photo is exposed for the sky and the other is exposed for the water. If I had taken only one photo, I would have been able to get either the interesting clouds, which are fairly bright, or I would have gotten the sky reflected in the water, which is the darkest part of this scene. I often layer photos but normally I use a tripod. Because I had no tripod, I had to try hard to get exactly the same thing in both frames. I was close but not perfect. The hard part was aligning the masts in the sailboats.

Canon 5D, 24-105 4.0, variable exposures, iso 400

02-23-09 Rain Drenched Leaves - Hawaii

We were visiting our son Jon, who lives in Kona, Hawaii, in March, 2008, and ended up driving to the famous Painted Church, which is about 30 minutes from Kona. Though Kona is on the sunny side of the island, it had just rained, which was fine, because the overcast skies created a very soft light and the rain left all of the vegetation sprinkled with water. This is a very simple photo: the green stripes, the random arrangement of the leaves and the rain drops create the interest. I shoot a lot of vegetation and find that dark green is especially hard to shoot because in trying to expose the dark part of the photo, the highlights are easily blown out. Maybe this photo appeals to me right now because as I look out my window, I see snow.

Canon 5D, 24-105 4.0, f7.1, 1/125, 400 iso

02-22-09 Fallen

It was a cool, rainy day in Olympia, Washington, the day I took this. My wife, my mother-in-law and I had just visited the state capitol grounds and were driving through the historical neighborhood just south of the capitol building. I had stopped the car to get out to photograph a beautiful, brilliant red tree framed by a wooden fence. When I was walking back to the car, I looked down and snapped this photo almost as an afterthought.

Canon 5D f5.0 1/100 400 iso Canon 24-105 4.0 October 31, 2008