12-29-09 Sex Appeal

By Scott Shephard

I know the title is lurid. But so are the flowers - it's all about attraction.

12-28-09 Charles Bridge - A View From the Castle

By Scott Shephard

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This is a long shot of the famous Prague bridge.

12-26-09 HDR Sunrise

HDR is a hot thing in photography right now. HDR stands for "high dynamic range" and the technique uses layering in Photoshop to get a photo that sometimes looks a little unreal. This scene required two layers and was taken at sunrise in Mexico a few years ago.

12-25-09 Merry Christmas!

12-24-09 Mysterious Pond

This is a spot I have photographed often. I blame Photoshop for the somewhat surreal look this photo has.

12-23-09 Frank

A photo of students looking at a painting of a photo. Did you follow that? This was taken on a AP European History field trip to the Minneapolis Institute of Art a few years ago. The painting is by Chuck Close.

12-22-09 The Princess & Her Grandsons

12-21-09 Big Seeds In A Winter Wonderland

I'll admit that using "big seeds" in a blog title is decidedly un-glamorous. But the use of "window wonderland" must compensate a little bit. :-) So my trivia question today is: "What is the biggest seed?" Having asked that, I know that a pine cone is really a bunch of seeds.

My own answer to the question is avocado. Can anyone think of something that has a bigger seed?

12-19-09 Gothic

It has been somewhat foggy the last 24 hours, which means that there must be warmth and humidity in the winter air. I guess that's good. Right now, as I look out my window, I see pine trees flocked in frost and many photo opportunites.

Perhaps tomorrow you will see the result of my efforts. But today I am showing you a misty treescape (I just invented that word) from an October trip to the Black Hills.

12-17-09 Procession

I keep finding interesting photos from our visit to the Japanese pre-school Brian taught at the year he lived in Japan. Here the kids were lined up for another play/learning opportunity. I have no idea what had caught the attention of the beautiful girl who is the subject of this photo. I think the girl in front of her is the subject of this photo: "Another Japanese School Girl" (click).

Canon 1D II 1/100s f/2.8 ISO640 135mm

12-16-09 They Are All Children

I thought I would post one or two more from our son Brian's experience in Japan, in this case a bunch of kids and Brian getting ready for a group portrait. I love looking at candid photos of groups - there is so much to look at.

One of the things that struck me about the Japanese pre-school we visited was the degree to which "play" was part of the learning process. I think you would find this in most pre-schools. In most societies, though, once "real" education starts, we start to discourage play. That's too bad because I think that playing with things is how we learn and create.

The Google corporation understands this and that's why they have what is called "Twenty Percent Time." Google engineers get to spend 20% of their time working on things that aren't necessarily part of their job description. The get to play, experiment and tinker. What a great idea!

12-09-09 Look At Me: Another Japanese School Girl

Round cheeks and long eye lashes distinguish this pre-school girl. This girl didn't look up at me because she was more interested in her mid-morning snack -- a bowl of rice.