By Scott Shephard
Sandy, a graphic designer who occasionally hires me to do photography for her promotional publications, asked me if I was interested in taking photos at a foam factory. I said, "Yes," of course. She said that I had several prosaic shots of the processes that she wanted me to take. But she also said that I was free to let my "creative eye" roam. Another perfect job!
This photo was taken at a machine that trims foam sheets down to a uniform size using hot wires. I was attracted to the thin strips of foam that had curled away from the trimmers. And, amidst the noise and harsh lighting of the factory, I found something soft and almost ethereal. This is another example of the power of the camera to capture something that most people wouldn't look twice at.
Sadly, this manufacturing plant burned down this past fall. But like a phoenix, it has been resurrected, though at a different location. Here's a photo I took of part of the destruction caused by the fire.
Canon 5D 1/80s f/2.8 ISO640 135mm
One of the highlights of our trip to Japan in 2004 was a visit to the Japanese pre-school my son Brian worked at. The children we saw that morning behaved much as you'd expect children to behave anywhere, though I saw one big difference - these kids didn't appear to be as fearful or suspicious of strangers as our kids seem to be.
I have already posted a photo of the dome of 
Don't try to read too much into the title of this one. This is just a photo of three pink tulips looking up at me.
This little village is on the island of Hvar, which is part of Croatia. It was total serendipity that my friend Scott and I ended up spending two great days here. And it turns out that, according to one of the few residents who spoke English, we were the first people from the US to stay in this village. I am not a particularly adventurous traveler and get nervous when I don't have reservations for the night. But this place (down a 5-mile long one lane road!) was a great surprise.
The Mellette House was the residence of Arthur Mellette and his family. It was built around 1885. Mellette was appointed Governor of Dakota Territory in March, 1889, and in October, 1889, he became the first governor of South Dakota.