05-09-13 This Is It, Too

On the last day of my 34 years of teaching at WHS, I snapped a photo of my 1st block world history class. It was posted to this blog on May 25, 2011. And today I post the last 2nd year class I will teach at LATI. That's why I'm calling this post "This Is It, Too."

Of course today's photo isn't an exact replica of the first shot. We aren't in a classroom and in hind sight my students should have been holding their cameras. My students from two years ago are holding their laptops up because the "Learning With Laptops" program at WHS caused one of the biggest (and best) changes in the way I taught.

Anyway, it's been a great experience teaching all the things I've taught, ranging from American Literature to AP European History to Advanced Digital Photography. I don't have anything too profound to say here, though I will copy and paste what I said to my facebook friends yesterday. These words accompanied the photo I posted to this blog yesterday:

Wednesday is traditionally known as "hump day" - the day we see as the downhill slide to yet another weekend. But for me, today is my last hump day.

Yes, I am retiring after spending 36 1/2 years of my life as a classroom teacher.

My photo of cows grazing serenely in a glorious sunrise is an appropriate metaphor of how I see my retirement: I think I may relax a little more but every day ahead of me offers another set of amazing opportunities. Surrounded by all of the good people I know and love, how can this not be true?

To all of my former students, who are also my friends here on fb, I offer my gratitude. You will never know how profoundly you have helped shape the person I have become.

I use the word "become" because I truly believe that life is not so much about the person we are as it is about the person we are constantly becoming. . .

I realize that a humans are like the stream that the Greek atomist philosopher Heraclitus talked about: we are in a constant state of change. And, as Martha Stewart, says, "That's a good thing. . . . "

(Picture from left to right, back row first: Teresa B, Elsa M Lindsey J, Dana R, Shelby B; Tiffany P, Katie S, Kelsie E, Alli A, Valerie F; No pictured: Jennifer D, Dakotah D, Megan P., Ashely H)

05-07-13 Out To Pasture

It is a fact known to my family, friends and associates. But I haven't in any formal or public way made the announcement: after 36 1/2 years of being a classroom teacher, I am retiring. I am down to my last three days with "my" students in "my" classroom.

When I was younger, I used to think that retirement meant being "put out to pasture." Thus, I offer today's photo. But having watched friends and colleagues who have retired, it seems that life sometimes gets busier after retirement.

So the question I get is: "What am I going to do now?" The answer: "More photography, of course."

05-06-13 Alien Landscape

Of course, this view of the distant Los Angeles skyline, taken from the Hollywood Bowl overlook just off of Mulholland Drive, isn't alien to the denizens of LA. But to a flatlander in a relatively rural state (with little or no air pollution) this landscape is certainly foreign.

That's not to say that it isn't enticing and interesting to me. In fact, once I played with an HDR setting in my OnOne software, there was amazing detail and texture in this scene. I see things here that I never see in my home state of South Dakota.

By the way, in researching this post, I discovered that California is our most populous state and it is the third largest. South Dakota is 46th in population (out of 50) and we are the 17th largest in square miles. California has twice South Dakota's area but it has 35 times more people.

05-02-13 Early

This is the fifth in a series of HDR Black Hills photos taken in April, 2013. This was actually the first place I stopped the first time I went out hunting. This is not the first time I've taken a photo with weathered grass dominating the foreground, a distant horizon and an intriguing sky. (Lonesome Lake) But when you've found something you like, why not wear it out? (I will say that in the year since I did the Lonesome Lake HDR photo, I've gotten better - or at least I've found a formula I like better. In fact, I can think of a lot of things I can do better now than when I was younger. Except sit-ups.)

(PS: If you look closely, you'll see Mt. Rushmore in this photo.)

Canon 5DIII 1/20s f/18.0 ISO100 16mm

There are still 6 spots left in the July "Black Hills Photo Adventure." How about joining me?

05-01-13 Cathedral

If you were lured to this post because you thought you were going to see a beautiful church, I apologize. But there is something dome-like in these trees that arch over the snow-covered ground and that's what inspired today's title

To be honest, I posted this photo mainly so I could post a link to a short video I made a little bit after I took the picture. So you should watch it.

Where am I? The photo was taken in the "front yard" of our family cabin in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The snow was still falling when I took this and altogether we got between 10 and 12 inches. And it was beautiful. . . The video was filmed with a GoPro Hero 3 stuck to the front of a 4 wheeler. Why is the video black and white? The white balance kept shifting on me. (I'm still learning how to use a GoPro.)

If you go to the YouTube site, you'll be able to watch this is glorious 1080p HD. Look for the gear icon on the bottom right. . .

04-30-13 Lake Lakota HDR

This is the 4th in a series of recent posts that are photos I took to my recent visit to the Black Hills. It is also another surreal looking HDR photo. Generally, I am very conservative about filtering my photos but I guess I am captivating by the alternative reality that HDR brings to the world we see.

And now my mind is wandering to people from the 1960s and 1970s like LSD guru Timothy Leary ("Tune in, turn on drop out") and peyote promoting Carlos Castenada (A Separate Reality, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, etc.). Mushrooms, peyote and LSD were considered "mind altering" drugs. I will admit that I never tried any of them.

Nik HDR Efex Pro 2 is my mind altering drug. It may even be performance enhancing. It has no side effects and its use is legal in all 50 states.

Canon 5DIII 1/10s f/18.0 ISO100 16mm

There are still 6 spots left in the July "Black Hills Photo Adventure." How about joining me?

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.

This short video is really a composite of over 240 still frames taken over a two hour period. It is my first attempt at a time lapse video.

04-28-13 Chevrolet Hood Art

You may not have thought much about this but hood ornaments have largely disappeared from "modern" automobiles. This no doubt happened for a variety reason, including aerodynamics, cost and aesthetics. Of course, another reason is that ornaments became a target for thieves and vandals. Some automobile hood ornaments, like the Rolls Royce "Flying Lady," are still part of the design but cleverly disappear through a trap door when the car is turned off and locked. Take that thieves!

This ornament decorates the hood of a beautifully restored 1938 Chevrolet. Randy Tribble, the restorer, told me the car was a real hulk when he started the process and so I'm guessing that the ornament pictured today is a replica. Old or new, it's beautifully designed.

On a technical note, I have to say that this car wasn't photographed in ideal circumstances. I was at the Lake Area Technical Institute Auto Show and while the light was very good, I don't think it was ideal for this kind of photography. I was playing with my 50mm 1.2L lens and when I took the photo, I didn't really like the bright lights beyond this shot. But in the end the bright bokeh the lighting results in seem to complement the photo.

To see more of this auto and to purchase prints, click here.

Canon 5DIII 1/320s f/2.0 ISO400 50mm

04-27-13 Classic Chevrolet

Lake Area Technical Institute hosted its annual car show today. It's a chance for car enthusiasts to show and see some great cars. It's also a chance to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

But for a photographer like me, it also offers an opportunity to get lost in the amazing details that most cars offer the eye. And though there were many cars present, this 1938 Chevrolet called me more than all of the rest. I'm not sure what it was that made me take so many photos but I think it was the beautiful soft green paint and the soft round curves.

This car, incidentally, was restored and shown by local auto restorer Randy Gribble. I didn't stay to see who won today, but this car would certainly get my vote.

To see more of this auto and to purchase prints, click here.

Canon 5DIII 1/320s f/2.8 ISO1600 30mm

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.