01-18-14 The Good Life

We are being hit with the second Alberta Clipper (translate: mini blizzard) in less than a week. While I enjoy seeing the swirling snow and fierce winds lash the gray/green pines outside my window, I prefer more summery scenes as a rule.

Thus, I am resurrecting a photo that made it to my Instagram feed but not to this blog. Subject: son Jon floating serenely on a back bay on the amazing Lake Oahe. Jon had made a rare visit to the midwest last summer and an even rarer visit to a place we both love, Lake Oahe.

iPhone 5 1/1153s f/2.4 ISO50 4.13mm (35mm eq:33mm)

01-17-14 Family Unit

(Oops! Those who subscribe through email are getting 2 posts today, January 18. It was supposed to auto-post yesterday but I put the wrong date in. Am I losing touch with reality? But like the things you see here, I've concluded that calendars aren't real either.)

My nephew Matt DeGeest married Lacey Johnson last Saturday and I went not as a photographer but as an uncle. But as I watched the "real" photographer at work, I couldn't help but get my camera out of the bag and take a few candid photos of the wedding party. As a photographer I am much more comfortable as an observer and when I and my camera are not the center of attention. Maybe thats why I like taking photos of landscapes and nature so much: the land and nature could not care less about me.

Canon 5DIII 1/80s f/3.2 ISO1600 75mm

01-15-14 A Good Start

Cappuccino, a morning coffee drink "invented" in Italy, is generally served in an 8 ounce cup and consists of 1/3 espresso, 1/3 hot milk and 1/3 milk foam. In Italy it is a social blunder to order a cappuccino after 10am. And, generally speaking, cappuccino is a drink you sip, not gulp. In America, where gulping is more of a standard, where the size of drinks does seem to matter and where we proudly call our food "fast," a true cappuccino is somewhat rare. I think that if you received a true cappuccino in a mainstream coffee shop (Starbucks?) you would probably feel cheated.

I certainly didn't feel cheated when this cup of delicious cappuccino was served to me at a small resort on the island of Hvar in Croatia a few years ago. And, yes, I sipped it - as I enjoyed the view of the little harbor outside the cafe. But I will admit that I ordered a second cup just so I could enjoy the view a little longer.

Canon 5DII 1/200s f/9.0 ISO200 65mm

01-13-14 Two Beauties

The title says it all. Both Glenyce Jane and Deb were dolled up for a family wedding.

Canon 5DIII 1/160s f/3.5 ISO500 105mm

01-11-14 Pretty In Pink

If I had a true scientific interest in coral, I would have answers to the many things I wonder about when I look at it. I wonder, for example, about the many ways that coral seems to organize itself. I wonder about the age of coral we find along the shore. And in the case of this piece, I wonder what the pink substance is.

But I don't have a scientific interest in coral and I don't seek answers. In the case of coral I take comfort in my wonder.

Canon 5DIII 1/640s f/5.0 ISO200 100mm

01-10-14 Morning Joe

This photo is entirely serendipitous. As I was filling my coffee cup from the airpot I keep next to my computer, I noticed the intricate pattern of bubbles that each jet of coffee was creating. I quickly grabbed my camera and took a few photos. A perfectionist would have spend more time in an attempt to get a more artistic pattern of bubbles. But I had things to do and I needed my coffee fix.

Canon 5DIII 1/50s f/2.8 ISO1600 100mm

01-09-14 Altered States (HDR)

This photo is demonstrably "unreal." As I've said before, humans don't see out of focus light as soft, overlapping balls. And we certainly don't see the world upside down, as it is shown here in a crystal ball I inherited from my grandma Ida.

But wait a minute. . . Our eyes are lenses somewhat similar to a crystal ball. And, in fact, all that we see is upside down, too. But our brains, for some reason, turn it "right side up." So do I dare ask, "What is reality?"

Canon 5DIII f/5.0 ISO320 100mm

01-08-14 Procession

I encountered this tree branch on a short hike on a rainy day while Deb and I were sailing in the Virgin Islands. I'm not sure if the caterpillars were seeking shelter from the rain on the underside of the branch or if they were up to something else. Though what caterpillars might be "up to" is a bit beyond me, not that I would attempt to pass judgement on the purpose of a caterpillar's life. . .

01-05-14 Frosty Triptych

In honor of a predicted afternoon temperature of -15 F today*, I have left the tropics to return to a subject I started a few days ago: window frost. This time, I've created another triptych.** And even though I was amazed the first time I studied these macro photos, I am just amazed today.

If those of us in the Great Plains need a reason to feel good about our weather, people in the tropics never get to see beautiful, frosty windows.

*That's -26 for the Celsius fans. **Thanks again Dennis Newman for the inspiration.

Canon 5DIII 1/125s f/5.0 ISO100 100mm

01-04-14 Left Behind

I found these empty shoes early one morning at the resort we were staying at recently in Mexico. There was something evocative about the bright blue Crocs and I photographed them exactly as I found them. Interestly, the next morning they had been moved to another nearby location. And, of course, I photographed them again. On the third day, they were gone.

Canon 5DIII 1/500s f/2.8 ISO250 100mm

01-03-14 Countless Unseen Details

I have written about the "countless unseen details" that artists concentrate in their attempt to approach the "sublime" in their creations. In the case of this composite photo of brain coral, my title refers to Nature as the creator, not me. Frankly, all I did was record and compile the detail in this coral. But, as macro photography often does, you are being allowed to look at coral in a way you may not have done before. And there is amazing detail here that often goes unseen.

Brain coral evokes a powerful childhood memory in me, incidentally. My grandma, who lived next door to us in Sioux Fall, SD, had a perfect piece of brain coral on her front porch. I was fascinated by it largely because my older brother told me it was a petrified human brain. That was so cool. But why did Ida have a petrified human brain on her front porch, I wondered? Oh, to be a child again. . . .

01-01-14 Circle of Light

I had mentioned yesterday that I had another photo that showed a drastic difference between what the human eye sees and what the camera "sees." Yesterday, the difference had to do with focus, depth of field and bokeh. What today's photo demonstrates may not be so obvious unless you understand the concept of "dynamic range."

Dynamic range is the term used by digital photographers to describe a camera's ability to show the range of shades in a scene from very bright to very dark. And, generally speaking, cameras don't do such as good job compared to the human eye, which is brilliant.

When I saw this palm leaf, singled out by the relatively bright sky above, I didn't see what you see in the photo. I saw the highlights as bright green and the shadows as dull green. And when I took the photo and looked at it on the built-in screen, I thought, "Wow! I didn't see that." And I liked it.

I'll admit that I did use a few fancy software processes to boost the dynamic range of the photo a bit. But I didn't want to kill the highlights you see here. Is is a good photo? I can't say. But, as I've already said, I like it.

Canon 5DIII 1/60s f/4.0 ISO640 102mm

And for detail junkies, Here's the raw, unprocessed file

2014 01-02 Bright Palm by Watertown, South Dakota, photographer Scott Shephard