02-19-14 The Bruges Madonna by Michelangelo

Deb and I visited Bruges, Belgium, in 2008 and among the many things we saw there was this serene statue in the Church of Our Lady. The sculpture, known as the Bruges Madonna, is by Michelangelo and is the only completed work by the master to find its way out of Italy. The sculpture is one of the "stars" of "The Monuments Men" movie, which Deb and I saw recently. The sculpture was stolen by the Nazis during WWII and a man gave his life in this very church trying to defend it the night it was wrapped in a mattress and secreted off to a mine hundreds of miles away from Bruges.

The thing that struck me about this beautiful work is that on the morning we visited the church, there were less than 10 of us quietly admiring it. This contrasts starkly to the most famous work by Michelangelo, the "Pieta" in St. Peter's Basillica in Rome, which is usually surrounded by hundreds of elbowing tourists and pilgrims. Along with all of that, the "Pieta" is protected by thick, bullet-proof glass.

I would rather experience art in quiet and intimate surroundings. On this morning in the Church of Our Lady the only sounds were respectful whispers, quiet footsteps and the sputtering flames of votive candles. Mary and the baby Jesus were silent and serene.

*Based on the book The Monuments Men by Robert Edsel

Canon 5D 1/80s f/1.6 ISO400 50mm (Canon 50mm 1.2 L lens)

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Michelangelo's Bruges Madonna

02-06-14 Justin

Deb came into my office as I was working on this photo and wanted to know who the subject was and why I was working on the photo. I said, "It's for my blog today. Every once and a while I like to demonstrate that I can do portraiture."

So here's Justin, who traveled from Minneapolis to Watertown to have his senior pictures taken a few years ago. Justin was a great subject and the setting was the Old Farm North Of Town (as I called it). So a great subject + a great location + good light = pretty good portrait. The Old Farm, sadly, has been razed and corn now grows where this old farm house once stood.

Canon 5D 1/50s f/4.0 ISO800 75mm

02-05-14 Our Italian Villa

I set the Way-Back Machine to 2008 in my quest for something refreshing (at least to me) to post. 2008 doesn't seem like that long ago but for a photographer, who might measure time based on know-how and equipment, it was 2 cameras ago: then - the Canon 5D; now - the 5DIII.

The joke in this photo is that my good friend Scott Peterson and I are sitting down to something that doesn't look particularly Italian and that isn't particularly fancy. But if you note the flowers and candle gracing our pool-side table, you glimpse clues to our dinner theme on this beautiful night in June, 2008: "Presentation Is Everything."

I refer to "Our Italian Villa" in the title, though in truth we were only renting it - for a little over $100 per night. The villa consisted of a restored farmhouse and cottages and was only two miles from Sienna. There were 6 guest rooms, including our little three room pool-side cottage. But for two days, we had the whole villa to ourselves. And, as you can see, it had a swimming pool! Perfetto, as the Italians say.

Canon 5D 1/80s f/5.6 ISO250 24mm

A "Donate" button??? Really? Well, yes. This blog, along with my photography, are labors of love. But if anyone feels compelled to offer a little support to help pay for the web hosting, I wouldn't want to stand in your way. :-) [maxbutton id="21"]

Our Italian Villa by Scot Shephard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

02-04-14 Dreaming of Fall Colors

This photo was taken a few years ago on a visit to the Yashiro Japanese Garden in Olympia, Washington. Our timing was perfect (and lucky) and the garden was, as any hunter might say, "a target rich environment."

Canon 5D 1/60s f/4.0 ISO400 105mm

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Dreaming of Fall Colors by Scott Shephard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

02-03-14 Under the Sea

14 This is a GoPro frame capture of my brother-in-law luring a tropical fish closer to him using a banana as bait. I'm guessing that naturalist wouldn't like the fact that the fish have become somewhat domesticated. But it's good for the snorkelers.

02-02-14 Dreaming of the Virgin Islands

The next best thing to shoveling snow in a -20 F wind chill is to be swimming in the warm waters that wash the shores of the Virgin Islands. Our chartered sailboat last June was named Dakota Lullaby though we had no control over the specific boat we received. She was a dream and I long to return . . .

01-28-14 Dreaming of Mexico (HDR)

I wish I were in this picture, lounging on the pool-side chair. But it occurs to me that I am in every photo I take. You just have to look hard to see me sometimes. . . .

Dreaming of Mexico by Scott Shephard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

01-27-14 His Biggest Fan

Glenyce Jane Shephard sits enthralled by her father, Brian, as he serenades her. It was a perfect photographic moment!

Canon 5DIII 1/80s f/4.0 ISO2500 18mm

His Biggest Fan by Scott Shephard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

01-26-14 Vigilance

After four deer swam a quarter mile from one shore to another in a bay on Lake Oahe, three kept on moving. But this one struck a pose for me.

01-25-14 Dreaming of Spring

As I browsed looking for a photo to post, this bright, pink rose called out to me. And those are real rain drops.

01-24-14 Matt & Lacey D

You may have noticed that I have a propensity to post photos of places and things in this blog. But once and a while I like to prove that I do like working with people. Most would hope that would be true given that I have worked pretty closely with thousands of people as a classroom teacher for 35 years. :-)

This photo was taken this past summer during an engagement session for my nephew Matt DeGeest and his fiancé, Lacey Johnson. There are great colors in this photo but I figured that savvy South Dakota hunters would know that you would not likely be out hunting in a field of mostly green grass graced with purple and gold wildflowers. And so I turned it into something that looks a little more seasonal.

Canon 5DIII 1/1600s f/3.5 ISO125 200mm

01-23-14 Ready To Fly

I had a version of this photo ready to go several weeks ago but I had already posted several "fall color" shots so I put the maple seed pods picture on the back burner. Last night, in a quest for a photo with rich colors to use for a class demo, I came across the maple tree photo and started to play.

And all of a sudden, my "fall color" photo was converted to black and white. Why is that? Well, in part, I am partial to black and white treatment of subjects because the emphasis switches away from color to lines, shapes and textures. But I also am posting the black and white version because just after I converted the original to this, my wife walked in the room and said, "That's nice." And I trust her critical judgement.