Category: Black Hills

10-04-16 Another Day

The sun has risen 22,936 times during my life. I’ve missed seeing most of those sunrises. How about you? (read more)

By Scott Shephard

It just occurred to me that while the sun rose only once in this place on this day it is otherwise always rising and always setting all day long every day. Of course, it’s more accurate to suggest that the earth revolves all day long as the sun stays fixed relative to our point of view on earth.

As a child I remember wondering how fast you’d have to move so that the sun would appear to stand still. Answer: 1,037.5 miles per hour.

But I wasn’t moving when I took this photo. In fact, I was transfixed. You would have been, too, if you had be up on The Rock with me a few mornings ago. The light you see in this photo lasted about 4 minutes. But it was worth the trip. . . .

Canon 5DIII 1/15s f/16.0 ISO200 47mm (5 frame HDR)

10-02-16 Change Is in the Air

It’s good and bad . . . (read more)

By Scott Shephard

I appreciate fall, of course, mainly because of all of the changing colors. But at the same time, the changing colors also signal the end of summer. Frankly, I like summer best, mainly because of the warm weather and the good sailing I enjoy on Lake Oahe.

But I’m not complaining. And to have been out on a perfect morning like yesterday trying to capture the idea of fall in the Black Hills is hard to beat, especially given that my good friend Bill Z. was there to enjoy it with me. 

Canon 5DIII 1/250s f/2.8 ISO200 100mm

09-22-16 Sparkling Harvest Moon

What do you see that I don’t? (read more)

By Scott Shephard

I think a photo is a combination of what the photographer sees and composes and how the camera records it. And while the digital camera is designed to to capture the world the way most humans see it, that isn’t always the case. This photo is a good example.

Van Gogh might have seen funky things radiating from celestial objects (see “Starry Night”)* but I certainly didn’t see rays coming from the moon on the morning I took this photo of the Harvest Moon setting over the Black Hills. I also didn’t see the colors quite as vividly as you see them here. Finally, the clouds had a different look to me.

But my camera “saw” all of this. That’s part of what motivates me when I go out hunting for photos, especially in predawn light such as this. I often can’t wait to open the photo up in my “digital darkroom” when I get back home. I like to see what develops.

On this morning, I took several series of photos for well over an hour. The light and clouds were changing quickly and when I got done, I had the feeling that while I felt blessed just be witness to such a beautiful morning, I felt that my photography was a big FAIL. And while it may seem odd, it has occurred to me lately that my photography is less about results than it is about process. It’s also largely about being in amazing places like this in the dawn’s early light and completely losing track of time and self.

Is this a good photo? You’ll have to decide that. I’m just happy I was there when it happened.

*One theory suggests that Van Gogh’s exposure to lead based paint caused him to see halos around bright objects. My camera has had no such exposure.

Canon 5DIII 6s f/11.0 ISO320 16mm (five frame HDR)

08-25-16 Old Friends (Happily Getting Older)

62 is the new 47 . . . (read more)

By Scott Shephard

Selfies of sixty-something men may seem insipid. (Today’s word is “sibilance”). But I couldn’t resist getting a photo of the two of us at a place we have been visiting for over three decades.

I have discovered that things haven’t changed much up on “The Rock,” as I call it. If the stones could speak, they probably wouldn’t say the same about us. Human time is just a little different than geologic time, after all. But that’s OK with us.

We are still fairly mobile and generally lucid. And while I can’t speak for my friend Scott P., I would dare suggest that whatever limits age has forced on us are more than compensated for by a greater appreciation of life and friendship and the blessings they both continue to offer.

Canon 5DIII 1/1000s f/4.0 ISO400 28mm

07-27-16 The Buck Stops Here

Apologies to Harry S. Truman. . . (read more)

By Scott Shephard

I apologize to Harry Truman for turning his famous quote into a cheesy blog title but I couldn’t resist. And, yes, I have posted two other white tailed buck photos recently. So I also apologize for repeating myself.

In this case of this deer, we were taking photos of the grandchildren when our son Brian pointed him out as he was moving through a wooded area behind us. I pointed my camera towards him, Brian whistled and the deer stopped and struck this pose. Frankly, I couldn’t have posed the deer in a better spot – it is well lit by soft morning light and the dark, internal framing helps show him off.

He looked at us for a few seconds and then continued on his way. Right now, life is good for this beautiful animal but I hope he lays low when hunting season rolls around.

Canon 5DIII 1/350s f/2.8 ISO400 200mm

07-19-16 Just A Few Years Ago

“A few” turns into 10 or more in a hurry . . . .

By Scott Shephard

When our two sons, Brian and Jon, were little, Deb used to tell me that I’d better appreciate them for what they were because they “will grow up in a hurry.” I’m not sure I believed her and frankly, when they were toddlers, all I wanted was for them to get to an age when I could have a reasonable conversation with them. Unfortunately, by the time that happened, they were busy with friends and school and their personal pursuits. Before I knew it, they were in their 30s. They did grow up in a hurry.

I took very few photos of my sons when they were little and I feel sad about that. But every once and a while I come across a photo I took of one or the other, including this one. I don’t know the date (pre-digital) but we were in the Black Hills and I’m guessing Jon was in his late teens. I told him that I wanted to practice taking a portrait or two. Jon was a willing and a photogenic subject.

Years later, when I look at this photo, I don’t long for days past nor do I feel regret about missing opportunities. That seems pointless to me. All I can do is look forward to the many opportunities Deb and I will have to spend quality time with our sons and their family circles.

Canon something or other on black and white film.

07-06-16 Aspirations?

What do you want to be when you grow up? (read more)

By Scott Shephard

Generally, when I go looking for photo opportunities, I look for color, texture, and lines, among other things. On the morning I took this photo I was first looking for small things that are easily missed and then for color, texture, etc.

When I am taking photos, I am thinking about composition and framing. It’s only later, when I am back in the “darkroom,” that I think about potential meaning. Today’s photo made me think about how many things start as flowers, including ponderosa pines like this one. (You are looking at baby pine cones.)

It also makes me think of aspirations – things that we hope to be, do and see. Humans can have aspirations but I don’t think trees can. Humans, to a fair degree, can control what they become. Pine trees can’t. It is inevitable that pine cone flowers will become pine cones. Beyond that, who knows? External forces are in total control.

Canon 5DIII 1/125s f/4.0 ISO500 100mm

07-05-16 Rock of Ages

The rocks are as old as the Hills. . . . 

By Scott Shephard

One trick photographers use to recharge is to have a “project.” I’m not so good at that because I am easily distracted. But on our recent visit to the Black Hills I decided I needed something to get me see things I don’t normally see. So on my last day in the Hills, my project was “rocks.”

What I discovered, as I hope you see in this photo, is that there is plenty to look at. There is so much color, so much texture and so much to ponder. For example, it took me a few minutes to make this photo but the subject was in the making for a few million years. How does it happen that mountains get weathered down to smaller rocks? And what’s it like to be strong and sturdy after all those years?

Canon 5DIII 1/60s f/4.0 ISO200 85mm

A few more rocks (in black and white):

07-04-16 A Wary Visitor

This is a rare visit from a white tailed buck. . . 

By Scott Shephard

I don’t know much about deer hunting but I do know that antler size and number is something to notice. I count eight, certainly, but I think non-hunting photographers like me see a male deer a little differently.

For example, how can you not be struck by the soft blue gray look of the antlers? Or the symmetry? And can you see that the very end of the right ear is missing? Or that his fur is somewhat wet from the recent rain? What else can you see when you look at an animal like this as a specimen rather than an object?

I make no judgements about hunters and hunting in asking my questions. Hunting serves a purpose and many see mildly domesticated deer as pests. Nevertheless, I think it would be illegal to shoot this guy on our property in the Black Hills given that he was attracted by the frequent feasts of cracked corn we offer and the nearby salt lick we offer to our forrest friends.

But I sit on our porch with my high power lens and fire away. 🙂

Canon 5DIII 1/180s f/2.8 ISO400 200mm

06-19-16 New Life

These leaves turn sunlight into acorns. (read more)

By Scott Shephard

I decided that after posting three black and white photos, I needed to add a splash of color to my blog. And, after yesterday’s fairly heavy subject, I decided to offer something “fresh.” So here are oak leaves aglow in the morning sun in the Black Hills. I took this photo two weeks ago and I would guess that the leaves are about a month old. And they are hard at work.

The word that springs to mind when I look at this picture is “photosynthesis,” which has always intrigued me. In the case of these leaves, they ultimately turn sunlight into acorns, which, when they aren’t feeding squirrels and chipmunks, are making new oak trees. A leaf may be nice to look at but don’t forget that it’s also a machine.

Ponder that for a while, my friendly reader. . . . 

Canon 5DIII 1/125s f/4.5 ISO200 100mm