Category: Nature

08-18-13 Morning Glory

2013 08-18 Morning Glory
The title of this post may suggest that it is another flower photo. But, instead, it is another sunrise photo. This photo is the result of serendipity, I suppose, in that I just happened to be in the right place at the right moment. But serendipity doesn’t suggest that it was an accident. When I left home just before sunset on this morning, I drove north hoping to find something worthy to photograph. And this is the first photo I took. I’ll post others in the next few days.

It occurs to me that my photographic process generally begins with a “hunt.” In this case, I was slowly driving the back roads near Lonesome Lake looking for the perfect picture. Initially, I drove over the little bridge that this photo was taken from but I backed up thinking that the still water in the foreground would do a good job of reflecting the beautiful morning sky. I guess you would say that this photo is a good example of chance favoring the prepared mind. Sometimes we are lucky to get the photos we get but this “luck” depends on our ability to see and then on our technical ability to capture what we see.

Canon 5DIII 1/80s f/10.0 ISO250 24mm

08-16-13 The Cathedral Spires (HDR)

2013 08-16 The Cathedral Spires (HDR) by Scott Shephard
I’ll have to admit that I was trying to channel Ansel Adams when I made* this photo. Of course, Ansel used a view camera, filters and elaborate dark room magic to make his great black and white landscape photos. In the digital realm, all of those things are done using software.

I had taken my Black Hills Photo Adventure participants to the Needles Highway in the Black Hills and when we arrived at this vantage point, low clouds were skimming over the Spires, though you can’t see it is this photo. It was the perfect moment to be at this place and I’m guessing that even Adams would have found it worthy of a photo or two.

Incidentally, what made Ansel Adams so good was that he didn’t see the landscape that he photographed as geologic architecture. Instead, he worked hard to show the landscape as an environment. I try to do this in this photo, but I would say I fall a little short, though there is plenty of texture in this photo. And texture is a hallmark of Adam’s work.

*Adams said, “You don’t take a good photo. You make one.”

08-14-13 The Stargazers Are Back!

2013 08-14 The Stargazers Are Back! by Scott Shephard
Even though I’ve posted stargazer lilies here and some would say, “If you’ve seen one stargazer, you’ve seen them all,” I feel obliged to post photos of these beautiful flowers again and again.

And, with this photo, I was trying to figure out a way to “make it new,” in the words of the poet Ezra Pound. So how did I try to do this? For one, I was using flash. Yes, flash! Photography is all about good light and I am starting to use more fill light when nature doesn’t quite get the job done. The secret to good use of artificial light is to use somewhat surreptitiously.

And the other thing I tried was to play with depth of field and a composition in a way that allows the viewer to see that this lily isn’t alone but he/she is the one you are supposed to look at. In case you didn’t know it, photographers use things like leading lines, bright and dark areas and depth of field to manipulate those who look at their photos. Yes, I am manipulating you. And I like it!

Is it a good photo? Technically, I think it’s good and I do think it is pleasing to the eye. Is it unique in the realm of stargazer lily photographs? I doubt it. But here it is anyway. And in another year, I’ll probably be out in Deb’s garden with my camera, working to get something worth looking at again.

Canon 5DIII 1/100s f/2.8 ISO100 100mm

07-18-13 Prickly Pear

2013 07-18 Prickly Pear by Scott Shephard
Anyone driving along the forest service road I used to get to this photo location would have wondered why a man was lying prone near an old, dead tree at 5:45 am this morning. But nobody else was likely to do that. In fact I could lie prone for the whole day and not be seen.

My mission this morning was to photograph rocks and trees in an area I hadn’t photographed before. But in my quest for the perfect shot, I discovered a small colony of prickly pear cactus growing by a weathered tree. And so my mission changed.

Fortunately, I had my 100mm macro with me and I was able to get up close and personal with a plant you wouldn’t think would thrive in the Black Hills National Forest. What I liked about the subjects in this photo were the rich, monotone textures of the weathered wood and the spiny, crisp edges and lines of the cactus. I also liked the vibrant green of the cactus juxtaposed against the dull, gray tree branch.

Canon 5DIII 1/6s f/18.0 ISO250 100mm

06-25-13 My Little Friend

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To call this 3″ long lizard a “friend”‘is a bit of a stretch since I only saw him once and during our short photo session he acted like he wasn’t there – I think he thought he blended in so well with his surroundings that I couldn’t see him.

This little guy was one of the many residents at the Estate Linholm, the beautiful B&B Deb and I are staying at while visiting St. John.

We leave for home this afternoon and as much as I like the Islands, I can’t wait to be back in South Dakota.