Granddaughter Glenyce has much to say long before she is able to speak.
by Scott Shephard
She looks up to us.
She is fascinated by us.
She trusts us.
She is amused by us.
She needs us.
Of course, I can’t really speak for our granddaughter Glenyce Jane. At 9 months she can’t yet speak for herself. But her eyes and her expressions have much to say . . . .
I’m not sleeping now and I’m not really sleeping in the photo, either. I was at Lake Area Technical Institute working on a project for Office Peeps, a local office solutions retailer, and decided it might be a good time to get a self portrait. Also, I was using Camranger to remotely control my camera so it was convenient to get myself in a photo. (If you look closely at the iPad on the floor, you will see the same photo you see here because I can get a live view on my IOS device with Camranger.)
For those who are regular readers of my blog, you might see the humor in the title, given that my last post for “A Photo A Day” was on the 17th of February. Have I been sleeping too much? No. Have I been traveling? No. Did my wireless connection quit? No. Do I have a good excuse. Maybe.
I have been working on projects and, significantly, I have been working on a new web site, which you are apparently looking at right now. Thanks for visiting. (How about subscribing to new posts on both my “Learn” and “A Photo A Day” pages here at Scott Shephard Photography? Just fill in the little box on the right.)
Will “A Photo A Day” as you know it disappear? No doubt. When? There is much doubt.
2014 02-06 Justin by Watertown, South Dakota, photographer Scott Shephard
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.
2014 02-05 Our Italian Villa by Watertown, South Dakota, photographer Scott Shephard
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. 🙂
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. 🙂
2014 01-19 Photographer At Work by Watertown, South Dakota, photographer Scott Shephard
I snapped this action shot with my iPhone as I watched Josh, the hired wedding photographer, pose Lacey and the groomsmen in the pre-wedding shoot at the wedding of Matt DeGeest and Lacey Johnson last weekend. I missed hearing the concept behind this shot so you’ll have to impose your own interpretation on the scene.
2014 01-18 The Good Life by Watertown, South Dakota, photographer Scott Shephard
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.
2014 01-17 Family Unit by Watertown, South Dakota, photographer Scott Shephard
(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.