Category: South Dakota

09-14-13 Morning Procession

2013 09-14-13 Morning Procession by Scott Shephard
I was anchored near the mouth of Mission Creek at Lake Oahe (Missouri River) a couple weeks ago when I noticed movement on the point of the far shore. Using my binoculars, I noticed that it was a group of deer walking slowly along the beach. A few minutes later, I saw them walk into the water and then start to swim to the south point of the bay I was in. I estimated that the swim was about 1/4 mile and was more than a little surprised since I didn’t know deer could swim.

Eventually, they arrived on the near shore and, having checked me out, hurried up the hill and out of sight. Below you will find two other photos I took in the sequence, including one where the buck (who was last in the line) has stopped and is checking me out. Given that he didn’t have his Speedos on, do I dare say that he was “buck naked?” (Sorry.)

Swimming Deer

Buck

Canon 5DIII 1/1600s f/8.0 ISO400 200mm

08-22-13 The Darkest Hour?

2013 08-22 The Darkest Hour by Scott Shephard
The saying is that “the darkest hour is just before dawn” and I was aware of that when I went quickly to my camera bag so I could get the moment pictured in this post. I’m not sure how one defines “dawn” but I concluded that the saying was a bit inaccurate even if it is more metaphorical than literal.

I’ll have to admit that I’ve shot the sunrise from this same spot before. And as Monet no doubt felt good about painting the same haystacks over and over again, I can live with my redundancy: even though it’s the same spot and the same old sun, this sunrise is unique in all of the 4.6 billion years of the Earth’s existence. And I was there to capture it.

On a technical note, those who are inclined to study my photos closely might be inclined to say that part of my style is, as one student said recently, “crispness.” Generally, because I shoot with a high resolution camera, use good lenses, generally use a a tripod and use fairly elaborate sharpening processes, they are clean and crisp. But this one is a little blurry. Was it premeditated? Not really. I was standing in a boat that was moving ever so slightly and I was hand-holding my camera with an impossible-to-hand-hold shutter speed of 1/3 of a second. I know that’s a sin. But the blur actually adds to the impressionistic nature of this photo. I suspect that Monet might approve.

Canon 5DIII 0.3s f/4.0 ISO800 32mm

08-21-13 Harvest, 2013

2013 08-21 Harvest, 2013 by Scott Shephard
The Arrow Education Foundation of Watertown, South Dakota, works hard to support public education in Watertown. They depend on donations from people like you (especially if you live in Watertown or have benefited from Watertown Public Schools.)

Each year they host a charity fundraiser called “Harvest.” It is a casual, but gala, fall affair. Invitations were just send out and I’m pleased to say that a photo I donated to the cause is the background art for the invitations. This backlit sunflower was featured in this blog before (click).

Have you made your reservations for Harvest, 2013? Have you donated the Arrow Education Foundation? The world will be a better place if you do.

08-20-13 Prairie Relic

2013 08-20 Prairie Relic
When Deb and I were driving back to Watertown on the day we did Lacey and Matt’s engagement session, I remember driving by this tree and saying, “That’s an amazing tree.” And so, before I ended my session north of town a few days ago (that resulted in the two previous posts) I stopped by this tree and took several photos. I ended up liking this one, largely because of the way the stark monotone of the skeletal tree contrasts with the strong colors of the earth and sky.

Post Script

There is a bit of a back story to this photo. I took this photo on the morning of August 11. Three days later, I was packing my camera gear and discovered that my beloved Canon 24-105 4.0L lens was missing. I searched the house. Twice. No lens. I opened Aperture on my computer to find the last photo I had taken with the lens. It was of this tree. I concluded that I had left the lens exactly where I had taken it off – sitting on top of a fence post. (I used my 70-200 telephoto lens so I could try to blur the background.)

I drove north of town feeling pretty confident that I would find the lens. After all, this spot is fairly remote and I didn’t think the country road would have had much traffic. I also imagined that the lens would blend in, looking like part of the post.

And from an eighth of a mile away, I could see the lens. But it didn’t look like part of the fencing – it looked like a lens. Fortunately, it hadn’t rained and there had been little dew over the three days that it sat on the post. And, aside from a fine layer of dust on the filter (no, I hadn’t put on the lens cap), the lens was pretty much as I had left it. Lucky me!

Lens on Fence Post

08-19-13 Serenity

2013 08-13 Serenity by Watertown, South Dakota, Photographer Scott Shephard
Those who follow this blog know that Lonesome Lake is one of my favorite places. Even if I didn’t have a camera and tripod, I would enjoy this place, especially on a morning like the one this photo taken on. It was cool and windless, which on an August day is South Dakota, is somewhat rare. And there was a kind of silence here that it hard to describe. But I will say that I could hear and feel the silence. And when I look at this photo, I still do. I wish you had been there with me.

Canon 5DIII 1/125s f/13.0 ISO500 200mm

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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

08-01-13 Photographers At Work

2013 08-01 Photographers At Work
In keeping with my “Working Photographer” theme from yesterday I post the second in a series. This time, the photo is of more mature subjects then Glenyce J. The subjects: Patricia, of Monterey, CA and Nicole of Houston, TX. The setting: Lakota Lake, the Black Hills, South Dakota.

And the event was my July Black Hills Photo Adventure, which drew participants from all over the US. (Well I’m exaggerating. The states represented were TX, CA and SD, which is almost the whole United States.) Anyway, we had a perfect morning to visit one of my favorite early morning photo locations.

It looks like Nicole and Patricia are having a good time, doesn’t it? And they are smiling in spite of the fact that I made them get up well before 5am to enjoy the morning “golden hour.”

Canon 5DIII 1/60s f/5.6 ISO400 200mm

07-17-13 Aspen Stand

2013 07-17 Aspen Stand
This blog has be AWOL much of the summer but I guess I have been, too. As of the 17th of July I think I have been home for a little more than 10 days since the third week of May. I have also had little access to wifi. So that’s my excuse.

But given that I am only two days away from the start of the July Black Hills Photo Adventure, I’m thinking I need to post something – especially of the Black Hills

So here’s my selection: a grove of aspen trees that has appeared before in this blog. But, as I’ve said many times, I like to return to places I’ve photographed before largely because they are magnets to my eye and camera but also because I feel I am a little wiser: I see better, I understand my equipment better and I am better at processing images in my digital dark room.

Ansel Adams never talked about “taking” a photo. He said that he “made photos.” I like that and now that I know the art and craft of photography better, I would say the same thing: true photographers make pictures.