Winter – A Photo A Day (Squarespace)

03-24-14 Waiting for the Sun

Two bare oak trees at Lakota Lake in the Black Hills of South Dakota endure a March snow storm and wait patiently for spring.

by Scott Shephard

Children of the 70s may recognize my title’s allusion to the Doors’ song “Waiting for the Sun.” In the first stanza, Jim Morrison sings

“At first flash of Eden, we race down to the sea.
Standing there on Freedom’s Shore.
Waiting for the Sun Waiting for the Sun Waiting for the Sun
Can you feel it now that spring has come.
And it’s time to live in the scattered sun.”

— “Waiting for the Sun” The Doors

I’ve never really understood this song. In fact, there are a lot of Doors songs I don’t get. “Esoteric” might be a good word to describe them. Perhaps I need some kind of reality altering substance to truly appreciate the Doors? (I remember reading that the group’s name comes from a concept known as the “doors of perception,” which has something to do with LSD.)

Speaking of altering reality, no drugs are needed to understand this scene, though I have altered your reality a bit for you. I turned the scene to black and white (though it was pretty much gray as I originally photographed it). And I’ve cleaned up a few unnecessary distractions from the scene. So I hope you don’t mind that I cropped, flattened, adjusted and colored your view of reality today.

And, yes, I think these trees are “waiting for the sun.”

Canon 5DIII 1/3200s f/2.8 ISO400 170mm

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03-15-14 Knee Deep

Withered sunflowers wait for the winter ice to melt.

2014 03-15 Ankle Deep by Watertown, South Dakota, photographer Scott Shephard

Twelve minutes after I took the photo you saw yesterday, the road dipped through a low spot where sunflowers that hadn’t gotten harvested last fall stood in frozen water. I had almost driven past when I stopped, backed up about 1/4 mile and studied these sunflowers. The dark blue color of the ice, the orange tones of the heads and the way the sunflower stalks were reflected in the ice are what stopped me. I probably took 15 photos but this one ended up being the “keeper.”

You may think it strange of me to anthropomorphize* sunflowers. But to me, they look like crowds of frail, old people standing with drooping heads. And, more than that, I am struck by the juxtaposition** that sunflowers represent: they are one of the most beautiful South Dakota crops in their prime but one of the homeliest just before harvest. Is there some kind of metaphor here about you and me? Who knows. I just hope I never have to stand in frozen water. . . .

*Polysyllabic word #1!
**Polysyllabic word #2!

12-13-13 I’ve Been Here Before

2013 12-13 I've Been Here Before by Watertown, SD, photographer Scott Shephard — 2013 12-13 I’ve Been Here Before by Watertown, SD, photographer Scott Shephard

This is a place I’ve photographed four or five times, but always in different light. Yesterday morning I had only a few minutes to get this scene before the beautiful pink hues were washed out by the rising sun. One of the features of this scene that I like is that the snow cover is light enough that the brown grass underneath allows for contrast and texture.

I will admit that I was a little lazy in that I shot this through the open passenger window of my vehicle. I am a bit of a perfectionist and yet I use imperfect practices from time to time. Why is that? Well, yesterday morning it was -3 fahrenheit. But that’s a poor excuse. . . .

Here are two previous posts. The framing is a bit different in today’s post and, interestingly, where there used to be two trees in the foreground there is now only one.