Back At Iron Creek (HDR)
I make a photographic pilgrimage to this place in the Black Hills of South Dakota two or three times a year. I have taken countless pictures here but in 2009, when the photos for today’s post were taken, I was experimenting with high dynamic range photography. HDR photos are often two or more photos that [...]
Summer Blue
For the last two days it has been foggy and because of the snow cover, it has been mostly white. So I went looking for pictures of summer and this is what I found. I suspect that this is one of those photos that has more meaning to me than anyone else. (Translation: it’s not [...]
Congratulations!
Last night the city of Watertown, the Watertown Chamber of Commerce and Focus Watertown hosted a celebration for Lake Area Technical Institute (LATI). As you may know, LATI was recently named one of the top five two-year colleges in the United States by the Aspen Insitute. Pictured here is Gary Williams, mayor of Watertown and [...]
The Skeleton & the Man In the Moon
I was out chasing the moon and the sunrise a while back and I captured this. I’m not sure I like the composition. Or the title for the blog post. But I do like the purple-hued sky. And I like the full moon, of course, which has faired better over time than the windmill.
American Gothic
I’m on an HDR in the country kick. I have also gotten caught up in Nik Efex and OnOne filters. So you’ll have to forgive me for slightly surreal images lately. This image is of a farm house a few miles north of Watertown. It is a fascinating remnant and I’d love to know more [...]
Moonset Over Hills & Trees
The moon is real. The hills are real. And so are the trees and the freshly worked field. But the photo is Photoshopped. So is the photo real? While I’m at it, I might as well ask if “moonset” is a real word? (PS: Have you adjusted your camera clock time to correspond to the [...]
Shades of Gray
I was back at Lonesome Lake this morning looking for photo opportunities. As I have already admitted, I am amazed with the fascinating texture of the prairie grass here. And so I took more photos. This is an HDR picture, first processed in the HDR Pro software in Photoshop and then converted to black and [...]
Shattered
Here’s another photo from what I am now calling my “Rural Decay” series. It’s the little Metro van pictured yesterday. If you missed yesterday’s post, check it out here. I’ve been doing a little research and have learned that the Metro was produced by International Harvester from 1938 to 1975, which is a pretty long [...]
Country Metro
A little delivery van with a name like “Metro” seems like a paradox as it sits surrounded by decaying farm buildings 15 miles north of Watertertown. This is one of those photographic subjects that called me over and said, “Photograph me!” And so I did. I told my students yesterday that I am more inclined [...]
Rural Relic
This is another example of an HDR (High Dynamic Range) photo. In fact, there are two photos here – one exposed for the sky and one exposed for the dark side of the old hulk of a car. This photo is fairly realistic, though the rays that are visible in the sky aren’t something you [...]
Out By Lonesome Lake (LATI Festival of Trees Choice)
One of the good things about my job is that when I give a photo assignment I often go out and do the assignment myself. Such was the case this past weekend. My particular mission was to shoot an HDR photo or two. I have spent about 10 hours on this task and, of the [...]
Sailing Magazine – October, 2011
Welcome to those who might have arrived at “A Photo A Day” because A)you were looking for photos of sailing on Lake Oahe in South Dakota or B)you read Heather Steinberger’s article on her excellent site. Here are a few links. Thanks for visiting! Heather Steinberger’s web site and the “Inland Love” profile in the [...]
Black Hills Gold
I was waiting for for a traffic light to change at a road construction site on the road between Hill City and Keystone. I rolled down the window and snapped this photo just as the light turned green. I’m a nature paparazzi.
The Same Old Stream
Yes, it’s Iron Creek again, which I call “the same old stream” in this post, though this capture tends to feature the same old rocks more than the stream. Frankly, I was surprised to see so much water flowing through the creek this late in the season (October 9). But even though there was pretty [...]
From Another Era
We happened to be driving from the Hill City, SD, back to our cabin and we encountered the second to last run of the Hill City to Keystone 1880 train. It wasn’t a great day for photos as it was raining pretty hard but It was a good chance to try to get a photo [...]
On Location
Here are a few of my favorite people in one of my favorite places. The place: the old Redlin farmstead 15 miles north of Watertown. The people: Kendra, Sara, Ashley, McKenzie, Kelly, Holly and Alli (sitting). These are 6 of my second year Photo/Media students at LATI and one of my first year students (Alli). [...]
More Old House Geometry
Almost everything in this photo is geometric and patterned. Even the chipping paint seems patterned. Thanks, by the way for the submissions to the haiku contest. Today is the 5th day after the contest started and thus it will end. I am submitting the many excellent poems to a panel of experts and I will [...]
Geometry
Even the collapsing window frame of an abandoned farm house shows a precise geometric pattern in the strong, morning light. By the way . . . I sometimes wonder if people read my posts. More probably, you aren’t into words and you come to my blog to see what I’ve posted. From my blog stats [...]
The Old Farm – Another View
Ansel Adams is to Yosemite as Shephard is to The Old Farm. I’m no Ansel Adams, of course, but like Adams, I keep returning to the same subject over and over again trying to get the perfect photo. And I’m still looking for it. . . Here are some previous attempts: The Old Farm At [...]
The Old Farm At Sunrise (HDR)
This farm has been pictured several times in this blog. Today, I went there before sunrise thinking that maybe I would get something different. I had it in my head that I would try doing something with High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography. Thus, I set up my camera on a tripod and exposed first for [...]
Shadow and Light
This is the fourth in a series of sunrise shots that were all taken within 30 minutes or so of each other. This photo was almost rejected (which is my way of throwing things away – kind of). The rejection would have been based on the fact that so little is well exposed on this [...]
Avalon
This sailboat is owned and operated by Steve and Kitty. It is a Tartan 32 (?) and it lives just a fews slips down from Wandering Star. It the kind of boat I wouldn’t mind moving up to some day. Yes, I have boat envy. What would Freud say?
Mirror With Shades of Pink
As if to prove my point about redundancy (or obsession, compulsion, practice, repetition, etc.) here’s a morning cloud shot. To be honest, though, when the sun rose high enough the morning I woke up in this back bay on Lake Oahe, this is the first thing that caught my eye: narrow, nearly pink clouds reflected [...]
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