Tag Archives: trees

05-01-13 Cathedral

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2013 05-01 Cathedral by Scott Shephard

If you were lured to this post because you thought you were going to see a beautiful church, I apologize. But there is something dome-like in these trees that arch over the snow-covered ground and that’s what inspired today’s title

To be honest, I posted this photo mainly so I could post a link to a short video I made a little bit after I took the picture. So you should watch it. :-)

Where am I? The photo was taken in the “front yard” of our family cabin in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The snow was still falling when I took this and altogether we got between 10 and 12 inches. And it was beautiful. . . The video was filmed with a GoPro Hero 3 stuck to the front of a 4 wheeler. Why is the video black and white? The white balance kept shifting on me. (I’m still learning how to use a GoPro.)

If you go to the YouTube site, you’ll be able to watch this is glorious 1080p HD. Look for the gear icon on the bottom right. . .

02-25-13 Tree Top Walk

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2013 02-25 Tree Top Walk

I apologize to those who are subscribed to my blog posts via email: I have posted 9 times in the last 12 hours. And that means that you are getting bombarded. But don’t give up on the subscription. I promise that I won’t get quite so far behind in this blog any time soon.

You’re looking at an acrophobic’s nightmare – a walkway 30 feet off the ground with a relatively low railing that takes you through the tops of a little forest in Kew Gardens, London. But if you can stand the height, it is well worth it, for it gives you a bird’s eye view (or squirrel’s eye or [name an arboreal animal]‘s eye view) of trees.

12-17-12 Winterscape

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2012 12-17 Winterscape

I went wading through snow that was calf deep to get this shot. Twice. Was it worth it? I’d say so, but only because the drive north of town in mysterious winter fog, the trek through snow and the framing of the frost lined trees was a small adventure and it got me out of the house on a gray winter day.

Whether I was successful in my adventure or not wasn’t the most important thing. Sometimes it’s the concept and the process that matter most; it’s the journey, not the destination. Or, in the words of Harry Chapin in his song Greyhound, “It’s got to be the going not the getting there that’s good.”

12-16-12 Country Road

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2012 12-16 Country Road

I spend a couple hours driving out in the country looking for something suitable to photograph. It had snowed last weekend and today was foggy so I figured I’d find something interesting involving fog and frost. This photo is one of several I took.

Once I had the images, the next challenge was taking what turned out to be very low contrast scenes into something worth sharing. Thanks to Aperture and a couple of software plug-ins, I got was I had imagined I might. I should say, incidentally, that this is an HDR photo – there are two exposures layered here to help me get a good overall exposure.

The Forest Primeval

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This was taken early in the morning on the day we left beautiful Lake Bohinj in Slovenia. It was damp and quiet when I stepped out of the car to take this photo and the only sounds were or a few birds who were already up and working. And the drip of night rain from the branches and leaves of the trees.