We console ourselves during snow storms like the one that hit today with the thought that “it will soon melt.” The problem with that idea is that all of the other accumulation of snow hasn’t yet melted. So when will all the snow be gone? Check back sometime in early April.
Should I admit, by the way, that I took this photo with my iPhone as I drove south on Broadway? Probably not. So I won’t.
Warm sunlight bathes the east facade of the Terry Redlin Center in Watertown, South Dakota.
If you were to lie flat on your back in the central chamber of the Codington County Court House, this is what you’d see. I didn’t lie on my back to get this photo, though I did lie my Canon camera on its back. It helped to use the 16mm-35mm lens. 
I took my first year photography students to the court house today and when I had a spare moment, I took a few photos standing in the central hall.
I found interesting symmetry in this space and there was also plenty of color, especially in the glass ceiling. But ultimately, I decided that black and white helps you see the structure and texture of this amazing place in a way that the color version doesn’t.
Having marched in, the Lake Area Technical Institute class of 2012 wait for the ceremony to begin.
Canon 5DII 1/60s f/2.8 ISO1000 200mm
It was a perfect day for photographers to visit the Bramble Park Zoo in Watertown, SD. Posing with me are Lake Area Technical Institute students Megan, Ashley, Shelby and Cody.
Canon 5DII 1/160s f/9.0 ISO400 40mm Scott Shephard
This is one from my early days of digital photography. This was a commissioned photo, done for Focus Watertown, an organization promotes Watertown, South Dakota, to outside businesses.
Here’s another photo from my photographic past, this time of Kristin, one of the many fine gymnasts who represented Watertown Senior High School’s gymnastic program. Not only was she a great gymnast but she was a wonderful portrait subject.
This photo was taken at her parents’ dance and gymnastics center, Dakota Gold. As I recall, I hadn’t graduated to strobe lights and so I was using my “hot” lights. The advantage of continuous lighting is that the light you see is the light you get. The disadvantage is that it doesn’t produce a lot of light. Thus, I was forced to use a fairly wide aperture. Truth be told, this photo suffers from camera shake, but ten years ago I wasn’t smart of enough to see that. Today, this is a photo that probably wouldn’t have seen the light of day.
But I like the photo and so to try to make it look good, I used selective sharpening on Kristin’s eyes. And then I blurred everything in Aperture, which is a great tool to help make art out of something that is less than perfect. Kristin, of course, is the most perfect part of this photo.
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 former Director of LATI.