Ben & Jen Shepard

I can’t believe I am about to say this.  I would have sworn that nothing like what I am about to say would ever have fallen from my lips.  And yet, here it is.  I like snowboarding.  After years spent refusing to try anything requiring something strapped to my feet and a hill, my eyes have finally been opened to what other people seem to find so enjoyable. It has taken some time, but I am proud to say that after sticking with it through the bruises, the falls and a few tearful tantrums (thank you to my wonderful husband for enduring those), I have a completely new and positive outlook on snowboarding.  There is one thing though, that has proven to be a major obstacle to my new found hobby: the devil chairlift.

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It’s an addictive sound.  That satisfyingly indubitable click of the shutter capturing forever what your eye can catch for barely a moment.  Suddenly you start to see everything as an image worth freezing, an opportunity, a possibility for great beauty or irony or laughter.  You start to actually see the world in its detail, and to imagine what you can make of it.  All this starts with a click.

We bought our Nikon D40 Digital SLR camera back in August.  Ben, having taken college courses in photography and worked at a portrait studio, has wanted a DSLR for a long time.  I liked the idea of getting into photography too.  I just didn’t realize at the time the wide worlds of creativity to which it could connect me.

Before we made this substantial purchase, I researched cameras for weeks.  In addition to figuring out which camera was best for us, I learned about aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, metering and a host of other technical things that you never have to worry about with a point-and-shoot digital camera.  Once you have control over these aspects of the camera, though, almost anything is possible!

I love taking pictures of animals.  If you saw how many pictures of the cats we have you might wonder if they weren’t subbing in as children.  I swear they are not, it’s just that they provide me with such good practice subjects.  Get them outside and they are so expressive, everything from the dramatic to the hilarious.  When we go to Ben’s parent’s house I have tremendous amounts of fun photographing, Snicker, his mom’s Golden Doodle.  The dog is such a rag doll, it’s wonderful!  He has so much personality to try to fit into that lens.

One day, when we have horses, I will photograph them all the time too.  I will have pictures of them all over my house, in large frames, galloping across my walls.  I can see it if I close my eyes.  Black and whites of stoic close-ups, green pastures vivifying black and brown and gray manes and tales, a big nose reaching down to sniff the camera as I capture a different perspective.  It thrills my deepest heart.

Well, it’s not really fair of me to talk all about photographs without posting a few.  So here’s a smattering….