Shepherd commemorates Columbus in Rhodes Tower photo display
--ASD Office of Information Technology Services, October 2007

If you have looked around the Rhodes Tower lobby recently, you might have noticed some colorful new additions. Photos of the Columbus skyline, local parks, downtown buildings, vivid flowers and wildlife are part of a collection featured by DAS Administrative Support Division employee Gary Shepherd to celebrate the city of Columbus and Columbus Day.

The 50-plus photo exhibit began Oct. 8 and will continue through the end of the month. “The photos went up Columbus Day … to participate in the recognition of Columbus as a very important city in Ohio and to draw attention to how lovely Columbus is and can be if we just take time to look at it,” Shepherd said.

After seeing Shepherd’s photos at the Farmer’s Market in Pearl Alley next to the Rhodes Tower, a friend referred him to a contact at the Ohio Building Authority (OBA), which manages the Rhodes Tower. After sharing his portfolio with OBA personnel, he was given permission to display his photos in the lobby.

A minicomputer operations technician with Information Technology Services who began his career with DAS more than 16 years ago, Shepherd said he developed an interest in photography while he was in high school. “I began to notice how beautiful photos could be, but I could never take one,” Shepherd said. “I tried to get a good picture, but … they were all just ordinary, dull and drab. So I began to read continually about the physics of photography and what went into being able to capture a photo. And to this day, I read something almost daily about new techniques or equipment that improves on the ability to capture a good photo using today’s digital photo techniques and lighting."

Shepherd said two of his favorites from his collection are a manatee eating a head of lettuce at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and the old post office building, which now houses the Bricker & Eckler law firm, at the southeast corner of State and Third streets. Shepherd took the picture of the law firm building at night and said he was inspired by the antiquity of the building and the lighting. He said he likes the picture of the manatee because it looks like a “big, gentle monster.”

Understanding and appreciating photography is the advice Shepherd offered to aspiring photographers. “I’d encourage them to begin to learn the technical aspects of light and to realize that that’s all a photo is -- reflected light,” Shepherd said. “The question is, ‘How do I capture the light and get the best out of what it is bringing to all of our eyes at the same time?’ Then, learn about the fabulous equipment that is available today that makes it possible to catch what the electromagnetic spectrum is bringing us every day.”

DAS employee Gary Shepherd stands near some
of the photos from his collection on display in the
Rhodes Tower lobby. The photos, which celebrate
the city of Columbus and Columbus Day, will be on exhibit through Oct. 31.