(Day 356) Ode to Project 365

'T was three nights before Christmas

And all through the house,

Not a subject was ready

Not even a louse,

To become a celebrity

On a web site;

And the deadline was looming

"t was going to be tight.

When out of the darkness

In the flickering light

A subject appeared

In the deep of the night;

The tripod was readied

The camera was got

And before time had expired

The subject was shot.

(18-55mm  f5  3.2 sec  ISO100)

(Day 132) Hold me back!

I'm quite sure that all of you out there doing a project 365 have run into those times of brain constipation. You know, the day's getting late, you haven't got your shot yet, the pressure's building, you're looking around at something that you think you might use as a subject, and nothing seems to be co-operating with you.

Well, today was not one of those days. In fact, I had the opposite problem. I drove to a favourite place just a few minutes from home. I'd been here in the fall but hadn't yet seen it in the spring. I felt like I had died and gone to photographers' heaven. So bear with me as I post beyond the project 365 one-shot 'limit' (this is getting to be a habit).

(18-55mm  f8  1/125 sec  ISO200)

entrance to photographers' heaven

(18-55mm  f8  1/125 sec  ISO200)

(18-55mm  f5.6  1/1600 sec  ISO200)

(18-55mm  f5.6  1/250 sec  ISO200)

a burgundy trillium among the white

(18-55mm  f8  1/100 sec  ISO200)

(18-55mm  f14  1/50 sec  ISO200)

(Day 127) From the garden

One of the biggest challenges in doing a 365 photo project, as anyone trying to do one is well aware, is finding a new subject for each new day. That has been made a little easier by the arrival of spring with so many plants and trees providing our subjects. I thought I would spread some of these out over several days, but as I started walking around today I decided I'd post more than just one selection. I guess that will leave me more of a challenge for the days ahead, but I'm sure something will come up.

(60mm  f5.6  1/500 sec  ISO200)

(60mm  f8  1/30 sec  ISO200)

(60mm  f4  1/125 sec  ISO200)

(60mm  f11  1/80 sec  ISO200)

(60mm  f8  1/125 sec  ISO200)

(Day 46) Behind the 8-ball

... is where I found myself today. I hadn't been able to access a computer, I hadn't been able to post to my 365 project, and I hadn't been able to respond to fellow bloggers and photography enthusiasts. At the end of the day I did manage to capture an image to express the feeling.

(70-200mm f3.5 1/8 sec ISO800)

(Day 5) The speed of light

I seem to recall from a long-forgotten science class that the speed of light was 186,000 miles per second (about 300,000 km per second for you youngsters). Photography means 'writing with light' and the photo below appears to have captured a blue beam of light within the rings. An optical illusion. The second photo provides another view.

It's only (officially) day 5 of the 365 day project but I'm having fun. Part of the daily challenge is to determine what to photograph and to make it unique.

Happy New Year !

Many people are no doubt thinking about ringing in the new year tonight. Here's wishing everyone a good and safe celebration, and all the best for 2010. If you're making resolutions, work on them one day at a time - it's a lot easier than thinking of keeping them for an entire year!

And since I've been having fun with taking daily pictures to post to my blog, I'm resolving to keep it up for 365 days (does the 2-week trial period count ?).

Built for the weather

This is Sasha, our Samoyed. Unlike me, our dog loves the cold winter weather. I can endure it, provided I've bundled up properly, but she is in her element. In fact, in spring, when the sun has almost finished its task of clearing away the last remnants of snow, Sasha will find that last little bit that has survived somewhere in the shade and claim it as her own.

As we're nearing the end of 2009, I'm having to think of my commitment to the 365 photo project for 2010. I'm leaning towards going for it - although I've only run this trial for less than 2 weeks so far. I think the challenge will be in finding subject(s) to photograph on a daily basis, Perhaps I'll choose a theme from time to time and try to explore it. Decision deadline will be Thursday night. Hopefully I'll get a few followers who will provide encouragement.

Cribbage for Christmas ??

Christmas 2009 is already in the history books (and I missed the midnight deadline, however, I consider a post on time if it is still done prior to the 'real' end of the day).

What can the connection between cribbage and Christmas possibly be ? Well, for the cribbage aficionado (who call the game 'crib'), the photo below represents a perfect crib hand (29 points !). And Christmas day is 'perfect' when it celebrates the birth of the Saviour of the world with family. The perfect gift for an imperfect world.

And to cap off this Christmas evening, my youngest daughter and I played a few hands of crib, after everyone else retired, which is something we don't often get the opportunity to do (no, neither of us got such a rare perfect hand). Too soon it will be time to part ways again as the family scatters to various places, however, good memories were and are still being made. Make the most of these celebrations so they can be treasured.

Getting Started

Where to start ... where to start ...

Ever get the feeling you could elevate your photography above the 'snapshot' level - you'd seen photos you considered great, and you might even have taken a few yourself, but not consistently, or with an awareness of techniques that would deliver those better results more consistently ?

That's where I was earlier this year, and after having similar nagging thoughts at other times, I finally acted on it by enrolling in some evening photography courses this fall. Shall we say that things started to come into focus (yeah - bad pun, but true anyway). The mystique around digital cameras, knobs, buttons, settings etc started to be unravelled. Before long, f-stops, shutter speeds, white balance, ISO etc etc went from concepts to tools to be used to create. Now - I'm not saying that it's now all intuitive and hardly requires a second thought when shooting. That day may arrive, however, I'm still at a stage where a fair bit of conscious effort goes into thinking about appropriate settings i.e. it doesn't come quite instinctively yet. But more progress on this front in just a few months than over the years before ...

So - having renewed my efforts to improve through some formal education, I also started searching the web for all things photography related - and there is a huge amount of it out there. As I meandered through some sites I came across the idea of doing a 365 photo project i.e. taking/publishing at least 1 photo each day for a full year. I haven't started yet. But I'm leaning in this direction. I want to be sure I'm serious before I start.

The second thing I started was this blog. Never blogged before but have read lot of blogs. I'd like to keep it related to photography.

Two learning experiences for me - how to create an effective blog, and how to improve my photography. My intent is to use this blog to publish 1 photo per day, once I commit to it. We shall see - stay tuned.