Sue Snaps

Game on

2011-09-06T12:45:00.001-07:00

OK, I think I have invited everyone to join the Flickr group who expressed an interest in participating in P26/52. If you want to join and you haven't heard from me, make sure I have the URL to your Flickr page. If you did get your invitation, make sure you accept it and head on over to the group page. I've written up a welcome there and a brief description of this week's prompt. I'll likely continue to deal with the business end of P26/52 over there. Even though the group is by invitation only vis-a-vis posting to it, anyone can look in on the group's pictures. To do this, here is the URL for the group's main page: http://www.flickr.com/groups/p26-52/

The first week is now underway. The prompt is Depth of Field: Deep and photos are due by the end of Sunday night. Shoot if you dare.

The Second Coming

2011-09-02T18:24:00.000-07:00

I've taken a month off and now I'm eager to get back behind the shutter. Who wants to do a P26/52 with me? Misty from Project 365 is in. Are you?

Here are the details. Dust off your camera and set up a Flickr account. Once you have the Flickr account, let me know and I'll send you an invitation to post to our newly minted P26/52 group. Starting on Monday September 5th, we'll all begin taking pictures to a set list of themes. There will be one theme a week and no requirement whatsoever to take daily photos--thus making it a far less daunting challenge than Project 365. At the end of each week, put your best photo or a handful of photos up on the Flickr group. They'll all sit side by side there in a way that we can learn from each other.

So why 26 or 52? How does that work, you ask? Look at the list of themes below. If you want to tackle all of them, then commit to a P52. If you want to do only those that serve as a camera/photography tutorial, then do only the odd numbered ones and post your photos biweekly at the end of the appropriate week. If you want to tackle only those prompts that focus on subject matter, then jump in at week two and do only the even numbered themes. Or you can be a will-o-the-wisp, jumping in here and there. Whatever. I'm not your creativity cop.

Is this as clear as mud?

Here are the themes. I've added dates until the New Year so you'll get a sense of the time-line. Each week starts on a Monday and the deadline to upload photos for that week is the end of the day on Sunday--you know, unless you're a little bit late.

Week 1: Depth of field: deep (Sept 5-11)
Week 2: Dining out (Sept 12-18)
Week 3: Depth of field: shallow (Sept 19-25)
Week 4: Take a hike (Sept 26-Oct 2)
Week 5: Bokeh (Oct 3-9)
Week 6: Yellow (Oct 10-16)
Week 7: Seen from below (Oct 17-23)
Week 8: Body parts (Oct 24-30)
Week 9: Seen from above (Oct 31-Nov 6)
Week 10: Texture (Nov 7-13)
Week 11: Black and white (Nov 14-20)
Week 12: Blue (Nov 21-27)
Week 13: Portraiture (Nov 28-Dec 4)
Week 14: Beloved (Dec 5-11)
Week 15: Night photography (Dec 12-18)
Week 16: Spice (Dec 19-24)
Week 17: Artificial light (Dec 25-Jan1)
Week 18: Orange
Week 19: Self-portraiture
Week 20: Smiles
Week 21: Overexposure
Week 22: After
Week 23: Post-processing
Week 24: Smell
Week 25: Image Distortion
Week 26: Red
Week 27: Abstract photography
Week 28: Music
Week 29: Looking in
Week 30: Gathering
Week 31: Industrial photography
Week 32: Wind
Week 33: Filtering
Week 34: Green
Week 35: Shutter speed: freeze
Week 36: Warmth
Week 37: Shutter speed: blur
Week 38: Danger
Week 39: Backlight
Week 40: Motherhood or Fatherhood or Childhood
Week 41: Narrative photography
Week 42: A-Z
Week 43: Macro
Week 44: Shoes
Week 45: Time-lapse photography
Week 46: Water
Week 47: Landscape photography
Week 48: Humanity
Week 49: Street photography
Week 50: Purple
Week 51: Flash photography
Week 52: Animal, mineral or vegetable

OK, who's in?

FYI, I will continue to put my pictures up here on this blog for those who just like to look in every now and then.

The fat lady sings

2011-07-27T17:55:00.000-07:00

This was my first picture for Project 365, taken a year ago:

This is my last picture for Project 365, taken earlier tonight:

I did it. I completed the behemoth that is Project 365--and I didn't do it alone. Three other people who started this whole rigmarole with me also finished. Mad props to Alejna, Misty and Steve. I feel a bit like celebrating but mostly I feel burnt out. It's an impossibly hectic pace this taking a photo a day gig--especially when you start caring about your results and about actually improving along the way. That's when you end up taking as many as 200-300 pictures in a single day (e.g. droplet shots) in order to learn what you need to and to get the result you were hoping for. And furthermore, taking the pictures isn't nearly so taxing as looking thorough them, deleting the duds and deciding on a single winner for each and every day. Once that is done, there is all the finicky uploading and posting. Aye caramba! I will be so happy to reclaim those hours in my life.

But I am very happy that I not only took it on but also stuck with it 'til the bitter end.

Here are a few things I learned along the way:
1. I take most of my pictures between 6 and 7:30 pm b/c that's the only time my husband is home and this reality creates the illusion that I'll be afforded time and concentration.
2. THIS IS AN ILLUSION. Plus, it means that most of my photos are fuelled by the dinner-hour blood sugar crash.
3. It is very hard to take pictures with a 6 year old next to you at all times.
4. Thankfully, 6 year olds are about the most photogenic objects on earth. (93 of the photos are of her plus 3 or 4 of just her hands)
5. Your family will never stop to let you take photos which means you get a lot of shots of them walking on ahead.
6. White balance is a bitch.
7. Flowers taken with a shallow depth of field are lovely--so lovely in fact that you come to depend on them when time keeps marching hurriedly on.
8. There are more interesting things outside my front and back door than I ever would have guessed a year ago.
9. I fear I am house-bound.
10. Birds are everywhere and are stunning and quirky and, after a while you know exactly which bird is going to be on the feeder by its distinctive call.

I learned so much more but I won't go on about it all here. I did learn to use my camera with skill and intent and that's what I set out to do. I also learned that I have so very much more to learn--things that are impossible to absorb while taking daily pictures, working at a professional job and parenting a 6 year old. What I do know is that I want to continue my education.

Come fall I plan to start a P52 (weekly) or maybe even a P26 (bi-weekly)--wherein, I will set fixed prompts far in advance. Each prompt will force me to treat it as a photography tutorial. For my part, I'm hoping to have enough time to read up on technique and also look at how a handful of professional photographers and/or artist photographers approach the subject of the prompt. I'll post the results of that project here--sometimes a single photo; sometimes a group or series; but never a photo a day. That tank is now empty.

Want to join me? I am always happy for the company. If so, send me an email or leave a comment and we can start planning from there. In the meantime, I'm going on vacation and, yes, I will be taking my camera with me.

Now please allow me to leave you with a handful of my favourite shots from this past year.

007:365

016:365

026:365

035:365

053:365

070:365

096:365

138:365

156:365

160:365

181:365

183:365

189:365

205:365

209:365

226:365

229:365

Not a 365 shot b/c taken the same day as above.

Not a 365 shot b/c taken the same day as the 2 above. March 13th was a very good day.

269:365

273:365

280:365

298:365

303:365

312:365

328:365

333:365

355:365

And my favourite shot of the year:

353:365

All but the very last one

2011-07-26T18:09:00.000-07:00

358:365 Done

359:365 Bee feet

360:365 This is down the street from me and I've been meaning to shoot it all year long. No time left, I guess.

361:365 At the Mexican restaurant

362:365

363:365 Other things I snap

364:365

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One more picture to go. I'll take it tomorrow and put it up in a few days with a summary post. It's so close now I can taste it.

Penultimate

2011-07-19T18:45:00.000-07:00

The second to last week of Project 365. Holy snapping shutters, Batman.

351:365 Just Mary or turning a negative into a positive

352:365 My own private Provence

353:365 Glory

Saturday was a day of fateful mishaps. I crashed my car. Boo. What's more I left my camera at the camp site and missed the most photogenic group of girls jumping in the ocean at sunset shot ever. Oh well, I did get a portrait of this fine fellow earlier in the day:

354:365 Gull

355:365 Jump

356:365 False sunflowers

357: 365 Hand

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This was an accidental week on many fronts. But the one happy accident is that I think I took my best picture of the year this past week. I won't tell you which one of the above photos it is, because I think it's kinda obvious. 8 days left: I don't know if I need to set a prompt but I will try to focus on all that I've learned in this past year. Summing it all up.

And the livin' is easy

2011-07-12T19:00:00.000-07:00

I set the prompt as au naturel to get away from last week's drive toward post-processing. The prompt may as well have been just outside the door because so many of these shots were taken within a few dozen feet of my front door.

344:365 The Saint John River

345:365 At dusk

On Friday, we met up with friends at the lake. Tadpole and catfish hunting ensued.

This boy is M's oldest friend. They met in the hospital on the day she was born. He was born the night before. We always relish the time we spend with this family.

346:365 And this is his older brother, a natural tadpole tracker.

Despite my misgivings my husband bought roller blades for M.

347:365 He was right. He usually is.

Belle on wheels.

Right as rain.

Gratuitous bang growing shot.

348:365 BFFs

The practice

349:365

350:365 Natalie and F outside the pool.

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15 days to go. Taking these last few pictures will be like pulling teeth. What I need is to get inventive.

Say (Processed) Cheese!

2011-07-04T18:59:00.001-07:00

When I took on this project almost a year ago, I was a purist at heart. I wanted to make it about me and the camera, nothing more. I needed to learn more about how my Canon worked and I wanted to train my eye to notice the world around me. I never intended to process my photos whatsoever. I spend too much time on the computer as it is; the last thing I wanted was more fiddling with a mouse. Aside from a few crops here and there, I really haven't toyed with my images at all. This week, I gave myself permission to play. The only image processing software I own is the freeware GIMP that replicates most of the functions of Photoshop. Here are my shots of the day for the last week. The first picture in each pair is how the camera saw it. The second image is the processed one. For each, I explain what I did to the image and why.

This wasn't the best picture of the day by a long shot but I thought M's attitude had potential. She's been seriously into cats all spring and summer and she wears this kitty T-shirt like a badge. I wanted to make sure her obsession was represented in my 365 when all was said and done. To make the shot work, first I cropped out the blurred eyes in order put the focus on the spots in the image that mattered. I then manipulated the curves on the picture's histogram so that it looked Warhol-esque. Her attitude felt iconic to me so that's how I wanted to represent it. The result:

338:265 Jungle cat

On Canada Day we went downtown with friends. M refers to our friends' son as her honourary little brother. He is quite photogenic as these two shots show.

I processed both these shots even though I was pretty happy with them as is--because I am nothing if not a slave to a prompt. For the first shot, I wanted to highlight his gorgeous red-headed colouring. To do this, I just upped the yellow in the colour balance. Doing so brought out his highlights without muddying the Canada Day message.

For the other shot, I wanted to create a look that tapped into Canada's artistic heritage, it being Canada Day and all. By posterizing the image, I achieved an effect that is reminiscent of Charles Pachter (this image to be precise) who, himself, gives a contemporary spin to the legacy of the Group of Seven, particularly Lawren Harris. My results are more keen and less satirically humourous than Pachter's, but then again that's me all over. I particularly like how the highlights on his face take on the shape of hearts to echo the heart in the tattoo.

339:365

I didn't do much to this next image other that try to fix it by adjusting the curves.

The moment was fleeting and my original photo didn't do justice to the exchange depicted. I get frustrated at the way my camera creates colour balance based on my focal point for the shot. When I am rushed or when I am shooting scenes with little to no mid-tones, I find that either the shot is too dark or that my skin tones are glaring rather than nuanced as was the case with this shot.

This is my fix:

340:365

By the way, this picture is very meaningful to me and my family. Mike, the actor in the picture, is the only person to have acted in each of my husband's six Shakespeare in the park productions. For each performance six summers running he has picked a bouquet of wild flowers and then given it to our daughter. She first started receiving these bouquets when she was under 18 months old. This might be Mike's last year living in our town. There was no way in hell I wasn't including a glimpse of their floral arrangement in my 365.

And this was the exchange on the final night of the show:

Sunday was the last performance of my husband's production of King Lear which meant that cast photos were in order. This picture is of Lear with his three daughters:

The production itself was set in Edwardian England in an attempt to capture the pre-WWI climate of Europe. When I processed this image, I decided to make it look as if the photo was authentic. To do so, I used the GIMP "Old Photo" filter found on the "Decor" filter menu. This is the result:

341:365

I am happy with this photo because of the way it represents a continuum of time and generations. It uses 21st C technology to render contemporary actors in Edwardian dress as if they really did live in the 19-teens. The actors are, of course, performing in a play that was actually written in the 16th century. King Lear, with its themes of aging, fading power, generational upheaval, sight and blindness seems a perfect fit for this kind of photographic treatment.

And now for something completely different. I couldn't set a prompt of processed cheese and not include a bit o' milk fat. Wills and Kate were in the region so I focused mainly on British cheese at the Sobeys. The OKA must be a gesture to the two solitudes or some other pan-cultural tip of the hat:

And then, like Kraft, I processed my cheese into:

Cheese Cube(ism)! (342:365)

OK, so by the end of the week I had descended into outright silliness. There's one more image, today's shot:

which became

343:365

I have no compelling reason for putting this edge filter on the photo other than the fact that I was feeling very silly today and the crazy-busy lines on this rendering of the shot appealed to me. It reminded me of when I was a kid and I would make art by colouring with brightly coloured crayon on white paper and then colouring over top with black crayon, only to scratch out an image with my fingernail.

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And with that, I've left all notion of photography behind. Demon computer. This week's prompt: au naturel.

Almost heaven...

2011-06-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

My trip to Virginia in pictures:

Take off

330:365 Clouds over Quebec

While in the south...

331:365 Teya and Andrea: old friends, colleagues

332:365 Downtown Roanoke

At the plenary

As in a glass darkly

Butterfly on rock

Blue Ridge Mountains

333:365 Teya

334:365 Flying home over the Saint John River

335:365 First day of summer vacation

336:365

337:365 King Lear

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Holy 'ole Dinah, there's under a month left. I can scarce believe it. For the upcoming week, I'm gonna try for processed cheese.

Colour! Caterpillars! Freaky cats!

2011-06-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

323:365

323a:365 I couldn't resist posting this picture of the braids with the Nan dress

324:365

325:365

And because the class picnic felt like an enchanted time, I'm posting a few more.

Sack race

The natural heart made by their arms broke my heart clean in two.

At the carnival

326:365 At the cat show

The cat show was one freaky place. Witness:

Judged by Joan

Princess

Miss Rumphius

327:365

328:365 Her latest fascination

329:365 Absence

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And with that my cab arrives in 5 hours to take me to the airport. I need sleep. Not sure what the prompt should be but I know that I'll be on the road.

If it's not birds, it's bees

2011-06-14T18:43:00.000-07:00

The prompt was "novelty" but there's really nothing new here. There is a healthy dose of purty, though.

316:365

317:365 The rain was torrential day and night

318:365

That was my pic of the day but I was also smitten by this fellow:

Touchdown!

319:365

It was a bee kinda week. And Saturday was a really good day behind the lens. Indulge me for a moment, will you?

Rhododendron

Buttercups

Iris

For Monet

Light and colour

320:365 Along the trail

321:365 King Lear

322:365 Seems to me, stop and see how beautiful you are.

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My good friend Stephen sent me an email the other day that used the expression "good colour sense." It's something I need to work on or at least think about a lot more so that's what the prompt will be this week: good colour sense.

Fluff and nonsense

2011-06-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

309:365

310:365 One down...

310a:365 It's the tooth fairy! I can't believe I caught a glimpse of her.

311:365 At the cast party

311a:365

312:365 Bristle

Speak softly

We had fun with the dandelions.

313:365

314:365 Howl

315:365

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It is so hard to find time these days: time to seek out new subject matter and/or new ways of using the camera. It feels as if I have snapped the walk to work, the kid, the husband, the garden... ad nauseum. The last 50 days of this project may well kill me if I can't wrestle time away from somewhere. It's hard to know what to set the prompt to because of this. I'll try for novelty but, really, I can't make any promises.

It is written

2011-05-31T18:42:00.000-07:00

302:365 The day after her birthday...

303:365 Weird sister

304:365 Mother's Day gift

With a non-prompt runner-up:

305:365 Collaboration

306:365 Cursive

307:365 My exhibition

308:365 Juxtaposition

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This past week was about as busy as weeks get. This week's prompt: relax

Narrative with or without focus

2011-05-24T18:17:00.000-07:00

295:365 The head bonk. Completely out of focus but it was the only narrative shot on the day.

296:365 Hopscotch

297:365 Or what's a heaven for?

298:365 Goldfinch

299:365 The gardener 1 and

299a:365 The gardener 2

300:365 Glory Be! She's taken 300 photos in 300 days.

301:365 I heart gardening

Weekly random bird shot:

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I think I still need to work on narrative but I'm going to turn it on its head this week by making the idea of narrative more literal: written.

Oh what a feeling. What a rush.

2011-05-17T18:30:00.000-07:00

I set the prompt as rush but these photos make it seem as if I have all the time in the world. I don't. I also shouldn't be experimenting with heart-shaped bokeh after midnight. Silly photography obsession.

288:365 My relentless pursuit of birds continues. What I like about this shot is that it's from a distance. This is the first year in many that I've managed to thwart the robins from nesting on the back deck. Chasing them never worked. What did work was putting up a wild bird feeder. Apparently, the robins didn't want to compete with sparrows, finches and grackles.

289:365 Meet Pompeii, the resident gardening centre Iguana

290:365 Shave and a haircut. Two bits.

291:365 Forsythia at night

292:365 Waddle

293:365 I heart spring

294:365 Unfurled

The backyard ferns were highly expressive this afternoon:

Bashful

Nuclear family

Coming-out

Auto-erotic

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Those ferns inspire me. This week's prompt is rooted in 1970s Rod Stewart: Every picture tells a story

Two, two, two weeks in one

2011-05-09T17:58:00.000-07:00

I am so busy these days, I can barely breathe--ergo two weeks of photos in one post:

274:365 The leftover spoils

275:365 Perspective 1

276:365 Perspective 2

277:365 Perspective 3

278:365 In the woods

279:365 Perspective 4: throwing stones

280:365 We ran into this guy on our walk home from school. He was just a baby that we think had been abandoned before he was even weaned.

He certainly wasn't timid. That's M's pant leg he's climbing up.

And this gives you a sense of his size.

281:365 Beer that's good both inside and on the outside.

282:365 Hungry, hungry hippo

283:365 Forsythia

284:365 Lesley with Ali and Chris working at the yard sale.

285:365 26 miles/42 kms in 2:55:32

286:365 The wedding of Prince Meow Standup and Lady Charlotte of the Scotch Tape Train. What Girl has joined together let no man put asunder.

287:365 First blush

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Phew. That was as exhausting as the last two weeks of my life. The next few weeks will be similarly rushed. Better make it a prompt: rush

Family Portrait: a love letter

2011-04-26T17:59:00.000-07:00

We're the kids in my profile pic. I saw all but one brother this past week and I hope to see him and his family when I get back home later this summer.

266:365 Tiny Timmy Tuna Fish

267:365 Ron

268:365 Baby D

269:365 Nan flanked by her D and Ian's baby D

Wherever I go I see birds. I think they're on to me.

270:365 Nan saying goodbye to her garden

271:365 Eleanor

Big family means big love

272:365 Back home with her dad

Rounding out the family portraits

273:365 Self-portrait

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If you're in my family or if you're a close friend, you'll be able to see even more big family on Facebook soon. This week's prompt: I'll be putting it all into perspective.

A wing and a prayer

2011-04-18T18:02:00.000-07:00

261:365 I fear I'm becoming a birder.

262:365 Doppelganger

I went to the local Vote Mob on Saturday for the sole purpose of taking pictures. I ended up on the front page of the local paper today as the face of youth exercising its franchise. Oooooo boy. Now that was embarrassing. Here are my 3 best shots from the event:

Red Lobster Franchise: only in Atlantic Canada, I swear.

263:365

Wake up and vote!

264:365 Lion fish

265:365 I can't get enough of these grackles and they clearly can't get enough of our bird seed. Fear not, the bird feeder is going away this weekend. I'll be cut off.

The Ministry of Silly Auks

And now it's time for our weekly edition of name that bird. There's three contenders this week:

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265 down; 100 to go. Waa-hoo. I'm posting a day early this week because I'll be away from the computer for the next few days. This week's prompt is portrait.

Made ya look

2011-04-13T16:43:00.000-07:00

253:365 Directions

254:365 Direction frozen

I tried the same shot with an adjustment to the white balance and am trying to decide which version I like best.

255:365 Cascade

256:365

257:365 Up

258:365 Up and down and all around

259:365 Toward

Landing

Poised

260:365

I need to create a "name that bird" Flickr set because there's been no end to the new friends foraging on my back deck. This guy looks like a small version of our local crows but has a deep blue head. Thoughts?

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I went a week and a day without posting because I was out last night. That means this week's prompt will be good for only 6 days. So let's make the prompt 6 --or any ole number you like will do.

Softie

2011-04-05T18:49:00.000-07:00

246:365 Incognito. Under that disguise is the softest heart I know.

247:365 Taking a hard line in defence of the softer sex (after funding cuts wiped out our provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women)

248:365 April fool

249:365 Downy woodpecker

Sunday is becoming my prime snapping day and this week was no exception. First I saw this skittish softie outside the family room window.

Then I noticed that the conditions on the back deck were prime for more droplet photos. I took a gazillion, got about 100 I was tickled with, and edited it all down to a small handful that made me very happy. Rather than simply trying to catch the drops as they fell, this time I was interested in pushing my limits in two directions. The first was to capture reflections in the drops and the other was to create truly abstract shots that worked with this week's prompt. Here are three of the shots I really liked.

Abstract

Reflection (of the trees across the driveway)

250:365 Abstract with reflection

251:265 At the pet store--in solidarity with @BronxZoosCobra

252:365 Mining the gems in the now defunct collection of the former Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women

Mmmmm. The prompt this week was soft and yet I've got a woodpecker and a parrot beak. Ooops. I took so many soft shots that didn't make the cut. I think I need to round out this post with a nod to the prompt from the runners-up.

At the SPCA

The Girls

Sin Kitten, er, bunny

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"Soft" was fun but kinda mushy. This week's prompt: direction

All work is play

2011-03-29T17:49:00.000-07:00

239:365 Play

240:365 At work on a play

241:365 Playing at his work. From Communist Revolution to Consumer Revolution. Hello Kitty.

242:365 Three sisters in happier times

243:365 Abstract melt-water on the Saint John river

244:365 Where we work. Where we live. Where we play.

245:365 Playdate

245a:365 Playdate (if I knew how to make a diptych, I would)

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This week's prompt has been brought to you by crowd-sourcing. The Internet, or more specifically, a cool children's/YA librarian in Australia, has suggest soft. I'm a softie. Are you?

Going through the motions

2011-03-22T18:04:00.000-07:00

Shutter speed was the order of the day this week. I didn't do as much as I would've liked, but I did experiment with shots I'd never tried before.

This is your brain:

This is your brain with a single drop of green food colouring:

232:365

233:365 Primary

234:365 Pop!

235:365

After dinner on Sunday, M got on her bike and we took a magical trip over the city's walking bridge.

236:365

237:365 This fellow has been hanging out on our back deck the last few days, eating crumbs from the bird feeder that guys like these have been leaving behind:

I know that the last guy is a chickadee and the one before him is a pine grosbeak (I think), but can anyone help me id that first fellow?

238:365

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I've had a lot of fun with the last two prompts. They've really kept me motivated through the lean season. I'm hoping this next one will too: work/play.

The spring thaw: frozen

2011-03-15T16:58:00.000-07:00

Inspired by my friend, Kate, I set last week's prompt as abstract. I really wanted to engage with the prompt so I began by reading this online article on abstract photography. It stressed the importance of form, colour and line--three fundamentals that work together to invoke an emotional or instinctual rather than intellectual response in the viewer. In taking abstract photos this week, I wasn't trying to dispense with representational photography altogether; instead, I was hoping that the objects I photographed would rely on the essence of those three fundamentals over and above any quick or easy reliance on their straight-up meaning as objects themselves. I didn't follow the prompt every single day but for over half the week, I gave it the college try.

225:365

226:365

227:365 Extinction (For this picture I used a handy-dandy technique that my friend, Quadelle, taught me.

228:365

Next I want to tell you a couple of stories in sequence as they played out on my back deck Sunday morning. I'm not sure which shot to award the pic of the day, but I'll slap on a number somewhere in the pack and you can tell me if you disagree.

One

Two (Now with bokeh!)

229:365

Three (Now with aspirations towards the abstract!!)

Also taken on Sunday for another project I'm working on:

230:365

231:365

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Sunday was the kind of day that sends me to bed happy that I took on this gruelling project. Photographing those drops as they melted from my roof also made me realize what this week's prompt needs to be. Help me, friends, for I fear I have the motion sickness.

Introducing the i and the new eye.

2011-03-08T18:03:00.000-08:00

218:365 Contrast 1

219:365 Contrast 2

220:365 By way of contrast, here is the first photo I've uploaded from my iPhone. Also a contrast: ringlets on a girl with poker-straight hair.

OK, bear with me. I need to share 3 pictures from Saturday. This from the Tim Horton's in Sackville, NB:

The cat that swallowed the canary--or the tim-bit.

Lost in a book at Woozles bookstore in Halifax--as shot by my brand-spanking new 50mm 1.4 lens. I am punch drunk with lens happiness. To whit:

221:365 At the hotel

222:365 I stumbled upon this dirty and battered fellow stuffed into the fence rails along the Halifax Public Gardens. He was missing an eye on the other side of his face. Too bad the photos from that angle weren't quite as good.

223:365 A different kind of contrast. Spring break means that her dad was home for an evening and could take part in the bedtime rituals.

Please bear with me again. There are 4 shots from today because the squirrel was being so damn cooperative. You can help me decide which should be the picture of the day.

Yes, he's eating a handful of ice.

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Hooray, I've replaced, nay upgraded, my 50mm lens. I love it. I love it. I love it. And because I love it, I want to push my limits this week. The prompt: abstract.

2011-03-01T17:46:00.000-08:00

211:365 Accidental moon or how the human egg is often deceived.

212:365 I fall to pieces

213:365 Longing for spring

214:365 Life on Mars

215:365 Sunday morning

216:365 His quirk

217:365 Can I drive the bus?

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My kid can be a creep sometimes. She resents the camera, so, today, when I was aiming my sites on that pigeon, she took umbrage. The pigeon was sitting on top of a sign the read "Flu Clinic." It was actually sitting over the word "clinic" but then it began walking toward the word "flu." In two more seconds I would've had the perfect bird flu shot--but then, blam, my daughter yelled at the bird and scared it away. Lucky she's cute.

This week's prompt: contrast

You're only as good as your last lens

2011-02-22T17:50:00.000-08:00

204:365 Texture 1

205:365 Texture 2

206:365 Texture 3

207:365 Texture 4 This was the last shot taken with my 50mm 1.8 lens (aka, the nifty 50). Moments later my favourite lens died in my arms. Given the circumstances, this happenstance abandoned heart is far more literal than what I thought it would be when I spotted it on the pavement.

208:365 We made 100 paper dolls for the 100 days of school celebrations

209:365 Just one moment on a Monday after dinner

210:365 Texture 5: Topsy-turvy weeds in winter. It looks as if they are framed against the sky when actually they are poking up from the snow.

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Oh the feeling in the pit of my stomach when my 50mm lens fell apart. A simple fall while nestled snugly in my Lowepro case seemed like nothing, but then when I tried to shoot, the auto-focus failed to engage. I tried to focus manually and was able to do so for a couple of shots even though the focus ring felt stuck. And then, just like that, the lens was in pieces in my hand. I plan to replace it, nay upgrade it, in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I'll be using my zoom lens and my kit lens and hoping for lots of light and plenty of time to shoot in the out-of-doors.

This week's prompt is courtesy of my old friend Patsy: I Fall to Pieces.

Black and white and re(a)d all over

2011-02-15T17:29:00.000-08:00

197:365 Strange bedfellows in the shelvers' sorting area

198:365 The tracks of my tears

199:365

200:365 Natalie brings joy.

201:365

202:365 This heart in my chest

203:365

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Do you see that? We're in the 200's? Yay! And for the second week in a row I've gone 100% manual in my shooting. Heck, I even took pictures of people--well, only one person other than my daughter is featured here but I took lots of pictures of friends on Saturday night. It helps to be in a room with 5 other people, all of whom own Canon Rebels.

This week's prompt: texture.

Beyond the 4" x 6"

2011-02-08T07:53:00.000-08:00

190:365 Before the show

191:365

192:365 After the show

...

Those tulips I bought last week gave themselves up to the light this week.

193:365 Not fade away

...

We went to Winterfest on the weekend. This was the best photo from the day:

...but this was the best moment:

194:365

195:365 I was due for a self-portrait.

196:365

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Over the past few weeks I have taken several pictures of other people's kids--pictures that were happenstance but compelling, children who are a part of mine and my daughter's lives. I've posted only one of those photos here--that ethereal shot of the girls playing dress-up from last week's grouping--not because I think the parents will mind my doing so, but, rather, because I feel too shy and embarrassed to ask them for permission in the first place.

"Hi. Thanks for letting your daughter come to our house. M adores her. By the way, I'm doing this project online wherein I take pictures everyday and post them to the Internet. I think I got some great shots of the kids together. Would you mind?..."

Nope. I can't bring myself to say it out loud. It always sounds so geeky and amateur. And yet, and yet, I look back over the pictures I've posted in the last six months and it appears as if I live in a capital N, capital F Nuclear Family that is surrounded by nature and consumer objects. What a false reality I am creating. My little family is part of a vibrant community of people, but I'm too damn shy to promote the photography project with them in order to ask for permission.

"I have this blog, see..."

Watch the colour rise to my cheeks. I've always known that the photographer is the main subject in any photograph; I guess I just didn't realize that this awkwardness of mine is in part what the truism means.

So far, I'm ok with actually photographing kids that I know (even if I don't post the shots), but, when it comes to adult friends, I don't seem able to hit the shutter button in the first place. Our mutual self-consciousness is crippling.

It's not as if I took on this project as an exercise in documentary photography--hell, I could spend all year just trying to figure out what documentary photography is. It's just that now that I'm half-way through Project 365, I realize how much my own limitations as a person, not just as a photographer, are shaping the year I present here.

What about you? Is your year in photos a reflection of how you live your life? What narrative are you creating in spite of yourself?

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BTW, I stuck to last week's prompt all week long. Every photo was taken entirely with manual settings--even the picture of the hands thus making it doubly manual. So, this week's prompt. What to do, what to do... how about black and white and red all over.

Let there be light

2011-02-01T17:08:00.000-08:00

183:365 Measuring up on her birthday

184:365 Found object

185:365 The director backstage

186:365 That place where 5 and 6 year-olds live

It was brutally cold at the beginning of last week, so cold that my daughter's bed felt decidedly frosty in the mornings, nestled as it was near her window. "This must change," I declared and we moved the bed to the far side of the room as far away from the window as possible--allowing for the first time her blackout drapes to be opened and closed with ease. Let there be light. And there was. My first over-exposed, backlit picture was the last one from last week's grouping.

Here, I was still working in aperture priority on my Canon, but seeing what the light could do in the dead of winter was like a speed-thaw to my brain. On the weekend I started to play with the possibilities. I've taken and posted a couple of fully manual shots during the course of 365, but largely I rely on the semi-manual settings (aperture and shutter speed priority), tweaking exposure and film speed here and there. Sure there's be deliberation to what I've done so far but I've relied upon the camera to fill in the blanks for me. "Pshaw," I now say. Here are 3 shots from my weekend manual shoot.

187:365 I may change which one is my pick of the day once I can see the shots on my full-size monitor at work. As an aside, can I just say that it's a bitch doing this project when all I've got to look at at home is a netbook screen? I never see my shots at a decent size until after they've been selected and uploaded.

Once I started playing with back-light, I became hooked.

188:365

189:365

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This week's prompt: manual dexterity. I hope it will prompt me to take deliberate, fully manual shots all week long.

Quirk

2011-01-25T18:36:00.000-08:00

176:365

177:365

178:365 Weather bomb

179:365

180:365 "I had a brthday prde. We wint bowling."

I chose the above shot even though this one better embodies the spirit of this week's prompt:

181:365 I broke one of my Mom's wine glasses and felt devastated.

182:365 The last day she was 5.

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With tomorrow's shot, we're half way there. This week's prompt: stuck in the middle

What do Blondie and my pictures have in common?

2011-01-18T16:30:00.000-08:00

I set "pest" as last week's prompt, but, instead, everywhere I looked this week I saw parallel lines.

169:365 The white-knuckle drive home from the grocery store.

170:365

171:365 Globe and male

172:365 Varsity hockey from the cheap seats, although Len much prefers this shot of the t-shirt canon:

173:365

174:365 This tree is in the park across the street and I can shoot it while standing on my front door step. Last week, it framed a striped pink sunset in order to make it as picture of the day. Other days, it's come very close to winning. When I saw this, however, there was no doubt in my mind that it would trump every other shot that day.

175: 365 OK, so it's cheap to take a picture of your TV, but, c'mon, how could I resist? It's no wonder my daughter is an imaginative child. BTW, 10 points if you can guess which pests are the stars of this retro show?

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This week's prompt: quirk, and it's going to be good because Misty is a-comin' to town and we're going to shoot a bit of quirk together.

Wherein the zoom lens and the birdfeeder start paying rent

2011-01-11T17:27:00.000-08:00

162:365

163:365 Epiphany

164:365 Etude for furnace vent, balloon and two cameras

165:365 In the shadow of Lord Beaverbrook

166:365

167:365 OK, can anyone tell me who this fellow is? We have a # of them outside the back door. Huzzah for the new birdfeeder.

168:365

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Let's see, where are we at? I find that by the time I've uploaded 7 photos, I don't have much to say. So how be I just give us all a new prompt? Oh I don't know. There's a mouse scuttling about my kitchen as I type right now, so let's try pest.

Resolutions or waffling?

2011-01-04T19:00:00.000-08:00

155:365 This fellow's only resolution was to make it to the New Year. I think he failed.

156:365 Remember that shaped bokeh trick I told you about last week? Here is my better effort with it.

157:365 This is my New Year's Eve shot, although I was tempted by this funnier one:

or this one of the girl actually making it 'til midnight:

158:365 At the Lieutenant-Governor's New Year's Levy, Ganong Chicken Bones are hard to resist.

159:365 I wish I'd had time to adjust the light but I still like the way the lines on the sandbox roof spiral out from this guy's head.

160:365

161:365 Len at his noon-hour pick-up game.

And while I'm here, I think I'm going to change #153, the doll skating shot in the last post for this one:

There's also an October shot that I'm going to change at some point. Clearly my resolution prompt has lead to nothing but waffling.

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So, another week done and a brand new year to work with. For those of you who like to look at pretty pictures, my friend Dani has just started her second round of Project 365. Can you believe someone would do this twice? It was Dani's original go-round that inspired me to do this, so I'm happy I can now look at her great shots on a daily basis--or every couple of weeks when I can clear time to get to them.

As for a prompt, how about routine?

Star of wonder...

2010-12-28T18:20:00.000-08:00

148:365 The local Reserve receives gov't subsidized power. They give the gift of light back to us all at Christmas time.

This is what the full house looked like:

149:365 Dysfunction in the pop-up book.

150:365 This is my effort to impose shapes on bokeh light as described here. I still need some practice but with any luck you're all seeing stars where none exist in reality.

151:365 This wasn't the best shot I took on Christmas morning but it managed to capture everything that was magical about the day for us.

I got a new lens for Christmas: a 75-300mm. Zoom zoom. While I like this shot a lot, it's the next one that makes it as the shot of the day. Note the lack of snow. There's foreshadowing here.

152:365

153:365 A girl, her doll, their love of hockey.

154:365 Snowed in. Sure this snow-girl is cute but all that white stuff cancelled our holiday travel plans. No flights means no extended family. Boo.

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Well, Happy New Year, one and all. Next week's prompt: resolution.

It came without ribbons...

2010-12-21T18:54:00.000-08:00

141:365 The biblical rains and flash flooding made the Saint John river a presence in our lives this week.

142:365 My book club. We're drunk. I loves 'em.

143:365 I got this cycling Santa at a 10,000 Villages sale a few years back. He still makes me smile.

144:365 A glimpse at the Irish Dance Christmas recital I took my daughter to.

145:365 Well, he's definitely a presence in my life. He's also playing with a present he put in our daughter's Advent Calendar: finger flash lights.

146:365

147:365 A big part of my job is processing gift books. Here's a box full that came my way recently.

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Merry Christmas, everyone. I hope you have a happy, peaceful and photogenic one. I don't really think we need a prompt this week but I'll put one out there anyway. Spent. If you're not feeling it now, you will be soon.

Fa-la-la-la-la

2010-12-14T19:05:00.000-08:00

134:365 The Nutcracker. SWEET! I really wanted to get a better photo, taken later in the performance but the usher tapped me on the shoulder after my first shot. Rightly so, but still... I was discreet. I did not use a flash. But still... I will mind my manners in future.

135:365 Cindy Lou Who, or Hail the new, ye lads and lasses.

136:365 We won't go until we get some.

137:365 Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...

138:365 He sees you when you're sleeping.

139:365 Peace on Earth (in the air?), or don't Fall on Your Knees

140:365 "Mur" is mine.

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Next week's prompt: presents or presence

Portrait, landscape and working the curve

2010-12-07T18:07:00.000-08:00

127:365 My Christmas lights funkadellic style

128:365 I spend 5 nights a week with him so he really ought to be here.

129:365 At the downtown tree lighting ceremony

130:365 The Saint John String Quartet with special guest percussionists

131:365

132:365 My friend Stephen let me use his basement studio again. It was fun, but I still have so much to learn and I'm not sure I know how to learn anything when I am in the company of an over-tired 5-yr-old.

This shot isn't my picture of the day but I did experiment with it in the freeware program, GIMP. Stephen encouraged me to "manipulate the curve" on the studio shots so that the black of my daughter's dress would pop out a bit from the background. I tried it here and may experiment a bit more when I can find a bit more time.

133:365 Landscape: it's definitely changing in all the wrong ways.

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I did make the rounds over the last week but I noticed that some of you haven't updated your shots in a while. Are you still with me? My guess is that you're still shooting daily but have gotten bogged down in the editing and uploading. If so, wipe your slate and start anew tomorrow.

Well, the holidays are bearing down so let's try a seasonal prompt: carol. Make it fun, make it pun. Enjoy.

The cup is 1/3 full

2010-11-30T17:58:00.000-08:00

Most of the shots are more about transformation than metamorphosis but, hey, I'll take it.

120:365 Seasons change

121:365

122:365 Unreal city

123:365 At the parade

We had the most amazing snowfall for the duration of the Santa Claus parade. I got some ok pictures but nothing that really captured the beauty of the moment. Part of the problem was that the camera steamed up inside my coat and then wouldn't work properly.

124:365

125:365 Barbie bokeh

126:365

I've been photographing these berries for about 3 months now. Finally today, a berry shot was my best shot.

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So, just like that we're over 1/3 of the way through. Are you still with me? I haven't had a chance to make the rounds for a week. I promise. I'll visit soon. In the meantime, here's a new prompt for you: portrait and/or landscape.

I learned to do something with my camera today. Huzzah!

2010-11-23T18:36:00.000-08:00

114:365 Oh book club, how I love you.

115:365 The rising sun made these grasses come alive.

116:365 Snowy love on the line. Or, why don't I just pack them up for winter?

117:365 Hung

118:365

119:365 The photo's neither here nor there but it is proof that I have learned how to create a custom white balance. I can now take pictures in my kitchen. Huzzah. It's amazing what a camera manual can teach you.

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I didn't really take on last week's prompt except that I found those birds in yesterday's post darn engaging. I also was engaged with my camera manual tonight. Let me try for a better prompt this week. How about metamorphosis? No cockroaches allowed, though.

For the birds

2010-11-22T17:29:00.000-08:00

One hundred plus days of looking and looking and looking and I think I am starting to see a thing or two. Like, for example, the season changes. I had never noticed before how valuable summer light is. Sure, I've always appreciated summer heat but it took this rainy November for me to really appreciate the quality and angles of summer light.

And then there is autumn morning mist. How is it that I'd never noticed that heavy morning fog is an autumn phenomenon? Meteorologically, it makes sense and, yet, until I started schlepping a camera around I had never really paid attention to its fleeting nature. Nor had I noticed how mist filters light and makes a photo pop.

And now that we're staring down winter, all I see around me are ravenous animals. The squirrels are plump and just a tad less skittish when you walk by their feasting. Birds everywhere are foraging. Just today I saw a crow trying to get the last bit of tastiness out of an empty bag of potato chips. If he hadn't been poised on top of a power line in a snow storm, I might've tried to snap him. And then there was last Wednesday when I stumbled by a large flock of, uh, I dunno from birds, but they looked a bit like brownish cardinals to me. The tree was along my walk to work and it was covered with red berries. I stood transfixed for 10 or so minutes while the birds flitted about, landing, eating, retreating to a higher tree and then swooping in again. I took so many pictures. There were quite a few I was taken with but these, I think, were the best of the bunch.

3rd runner-up

2nd runner-up

1st runner-up My husband thinks this should be the shot of the day, but I chose this instead:

113:365 I like the detail in the top bird's beak. The lower bird is caught in the act of eating.

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So tell me, what have you noticed about the world around you that you had never noticed before?

And, yes, I'll be back again tomorrow night with the rest of the week's shots and with next week's prompt.

Faces from the past

2010-11-16T19:24:00.001-08:00

111-365 Origins

112:365 Death Mask

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Next week's prompt: ah heck, I dunno. Bonny Prince William has just proposed so let's try the word engagement.

Cross, Border, Shopping

2010-11-14T18:14:00.000-08:00

106:365

This white board is in the university library where I work. Students translate the single word or phrase that my colleague regularly rotates according to the season.

107:365 At the Cenotaph: 11, 11, 11

108:365

A cross-border trip to Maine with my girlfriends. Here, fire jugglers perform on the streets of Portland.

109:365

Cross border shopping: putting the Christ in Christmas, forever and ever, consumerism without end.

110:365 There's no place like home

I found these shoes on my trip. The picture I really hoped would be the shot of the day didn't have the best focus/depth of field, but its giddy, feet-to-the-sky whimsy best sums up how well the gift was received.

Seven days in November

2010-11-09T15:51:00.000-08:00

I simply could not have picked a more appropriate week to chose "grey" as a prompt. In fact, I think my doing so might have brought on these biblical rains. Here are seven grey and soggy shots.

099:365

100:365 Not quite a murder. A manslaughter, perhaps?

101:365 Friday night at Victory Meat

102:365 A still from Carol Shields' Departures and Arrivals

103:365 My nightly ritual

104:365 Sodden love

105:365 The tree across the street

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In case you haven't seen it, Painted Maypole celebrated her 100th photo by sharing a list of what she's learned so far. I started a comment over there today in response to her and Mary and Gwen, but I ran out of time to finish it. I've clipped what I said over there and pasted it here before adding a bit more on the end. Here then, is what I've learned so far:

"'I do, however, still fall into the trap of mostly taking pictures of my kid and pretty things in nature that strike my fancy.'

Yup. Uh-huh. I also agree with your next statement about those shots not always being selected as my picture of the day.

Let's see, what have I learned?

Like Gwen, I still rely too heavily on words, but if I could only be more like Gwen in my reliance on words, then I would be happy with how those words shape my photos b/c I do envy the way she yokes the two.

I use my DSLR regularly now. I can tell you why a 50mm lens is da-bomb. I have played far more with depth of field, shutter speed, manual focus, shifting focal point/weight, manipulating light with ISO and white balance settings, taking continuous shots in order to capture a moment, and shooting in black and white than I ever had in the past. I've learned the rule of thirds but I usually forget to apply it.

I now know what bokeh is and that I kinda like playing with it a lot. My results have not yet been ideal, though. I've also come to realize that I am drawn to extreme close-ups to the point where I fear my year will look myopic. Honestly, I must force myself to stand back from the object I want to shoot if I want to bring variety to this collection. I also realize that when I go back over my shots, I tend to prefer the long-shots because they are such a welcome relief in what is a never-ending stream of close-ups.

I've learned to lie down to get shots, or alternatively to stand on chairs. I've learned, sometimes not always, to notice where the sun is and why that matters. I've come to realize that there is no good interior light in my house to shoot by. I've also learned that I lack courage--the courage to shoot strangers, the courage to simply pull out the camera wherever/whenever and look like I am perfectly entitled to do so.

I walk down the street now seeking out the visual, whereas before I was always trapped in my wordy thoughts. I've learned not to feel anxious first thing in the morning that I won't get a shot in that day. I have learned to feel a bit defeated when by sundown I still haven't clicked the shutter.

I've come to realize that the people around me are really beautiful and dynamic in ways that I'd never really noticed. I've also learned that I like to take pictures of people even though I'm usually too much of a coward to do so.

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One of the things I had hoped to achieve from this project was a slowing of memory loss. I don't know if that's working for me, but given that this week is supposed to be all about remembrance, I think it's high time I had a prompt that dealt with that concept in its broadest possible sense. So for this week, feel free to tackle memory.

November, you will not defeat me

2010-11-02T17:23:00.000-07:00

097:365

098:365 Spying on the dressing room from back stage

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Well, it may be tough going but, dammit, we've almost made it to 100. Stand up. Take a bow. And now put your finger back on the shutter button. Because we've made it to November, I am going to look the blahs right in the eye and declare this week's prompt to be grey.

Trick or Meow Treat

2010-10-31T18:35:00.000-07:00

096:365

Spook-arama

2010-10-30T17:42:00.001-07:00

It's spooky to me. This iris--that's right, iris, is blooming at my daughter's school, despite the frost and despite this being the entirely wrong season for irises. Go figure. This shot would have been my shot of the day until I walked by this about 5 minutes later:

092:365

093:365 I vant to suck yur blud.

094:365 Enlightenment touchdown!

095:365 Self-portrait at 45. Guess who got a tripod for her birthday?

No meat on yer bones

2010-10-26T18:26:00.000-07:00

090:365 Bone tired

091:365 That's it! At 1 o'clock, you're dead meat!

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I really liked idiom week, thus proving I really am more of a word person than a picture person. Be prepared for future prompts that are based on word/visual play. This week, however, it's all about the spooky. How could it be otherwise?

Take five

2010-10-24T17:39:00.000-07:00

Hee, hee. I like idioms.

085:365 What's green is gold.

086:365 Bird on a wire? Got my wires crossed? No matter how you look at it, even without a rock, I'm killing 2 birds with one stone.

087:365 The skeleton in the closet.

088:365 Going batty.

089:365 I'm beginning to see the light.

Fall and falling behind

2010-10-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

A quick catch-up.

080:365 Working through the Nor'Easter

081:365 Skeletor contemplates a s'more.

082:365 The road goes ever on and on...

083:365 Happy Birthday, Daddy, or Alien abduction

084:365 The only oxymoron I could muster

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Next week's prompt: it's totally idiomatic

The one that got away

2010-10-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

Sure, there have been other photos in the last 70+ days that could have been cleaner, sharper, more nuanced. But today, today was the day that one got away on me. M and I left for school today in a fog that was both figurative and literal. It was an exceptionally bad morning in what has been a long line of pretty crappy days. We walked along in a world clouded in a thick autumn mist when she stopped me and said, "Look Mommy! Isn't it pretty?" What she saw was two tiny, perfect spider webs strung between Scotch thistles that had gone to seed. In the fog, the webs sparkled in perfect symmetry. The thistles were positively alien in appearance. I grabbed the camera and quickly, unthinkingly, snapped a half dozen shots. Because we were running late for school, I couldn't dilly dally, so I turned off the camera and we soldiered on after sharing this moment of beauty.

About 40 minutes later, she was at school and I was almost at work when I decided I needed to take a couple more shots of the fog before the sun burned it off. I turned on the camera and that's when I saw the message "no memory card." Gasp. Surely, I had lost my card--my card with over 1,000 images on it. I must've lost it somewhere after taking the web shots. My stomach lurched. I wavered and weighed my options. Then, I retraced my steps--to no avail. Ultimately, I returned home, only to find the camera card sitting on the bench inside the front entranceway. By then I was very late for work and the fog had lifted. When I wandered by the webs later, they were torn. In the bright sun, they faded into the background. The shot was forever lost.

So instead, I give you this.

How about you? Do you have a big fish story?

Caught in traffic

2010-10-13T18:40:00.000-07:00

078:365

I like the way the edge of the rear view mirror just disappears so that it looks as if the cars behind are coming right through--yet somehow the two horizons appear continuous. The photo may not be an oxymoron, but I am somehow caught between the opposites of coming and going.

Doldrums

2010-10-12T19:07:00.000-07:00

076:365 Straddle of The Blades

077:365

The ceramic,seeing-eye dog at the grocery store. Not a great picture but she asked me to take it and the irony of her love for it is slaying me.

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How are you all doing? I'm afraid the doldrums have settled in for me. When I think about November, I get scared. It's such a long, grey month. But then again, I have a birthday at the end of this month, one that might bring a new toy for the camera and with it, I hope, renewed vigour.

I wasn't good at following my own prompt last week but maybe this week'll be different. The prompt is oxymoron, if'n you're up for the challenge.

Road Trip!

2010-10-10T20:04:00.000-07:00

We went to Halifax for a few days

072:365

and stayed in the freakiest B&B along the way.

073:365

After a day of work meetings, the walk back to the hotel was blissfully mindless.

Saturday was a vacation day which meant many, many pictures and a hard time choosing. I didn't choose

Stephen Harper's Canada

nor this bit of fun with a doubled reflection.

074:365

Instead, I went with this homage to the financial meltdown.

Today, breakfast at the hotel was followed by a whole lot of driving.

075:365

The herbivore's dilemma. Ok the herbivore parent's dilemma.

Riddle me this

2010-10-06T16:54:00.000-07:00

071:365

Why does the lens see in a circle but produce a rectangle?

On my morning walk to work

2010-10-05T16:44:00.000-07:00

070:365
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Sheesh, another week has gone by and we've made to 70. I cannot believe I am still chugging along. I have found it difficult this week to find the time not only to shoot but to edit the morass of failed shots on my camera card. I'm also finding there is no time whatsoever to learn new tricks--whether it be undiscovered camera features or photographic principles. If I don't shake things up soon, though, I fear I will lose some of my enthusiasm. That's why this week's prompt is craft. I'm hoping to use it at least a couple of days to mean "expanding my craft" but you can take it to mean whatever you want.

Most days, I'm too busy to shoot

2010-10-04T19:06:00.000-07:00

I hope this state passes because I really want to find time to learn more so that I can experiment with new ideas/camera techniques.

067:365 Timid

068:365 Sailor's delight

069:365 A jump or a push?

I'm a goof

2010-10-01T19:41:00.000-07:00

066:365 Self-portrait.

I really wanted to fiddle with this one to get it perfect--better backdrop, better expression, you know--the whole 9 yards. Trouble is, I needed to import a shutter finger for the point and shoot because I don't own a tripod. He, my trusty spare shutter finger, wasn't too keen on all the retakes. Little does he know how many frickin' photos I take in a single day to get a single one. Tonight: 3 takes. That's all I was allowed. Sheesh.

I hate choosing

2010-09-30T17:38:00.000-07:00

064:365 Timid is as timid does.

Yesterday, it was a cinch to choose the photo of the day. Today was agonizing. My daughter's class went apple picking and, because I volunteered, I got to spend a bit of morning time staring down at the Saint John River Valley in the mist. None of the photos are spectacular, but I like 4 of them a lot. I've made a choice but am tempted to change my decision.

The ducks swam into the picture out of nowhere.

The tree framed the horizon perfectly.

The mist hung over the valley as if by design.

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But the combination of fall colours has tentatively won out. At least for now. Just call me a timid editor. Or at least an indecisive one.

Where there is no light

2010-09-28T16:52:00.000-07:00

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Truth be told, this week held very little fluff for me. Tonight all I wanted to photograph was the void.

Next week's prompt: timid

Civics' Lesson

2010-09-27T17:05:00.000-07:00

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The blurring says it all: my vote doesn't matter. There's really only 2 parties here in this province and one of them has all the focus tonight.

She speaks in bubbles. I, in barbs.

2010-09-26T18:09:00.000-07:00

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2010-09-25T18:36:00.000-07:00

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Kathryn and I saw this bit of garbage grubbing fluff on our walk home from book club.

059:365 Kick at the darkness.

My Friday was blue and the weather didn't help.

060:364 Mafia Bunnies

I really wanted this bit of fluff to look sinister. Note to you all: pink bunny slippers cannot look sinister no matter how much you manipulate shadows with a flashlight.

The last day of summer

2010-09-22T17:49:00.000-07:00

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Defeatism

2010-09-21T18:28:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right, I've givien up on my own prompt. I did have photo ideas for pacifisism and vandalism, not to mention all those provincial election signs that are over town with their myriad of -isms, but, hey, life is busy and losses must be cut. Instead:

055:365 Spare the rod...

056:365 The first time she tied the laces on her shoes all by herself. Bye-bye bunny, she's a big kid now.

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Next week's prompt: fluff

Creationism

2010-09-19T17:16:00.000-07:00

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Ok, now I've just gone -ism silly. We did have fun apple picking today. If you drop by, I'll give you a slice of pie--and perhaps the knowledge of good and evil to go along with it.

Exhibitionism

2010-09-18T17:28:00.000-07:00

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Taken at the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival. Would you accept a free hug from this guy?

The ghost in the machine

2010-09-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

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Aestheticism

2010-09-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

051:365 Found object: All the pretty horses

Activism

2010-09-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

050:365 Self-portrait: shadow of the activist I used to be.

I was a volunteer escort at the local clinic during a particularly blue time in my life. My only role was to walk women past the protesters and safely into the clinic. After a while my mornings became conflicted with too many activities and I had to step back from my volunteerism.

I tried taking pictures of the meancing protesters yesterday but my efforts didn't pan out. The pictures were blah. The grim faced old men that I remember from those cold, early mornings made a point of smiling at the camera in an unnerving way. I may try to get back there some day to reshoot. In the meantime, I walked by the protesters' counselling house today where they keep plastic fetuses and other misleading propaganda in the window.

The pretty looks in the opposite direction of me

2010-09-14T18:08:00.000-07:00

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Two weeks of being single parented and 49 days of Project 365 are starting to take their toll. Poor lamb. This was supposed to be a self-portrait until she inserted herself in the shot.

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How are you all doing? Do you look more like me at this point in the project or more like my daughter? We lost one member of the project when Hannah stepped down yesterday. I fear the season of attrition may be upon us. Please let me know if you are keen or flagging, and/or if you could use some boosterism.

Boosterism. Now that's a fun word. I notice it ends with this coming week's prompt: -ism. Have at 'er.

Like, in a barrel

2010-09-13T18:41:00.000-07:00

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Meet Go-go, the family pet. He's ancient and I just cleaned his tank tonight, so he might not make 'til morning. Best to take his picture, then.

Round and round

2010-09-12T19:10:00.000-07:00

046:365 The pumpkin shot. It's an annual tradition.

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This photo was taken inside a camera obscura that was built this year on the city's riverfront. The picture on the round tablet is a live action shot of my downtown. The eye in the sky is either someone who loves her hometown or it's some kind of radical theology. You decide.

Me'n'her

2010-09-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

I'm single parenting for two weeks so there's a whole lot of me'n'her.

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Shooting in the opposite direction of the pretty

2010-09-08T18:55:00.000-07:00

When I set yesterday's prompt, I wasn't thorough in my explanation of it. I didn't mean to imply that Alejna had recommended shooting past the pretty. It's just that her comment made me notice how rarely I do so and that maybe it would be a good idea to try it. I also didn't mean to imply that pretty referred only to subject matter--even though I know that's exactly what I did imply. For me "the pretty" is often tied to formal composition and the desire to get focus and depth of field clear. I like my pictures to be neat and tidy, even though that's not necessarily what I like to look at in the pictures of others. Today I tried to throw out all my notions of neatness when it comes to composition and focus. I really liked the results.

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I live in mess and this shot shows it: the dress up clothes, the weights, the clutter on the coffee table, the papers on the floor of the office...

I'm keen on the multiple reflections provided by the mirror and the French doors. I like how I can see the tree out my front window as well as the clothesline out my back window. I like the butterfly that still hangs from the light fixture, 9 months after the birthday party. And I like how I can make out the poster for the play that my husband opened on the night our daughter was born. You can see it there not too far above the silhouette of the rocking chair I rocked her in when she was a baby. The girl is dancing to the Belle of Belfast City, her favourite song of all time.

First Day

2010-09-07T18:48:00.000-07:00

042:365 Because there are times when the classic, clichéd shot is just what posterity demands.

_________________
Alejna said something in reply to my comment on her blog the other day about shooting past the pretty. I'd never heard this expression before and it made me think: in the photography of others I very much appreciate the aesthetic of ugly or dirty or disturbing or even rumpled commonplace. In my own photography, no way. I long for the pretty. Because I spend so much of my free time with a rather (if I do say so myself) pretty subject, I find myself succumbing to it, always trying to up the ante on pretty. I think this means it's time for a shift in focus. Next week's prompt: shooting past the pretty. HALP!

Len's cap

2010-09-06T19:10:00.000-07:00

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He left today for two weeks. This was taken at the airport.

Fair enough

2010-09-05T18:57:00.000-07:00

I might be the only person who can take a camera to a fall fair and not get a great photo. This is the one I went with:

040:365 Rides! Junk food! Menacing animals!

That about sums up our day at the fair.

Even though I went with the long shot (pushing my boundaries, you see), this is the shot that captures my heart:

First candy apple

Cornered again

2010-09-04T20:06:00.000-07:00

039:365 -- The eyes have it.

Meh

2010-09-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

I wasn't thrilled with any of my shots today. I decided to go with this one, even though I've been relying on the girl as fodder a bit much lately.

038:365

But because I can't resist a pun, I'm including this one too:

Earl-y warning. The big guy is slated to arrive mid-morning.

Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner

2010-09-02T17:31:00.000-07:00

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Cornered

2010-09-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

Last fall, I switched from the dreaded Superstore to my local Co-op and it was pretty much the best decision I made all year. Now, instead of loud 80s pop songs competing with a shouting and overstimulated girlie, all while I'm trying to figure out where stuff is because they've REARRANGED THE ENTIRE FRIGGIN' STORE YET AGAIN, I am faced with this:

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I am no longer cornered but she, delightfully, is. The competing patterns in this shot remind me how I used to feel at the grocery store. The silence implied by her posture, on the other hand, speaks volumes.

Have you ever seen the rain?

2010-08-31T18:20:00.000-07:00

035:365

Phew, I got a "fringe" shot in just under the wire.

Next week's prompt: cornered

This is where the rubber hits the road with Project 365. Some of you may be feeling that the haul will be longer than you initially imagined. Keep this in mind: you're 35 pictures in and 1/10th of the way home. Onwards.

Freddy the Nude Dude

2010-08-30T19:50:00.000-07:00

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The Other Side of the Rainbow

2010-08-29T17:28:00.001-07:00

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Fall is Fair

2010-08-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

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Spotted shortly after the end of my work day on Friday. It wasn't the best photo I took yesterday but it best captured a moment.

Today, Saturday, we headed out to the Keswick Ridge Agricultural Fair and Livestock Show. It's a little fair with a hundred year old history. After shutting down in the late 60's, it was revived by the local historical society this year. A small event with sack races instead of carnie rides, the event was a little slice of rural paradise. I chose this shot of antique farm equipment from many contenders.

032:365

I also have the same shot with a sharper DOF, but I particularly like the way the blurring functions here. That said, I am beginning to worry that all my shots are close-ups that rely on this effect. I don't want this to become my schtick.

And now, because I can't resist, here's a couple more pix from the fair.

Damn. Both close ups.

M&M

2010-08-26T17:45:00.001-07:00

030:365

Tea-time

2010-08-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

029:365

So, uh, white balance issues. I have compact flourescent lights in most rooms, halogen in this room. The camera allows for sun, shade, incandescent and flourescent. None seem right. How will I ever manage indoor photos come winter?

Bela Lugosi's Alive and Well

2010-08-24T19:23:00.000-07:00

028:365

My husband needed publicity shots for the play he's taking to the Vancouver Fringe Fest. My friend, Stephen, has a basement photography studio. Me? I got to play with the strobes. Cool.

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Next week's prompt: fringe

Wazza madda fa u?

2010-08-23T17:49:00.000-07:00

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Pop!

2010-08-22T19:46:00.000-07:00

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Bee among the oregano

2010-08-21T16:46:00.000-07:00

We have a raised herb garden by our back stone wall. The oregano alone keeps an army of bees happy all summer long.

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Alien Eye

2010-08-20T21:12:00.000-07:00

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We spent the afternoon at Science East. There were so many great photo opportunities and so many fun but failed photos. There were also tears of frustration and all the usual fare that comes with an afternoon out with a 5-year-old. In short, the fair was foul but unphotographable.

The Chicken Dance

2010-08-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

023:365

Do androids dream...?

2010-08-18T17:43:00.000-07:00

022:365

George's Quality Footwear

2010-08-17T17:30:00.000-07:00

My husband and I started a theatre festival here in Fredericton a decade ago, along with a couple of other folks. Our designer used this sign--one of the last neon relics of the downtown landscape--as the inspiration for the festival's logo.

021:365

Earlier this year, the longtime owner of George's retired and shut down the business. I now worry about where the sign will eventually end up.

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So ends my BOLD week. Next week's prompt might be scary or it might be fun: Fair is foul OR fowl is fare.

There's only two things that money can't buy...

2010-08-17T04:26:00.000-07:00

...and that's true love and homegrown tomatoes. --Guy Clark

020:365

Dilly, dilly

2010-08-15T19:42:00.000-07:00

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I foolishly bought far too many cukes at the farmer's market. 23 jars of dill pickles later, this was all I could muster for inspiration.

The ooley booley intersection

2010-08-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

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The ooley booley intersection: that's what my daughter calls this great, build-your-own-alien-creatures toy.

If you wanted the sky...

2010-08-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

There are photographs that create a moment that you didn't know would be there, like the Candy Land shots I captured yesterday, but then there are the days when you know well in advance that a moment is looming and, despite your best efforts, you simply cannot capture it adequately.

Today was my daughter's last day of day care forever. She's spent the last two and a bit years at a good place full of good people who have done so much for her. Anyone who knew how dreadfully she got on in her first few months of institutional care, will know just how emotionally fulsome this day was for all of us. Here she is with her beloved teacher, Fiona. Just beyond the frame, she's waving goodbye to her friends.

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"You taught me right from wrong, and weak from strong ... that's a lot to learn."

Candy Land

2010-08-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

OK, I am going to switch them around so that the first one is the pick of the day.

This would have been my picture of the day if the prompt weren't BOLD:

016: 365

Instead, this is my picture of the day shot about two minutes later. BOLD for getting angry with her mother. BOLD for her mother shooting through it.

I owe my soul to the company store

2010-08-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

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