32/365

"Words of Wisdom"

One of the nice things about teaching at the college level is that you can become friends with your students without being fired or arrested.  When this happens, I find that the learning is a two way street. One such student brought me this quote this week.  As someone who has been married longer than I have been alive,  I am going to trust her and Twain on this one!

31/365 On the Thirds

"My Boots"

Today's task was to create an image that clearly illustrates the "rule of thirds."  If your frame is divided into nine equal blocks, the interest in the photo should be at the intersection of a vertical and a horizontal line.  With a little imagination, this one works.

As an added bonus, while shooting for today's prompt, I also accomplished the second assignment for the online class that I am taking, which was to photograph "half".  What's up with the fractions today?

This image may be pushing the parameters a bit.  One boot divides the frame in half vertically and the other one divides it horizontally.  I suspect that if I am held to the letter of law, I will be told that this picture has too much in it.  We'll see.

I have always been one to push the limits.  I don't see that changing any time soon.

30/365 Faceless Portrait

"Evening in the Park"

I love silhouette shots though I have never taken any.  When I first saw the "faceless portrait" prompt earlier in the month, I decided that I wanted to try to take a silhouette.  What I failed to do was figure in some time to learn how to do it before today.  So, armed with little knowledge and little time, we headed to the park to give it a try.  I can say two things: 1) I tried. and 2) I have a lot to learn.  On a positive note, I am a sucker for just about any image of this guy in his hat so I'm OK with this first attempt.  Everything worth doing in life has a learning curve.

29/365 Circle

"Making Yogurt"

Some days you just have to take the path of least resistance or simply go with the obvious.  This afternoon I was making our weekly ration of yogurt.  I should have done this two days ago but time got away from me and I didn't get it done.  As I was pushing the "On" button, I was struck with how many circles were present in the yogurt maker.  The maker itself is round; the lids are round; the "aesthetic interest" in the lid also has a couple of circles.  A photograph of a yogurt maker is not exactly the image that everyone wants to hang on the wall in their living room, but it was an important picture in my day today and in our lives in general.  I have to remind myself that my goal here is not to create a masterpiece everyday.  It is to Capture my 365.  Perhaps I waited until today to make the yogurt so that I would see the beauty in a simple thing like the yogurt maker.

One of the things that I love about having a photo prompt every day is that it causes me to look at the world, my world, completely differently.  I am becoming constantly aware of every place's, person's and thing's possibilities.  I have made yogurt every week for a year or more, but today the simple beauty of its many circles leaped out.  As I went through my day I noticed the roundness of many other things as well - my morning tea's K-cup, the "Caution Automatic Door' sign as I entered school, my travel mug, my hair band and the list goes on.  Tomorrow I will notice different things.  My routine will be the same, but my attention will be drawn in a different direction.  I like this newness.  It reminds me that every day brings with it gifts  just waiting to be unwrapped.

Here is today's runner-up photo.  It contains more circles than did  the above image, but it is less obvious what it is.  Which one do you like best?

"Yogurt Circles"

28/365 Sunset

"At Sunset"

Beautiful sunsets are not uncommon around here, but today, when the prompt was "sunset", there was no sun to be found.  During the golden hour the sky was blanketed in heavy gray clouds being blown around by some fairly strong winds.  I had two choices for today's picture.  I could have dug through past images and found a sunset picture to satisfy the day's topic; or, I could take a picture that reflected my day today.  I opted for the second option.  A picture AT sunset rather than OF a sunset.  What''s a little shift in prepositions between friends?

We had just enough time to head home after school, let the dogs out, grab my camera and head to the park.  I was hopeful that maybe the sun would peek out just for a minute or two.  No such luck.  I took some pictures of the bare trees against the gray sky and some of the ducks swimming on the rippled water.  Weber then pointed out this egret catching the breeze.  It was so windy that I had a hard time holding my camera steady and he/she was moving quickly.  I wish this were a little sharper, but its not. I'll have to live with that.

I like the way the water looks.  Its texture is the result of the wind and the aperture setting.  The color is the reflection of the overcast skies.

Today is one of those days where credit comes from remaining faithful to the process of taking a picture every day rather than from creating an exceptional image.

I'll have to put a picture of a sunset on my to-do list.

27/365 Dislike

"Cookies Are A Sometimes Food"

It's not that I dislike cookies: it's quite the contrary.  What I dislike is that I like cookies so much and thus eat WAY too many.  

I could have photographed mushrooms today, but I dislike them so much I did not even want to take a picture of them.

26/365 Passion

Passion for Rehearsing"

It feels good to say that there are many things in life that I am truly passionate about.  However, when it came time to address "passion" photographically, I wasn't sure where to go with it.  I am passionate about teaching, about music, about knitting, and about photography.  I couldn't decide how to create an image of any of those things that would intentionally convey the same level of passion that I feel for them.

I had a church choir rehearsal this morning for a sung Evensong tomorrow night.  As I was getting ready to leave home, the thought crossed my mind that when it comes to music, our choir director is one of the most passionate people I know.  I'll take my camera with me and ask if he wouldn't mind if I snapped a few shots.  I'm still very uncomfortable with this kind of thing, but I did it and he graciously allowed me to take some pictures.  The problem was that I did not want to be a distraction to the rest of the choir by moving around and I didn't have the best vantage point from my designated spot so the shots I got were not really what I would have liked.  This shot is technically flawed, but I hope that it shows the passion that drove our rehearsal.

After rehearsal, we had lunch with the Denton gang and then headed home for an unstructured afternoon.  One of the things that I had hoped to get done was work on my assignments for an online photography class that I am taking.  It is a class that addresses both the technical and the more creative aspects of photography.  The current lesson is on half lighting.  It was challenging for me because I am not always as aware of lighting as I should be and I don't do portraits very well.  Fortunately, I had a willing and patient subject.  For a first attempt at this process, I am fairly happy with the result.

"My Better Half"

As a bonus, this shot fits the prompt of "passion" as well because I am pretty darn passionate about this guy!