275/365 Seasonal Color

"What Season Is It?

I had very little time and very little inspiration for today's photo.  The temperatures are still in the nineties and none of the trees are looking like fall yet.  In a quick thirty minute trip to the park between school and dinner and before choir rehearsal (when the light was all wrong for taking pictures), the best I could find was this still blooming rosebush surrounded by some bright orange leaves.

Looks like seasonal color to me!  The question is, what season?

274/365 Hats Off

"Hats Off"

I'm all for any prompt that affords me the opportunity to photograph Weber and his hat.  

I think that I should be tipping my hat to him for all that he puts up with in my attempts not to miss a day of photographs.  Every night involves time spent going through the day's pictures and selecting "the one."  Then there is post processing.  I try to do minimal post processing but I always have to resize in order to post to the web and it all takes time.  Then there is posting here...

The good news for him is that there are only 91 more photos to be taken this year.  The bad news, I'll probably do this again next year:-)

273/365 The End

"The End, The Beginning, The Present"

It is hard to believe that this is already the last day of September.  Time is just flying by.  I don't like it!  However, I do love this time of year.  Fall is my favorite season - watching nature slow down and get ready to rest, seeing the beautiful bare forms of the trees,  basking in all the orange of the falling leaves  and the flowers and, of course, the pumpkins, breathing in the spirit of all of the holidays and celebrations that are packed into the next few months - I find such joy in all that is autumn.

Yes, it brings with it the end of summer and shortly, the end of another year, but soon also the dawning of a new year will be right before us.  I try not to think too much about beginnings and endings, what was and what may be.  The present is much easier to comprehend.  I am where I am right now.  I make a conscious choice to live fully here and now because there will never be another now exactly like this one.  

For now, seize this day.  And tomorrow, do it again.

272/365 Puppy Dog Eyes

"Mama's Boy"

My boy is getting really gray; he will be nine in another month.  He still has quite a bit of energy for dancing for his dinner (or any other food he thinks that he might get), playing frisbee and chasing the cat every now and then.  Interestingly, he will not work too hard at keeping Harley from stealing his rawhide bone.  He is definitely a gentle giant.

Today, Adidas worked hard at keeping me from taking his picture.  He would not be still long enough to focus the camera.  I don't know why he was so adamant about not being the photo subject of the day.  I think this look is the, "Fine. Just get it done already." look.  It is funny to me that several people said he looks like he is smiling.  

I love this picture because reflected in his eye is me with my camera and Weber asleep in the chair.  This is really how Adidas likes things - an eye on everyone.  Below is a close-up of the reflection in his eye.

271/365 In Disguise

"Whatever…"

There is no disguise here, but the prompt also suggested the use of props and being goofy.  I think we got that:-)  The jury is still out on whether the "whatever" is intended for the person on the other end of the phone or me for pointing the camera at her yet again.  I'm fairly sure I know what the verdict is.  Whatever…

270/365 Bubbles

"Bokeh Bubbles"

I love to take bubble pictures; therefore, throughout this year I have already taken many of them.  I was trying to think of a different, somewhat creative approach to today's prompt.  I finally came up with an idea, but never quite got to it during the day.  

When Weber got home, just in case that idea didn't materialize, we went outside to try some of the "normal" bubble shots.  I quickly discovered that it was more windy than I thought.  I was having a terrible time focusing on the fast moving bubbles.   I finally set my camera on rapid shutter in the hope of getting something decent.

What I got was many terribly out of focus bubbles with some amazing bokeh.  I don't think I could have done this intentionally.  Admittedly, the composition here leaves a lot to be desired, but I like all the colors.  It just makes me smile.  I'm sure that I can make my original plan for today's photo fit somewhere else down the road.

One of the reasons that I did not work on the bubbles prompt earlier  in the day was because I was trying to catch up on the assignments for the online photography class that I am taking.  This month we are focusing on simplicity, minimalism and abstract - ideals that I can get behind in all aspects of my life.  I have been looking forward to seeing how I can represent these things in my photographs.  

Here is what my day yielded.

"My Girl's Boots"

This image may be a little too complicated for the prompt, but, nonetheless, I like it for what it is.

"Simply Noted"

Simply noted, I have an addiction to Post-It notes.  There.  I admitted it.

"Life's About Looking Up"

Keep your chin up.  Way up.  There is cool stuff over your head sometimes.

"Bristles and Bands"

This is the broom that I did not use to clean the house today.  The dirt will wait. 

 In addition to taking lots of pictures, I also did some composing and some writing.  All in all, this was a awesomely fun day!  

And tomorrow is Saturday!

269/365 Good-bye Summer

"Good-bye Summer, Hello Fall"