On The Thirds

31/365 - On the Thirds

Tic-Tac-Toe, Fill Only Part of the Frame, To The Side.

I forgot to take my camera with me when we met friends for dinner. Got home and forgot about the picture. So I had to look around the house to come up with a picture for the day. This is what happens when you wait til late at night and you don't have any ideas.

A Faceless Portrait

30/365 - A Faceless Portrait

Feet, From Behind, Only A Part.

The kids were over after church and I had a couple of ideas. The first one being a picture of Caleb and Amy from behind holding hands. I took them but they weren't what I wanted. I tried a couple of other things then settled on the kids feet.

Low light, slow shutter and fidgety children don't make for a very clear picture.

A Circle

29/365 - A Circle

A Coffe Cup, Lights, In Nature.

When I started looking around, there were lots of circles I could have photographed. But I wanted something a little different.

I thought of this game. Carrom is an old game that Brian's family played when he was little. I had never heard of it before I met him. We spent alot of time around the Carrom board with his family. The first Christmas we were married his Mom and Dad bought us our own Carrom game. We have played, our kids have played and now our grandkids are playing and loving it.

Sunset

28/365 - Sunset

Silhouetted, Colorful, Fading Light.

I cheated. When I saw today's prompt I knew I was going to use a sunset picture that I took on our cruise last week.

I did look around outside on my way home from work yesterday but it was starting to get cloudy and you couldn't see the sun nor were there any color in the clouds. So it made my decision very easy.

Really, a sunset over the ocean or a sunset in Kansas, which one would you pick?

Dislike

27/365 - Dislike

Loathe, Distaste, Not a Love.

I'm sure I have mentioned before, but I love to sleep. I DO NOT like having to get up early in the morning therefore I DISLIKE the alarm clock.

I'm especially dreading the sound of that annoying noise in the morning after being on vacation for a week and getting up when I felt like it.

Passion

26/365 - Passion

Enthusiasm, Love, Extreme Emotion.

When I think of passion I think of my photography, my pictures, scrapbooks and photobooks. I love taking pictures but I also like to organize them on the computer. I enjoying making photo books on the computer and also traditional scrapbooking.

My family cringes sometimes at all the pictures I take but they sure do like to look at the scrapbooks and photo books. It makes me feel good to think I'm recording memories for my kids, grandkids and hopefully my great grandkids to have for years to come.

Hands

25/365 - Hands

Expressing, Moving, Holding.

Brian's hand holding Maesyn's precious little hand.

Cold

24/365 - Cold

Snow, The Fridge, Outside.

Okay, I know when you see a picture of the beach you don't think of cold. But I will tell you that is was cold that morning.

When we left port on Sunday we noticed a rock jetty at the end of the beach and it was full of pelicans. We made plans to go take some pictures after we got off the boat Thursday morning. The temperature was in the low 50's and with the wind blowing off the ocean it was cold. You know it must have been a little cold because even Brian has a jacket on.

Snuggle

23/365 - Snuggle

Cuddle, Comfort, Nuzzle.

Now this one might be a stretch but Brian and I are cuddling a little bit watching the sunset.

We went out the last night to take pictures of the setting sun. I liked the silhouette look with the colors of the sunset.

Frozen

22/365 - Frozen

Ice, Fingers & Faces, Snow.

This was the night of the deck party. They had a midnight mexican buffet and this was the ice sculpture that was on display.

It was wonderful to celebrate my birthday on a cruise again this year.

Equal

21/365 - Equal

The Same in Value, Similar, A Dream.

Geoff and Molly toasting their wine glasses at dinner the second night.

I was playing with some different settings. I was practicing low light photography. The picture isn't as clear and sharp as I would have liked but I did like the way the lights reflected through the wine glass.

Playing

20/365 - Playing

With Toys, Outside, Imagination.

Not much playing actually going on here but vacation to me means playing.

Brian and Molly are enjoying the sun as we leave port in Cape Canaveral. You can't tell by the way Brian is dressed but it was pretty chilly up on the deck. The wind was blowing and the temperature wasn't very warm.

Bright

19/365 - Bright

Backlit, The Sun, A Smile.

This was taken out the airplane window in the very bright sun. The picture really didn't turn out very well but it captured the brightness of the sun and the reflection on the wing.

We started vacation today. We flew to Orlando, Fl with our friends, Geoff and Molly to go on a cruise to the Bahamas.

For the next few days the pictures I choose may be stretching the prompt a little bit. I forgot my list at home so I wasn't aware of the words to think about during the day. I chose pictures from the trip that I felt came close to representing the idea.

A Doorway

18/365 - A Doorway

Looking Through, Framed By, Just the Door.

I knew I wanted to photograph a doorway in old downtown Olathe. I shot some at a church but this one was my favorite. It says City of Olathe now but when we moved to Olathe in 1976 it was the main post office.

I like the doorway, the lamp post and the reflection of the lamp post and sun in the windows.

Favorite Toy

17/365 - Favorite Toy

Something Stuffed, Something Special, Something Loved.

I will admit that this wasn't my first inclination for my picture of the day. When I saw the prompt I thought of "my" favorite toy which would be my camera.

I went to work and was thinking about it. I knew people with little children would pick the kids favorite toys. I could find my grandkids favorite toys they play with when they are at our house. Then it occurred to me, why not my boys favorite toys from long ago.

Our oldest son just turned 34 and our youngest just turned 30. It wasn't hard at all to remember their favorite toys and I had saved them. For people that know me, that isn't hard to believe that I would have saved them. I save EVERYTHING.

I went to the basement and looked in their big save tubs and found what I was looking for. Ernie and My Buddy. If you were to look back through our pictures, you would see these two toys in lots and lots of pictures.

Ernie belonged to our oldest son, Nick. This beloved toy has been mended too many times to count. One arm has been sewn back on twice and the other arm once. He has stitches in his chin. His crotch has been sewn back together and his poor chest just couldn't hold up the the many repairs. He is missing both his eyes, his nose has been chewed on so much it is misshapen and the fabric has a weird feel. His hair is matted down and his ears are a little deformed.

Most people would look at that thing and wonder why in the world I would save it because it looks so awful. Well, to me, it doesn't look awful, it looks very very loved. That was a precious part of my little boy's life and his constant companion. I remember it well.

My Buddy was Caleb's sidekick. I can't even begin to calculate the hours and miles that My Buddy rode on the back of Caleb's big wheel up and down the sidewalks when we lived in Westerfield Townhouses.

I don't remember Caleb sleeping with Buddy but he never went outside without him. He sat on the porch with Caleb, he went on walks with him but mostly he rode big wheels and tricycles with him. Buddy also had his own little wooden wagon that was pulled many a step. He even had a raincoat, hat and boots to wear outside in the rain.

Somewhere along the way, Buddy lost his shoes, and his hair lost its style. I'm sure that was in part by being carried by his hair sometimes. If you don't think Buddy was loved, just look at the dirt on his face. We would clean him up but it was dirty in just a few days. His hands are very dirty as are his clothes. He has been dragged around by one arm so much, I'm surprised he still has both of them attached. A very special part of Caleb's childhood.

Thanks for letting me ramble and reminisce. What memories I hold in my heart from my boys childhood and thanks for todays prompt for letting me re-live those memories by photographing their favorite toys.

Jumbled

16/365 - Jumbled

Many, A Filled Frame, Colorful.

When I think of jumbled I think of the mess of cords for all the electronics. This is behind our TV for our cable, TV and DVD player. There is just no neat way to keep these cords organized.

Not very exciting but its what came to mind for the prompt.

A Nut

15/365 - A Nut

With a Shallow Death of Field, An Ingredient, Window Lit.

Now most people would photograph a nut that you can eat and frankly thats the first thing I thought of. However, when you aren't a person that eats nuts or has them around to bake with then that isn't an option. I even scrounged around to find a package of peanut M&Ms and couldn't find any.

So I had to be a little creative today for my prompt. I went to the basement and found a bag of nuts that I could experiment with. Lucky for me we had gathered a whole bunch of things last year at Christmas to play Minute to Win It. And now that I'm posting this, I wish I had stacked them one on top of each other like they do in that game.

I tried several different angles but liked this one the best. I like the different light on each side of the pyramid.

Low Light

14/365 - Low Light

A Face, A Cupcake, Life.

As much as I struggle with low light in our living room I really couldn't come up with a good picture for today. I resorted to letting the kids play a game on the iPad before they went to bed just so I could get a picture. They sure didn't mind.

Not really sure what Grace was doing. I can tell you she isn't sleeping. She is just waiting for her turn to play.

A Stranger's Smile

13/365 - A Stranger's Smile

On the Street, Through a Window, From a Distance.

We went to the Apple store on the plaza this afternoon and I had all intentions of asking someone if I could take their picture for my project. I found out I don't have enough nerve to do that so I resorted to being sneaky.

After spending some time in Apple and Barnes and Noble, I just wasn't comfortable with any of the options I found. So I went out and stood on the corner and took pictures of people crossing the street. This picture is a little blurry but when you are trying to be inconspicuous its hard to keep focusing and moving the camera toward the people.

I may be stretching the smiling part, but it looks like she is smiling at him just a little. Enough to qualify for my picture of the day.

I think I could get comfortable with street photography where people aren't actually looking at you and I'm far enough away to not be noticed.

Self Portrait

12/365 - Self Portrait

Reflected, At Arms Length, With a Self Timer

YUCK. Thats about all I can say about todays prompt. I don't like having my picture taken. Thats the advantage of always being the one taking the pictures.

I have read a lot about focusing on getting in more pictures and I know I should do that. When my grandkids look at all my scrapbooks they aren't going to see very many pictures of Grandma. I need to get over myself and get in the pictures. Maybe I will work on that, but it won't be easy.

Hopefully this will be the only self portrait prompt for the whole year.

Climb

11/365 - Climb

Stairs, A Tree, The Walls.

Todays prompt was very easy. Gage is so little and short that no matter what he does, it involves climbing. He has to climb onto the couch, climb into bed, climb into his booster seat.

I'm glad I have these prompts to help me photograph life. This picture doesn't look like anything very exciting right now but years from now it will be so fun to look back and see how Gage "climbed" up in his booster seat and I will be glad I have it. I would never of thought to take a picture of him getting into his seat.

Because of these prompts, I feel like I'm photographing things in life that I might have missed otherwise.

Real Life

10/365 - Real Life

Everyday, Ordinary, Daily.

I was on my way to work this morning and I really didn't know what my picture was going to be. I knew the photo prompt but I hadn't read the email yet with the idea words.

I pulled in to QT to get my morning drink and was walking back out to the car and the thought came to me, that this was real life. It was dark and rainy and chilly and I was stopping at a place that I go to on a regular basis. Now while I don't go to QT every day, I do go there alot. It is by far my favorite place to get drinks.

I love it when I don't really have a plan and then it just pops into my head very clear about what I should photograph. It doesn't always happen that way but it sure is nice when it does.

Peaceful

9/365 - Peaceful

Tranquil, Quiet, Free.

I love sleep. I am one of those few adults that can sleep and I mean sleep a lot. I hear people say all the time that they just can't sleep late. Well I'm here to tell you I CAN sleep late. I don't even have to go to bed late to be able to sleep late. So when I read the word, peaceful, I thought about my bed.

Now this probably wasn't the very first thing I thought of when I thought about peaceful. But my other peaceful ideas of being in the mountains and watching it snow, or being on the beach watching the waves really weren't options for todays picture.

But maybe its more appropriate to photograph the peaceful place that I can retreat to every night.

Discouraged

8/365 - Discouraged

Disheartened, Hinder, Frustrated.

I struggled with today's prompt. I couldn't really think of anything that I was discouraged, disheartened or frustrated about, but I guess thats a good thing.

The more I thought about this, the more I realized it didn't have to be something major, like deep depressing discouraged, or not get out of bed discouraged. It could be something small that was a minor discouragement.

I have had an idea in my head for months and months now and I have to admit that the daunting task of actually getting this project done is a little discouraging.

As you can see, I have albums and albums of "old" pictures. They are all dated and in order and go back to 1976 when Brian and I started going together. I want to go back and pull from the albums and make a family scrapbook of these pictures from 1976 to 2002 (which is where I started my scrapbooking hobby and have 2002 and newer already scrapbooked). I won't scrapbook "all" the pictures, just the best ones.

But to complicate things just a little, I also want to make scrapbooks for both the boys from their birth to their marriage. I have already made their school scrapbooks and wedding scrapbooks. The problem is, when I get to their birth in the albums, I have to make sure I have pictures to go in their books but also our family book. And one step further, when Caleb is born, and there are pictures of Nick and Caleb together, I will want enough pictures for each of their books plus the family book. Are you confused yet???

That is why my Christmas present from Brian this year was so exciting. I will be able to scan those pictures as I come to them and get enough copies made for 3 books if necessary.

It is a huge undertaking and will take months and months (if not years) to finish. So, back to the prompt for the day. Discouraging? a little. Exciting, very.

Movement

7/365 - Movement

Run, Jump, Change.

Meet our little gymnast, Jentry. Since beginning gymnastics in November, she is on her head as much or more than she is on her feet. You would be surprised at all the places that she can find that are big enough to turn cartwheels. She even cartwheeled her way out of the Cook center at the MNU basketball game Sat. night.

When I first saw the prompt for today I wasn't sure what I would choose for my photo but after reading the 3 word ideas in the email Jentry immediately came to mind. The girl never stops and is running, jumping or most recently cartwheeling all over the place ALL the time.

Sure wish this old Grandma had a fourth of her energy, and better yet, wish I could still do cartwheels.

With Words

6/365 - With Words

Tiles, A Sign, Handwriting

Oh the excitement of starting a new book. I love to read. As with all the other hobbies in my life, I love starting something new. Unlike all my other hobbies tho, I do a much better job at finishing a book before starting another one. There have been a few times that I struggle with a book to the point of putting it down and reading something else. There are way too many books out there that I want to read to waste precious time on something that I don't like.

I am hopeful that I can keep a book journal of all the books I read this year. I bought a nice moleskin book journal a couple of years ago and did pretty good at writing in it for a few months but haven't touched it since. There are preprinted pages that have space for date read, title, author, quotes, my opinion and rating. I think it would be very interesting to see how many books I read in one year and what I thought of them.

I just started #9 in the Elm Creek Quilts series by Jennifer Chiaverini last night and have enjoyed it so far. These books motivate me to quilt but not to the point that I get very much accomplished. At least I can live the quilting dream about finishing quilts through these books.

The 3 ideas for this prompt were intriguing and I thought about going with the sign idea but books are such a big part of my life it was only natural that I would photography the book I'm reading.

Colorful Food

5/365 - Colorful Food

Fruits, Veggies, Cupcakes

Well you can see where my thoughts go when you talk about food. It goes straight to the sweets.

I realize there is alot of color in fruits and veggies but thats not near as much fun as the color of M&Ms. I know the M&Ms aren't nearly as healthy as the fruits and veggies BUT I do want to point out that they are the dark chocolate ones and everyone knows dark chocolate is good for you.

Some might even question if M&Ms are food. At our house anything sweet and especially chocolate is food, no matter what form it comes in.

I should have explained this in the first post of the year.  The 3 words or options are what comes in the daily email with the photo prompt.  She gives these for ideas for the prompt.

Fur

4/365 - Fur

A Pet, A Coat, A Rug

None of the above words helped me come up with a picture subject today. I don't have a pet, or fur coat or a furry rug.

We have squirrels out on our deck railing on a regular basis. But of course, when I'm wanting to take a picture of them, they don't come around.

So I had to come up with another idea. The only fur that I could come up with in our house is the top of my boots.

Repetition

3/365 - Repetition

A Pattern, Filled Frame, Many

I looked yesterday at todays prompt and had given it some thought but hadn't come up with anything.

This morning after I got the daily email, for some reason, grocery store shelves kept coming to mind. I looked at some other ideas, even took a few pictures of other things. When I stopped at Hy-Vee on the way home from work I knew I really wanted the grocery store shelf picture.

The picture really says what I had in mind. All the different varieties but yet so neatly lined up side by side, row after row. The crisp line that is created by all the products pushed right up to the front of the shelf. I like all the color and the pattern that the bottles and cans make.

I am pleased with the outcome, however, it isn't easy to stand in the grocery store aisle and take pictures and not feel like everyone is looking at you wondering about you.

New Beginnings

2/365 - New Beginnings

New, Effort, Fresh

I know this looks like just another new journal but its much more than that. Its a book that has 12 sections. Each section consists of 5 lined pages, followed by a photo sleeve that holds 4 pictures and then a pocket page. It is a new book for my 52 Project. I love the new book with nothing in it yet, just waiting to be filled with tidbits of life.

It may seem silly to some, that I would embark on another yearly project but I chose this project because of the photo/journal combination. It will take alot of effort on my part to keep up with both projects but I am willing to try.

My plan for the book is to use one page per week (front and back if needed) to journal. I'm trying a different approach to my journaling this year. I've come up with my own term "jot journaling". Instead of feeling bogged down by sitting for an extended period of time and writing about everything that happened and all my feelings for that day, I'm going to jot things down. Whether it be what we did or how I was feeling or any other things that come to mind. I feel like that seems so much easier without all the pressure to fill journals with complete sentences and paragraphs and to cover every single thing everyday. With that in mind, I have the confidence that its something that I can accomplish and follow through with. At least I am encouraged right now.

I will pick out my favorite picture for each week and get them printed (probably print monthly) and put those 4 pictures in the photo page. Not sure how I will use the pocket pages yet.

I'm looking forward to the fresh start to my 365 project and the new 52 project.

Resolve

1/365 - Resolve

Determination, Resolution, Purpose.

I'm doing things a little bit different this year for my 365 project. Last year I tried to have my picture of the day represent something about my day. While I enjoyed capturing my day to day life, and its been fun to go back and look over the year, I'm going a different direction this year. I'm going to use 365 photo prompts. I'm excited about this challenge and I do think it will be a challenge. Instead of just thinking about something from my day or recording an event from the day, this is going to push me to think and create my photo. It will make me think about what I'm shooting and why I'm shooting it. I'm hoping that it will also allow me to learn more and be more creative and intentional with my photography.

That being said, today's word was "resolve". I have resolved to do the 365 project again this year. I'm as excited about it this year as I was last year or maybe even more excited. I know what I got out of the journey last year and I can't wait to see where it takes me this year.

I'm determined to be much more prompt in posting my picture and their story. I love it that my pictures will have a story. I'm also determined to print my pictures this year so they can be seen. What good are thousands of pictures on the computer where nobody can see and enjoy them, especially my family.

As a part of the new projects and workflow this year, part of the resolution to being so overwhelmed is to delete more and more pictures and keep less amount of pictures of the same thing. Really, who needs 143 pictures of one grandson playing football or basketball, or 67 pictures of a baby sitting in a chair. With this resolution comes the freedom of actually doing something with my pictures and not being swamped by the hundreds and hundreds of pictures of one thing.

The purpose of this project is to capture something everyday and to help me take my photography to the next level. I think it will give me a purpose to journal too. I have always wanted to journal and I'm really good at starting a new journal on Jan. 1st. but usually by the middle of January I have given up. With the prompts, it gives me something to think and write about. There may not be any purpose for this project for anyone except myself but thats okay. If I find enjoyment in doing this and I learn and improve then its well worth it.

So here's to a great 2013 with lots of photography, journaling and learning.