Play It Again…

The photo challenges continue and now, three months in, I’ve been doing them enough that I’m beginning to see a slight repetition of ideas.  Here’s what I mean: on day 15 we had to photograph “love” while in previous challenges the assignment have been to snap a pic of “someone you love” or “something you love”.

I’m not complaining – just observing how that repetition lends a new dynamic to my photo taking as well.  If I can’t capture my family who are too far away and if I’ve already photographed my hubby and my chuck taylors that I can’t live without, the forests I love to wander in and the books that feed my soul – how else do I photograph love?

This week, I found my answer in a simple stone I gave my beloved partner, nestled in a treasured bowl he gave me on a long-ago Christmas, resting on a dresser that was my long gone Grandmother’s.  It’s a picture that really DOES exemplify love to me – the multi layered, complicated, binding tight yet still elastic kind of love that happens over your lifetime, if you’re lucky.

As these challenges progress through the months, it’s getting harder and harder to find new ways of taking pictures of the same old subjects. It is just a fact of my life that I end up wanting to photograph trees for any number of photo challenge shots: what i love, what inspires me, peace, what i can’t live without, a favorite place, etc.  In this week alone, trees were the subject of two consecutive assignments.  Luckily, for Day 20, I could photograph art ABOUT trees and play the double whammy card of not being able to live without art or nature! :)

I really am learning to love being pushed, though, and working to find new facets of all too familiar subjects.  Oh, and that last shot: “where I stand,” is a commentary on the plight of all Pacific Northwest girls where Spring weather is highly unpredictable:  standing next to a puddle in inappropriate shoes!

Family Photos – Week 2 Photo A Day May

It’s the middle of May, already, and it feels a whole lot more like summer than it usually does around here this time of year.  I love the Pacific Northwest, but sometimes spring can linger at the “in like a lion” stage and forget all about the “out like a lamb” side of it.  But, not this year!  The sun is shining, the temperatures are breaking records and I’m nearly giddy from the sheer delight of bare toes and short sleeves.  Which probably helps explain my photo on day 12 – bikes and sunshine are two things that DEFINITELY make me happy right now!

This unexpected good weather also helps explain the rosemary bushes that are threatening to take over my sister-in-laws back yard and who were the subject of my photograph on Day 8.  Those herby, woody stems are a nuisance to her – needing to be tamed every year.  While, to me, they are a treasure of culinary and sensory delight.  I’m the slightly strange aunt who coaxes my niece and nephew into smelling the scents of rosemary stems crushed against my palms.  I convince them that smell, alone, can help them calm down and goad them into adding the herb into their scrambled eggs that they already don’t want to eat.  I don’t know if they believe a word I’m saying, but it makes me happy to think that on a sunny afternoon, on a day far from now, they’ll smell their own rosemary plants warming in the sun and think of me.

And, as my sister would tell you, my ever-present ice water and my very, very loud swallowing is the other thing that will always make people think of me.  And it’s about the only thing I can absolutely honestly say that I do every single day (photo assignment, day 9). My family makes fun of me for it endlessly and it’s been this way as far back as I can remember.  But, loud swallows be damned…there is nothing more satisfying to me than drinking cold water when I’m thirsty.  My family just didn’t bargain on that joy making itself known quite so loudly and clearly!

I’m sure that there were hundreds of other words I could have chosen for Day 10.  I am a voracious reader and have loved an author’s writing enough to comment on how I’d like to wallpaper the rooms of my house with the pages of her book simply so I could live inside her words.  But, on the morning I was supposed to photograph a favorite word of mine, I was missing my aforementioned sister (who mocks me mercilessly) and in that moment there was no word more dear to me than “sisters.”

Looking back over the week, it seems that so many of my photos held within them the theme of family.  My favorite word, the experiences I associate with rosemary, our fridge on Day 11 that holds so many mementos of the friends and family we love and the photos of my own Mom and Mother-in-law from our wedding day and all the love and laughter they remind me of.  I am feeling grateful today for the strength of the bonds that hold my family (both biological and chosen) together and for this week of photographs that helped me examine those connections with new eyes.

Hooray, Hooray…the First of May!

A big weekend of family birthdays last weekend meant lots of great photo opportunities, but not nearly enough time to get my blog posted when I had hoped to.

But, by now, I’m sure you, dear readers, are not surprised by my late posts or my excuses.  I swear, in my days out in the real world (vs. this virtual one) I am the type of person who shows up everywhere five or ten minutes early rather than a minute or two late…which makes me the bane of hostesses everywhere!  Normally, I end up waiting too long in doctor’s offices and before interviews – getting anxious and antsy.  But, somehow, here on this blog, my timeliness has turned into tardiness.

On the first day of this week’s challenge, my stubbornness got the better of me.  I was determined to do a “peace” shot without an actual peace sign or hippy hand signal in sight.  But, towards late afternoon, the banner in a novelty store with Chinese symbols for peace, happiness, courage, etc. was the best I could do.  And, at the end of the day, my stubbornness was satisfied, but my aesthetic side was disappointed in the results.

The day I was supposed to photograph fun, I was spending the day with my little sister and her new puppy.  Dexter, her miniature poodle has a strange fascination with the cherry blossom petals falling from all the trees right now.  He spent the afternoon happily chasing them around the yard and trying to eat them while my sis and I happily spent the day watching him and laughing.  It was, in my opinion, some of the best kind of fun!

On the sixth day, when faced with photographing “self”, I was trying to figure out how to get another self-portrait without repeating the tactics I’d done in the previous challenges.  Luckily, the day coincided with my nephew’s birthday which was spent BBQ-ing out back and playing lawn darts.  As I saw my shadow stretching out across the back yard in the late afternoon light…inspiration struck!

My favorite this week was Day 7′s challenge to photograph someone who inspires you.  My list is long of who fits that bill in my life, but part of what I love about the photo challenge is finding a way to get the picture I want in the time I have.  Instead of capturing one of my colleagues or my boss, I chose to photograph my Toms shoes, instead. These are my first pair and I’m enchanted with their one to one program.  As they say on their website, “The One for One Movement is about people making everyday choices that improve the lives of children.”  Now THAT, I am inspired by!

Oh, and you can follow my photo challenge day by day on Twitter if you’re tired of waiting for my tardy blog posts! :)  www.twitter.com/521design

The End of April

Thank you to my dear hubby and to my two sweet friends from the old days who joined me for this April photo challenge.  What I began in late winter as an idle project to cure my boredom has grown each month and continues to enliven and enrich my daily life.  I am learning more about myself, my world and my own creative processes.  I am learning about my loved ones as they participate along with me in these challenges and I get to peek at life through their eyes.  Here, then, is my last week of April in photos and the end of my Photo A Day in April challenge.

Day 24 was one of my favorites – challenging me to examine all the daily aspects of my life and pinpoint what, exactly, I was grateful for.  I settled on photographing the garden outside my office which brings me delight on a daily basis.

On day 26, when the photo prompt read simply “black + white” I took all sorts of shots IN black and white before I remembered the black and white bride and groom day of the dead figurines I gave my hubby over 7 years ago when we first got engaged.

I found day 30 the hardest.  What is something that makes me sad that I can (or WANT TO) take a picture of?  I didn’t even enjoy having to think about what makes me sad, but at last I discovered an aphid invasion of epic proportions on my front deck that had destroyed one of my favorite plants.  Now THAT made me sad!

So, on to the May challenge!  It’s not to late to join in… (hint, hint!)

Week 3 – Photo A Day April

Here’s why I like the photo a day monthly challenges:

• it’s a quick and easy way for me to be creative every day
• it brings me a heightened awareness to my daily surroundings
• it connects me with an instant photography community because i post my photos on instagram. (just search the hash tag #photoadayapril and you can connect with people all over the world who are simultaneously engaging in this same photo challenge.)
• it make me think about my world in a different way each day
• it makes me aware of (and connected to) something bigger than myself and my own little life one day at a time.

I like that I actually set an alarm for the evening on the day I was supposed to photograph the sunset.  And I enjoyed evaluating the simple rituals of my daily life and wondering what it is that I don’t like that I would also want to photograph.  Because, really, who wants to see photos of habits that annoy me or thighs I wish were less jiggly?  Instead, I tried to capture the sinking feeling I get when I come to the end of a really good book.

I like that it is Spring in my corner of the Pacific Northwest and that I purposely walked by the masses of forsythia and daffodils and tulips to find the flower spray painted on the side of an electrical box downtown.  And passed by any number of predictable orange things I could have taken pictures of until I found the orange metallic screen printing ink at work and couldn’t resist.

I like having to let the daily assignment “stew” a little bit during the course of the day.  I enjoy the mounting sense of pressure to find what I’ve been looking for to complete my photographic challenge.  It’s a fun distraction to the daily worries that plague us all and a way to step outside ourselves for a brief moment or two.  Perhaps you’ll want to join us in May?

April Photo A Day – playing catch up!

On April 1st I declared I was doing another photo a day challenge.  Luckily, I’ve kept that promise to myself.  But what I haven’t been doing is keeping my promise to this blog.  Last month, when I began these photo challenges, I started posting my daily photos on Facebook and Twitter and doing a weekly wrap up here on my blog.  I had every intention of continuing that plan this month as well, but here it is already mid-April and I find myself very, very behind.

So, making a late entrance here on my blog are the first two weeks of this new photo challenge from Fat Mum Slim.  This month, my husband and two good friends (one all the way over in Ireland!) are partaking in the challenge with me and I am enjoying getting to see all of our interpretations of the same subject matter.  In the first week, my biggest challenge was finding a photo for the assignment “tiny.”  How do you photograph size without something to relate it too?  After a long day of trying and rejecting photos I finally found success with my coworker’s aquarium and her teeny tiny fish.

The second week of the April photo a day challenge offered up a few more esoteric opportunities like how to photograph your younger self and taking a picture of how you’re feeling today.  Luckily, I was in transit the day after Easter when I had to photograph my younger self.  As I looked at my backpack resting against the Airporter Shuttle window I was reminded of my wandering years as I was finishing college – my younger self who headed off overseas alone with my backpack and only a few vague plans about how to spend the following months.  And on the day I photographed how I was feeling, my sister (who just also happens to be my best friend!) was in town after a too-long absence and her presence in my world again created a spark in my soul.

I will try, dear readers, to be more vigilant with this blog…to not keep you waiting for these weekly updates.  I will try to keep this promise to myself and to you.  And, in case I stumble yet again with these intentions, I will try to be patient with myself.  To forgive and to be gentle with this life that is not always perfect.

Photo A Day April

Yep, I’m at it again! Join me…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was idly seraching the internet looking for another photography challenge to tackle for April when I found my way to Fat Mum Slim’s blog. She masterminds these photo challenges each month for her avid followers…which I am now one of.  When I finally resurfaced from her blog, I realized that I was a little bit gaga over this blogging mommy from Australia.  Her wit and charm and honesty are an inspiration for my creative self and I am so glad to have found my way to her ramblings.  So now, I’m passing on my treasure to you.  I hope you find the same creative spark, joy and inspiration there as I did.

Photo Challenge – Final Week

Hopefully, you’ve been following along with me on my photo journey during this month of March.  And now…you and I have made it here to the end.

I began this journey in late Winter – feeling the blahs of too much rain, too much indoor time and not nearly enough sun.  As a good friend put it, I needed a kick in the pants.  Turned out this photo challenge was just that.  It sparked something in me.

Yes, of course, there were days when I nearly forgot about my commitment to myself and these photos and had to improvise something late at night that probably wasn’t my best work.  But, there were also days when I had moments of magic when everything came together and I got a shot better than I’d even hoped for.

And, really, isn’t that what life is actually like…regardless of whether we’re talking about taking pictures or parenting or our careers or anything else?  Sometimes it all goes right.  And sometimes it goes horribly, awfully wrong.  And lots of days are just somewhere in between those two extremes.  I’m working on hard on appreciating all my days…regardless of what kind they turn out to be.

So, here’s the last week of my March photo challenge.  30 days of life…just as it’s lived…and the pictures that happen along the way.  Luckily, I have a far away friend who decided SHE needed a kick in the pants too.  So, we’ll be tackling an April photo a day challenge from Fat Mum Slim (a great blogger & photographer!).  Join us, if it sparks something in you too.

Photo Challenge – Week 3

With Spring in the air and a too full schedule it’s hard to believe it’s already time for me to post about this photo challenge again. I’ve been distracted by bird song and budding trees when I’m not in front of my computer and time has flown. I’m not complaining…just marveling at how quickly it all goes by.

Which, I guess, is one of the reasons I’m enjoying this photography challenge so much. It’s a visual journal of sorts…and a moment in each day when I really stop and just BE in the present moment. It’s helping me direct my awareness to the world around me in new ways and, for that, I am incredibly grateful. I need to slow down and savor much, much more often!

This week’s assignments were full of interesting challenges, too. How to capture overexposure when all I’m working with is an iPad, for example. I had to get creative and broaden my thinking about overexposure past photography terms until I finally settled on burnt toast being a sign of overexposure to the toaster. Day 20 required a photograph of “bokeh“, which I had to look up before being able to photograph it. It is defined, rather poetically, as “the aesthetic quality of the blur.” I’m not wholly satisfied with my bokeh photograph, but I did what I could…with the tools at hand…in the time I had. What more can we ask of ourselves?

I am now on to week four of this challenge and drawing uncomfortably near to it’s end. Of course there is a part of me that is looking forward to just being able to wield my instagram camera on any subject matter that interests me and not be limited by these daily challenges. But, I know me and the way life tends to rush by. Chances are, without the structure of these daily photography challenges, my attention might not be focused on photographs at all. But, perhaps it’ll be different after this. I’ve found that this challenge and instagram, in general, have really reignited my passion for photography while allowing me to experience it in an entirely new way.

Photo Challenge – Week 2

This post is a little late in coming, but, like the rest of you I’m sure,  life just tends to get in the way of my best laid plans.

I like the way this photography challenge asks me to approach my day knowing I need to keep my eyes open for my assigned shot. For example, today I’m supposed to photograph “bokeh” or the aesthetic quality of blur. It’s making me look at my world just a little bit differently today as I consider how to achieve the shot I want…or what that shot might even BE.

During week 2 of this photo challenge,the assignments were more esoteric in nature and required more thought than week one. Needing to photograph a childhood memory had me casting back over 35 years and asking myself what still stood out despite all this passing time. There were all sorts of moments I could recall that signify the sweet, idle time of childhood: frisbee in the field across the street, biking on summer afternoons, rollerskating around the cul-de-sac I lived in.

But, when I remembered reading Charlotte’s Web for the first time, I was literally transported back to when I was 7 years old. I was kneeling next to my bed, trying to finish the book as my parents called me to dinner and I suddenly found myself weeping for Charlotte’s lost life. It was the first time I really understood the power that books can have. I can clearly recall the way the carpet felt beneath my knees and the texture of the bedspread beneath my book. I remember how strange it felt to come back to my real life after feeling as though I’d actually BEEN there with Wilbur in his pen on the Arable farm.

In a way, that memory is exactly what I love about this project. Sure, it would be easy to just snap a picture of my bicycle pedals or a frisbee. But, I didn’t take the easy route. I kept thinking back and pushing myself to dig deeper, try for more. And, suddenly, I was rewarded with a moment from my past that was as near as if it had happened yesterday.

It’s impossible to predict where these photo challenges will take you…if you only let yourself be inspired.  Here’s week 2: