Last year I published a December Photo A Day Challenge that I called ‘The Christmas List’. This year it is back slightly altered. Titled ‘The 25 Days of Christmas’, I have decided to challenge myself until Christmas Day. I tend to go on a mental vacation after that until New Year so I am cutting myself some slack and stopping the list after Christmas Day.
I am also toying with the idea of trying to do the photos as macros where I can think of a way to do it. We will see!
“Love and warmth given. Expected nothing.”
Marion at Figments of a Dutchess had this challenge posted on her blog when I randomly came across it just now. She asked us to write a story about pets consisting of only six words. My story popped into my head immediately. Its not something I have done before, but why not?
I have never participated in this challenge before, but I stumbled upon it at Skinnywinch’s blog page and this image came to my mind. Taken from the front door step of my home. The sunsets where I live cast amazing light onto the clouds sometimes.
ITS NOT MINE!! Booooooo, I wish.
Every now and then, usually when I think I have taken a few photos that I think are pretty nice, I stumble across a website or blog by an actual photographer who takes amazing photos (in my opinion) and makes me think I have no clue what I am doing.
I have been thinking recently about what I like as far as photography is concerned. I tend to have two styles I am drawn to. The first is photos that point out the beauty or interest of everyday things and life. I like them in black and white and also in colour and I find that often when I take photos they trying to emulate this style. I took a photograph recently of my brother’s partner. She was out in the bright sunlight in her sunglasses and she turned her head 90 degrees to look at me as I clicked. The photo had shadow and the inevitable skin rolls that occurred when she turned her head. When I went to edit the photo I considered removing them. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. The I thought I should at least minimise them. I couldn’t even bring myself to do that! I considered why I didn’t want to remove them. If it was my photo afterall I would want them removed. I decided that the rolls were what made her human. If you turn your head and your skin doesn’t react there is a problem and the human element is what attracts me to these photos. Being human and living life is beautiful and I like to capture human.
The other style of photography I am drawn to I struggle much more with. I stumbled upon a website of a photographer, here, that works from the city I live in and I was blown away. Of course I immediately wished I could take beautiful photos like this woman. They are the polished, beautiful, light airy portrait photography you sometimes see especially with wedding photographers. I see these photos and I love them. If I was having my photo taken I would hope for something like them. If I were to take photos to give to a client I would hope they could be like that. I would be proud to show my work. The problem is they aren’t natural to me. I have no idea how to create them, but I would love to learn!
So now I have a path. I resolve to develop my skills in this new area for me. To try to capture the airy, clean feeling that is so alien to me. I have no idea where to start. Tips??
Did you think I wouldn’t get a photo on today?? It WAS a busy day. Today was my son’s third birthday. Happy and sad all at the same time. My little baby is not a baby anymore, he is more and more like a boy, a child. He can think, express his opinion on things and ignore me when he chooses to. But for all the things I miss about him being a baby and toddler, I love to watch his imaginitive play, listen to him perform a self composed song and hear him tell me that he loves me and that I am the best. He now chooses to consciously put his arms around my neck and hold me longer than is necessary for a cuddle and its often followed by a giggle that is music to my ears.
I didn’t want to give you another picture of my family. I felt like after the last couple of days that although I never tire of them, perhaps people without the same emotional investment might (I personally think your crazy!, but I AM biased) so I chose a few pictures of E’s birthday that weren’t him.
Here is the final macro shot for September! It is part of the leaf of a fern. You know the ones with the brown dots on the underside of the leaves? Up close they look like little piles of sand!
The final day! To be honest, this time of year is flat out for me. My boys have their third and first birthdays this week and then of course the festive season starts. I actually haven’t had time to think of a challenge for October so I thought I would do a cheat and another that wasn’t daily.
I will cheat by doing one of the given lists that go around. That way I don’t have to think of the prompts myself and it might be interesting to see how I go about it differently from my first month in May. I can’t give you the list yet because I haven’t found one! I’ll post it when I get to the computer.
I will also experiment with making images spooky in honour of Halloween month. Not sure how it will work yet, but I will try to spookify things.
Anyway I have to get some sleep I am having a double birthday party tomorrow!
This sorry excuse for a geranium flower looks beautiful from a distance for its amazing red colour (the very reason it has a place in my garden), but it is on its way out. It is dying, the petals are torn and darkening and covered in mud after a rainy winter. When I went to photograph it, it was for its colour, but I was delighted to find this tiny surprise upon looking closely. It pays to take the time to stop and look. We miss so much.
It’s coming to the end of the month and I need to choose a new theme for September. I was a bit undecided until it arrived in the mail this morning. Its about 1cm in diametre and 5mm deep and magnetically clicks onto my iPhone. Yep, September is ‘Macro Month’. No flower is too big or small, no surface too safe. I will be getting up close and personal with all sorts of tiny things.
Here’s one to get you started. A pansy from my garden. I love Pansys, they remind me of my Grandmother.
You may be wondering why, since I posted about buying my first SLR camera, I would be persisting with my iphone? Two reasons. 1. It is ALWAYS with me. When I sleep at night I have my husband one side and my phone the other, and 2. I am not nearly ready to be showing you anything on the camera yet! That thing is awesome in it power and its possibility, but I am definitely not Jedi enough to be sharing that one. Until I get some understanding of the manual controls I will be only be blogging my iphone images.
As an aside, I have decided to start off the bat by using the manual controls on the SLR. I hear stories of how difficult it is and I figure if I let myself get used to the camera thinking for me I will never be inclined to switch over, so day 1 I flipped it over and had a play. LOTS of lovely blurry unusable images and I only swapped over to Auto for a bit when I freaked myself out thinking about the number of possible combinations using the manual buttons and dials! I am doing as much reading as I can to try to get my head around it, but I may have to invest in at least a basic course on SLR cameras. If nothing else it will get me out of the house! Haha.
Q is for quadrilateral. Lots of quadrilaterals in this case. Although technically the curve on the slats of the airconditioning vent make them something other than quadrilaterals. We will just pretend they are straight.
E is for embrace and enduring love that knows no end.
This is a baby white cheeked Gibbon. She is female. It is the first baby Gibbon born at the Adelaide Zoo. As she grows older when she reaches adolescence she will change into the black colour of a male. When she is then ready to mate she will again change her colour back to the white of her mother.
Gibbons are a critically endangered species. Their numbers in the wild have declined by 80% in the last 45 years.
As yet she does not have a name. Do you have any suggestions?
Learning the Light 