Category Archives: Photography

Creative Projects for 2012

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For the past two years, I have taken at least one photograph a day as part of Project 365, and it’s been one of the best creative efforts I’ve participated in lately. I have really loved documenting my days and my years in this way — looking back over the photos brings back so many memories of days and details and moments that might otherwise have faded away. As you might be able to predict, I’ll be doing the project again this year, with a bonus day thrown in because it’s leap year!

As always, I’ll be sharing a lot of the photos here, including the most recent one in the sidebar. You can always follow along with everything on flickr, too, if you like. I often take more than one photo a day, and everything will wind up there. If you’re doing Project 366 (or something similar) this year, would you leave me a comment so I an follow your photos, too?

Doris

In other photography goals, one thing I would really like to work on this year is portraits. I have gotten pretty decent at photographing dogs and still-lifes of food and drink, but portraits are often difficult. First of all, I tend to take pictures indoors in low lighting, making it easy to get a blurry one if the subject moves. Second of all, well, not everyone wants me sticking a camera in his or her face, you know? Dang, man, but why do people gotta be so difficult?

Talk to The HAND.

Ai yi yi.

At any rate, to get myself inspired, I made a new photo set of all my favorite portraits since I started flickr (and digital photography, at all) back in 2005. There’s a pretty big range of quality and technical skill represented there. I think some of those might have actually been taken with a Motorola RAZR, the camera phone I had before I got a digital point-and-shoot, iPhone, or DSLR. Man oh man. Anyway, I chose my favorites just based on how much I liked the photo, the moment, the memory, or whatever it was I captured. I’m hoping that as I keep trying to take more portraits going forward, I can work on improving them technically and capturing the subjects better, too.

(Note to my friends: be ready! I could come for you at any time.)

Reception

Walrus, Dubious..Good Lighting

Regarding the blog in general, I also have some more thoughtful posts in mind that I’d like to write, including some relationshippy stuff (from my past, not my present) inspired by Allstate’s Mayhem Guy commercials, thoughts about the way I eat (spoiler: eggs and dairy are now occasionally involved), and credit card debt. Love, food, and money? That sounds serious. Hopefully not too serious. Often I get into writing simple recaps and wry remarks here, and I don’t wind up putting as much thought and planning into my posts as I’d really like to. I’m going to work on that, but, you know, in my own way.

Festive Weekend Antics

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Well, it’s That Time of Year. Finals week has begun as of today, and I have basically finished my holiday decorating. What this means is this: while I still have plenty of work left to do for the semester (what with giving final exams and grading of said exams and grading of essays and averaging of grades and easing of students’ frayed nerves and handling of students’ complaints), I have mentally declared myself finished with the semester and am already in full holiday mode (like you didn’t see this coming).

This is an odd place to be. So much work, on the one hand, and a steady influx of jazzy holiday tunes, festive beverages, flannel pajamas, and peppermint-based candy, on the other hand. At least I am adequately fueled with sugar for the work ahead.

Standing up.[338/365] Photobomb

As you can see, the holidays are making everyone a little goofy. The dogs are vigilant in the kitchen and dancing for treats, and someone feels the need to photobomb my daily Project365 picture. In all seriousness, the dogs had woken us up at 7:00 Sunday morning to go outside, so we decided as long as we were up we would get on the task of making cinnamon rolls and mimosas, which we ate while watching Cannonball Run. At 7:30 AM. And then proceeded to nap on the couch.

The weekend was spent being almost exclusively lazy, as has become the norm. Saturday morning I got up early to go race a 10K with Brunbec and Jenniac (recap to come when official results and, hopefully, photos are available), but after that I indulged in plenty of relaxation. We lounged and relaxed with the dogs and generally were very merry indeed. W and I have been watching season one of Torchwood, which I really love (although not as much as Doctor Who, but that probably goes without saying), and have occasionally been putting on old Christmas episodes of our favorite shows for a bit of something festive.

Tree Reflection.Tree Reflection
Ornaments and Lights

Speaking of festive, I am really happy with how my tree and decorations came out. I have had the idea for years now to make cut-out paper snowflakes to hang from the ceiling, and this year I finally executed it! It looks so great in person, but was annoyingly difficult to photograph. This collage-style Instagram manged to capture the overall effect better than any of my DSLR images:

Today I did this and I love it! Much better in person, too.

So much fun! I feel like leaving them up indefinitely (though I likely won’t). We also took some photos of the dogs in front of the Christmas tree, because, let’s face it, when you have dogs as cute as these three, there is really no other choice.

Piper & Oliver.Egon

W’s dogs Piper (Chihuahua) and Oliver (Jack-Russell/Shih-Tsu mix) are so darn photogenic; it’s easy to get great photos of them. Egon, with his black fur, presents more of a challenge, but I think I managed well enough.

Today it was back to work, of course, and I’ve been crossing things off my to-do list with a vengeance. Well, more accurately, I have been delicately tapping in the check-box on my iPhone “Reminders” app, which is surely less satisfying than really striking through a list item with the decisive stroke of the pen. In a way quite similar to how cell phones robbed us of our ability to really slam the phone receiver back down into the cradle to punctuate the end of a telephone argument, the iPhone task management apps have removed the page-ripping pen strike-out from our productivity notations. Sigh. Technology, man. First there’s being friends with your bosses, exes, and frienemies on Facebook, and now this.

In other news, next week is my birthday and I’m having a few people over for drinks and snacks. What is your favorite simple party snack? I need ideas!

ProcrastiNation

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Grrrrrreetings! It’s a beautiful fall day here in Alabama.

[313/365] Leaves, Lake

When I woke up this morning it was actually freezing outside — yes, 32 chilly degrees. Exciting. This means winter really is approaching (I love fall and winter both, and look forward to them each and every year), and it also meant Egon got to try out his new fleece jacket on his brief walk this morning. Check it out:

Frosty morning!

Yes, that’s a miniature dachshund in a red jacket. I submit to you that this is a remarkably cute phenomenon. Please enjoy it. Egon, as some of you know, has alopecia (also sometimes called “dachshund pattern baldness”) which makes him lose his hair on the backs of his ears, his throat, chest, and undercarriage. All that, combined with his back being shaved from surgery, means the little guy most definitely needs a jacket on mornings like this. See? I AM BEING PRACTICAL. I’m not just some girl who likes to dress her dog up in clothes.

(Not just, anyway.)

So the little guy is doing much better. His walk is improving. He is generally much calmer in his crate, and is letting me get some sleep at night. The current situation is that his crate stays in the living/dining/kitchen area all day so he can be in the middle of things, and then I bring it into the bedroom at night. I’ve also got W. and his two dogs in there, and although our night-time pack usually involves all five of us piled up in the double bed (I… I know), we can at least achieve 80% dogpile completion, with the other 20% on the floor in his crate. This seems to be working for now, and (despite the crowding) the extra warmth is definitely appreciated now that we are waking up to frosty mornings like today.

[312/365] Snugglebuddies

In spite of my love for cold weather and my general fearlessness when it comes to running in the cold, I was not feeling up to a run right away when I woke up at 7:00 this morning, so I waited until the afternoon to go out. It was sunny and a bit warmer (capri tights and short-sleeves style temperatures) and it was just plain beautiful outside.

Yellows

Fall/Fell

We are rocking that stage of fall where there are pleasantly crunchy leaves on the ground and still some rich color in the trees. I had a lovely five-mile loop around town and then tacked on an extra mile in my neighborhood at the end, just because it was so beautiful out and I am young and alive. Pretty nice day I’ve got going so far.

I’ll be honest, I am supposed to be grading essays today, but I just don’t feel like it. There’s always tomorrow right? It’s that time in the semester where procrastination seems, despite all logical evidence to the contrary, to be the right thing to do. I am just going to roll with it for the moment. In a little while I’m off for an early dinner of pizza and beer and then seeing my friend PSP perform in the community production of Hairspray.

So tell me: do you ever just take the day off and enjoy it for your own purposes? I know I’m not the only procrastinator ’round these parts. ‘Fess up.