Project 52 ~ Week 4 {Soothing Repetition}

I didn't take this image with this project in mind.  Really, I just liked the line of it.  The lift snaking its way up the hill to the house at the top.  Spotty skiers heading down on the other side.  It was only afterward, as I was looking it at it on my screen, that I realized how it fit.  The repetition of it.  Those people going up on those chairs and skiing back down again...over and over and over. 

 
I've never really understood this sport.  Maybe it's because it seems like an awful lot of work for just a few minutes of excitement.  Maybe it's because the monotony of doing the same thing every time would bore me out of my skull.  Maybe it's because the very idea of strapping on those fiberglass blades and hurling myself down an ice hill, completely out of control, scares the friggin' crap out of me (something about a story I heard once...a skiing accident, a heavy bathroom door and a knee cap that went sideways....).  But the hundreds of people that I watched climbing on that lift and making that ride back up to the top of the mountain again and again and again seemed to find some enjoyment in the process, some comfort in the repetition.  I've just decided to resign myself to the fact that I'll never quite get it.....but it does make an interesting picture, doesn't it?

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Project 52 ~ Week 3 {Shades of Gray}

The theme this week was really open to interpretation.  Shades of gray....Gray area, gray color, gray images....I immediately went for the last one.  I love photographing in black and white.  I love the simplicity of the line when you remove the color.  Almost anything looks amazing in black and white, even things that you normally think of as being in color, like a rose.

Take away the hue, and all of the sudden you can see things in the image you didn't see before, like the spikes on the leaves and the texture on the edge of the petals.  Now, of course, this isn't a true black and white image, but the hand coloring is something that I think can look really cool, so I thought I'd give it a try here....and thanks to the florist at Safeway for letting me play in her display.....


There were a few other things I wanted to try out this week, as well.  I've done a lot of experimenting with photographing in black and white versus photographing in color and then adjusting it in the digital darkroom later.  I think I prefer the control of the adjustment...

A fern on the path out to the beach (originally in color)

 A bicycle leaning against a garage door (originally in B/W)

 A charm bracelet on a marble counter top (originally in B/W)

 A rack of wine bottles at the grocery store (originally in color...another experiment in hand coloring)

My son running on the beach (originally in color....also an experiment in motion)

But, really, the one that I took this week just for me, just for the craft, had nothing to do with gray.  It was something that I had seen done before and wanted to try myself....

Love it!  I want to blow it up and hang it in my kitchen....

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The Best of 2010 ~The Year In Review

Going back over anything you've been involved in and picking out the best parts of it is always hard, especially if you've put your heart and soul and mind and creativity into it.  How can you judge?  I tried to make it easier on myself by choosing favorites at the end of each month.  Didn't really work, though.  I still had to go back and look at everything again.  Truly, what were my favorites?  What jumped out at me?  What did I work hard on?  What did I sweat over?  What have I chosen to display in my home and live with day after day?  These.....

Portrait, October

Varsity captains heading to mid-field for the coin toss, October

Red tulips in a roadside field in La Connor, April

A couple waltzes up the beach on Valentine's Day, February

My daughter and my niece wave jumping, June

My children playing on shore at sunset, March

Clamming at Copalis Beach, May

My niece splashing through the end of a Slip n' Slide, May

Sunset off the back porch at the beach, July

An engagement portrait, November

Clamming at sunset, November


View the entire collection Images of the Year ~ 2010
View the entire collection Images of the Year ~ 2009

Project 52 ~ Week 2 {Back In Black}

This Week's Theme:  Illustrate a song

Took me a minute to figure this one out. Sooooo many choices. Sooooo many possibilities. I've been running song titles through my head for days.  Every time a song came on the MP3, I found myself wondering how I could make it work.  And did I want to create something or should I wait for a moment to present itself?  Inspiration pops up in the strangest places sometimes.  In my case it was the laundry basket.  AC/DC Rocks On!!

I did have a back up image, just in case....

Hazy Shade of Winter by Simon & Garfunkel...or, alternatively, The Bangles, depending on when you grew up.

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Project 52 ~ Week 1 {Let It Rain, Let It Rain, Let It Rain...}

I've often thought about doing one of those projects where you take a picture each day of the year.  I've followed photographers who have done it, and it seems really cool...but, at the same time, it seems like a lot of work.  Coming up with something inspiring every day?  Every day?  Are you kidding me?  Some days I don't feel like I have time to take a breath, much less take a picture.  So... I've never done it.  But, here we are in a new year.  A new beginning.  A new chance to be great, and I thought why not now?  A photographer that I follow is sponsoring a year long project that she is calling Project 52.  One great image every week taken just for me.  For the enjoyment of my lens.  For love of the craft.  Perfect...I'm in!

 

The theme that I'd been given for this first week was Something Around The House.   I found myself having a hard time getting inspired. I did a week-long project last year that involved photographing various things around my house, so I really felt like anything I did for this would just be revisiting what I had already done for that.  I thought about just using something that I'd already shot, but it kind of felt like cheating.  Phoning it in.  I kept looking around my house, trying to find something that grabbed me.  Come on!  Engage!  Let's go!!  I was about to forget it for the week, when I looked out the window and saw the rain on the Christmas lights.  We haven't taken them down yet, so, technically, they're still "around the house."  I'd done an similar image with frost, but never with rain.  I loved the way the water was falling in droplets all over the bulbs.  And there it was...Week 1.

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