31 August, 2011

Make a photograph of a plastic object that you’ve used today.

Please forgive me if the photos for the next few days are lacking creativity and/or skill. My family's been passing a bug around and it's currently my turn to have it. My life currently revolves around liquids and tissues, so there's really isn't much material for me to get creative with, even when I do have the brainpower to churn out decent photos.

One of my Dr. Pepper bottles. Sadly, this one is empty.

30 August, 2011

It's all about the color red today. Make a photograph that is full of a red subject.

Not particularly creative, I know, but it is red.

29 August, 2011

Make a photograph with an emphasis on the sky today.

Obsolete technology.

28 August, 2011

Create a photo with a single element, no distractions, & lots of contrast.

Pulled out LH's shoes for today's challenge; these shoes last made an appearance back on February 14th. Since I managed to get a good shot of the "Love" shoe then, I decided to focus on the "Grace" shoe today.

This first one is the official photo of the day, since it best fits the daily challenge.

And this one's just for the fun of it, 'cos I like how it turned out.

27 August, 2011

Make a photograph composed of earth tones today. Use contrast and composition to provide visual excitement.

I considered getting technical and taking a photo with whatever colors I wanted since there are many "earth" tones; as LH and I discussed, rainbows are found here on earth, so a photo with rainbow colors would technically be applicable. However, the mental image of Wisdom's pretty brown/red/tan/yellow coat combined with the browns and greens of the tree was just too much to resist.

Initially, I tried to pose my dog, but quickly discovered that wasn't going to work out. Instead, I allowed her to pose herself--which resulted in far more natural photos. I picked the three best to post for y'all.

Played with focus a bit on this one.

The fun photo of the bunch.

My pretty girl. Love her eyes in this one.

26 August, 2011

What's a photograph you've wanted to make for a while but haven't for some reason? Make it today.

I've actually wanted this particular necklace for a while, but had to wait until I could responsibly purchase it. With a bit of spare birthday cash in the budget, I was able to purchase this beauty on Sunday--it arrived today.

Of course, I knew that I would be photographing the necklace when it arrived, but couldn't do so until I had it in my possession. I rather liked the natural contrast that made it so easy to photograph.

25 August, 2011

Make a photograph with a different point of view than you normally would consider.

A torrential downpour rolled in before I had a chance to get outside and get a dry photo. As such, I did wind up pretty wet, despite snapping a limited number of shots.

24 August, 2011 -- Boom's Birthday!

Make a photograph featuring parallel lines today.

We went to one of our favorite Italian restaurants for Boom's birthday dinner. One of the windows in the waiting area was decked with these really awesome bottles. I'm dedicating this shot to my dear friend, Mylla, as the set up just seemed like the sort of artistic opportunity she wouldn't pass up.

23 August, 2011

Make a photograph featuring a circle of some sort today.

I made many attempts at getting a good, clear shot of Watson's eye, but never did succeed. As I had been snuggling him before trying to get photos of him, he was convinced the camera was just another being seeking to love him and kept rubbing his chin against the lens. As such, we're pretending that this shot met the daily challenge--after all, you /can/ see his eye.

22 August, 2011

Make a photograph that features the color green today.

There's so much green in the world... and I seem to have photographed most of it. It's getting harder to meet this challenge, but I have once more succeeded.

21 August, 2011

Make a photo of something that reminds you of that sense of childhood wonder.

After church and some lunch, my sisters and I took off to our favorite park with LH to do a bit of exploring and photography. Instead of hitting our usual places, we checked out one of the trails, which was a nice change.

My childhood being spent in Colorado, today's daily challenge made me think of nature. Little things like moss and it growing on the northward side of tree trunks and views of mountains from high heights never lost their wonder.

20 August, 2011

Play with reflections in a photograph today.

One of the mirrors on our neighbor's motorcycle reflecting the pretty blue sky and the green leaves of a nearby tree.

19 August, 2011

Desperate for a photo, I wandered out to our little maple tree. Love that tree.

18 August, 2011

Make a photograph that is obviously composed using the rule of thirds.

This particular flower's head has grown too heavy for its stalk, so it is currently facing the ground. As such, I had to use a flash to illuminate the sunflower, giving the photo something of a surreal effect. Not sure if I like the look of it or not.

17 August, 2011

Make a photograph today featuring a hand.

After getting LH moved into her dorm and grabbing some lunch, we wandered over to the on-campus library. This was my first time exploring the building, so I had a good time perusing the shelves.

A beam of sunlight illuminated one particular shelf, catching my eye as a good photo opportunity. It took a few tries to get this shot just right, but I like the result.


Per tradition, we sat by the fountain for a little while and did some chatting. I love that fountain.

Both of us did a bit of experimental photography with the sun and the fountain. The best shot I managed to get is below.

16 August, 2011

What has been your favorite Daily Shoot assignment? Give it another go today.

To start: awesome assignment. This happens to have been one of the best assignments I've seen at the Daily Shoot. Despite having gone through a mental list of some of my favorite challenges, the first one that popped to my mind wound up being my choice.

July 22nd: Lose the rectangle today. Make a photograph with a square (1:1) aspect ratio and post it. Crop if needed.

You might recall that I was pretty fascinated with the square challenge last month when I tried it for the first time. At that time, I resolved to give this particular method a go in the future; I also decided I needed to manufacture a square viewfinder to help me capture the square composition a bit better. And thus, that morning, LH and I put together such an item to make the photography easier.

It worked. Below is the product of this venture.

What do y'all think? Am I getting any better at this square frame business?

15 August, 2011

I set my alarm to go off bright and early so that I could spend a bit of time photographing the hoards of hummingbirds that buzz around LH's family's mountain home. Though they're active all day, the little critters are out in large quantities early in the morning and at dusk. I spent a good while out on the deck, camped out by the feeders, snapping shot after shot. It took me a little while to "warm up" and figure out the best shooting methods, but I did manage to get some good shots once I knew what I was doing.

Some of my favorite shots can be viewed below:





This next photo is not, in fact, of a hummingbird. I took this shot later in the day during our run to the post office with the dogs. As I really liked how it turned out, I've decided to share it with you all. ('Sides, it gives the post a bit of variety.)

14 August, 2011

Make a photograph of something smooth.

Left church with LH and headed straight to Mangy's house to hang out with her and Midget (who was visiting) for a little while. From there, we headed southward, since the plan was for me to stay with LH for a few days and help her get moved into her dorm.

While we were with Mangy, her kids made sure to keep us quite entertained with their antics, which included skateboards, balls, and scooters.

13 August, 2011

We're all collectors of something. Find an interesting way to display and make a photo of a collection today.

Because y'all haven't seen enough of my Breyer horses just yet.

12 August, 2011

Refresh from the summer heat today. Make a photo of water in motion. Freeze it or let it blur!

Yay water!

11 August, 2011

The clear skies and gorgeous lighting made the sunflowers very inviting this morning. As it was indeed my day for sunflower documentation, I went ahead and heeded the call of the photo bug proceeded to try to get some pictures.

The bees were incredibly active and the flowers were basking in the sun when I wandered into the yard. I snapped shot after shot of the sunflowers and the adorable little bees (who were feeling rather antisocial and startled themselves into flying right into me multiple times).

I wound up settling on two pictures for today.

This is my favorite shot. I was attempting to get some photos of the sunflowers backed by the pretty Colorado sky when one little fellow flew into my frame. (After which he flew right into my camera and then my arm. Not particularly smart.)

I rather like this shot of the two pollen covered workers digging around on the sunflower together. Such cute, fuzzy critters.

10 August, 2011

Make a photograph featuring a metal or metallic object or surface.

The cross and ribbon in this photo belong to my youngest sister, who was kind enough to lend them to me for a short while.

9 August, 2011

Make a composition today with four elements in it.

I debated the meaning of this challenge for the majority of the day and wound up just settling on the "four elements = four objects" option in the afternoon.

These are some of the lovely snap dragons that we grew from seed this year. They acted very hesitant to grow at the beginning of the season, but have really picked up in the last couple of weeks. I love the rich colors of this particular plant.

8 August, 2011

Make a photograph dominated by the color orange today.

No inspiration. So here's a bag of extremely orange and ever so tasty cheddar Sun Chips.

7 August, 2011

Lacking creativity, I grabbed my mom's solar powered flower and headed out to the deck. This plastic flower has been a source of entertainment for all of us over the past several months.

6 August, 2011

Make a photograph from an unusual point of view.

The View from the Top of My Head

5 August, 2011

Create a photograph that illustrations connection.

Remembered last minute that I needed a photograph. Hence the noise and rather obvious subject.

4 August, 2011

The flowers 'round the lamppost have started blooming now! They're closer to the proper size than those in the corner garden.

We had rain all afternoon, so it was inevitable that my official sunflower shots involve water droplets.

3 August, 2011

I know, Thursday is my sunflower day, not Wednesday. However, one of the corner garden plants bloomed on Wednesday--the first flower of the year. Thus, lacking inspiration, I decided to document our first bloom.

This is what I'm calling a "mini mammoth." It's one of the dinkiest mammoth greystripe's I've ever seen, but it (and its minuscule brethren) ought to still get seeds, which will make the birds happy.


So that you all have a size reference, this right here is a comparison between my hand and the flower--and anyone that knows me realizes that I actually have a rather small hand. Not a very big flower at all.

2 August, 2011

Today's assignment was not happening. Despite the fact that yellow was something we did recently, I did try to find a good opportunity. The one thing I did find was lacking proper lighting, so the photos did not turn out.

My alternative? Front yard. I had a hard time getting my camera's focus to cooperate, but I did what I could. And then decided I felt like editing my shot up to get the colors and composition right.

1 August, 2011

It wasn't a particularly good day for photography opportunities... And I was lacking inspiration. Bad combination.

This right here is my new stereo. Got it for my birthday. It's so nice--this one doesn't spit CDs at me! It actually plays 'em!