42/365 - The Yellow Door

I had a hard time choosing which edit I wanted to post of this picture because I wasn't sure if I liked the vibrant, rich, saturated edit more then this muted, toned down version. I finally decided on the toned down version, just because. There was also a sign posted on this door that I photoshopped out because I thought it just looked better. Don't look too close...it was a quick job. :)

41/365 - Abandoned

I went back to The Academy building today and it started sprinkling as soon as I got there. I quickly walked around the building and took pictures anyway. This is my favorite side of the building. I think it's beautiful.

Day 40 - January 29, 2011 - The Academy

This brick building is awesome. The other side of it is completely overgrown with ivy and ferns. The windows up top are all broken and the ones down below are boarded up. I took a lot of pictures here but I'll have to go back and shoot it again because I was looking through my pictures and noticed where I can change the composition a bit to get better photos. This one could be improved too. Because of where I was standing, it looks like the "Academy" tower is leaning, when really it's not. You live, you learn.

Day 39 - January 28, 2011 - Interstate Bridge

I chose this picture today (taken yesterday) because I love all the lines and textures, the green reflection of the bridge in the water and the clouds. It's not the best angle to shoot this bridge, but I was focusing more on the sky and the picture as a whole.

Day 38 - January 27, 2011 - St. John's Catholic Church

I dropped my husband off at the airport this morning and brought my camera along so that I could take some pictures there. But as soon as we got onto the 205 bridge it was apparent by the thick layer of fog, that wasn't going to happen. I left a little disappointed, but drove around until I thought of somewhere else I could go. I ended up going to Officer's Row, the waterfront near the I-5 bridge, the train station, the Academy, downtown Vancouver and back to the waterfront. I went to a lot of places today that I will most definitely return to again and soon, they were awesome for picture taking.

After all the fog cleared, the clouds in the sky were insane and I couldn't let them go to waste. The picture I chose today is of a beautiful church that I've been wanting to photograph forever. While driving around, I saw the steeple from a few blocks away and knew that today was the day.

Day 37 - January 26, 2011 - Morning Frost

This afternoon I decided to walk up to the park near my house to take pictures and brought my dog Lucy along. I didn't want to bring my huge camera bag with me, so I shoved my camera into my old camera bag which is tiny and barely fit my new camera. It also meant that I had to leave my zoom lens home. Big mistake! Lesson learned - again! There were so many things that I needed that lens for! But I did the best I could with what I had. It was a little hard to hold the camera steady while holding the leash with my other hand trying to keep my dog as still as possible when all she wanted was to run and explore. If there had been anybody else in the park today it would have been pretty entertaining to watch.

Day 36 - January 25, 2011 - Fallen

I know I said yesterday that I was going to mix it up a little bit, but I'm posting a tulip picture again today. It's not that I didn't go out and take pictures because I did  - and then I came home and took some more of my tulips!

Day 35 - January 24, 2011 - More Tulips

I have to say that I really enjoy taking pictures of flowers. I never knew how much until now. It's earned a spot on my list of favorite things to photograph. This is the 3rd straight day of a tulip photo....sorry! I'll try to mix it up a little bit more the rest of the week.

Day 34 - January 23, 2011 - Bouquet In the Sky

I guess I better post something before I forget.

Day 33 - January 22, 2011 - Two Lips

Yesterday was my birthday and I decided that I wanted flowers since I don't get them - ever! I can't believe how cheap they are. I will be buying them a lot more often, that's for sure. I decided on tulips because they are my favorite flower. The buds opened overnight and I took them out this morning to take pictures. This particular one is HDR.

Day 32 - January 21, 2011 - For Sale

While I was driving around in Battle Ground the other day I passed by this grange. The parking lot was empty, so I flipped a U-turn and headed back. It's not the prettiest thing or cleanest, but I still thought it would make a good picture. I was wrong. I have edited it so many times and haven't found one way I like it yet, but it's still my photo for today. Oh and in case anybody is interested, it's for sale.  :)

Day 31 - January 20, 2011 - On the Right Track

I can't tell you how many times I have driven past this train car...and with my camera sometimes, just dying to take a picture of it! I was too big of a weenie to stop and take pictures though because sometimes there are guys out working on the tracks, (which would have been a cool picture too), it's on a busy street and I wanted a cool cloudy sky. All sorry excuses, I know, so yesterday I parked my car and walked down to this beautiful train. I brought only my zoom lens and left the other in the car because I didn't think that I needed it. It turns out that I did, (isn't that always the case),  but I took some pictures anyway. I wish I had been able to get the whole train in the picture (note to self: bring other lens with you - ALWAYS) but it is what it is. I took yesterdays picture of the farm thingy and this train in HDR. I love me some HDR!

*UPDATE*
I re-edited this train picture and wanted to share that version because I can't decide which one I like more.

Day 30 - January 19, 2011 - Thingy

I had a ton of things that I should have been doing this morning, but I decided to go out and take pictures. Good for me, right?! It was nice just driving around without a particular destination in mind. I drove down streets that I have never been down before and saw the most beautiful, old, rusty, dirty, wet and broken things. I wish I could have taken more time and explored a bit more because I was having a great time. I was able to stop at some of the places I wanted, but others are going to have to wait until the sun is out...for a certain look that I have in mind. I'm going to save some of the other pictures I took today for a rainy day - like tomorrow, because that's how I roll. I know what the rules of this project are, but it's rainy most of the time and this is my blog and I can do what I want.  :)

I'm not sure what this is pictured, ( I call it a thingy) but I think it's some sort of farm equipment that might be used for cutting tall grasses or something because it had a big blade on it. You can kind of see it covered in grass or moss towards the bottom left. (Click the picture to enlarge). It was weird because it also had a a hitch in the front, so maybe it was pulled behind something. I took it from a lot of different angles, that show what I'm talking about a little better, but this is the one I chose to post. Hope you likey! Oh, and I might re-edit this later to get the sky blended together a little better.

And if you know what it is I would love to know!

Day 29 - January 18, 2011 - Polka Drops

I really need to get out more...or it needs to stop raining, one of the two. This is the 3rd time (3rd times the charm right?) that I've photographed this plant for this project and it's only Day 29. I have a feeling this is going to be a long winter.

Day 28 - January 17, 2011 - Blue Moss

I wasn't happy with any pictures that I took today and almost posted this one in it's original version, but I decided to process it a little more until I was satisfied enough to post it. This is a picture of a patch of moss with spiky things poking out of the top of it - inverted, then played with the color a little bit.

Day 27 - January 16 , 2011 - Happy Tree

Have you ever seen a tree smile?

Day 26 - January 15, 2011 - Fountain of Pooh

I went outside with my tripod, camera and umbrella today and I can't say that I look forward to doing that again. That was craziness, so I dropped the tripod and set my camera to AEB and took 3 pictures holding as steady as I could, because I wanted to do this particular subject in HDR. This Pooh fountain appeared one day because we were holding on to it for some friends that moved. As it turned out - they didn't want it...go figure...and we got stuck with it. Stupid Pooh fountain.

Day 25 - January 14, 2011 - Stuck

There was a slight wind blowing as I was looking around for something to photograph today and a lone leaf, stuck in my back fence was dancing in the breeze almost as if it were trying to free itself. It instantly became my subject. I took some pictures and went inside to edit them and noticed that I really didn't like the composition, so I went back out and took a few more. I think I have been really hard on myself with this project, because I know I can do better. Better with photographing because my favorite part has been the processing as of late...maybe it always has been...I can't recall, but I can process pictures all day long. Sometimes I wonder if I process my pictures too much, so today I kept it simple -I colorized and desaturated. (I changed the picture after I posted. I just like this one better).

Day 24 - January 13, 2011 - Untitled

I haven't been feeling well, so I've been curled up in bed watching a little instant Netflix today. Picture 24 wasn't a priority on my to do list today (actually nothing was) so I was going to post a picture that I took earlier this week. Before I did, I looked outside and as my luck would have it...no rain. Let me tell you, it's getting harder and harder to find things of interest in my yard to photograph. So this is it, part of my garden trellis. (It hurts to think so I will title it later). Back to Netflix!

Day 23 - January 12, 2011 - Between the Lines

Rain, rain go away! I'm having a hard time taking pictures today. Have I mentioned how much I DO NOT like taking pictures inside? I'm doing so many things wrong, from the lighting, to the subject matter (never interesting) to getting my camera to work how I want it to. I was getting so frustrated to the point where I was looking around for my old camera...my trusty old camera - because it would always do what I wanted it to do. Unfortunately or fortunately (however you want to look at it) I never found it - so I was forced into setting things up in a way that I knew would work. I took my subject outside! I stayed under the eaves to protect my camera, but I was able to capture a picture for today! I'm just glad project 23 is over...no looking back. 

Day 22 - January 11, 2011 - Frozen

I had a ton of work to screen print and ship out today...(stupid drop shipments. I'm so done with you!) and I knew that it would be dark by the time I got done working so I had to get some early camera time. Today was rushed and the only thing that caught my eye was this little plant. It had a few droplets of water still on it from the day before, but the droplets had frozen overnight and were little ice balls. Kind of cool.

Day 21 - January 10, 2011 - Only Two

It was a sunny day today, with fluffy clouds painted across the beautiful blue sky. Everywhere I looked I saw a picture just waiting to be taken. Unfortunately, my kids had a two hour late start and I had a lot of work to do. I brought my camera along as I ran errands, then dropped the last boy off at school around noon. I made my way to Portland to pick up supplies for work and probably passed a half dozen bridges along the way. The bridges, the water, the boats, the buildings, and Mt. Hood all looked amazing with its shadows and sunlight. I saw so many things to take pictures of, but I never stopped.  I don't know my way around Portland well enough to know where to go to get the shot that I want and I was on a schedule. I even saw a cloud that looked like a jellyfish. Once I got home I took some pictures and everything I took pales in comparison to what I saw earlier. It's disappointing, but I always have tomorrow to try again.

Day 20 - January 9, 2011 - Hardly Noticeable

I've been having a hard time finding things to take pictures of every single day. This project is really taking me out of my photography comfort zone, which is a good thing. I don't think I have a big range with my photography, which isn't necessarily bad, but I'm looking at this project a little differently now, especially after exploring on Flickr. I could spend all day on there just looking at pictures. There are some pretty amazing photographers out there. It's very inspiring. I want to grow as a photographer and try new things and I want to see beauty in things that I wouldn't normally see beauty in. So when I went outside with my camera today I walked out with a new perspective. I had no idea what I was going to photograph. I was walking down the steps from my back deck looking frantically around, when this unique leaf caught my eye. It was on the ground laying in a small pile of leaves and camouflaged, the only one of it's kind. It's different and I loved that I noticed something that was hardly noticeable.

Day 19 - January 8, 2011 - Macro Failure

I forgot how simple and beautiful macro shots can be, so I went outside this morning with the intent to take some. Funny thing is, that I don't know my camera or lenses well enough to know how to take them yet. It has a macro setting, but has a hard time focusing on the part I want it to focus on. Then I change lenses and I can't zoom in enough, so I change back and it won't focus on the subject again. Pretty frustrating. I'll just have to practice a lot more, which is fine. That's what this whole blog is about - using my camera everyday in hopes of becoming a better photographer. Practice, practice, practice. So after I failed miserably with the macro shots, I took pictures of anything and everything and here is a picture of "anything". :)

Day 18 - January 7, 2011 - Books Rock!

Earlier this week Ashton, my 8 year old, came home VERY excited to enter a Bookmark Contest put on by the library. They choose winners in every grade from K-8, frame their bookmarks and print them out and have them available at the main library here in Vancouver.

He wanted me to help him, so we brainstormed some ideas, he sketched a few rough drafts and still wasn't happy with any of the ideas. Finally, yesterday we came up with "Books Rock!", but he wasn't sure how to draw it onto paper. I sketched something really quick and he took what I did to make this beautiful bookmark! He did a great job and was very pleased with himself. I didn't get a chance to scan it, so I took a picture of it before he took it to school this morning.

Day 17 - January 6, 2011 - Bridge across the Coumbia River

We got a break in the rain for a little bit this morning and I had to drop some books off at the library, so I decided to bring the camera and tripod along. I went down to Vancouver's waterfront and took a few pictures of the I-5 bridge and other things in the area. The sky was overcast and things looked blah as far as color goes, so I decided to shoot in JPEG and in RAW just to see the difference I guess. The color is more enhanced, but I'm going to need to experiment more with RAW files before I get a better understanding of what I'm working with. Anyway, this is an HDR image shot in RAW and then edited.

Day 16 - January 5, 2011 - Black & White Barn

It was pouring rain today, which is a nice break from the freezing weather, but it doesn't make for good shooting conditions. I kind of like my camera and didn't want to get it soaking wet so I stayed inside today. Inside pictures are just not my thing so I'm going to break the rules and post a picture that I took Monday. I could post a crap picture that I took today, but I'm a little tired of setting up my camera in my living room window and taking pictures of my neighbors cars. It's getting quite boring and I want to post something different.

I was in Brush Prairie, on my way to help my mom with some things at work when I saw this barn not too far from the road and pulled over. There were houses on either side of it and I didn't want to trespass, although I would have loved to shoot the barn at an interesting angle or even go exploring inside.

Day 15 - January 4, 2011 - A Self Portrait

It was overcast this morning and FREEZING, so I decided not to venture out of the house today to take pictures. I have a couple places in mind that I want to photograph, but I think we're expecting rain for tomorrow and the rest of the week so it might be awhile before I'll be able to. I have pretty much photographed everything here at home of any interest visually, so I decided to take a self portrait. I needed a new profile picture for facebook anyway. :)

Day 14 - January 3, 2011 - Rustified

I love cars! I love them rusty, classic or new. I'll even admit my love of the AMC Pacer. It's one of my favorite cars. I even have a hot wheels collection. I started it over 16 years ago. That's how much I love cars. So, I guess it was just a matter of time before my love of photography led me to photograph another love of mine....automobiles.

For the last couple of weeks I've been driving by this old truck admiring it and it's coolness. Finally this morning I grabbed my camera and tripod and headed out. It was in somebody's driveway and I didn't want to be intrusive so I parked a little ways from it and walked down the sidewalk to it. I set up my tripod and took a few pictures. I kind of rushed because it was about 27 degrees outside (was not dressed for it) and I wanted to get out of there before I was noticed. I had to do a little cropping but here's the final result.

Day 13 - January 2, 2011 - St John's Bridge

A little over 16 years ago, my husband Anson, and I stood under the St. John's Bridge in Portland, Oregon and took our engagement pictures. Back then Anson was the one into photography and took the pictures. Today we went back under the same bridge and I was the one with the camera. We should have taken a picture of ourselves there (I didn't think about it until now), but the sun was going down quickly and it was about 32 degrees outside and my fingers were frozen and red by the time we left.

Day 12 - January 1, 2011 - Keep on Truckin'

Not much, not even pretty, but I took it today and that's all that matters.