Project 365 Day 6 - January 6th

I have been shooting photos off and on all day.  I wasn't totally sure what I wanted today's photo to be so I figured I'd give myself several options.  By the time I'd spent some time outside with my family, I figured I'd have at least one photo to choose from.  

It wasn't until we were walking back inside and I turned around to make sure my 2-year old was staying caught up with us that my photo for today caught my eye.  We have very traditional style lamp posts in our apartment complex, but the way the light and the clouds looked in the background looked so pretty.  The sun setting behind the trees silhouetted the lamp post and the trees in a way that made me know I'd found my shot!

Project 365 Day 5 - January 5th

After school today, I decided to take my daughter outside exploring with me to find some inspiration for today's photo.  We found flowers, a bird nest (which we may go back to tomorrow), and several other things.  Right before we went inside, I spotted an above ground water pipe-thing (not totally sure what it is) that peaked my interest.  It had a lot of rounded edges, old chipped paint, and other rustic details that I loved.  My daughter thought I'd lost my mind as I started moving around and snapping from different angles.  It was even better since it was about an hour before sunset and the sun was starting to slowly fade out.  It made for neat shadows and lighting on the photos.  

Yes, I said photos - plural.  Once again, I had too many favorites to narrow it down.  So here is a collage that I narrowed down to 5 of my most favorite shots.

I'm off to a good start as we near the end of Week 1... can't wait to see what Week 2 brings!

Project 365 Day 4 - January 4th

My original plan for my photo today was to snap a photo of something while out on the walking trail tonight.  Unfortunately, reality hit that trying to get a decent photo in the dark (or even spot something that I really wanted to shoot) wasn't likely to happen.

I figured I'd just come home and find a shot somewhere around the house.  I had my camera with me when I went to check the mail just in case - my camera goes pretty much everywhere with me anyway.  You never know when an opportunity may arise.  Out in front of the office of our apartment complex, I came across the flowerbeds in full bloom, despite the crazy weather we've been having.  There was one particular stem that caught my eye:

I was intrigued that coming from the same stalk, there were blooms that were completely dead, partially dead, and just coming to bloom.  It made me think of a phoenix and how something new grows out of the ashes of the old.  

Just a note of something funny I noticed as I was scanning through my photos to choose one - if you look at the dead flower the right way, it almost looks like an evil monkey.  LOL  It reminds me of the evil monkey from Family Guy.

Project 365 Day 3 - January 3rd

I tried to go with just one picture today.  Unfortunately, I was feeling inspired by the trees around our apartments and could not narrow the selection down. Because of that, I chose to do a collage with my favorites.

My goal was to shoot from angles other than those that are typical for outdoor photos.  I also tried to use the sunlight to my advantage, which worked beautifully, especially on the bottom shot.

Project 365 Day 2 - January 2nd

Our family traditionally leaves the Christmas decorations up through New Year's Day.  On January 1st, they come down.  Unfortunately, due to my hubby working and the wedding I shot yesterday, there was little time for taking down anything.  That left the undesirable task for today, despite all of the other things I needed to get done.

I have a love/hate relationship with my holiday decorations.  I love to put them up every year, especially since it signals the start of the holiday season.  However, I absolutely hate the part where I have to take them down.  It's almost bittersweet as I'm reminded that the holidays are over and it's time to get back to reality.

Today, as I packed up the interior decorations (the outside stuff is my hubby's job), I was compelled to pull out my camera and snap a few photos.

The photo on the left is all of the lights and decor from our Christmas tree.  To make things as simple as possible in regards to putting up the tree every year, all of the ornaments, lights, beads, ribbon, and topper go into one storage bin.

The photo on the right is our tree, possibly going in for the last time.  I purchases this tree for Christmas 2003, the year I was pregnant with my daughter.  For three years I've been wanting to purchase a larger tree, but after this year, I may not have a choice.  This one has started to shed small "twigs" of its branches and will likely become a tree for the patio next year rather than being used as our main family tree.

Updates and a New Year

Okay, so I've gotten the tabs up and running for each of my various blogs.  Unfortunately, the best I have been able to come up with thus far is to include a link on each page for the different blogs in each category.  I will be using the main page of this blog to still post random thoughts and things from time to time, as well as some updates on what our family is up to as we start another new year.

Project 365 Day 1 - January 1st

It's time to "ring in" another New Year!  I did just that - literally.  I did the photography for a wedding today so knew without thinking twice that today's photo would include the couple's wedding rings.

Many people think that a New Year's Day wedding would be odd.  I have to admit that at first I thought the same thing.  I also thought, after hearing it was going to be an outdoor wedding, that we were going to freeze. Somehow, regardless of all of the crazy weather we have had lately, Mother Nature provided a beautiful day free of rain and with temperatures in the high 60s.  That kind of weather is so unusual for the Florida Gulf coast that we were all shocked.

The reason the couple chose to have a New Year's Day wedding is because it's a tradition in the Groom's family.  His brother, parents, and several other family members have all gotten married on New Year's Day.  Sidney and Curtis thought it was appropriate to carry on the family tradition by getting married today.  It was neat to hear everyone telling the couple "Congratulations!" and in the same sentence telling other family members "Happy Anniversary!"  It was enough to make me wish my family had a tradition like that.