D-356 & D357 Merry Christmas Eve

I took this picture yesterday for the Daily Shoot Challenge:
The daily shoot
Make a photograph of something metal or metallic today with an emphasis on how light interacts with the surface.

These are my Christmas Stocking holders, they sit on the mantel and they are made of metal.


I am such a mean mom. I made my family take a group picture. LOL
They actually co-operated because I told them to wear what they wanted. Color did not matter because I was converting to black and white anyway.

There they are. My beautiful immediate family. I think their personalities really show. I just let everyone stand/sit where they wanted. I would have preferred to move Isabella to someones lap and maybe change a pose or two, but everyone was happy and I didn't want to mess with that. I mean look at Isabella's face, she's actually smiling! Two shots and I was done,
but here are two out takes while I tested the lights
I think they are funny

Isabella claimed her spot and did not want to move.

D-342 & 343 Moody light

I have to agree with Nikhil's comments yesterday on my "Good enough" post
he said: "The whole point of this project (at least to me) is to challenge yourself. If you are just doing what you always do well, you are not really improving, just staying where you are." That is where I've been the last couple of days. That being said, let me now say that I've been really thinking long and hard about lighting. Not natural light, but dramatic lighting, and after that, Off cameral flash. That has been and continues to be struggle.

So I've learned that hard lights hit the subject hard and then fall off the subject pretty fast then the area surrounding the subject goes into darkness. I experimented with a flash light again. Here's my example:


and a different angle

I've adjusted levels in Photoshop and desaturated the image to add to the mood.

P.S. The pictures are strickly for art and not an endorsement of any religeous belief.

I'm also gonna start playing with that harsh light on subjects as soon as I get willing models.

So today at lunch time I wanted to experiment and see If I can get the same effect controling the aperature and the shutter speed. Yes, in a bright white snowy cementery you can still get dark and moody scenes.

VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS . . .

When the dark wood fell before me
And all the paths were overgrown
When the priests of pride say there is no other way
I tilled the sorrows of stone

I did not believe because I could not see
Though you came to me in the night
When the dawn seemed forever lost
You showed me your love in the light of the stars

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me
Loreena McKennet - Dante's Prayer


again I just desaturated and bumped levels just a tad.

D-337 Abandoned

City Methodist Church was shut down in the 70's due to a lack of attendance. There have been several fires in this structure but the building still stands. This structure stands 9 stories tall, The Church made unique use of commercial and office space, classrooms, meeting rooms, an auditorium and a large sanctuary. Storefronts were incorporated into the building. The main goal of this church was to help people in the community.

The church was built at a cost of more than $1 million by the Rev. William G. Seaman in 1926, built in English Gothic Style.
This information came from this site: Historic Buildings of Northwest Indiana

I will be uploading more images from this outing tomorrow.

This is my daughters best friend Alexis, she's an aspiring photographer/graphic designer. She is currently in college in Ohio. She has a great eye, I would say she's already a very good photographer. She's visiting for the holiday and we took her with us.

Yes it is snowing and yes it did get cold

there are more on my Flickr

Thanks to everyone who has shared their thoughts on the 365 Day project. I appreciate your comments.

D-335 A selfie but it's really about the hands

The daily shoot: The daily shoot #ds382 Make a photo today that features a hand in a creative way.

Here they are my hands holding a Spider mum. I have a couple more on flickr if you are interested in looking at them.




the watch is compliments of Miss Isabella. We had dinner at Mc D's and that was her free gift. She got an extra one so she gave it to me. I think I'll wear it to work tomorrow.
Viewed part of Creative live tonight. Great class, too bad I wasn't home for the beginning of it.
Viewed images David duChemin

D-334 Christmas Icicles

The daily shoot DS381 Use vignetting in a photograph today. Either add it in post (easier) or do it in camera via lens or lighting (harder).

Continuing the Christmas theme



Yesterday's image I used a flash, today only the available light on the tree.

Images viewed: Jer in the box

D-330 Point of View

The daily shoot:
#ds377 Go for an unusual point of view and make a photograph that can only be made from that viewpoint.
It really does matter where you are looking from. Sometimes you just have to change your point of view.



Not an unusual POV but her mom is on leave because of the holiday and we celebrated her 4th birthday party today - the look on Isabella's face says it all. She's happy to have her mom home reading her bedtime story.
Had I not changed my POV I would have missed this expression.

D-329 Box with Bokeh in Black & Whtie

The daily shoot -
DS#376 Containers, boxes, and packages. Make a photo with one or more as a subject and illustrate what they mean to you.

Jewelry box with Christmas Tree Bokeh in the background.


I'm glad I had a day off today so that I can spend 12 plus hours cleaning and decorating the house for Christmas :) What a mess.
Everything we tried to do just went wacky. LOL

High ISO (6400) because it's very late at night and I used the Christmas Tree as the background. Converted to Black and white so the the colors won't compete for attention. Too tired to use the off camera flash and the on board flash looked, well, just "flashy."

Images Viewed: David duChemin's portfolio

D-328 Thankful part 2

There is so much to be greateful for. I'm Thankful for family and friends, health, art, love, technologies. books . . . the list can go on and on.
Just taking a few moments to appreciate it all.

#ds375 Make a photograph today that documents your family or conveys how you think of your family




bounced flash off of the ceiling



Images Viewed: Urban & City Photography: 70 Dramatic Examples These are well worth a look at.

D-306 Create Balance

The daily shoot #351
The word balance has many meanings, literal and abstract. Pick one and make a photograph today.
■“Difficulties are opportunities to better things; they are stepping-stones to greater experience… When one door closes, another one always opens; as a natural law it has to, to balance.”

~ Brian Adams Quotes



I was trying to bring the feel of the ocean inside.

With winter rolling in our daylight hours are shorter and shorter. Pretty soon it will be dark by the time I get home from work so I'll have to get more creative with indoor images.
Read Professional photographer June 2010 Issue on "light it up."

D-300 wooohooo day 300!

69 days more to go . . .

Even though we've had severe "wind storms" I want to celebrate this wonderful fall weather. I love all of the colors of fall on the trees and I was afraid after today all of the leaves would fall because of the wind and the dropping temperatures.


Who says you cannot take pictures in full sun or in the direction of the sun?

I don't usually use extreme actions on my images (especially portraits)but sometimes, just sometimes it works.
This is another freebie from Coffeeshop called Orton


Today’s Daily Shoot assignment is:
Make a photograph today where vertical elements or lines dominate the scene.
Get out there, take a photograph, upload it, and tweet a link to @dailyshoot with the hashtag: #ds345

I ran Coffeeshops Moody pop and Orton on this one. It seems to fit the Halloween Theme.

D 294 Another play date

The daily shoot today: ds#339 Double your art today. Make a photo of something you've created or crafted

It's a project I made for my youngest daughter years ago. She requested those colors.It's framed. Every single seed bead is hand sewn.


My blog friend Shirley shared yesterday about Through the lens (TTL) texture she used on some of her photos which really made the images stand out. I tried it today using TTL texture by Breanna on Flickr
I really like the results


Today was our dinner/play date and of coarse it involved bubbles. The best activity ever, according to Miss Isabella.



I want to thank Nikhil for sending me this inspiration:Cheryl Jacobs Nicolai's

D 293 Indie & Trumpet flowers

Sometimes it's a good idea to carry your camera with you because you never know when an improptu photoshoot will inspire you.

My friend invited my to her house at lunch time today so that I can see her "blooming tree" She doesn't know what it's called. I say Trumpet Flower Tree - LOL
A weird time for a tree to bloom - but they are beautiful.


and my friends baby, Indie, who is normally very shy, came out to visit.

I'm not normally a cat person but Indie was cute.

Also sitting in her garden was this fellow.

D-292 A bump in the road

Day 292 of my 365 day project. My love for photograph and my desire to learn as much about photography as I can continues to grown. My commitment to be the best photographer that I can be is still strong. On the business side though, I have hit a bump in the road. Well, more like a road block. I continue to push forward but seem to be wearing out. So when this project is over I have committed to learning about the business aspect of photography. I have been looking for a mentor or mentors in the business area and have come up empty so far. I will continue looking and searching. I saw there are a few who charge but I'm not sure they offer what I'm looking for. If you have any suggestions please feel free to drop me a line.

Today's image was a little uninspiring.
The daily shoot: #ds336 Make a photograph of three items arranged in a composition that pleases you.
Some of our artwork.
Can you guess which one is mine?

I used a tri-pod tonight.



Images viewed: Karl Grobl
Karl is called a "photojournalist humanitarian" his images will touch you and some will pull at your heart strings. Worth the look. Take one of the photo slide tours while your there.

D-269 Friday Challenges

The daily shoot challenge #ds313 Make a photo of an interesting stack of books or magazines. Consider how you handle repeating lines in your composition. Also, Project 365 Face Book's challenges: Lines

These are my Rangefinder Magazines



Read: Seven Elements that Help Make a great Black & White Photo by Scott Bourne

Images viewed: Tru Shots

D-260 Shadows

I always work hard at avoiding shadows in my images - but guess what? Shadows add contrast to images, they add dimension and interest.
Today's Daily Shoot Challenge is: Hard shadows can emphasize texture and edges. Find a scene lit with hard shadows today and make a photo.

I didn't "Find" a scene I had to create one. Here's my entry:
Hard Shadows - little elephants




Read: Proper Use of Shadows in Picture Correct

Imogen Cunningham

D-250 Daily shoot

I went looking for my daily shoot today and met this little lady her name is Sophie she is 7 months old and very friendly.
I love Doxies!



The daily challenge
"Water sustains life. Color enhances life. Make a photo today combining color and water."


While reading Sasi's blog I noticed he has a blog follower who is very thorough in his comments and gives great advice so I took a look at his work. OMG! This guy calls himself an amateur but no, I wouldn't call him that. His images are rich, colorful and lots of contrast. Nakhil Ramkarran

Interesting read about the rights of photographers entering competitions. Worth the read Know your rights

D-245 Vintage Dress

This dress belonged to her grandmother (me) and her mom and aunt also wore it. It was originally a gift from my Godmother right after my baptism. My mom has saved it for many years.



I didn't take my time setting my camera up because photo shoots with this little one go really fast. Unfortunately my settings were ISO 1250 f22. Not ideal settings for studio work.

More in my flickr account.

D-226 Another week that flies by

As time goes by so quickly how are your project 365's going. How are your "New Years Resolutions" panning out? Have you revisited your goals, your dreams, your plans? It's much later than we think.

Today I tried to tie in two challenges. #1 The Daily shoot: "Make a photograph with a shallow depth of field today. Get in close if you need to force it with the lens you have."

also FB365 Challenge is "square".

I took a picture of a frame I have that hangs in my office. My MIL gave this to me. I can update it as often as I want. I have some of my 365 non-human pictures up there. I plan on changing it often. Every single image has lots of Shallow DOF, it also has a "square" in there that divides the pictures.


ISO 6400!

Read Nikon D-700 User's Manual pages 123-128



Images Viewed: Frank Frost

D-224 Picture of pictures

Since digital photography came along I see less and less of my images in print. So, this week I was happy to get an order in and actually hold these and relive the moment.
The daily shoot today:
Go meta and make a photo of a photo today. Don't just be a copy machine, however. Get creative with composition.
Look at this cutie




Read Nikon D-700 pgs 94-114
Images viewed: Va-Va-Voom

Miss Boudoir

D-216 Keeping the Vision clear

I've been reading Vision Mongers by David DuChemin and it's been very inspirational.
He's constantly reminding me to never lose sight of my dream. Sometimes the busyness of life clutters my sight.

I love girly girls and this one is definitely a girly girl!
She loves tea party's and dressing up. We had another Tea Party.



Don't forget it's Twitter Tuesday at Tasra Mar
Read: Nikon D-700 Users Manual pgs 53-74
Also half way through my Rangefinder magazine. Talk about inspiration!
Images viewed: I've been studying posing from advertisements.