Not Really a Photo a Day Anymore

But I LOVE how this came out.

It's the new banner for my button business's Facebook page. And my experiment in perspective and focus. Nifty!

A Photo a Day: Day 31

Ending this experiment/month with a cheat.

My daughter took this picture with her "toy" camera. And I love it.

A Photo a Day: Day 30

Photos photos photos!

Mr. Moo and his favorite mousie!

I set up what was, as far as I'm concerned, a gorgeous shot here - the beautiful blurred trees in the background, the lovely light. And my girl? She would either look at her camera or look around or wiggle or stick out her tongue (no, not on purpose) etc etc etc. But hey, I still love this shot (and the others that I'm not sharing here).

A Photo a Day: Day 29

It's almost the end of the month and I've posted a new picture almost every single day!

I think I'll keep going. Why not, right? A post a day keeps the traffic uh......arriving?

Today I went on a photo walk and made myself just sling the camera over my shoulder (with its new comfy AND cute AND long strap from Crafty Staci, that's not hard at all) and just go. What good are things you own if you don't use them? (I also now have an iPhone after many years of Android use - which I did by default, iPhones are expensive and I couldn't afford them until last week when I scored a new 5S for $150 directly from Virgin Mobile to go with my $35/month unlimited plan so - and I threw a case on it, incorrectly put a screen protector on it (I'll fix it...soon), and shoved in my pocket. No babying this thing!)

I took many pictures. Here are a few of my favorites:

Decatur is home to Pete the Cat - he may be famous worldwide now, but he's from here - and I have always loved taking pictures of this Little Free Library that features him. I worked really hard to get the bokeh going. I would actually consider printing and framing the top one, honestly.

And then just a few more odds and ends:

Thrifting Post AND Photos from Today: Day 28

As promised, LOTS of photos today to make up for the lack of photos yesterday.

Yesterday I went to three thrift stores but only bought things at one - the doggie/kitty awesome seekrit fabulous store. AND WAS IT EVER FABULOUS.

As always, I don't know the exact prices on most things, but when I know, I'll list them.

Not shown - until I can get it out of the dryer and take a pic - one pair of brown cords for the kid.

All pictures taken with the DSLR and tweaked in Photoshop, which is why there's no excuse for the poor quality of some of them, oops. I may update them in the future - I was overwhelmed today because I also just got a new iPhone 5S and was setting it up and settling into it, moving from Android to iOS (I'm pretty familiar with iOS already and the transferring of contact info was pretty easy, hooray). (I got a deal as far as I'm concerned - a new 5S for $150 added on to the $35/month unlimited service from Virgin Mobile that I've had for forever. UNLIMITED - and the data throttle threshold is so high I never reach it. Nice, eh?)

Plain green shirt - but it's J Crew so it's a good, STRONG plain green shirt.

Pink waffle shirt that Amy said matches my hair, which....it does.

Hard-to-photograph black waffle shirt with 3/4 sleeves. LOVE.

Faux-vintage Star Wars shirt. The purple looks really good with my hair, don't care. Also it fits me well.

FAVORITE #1: FOX SWEATER. It's a little bit and a little boxy but it's SO CUTE with a tank top under it. Also soft.....ALSO FOX.

I did a little dance in the fitting room with this. It's also maybe a smidge big but way soft and so frilly and flowy and adorable.

Another impossible-to-photograph thing: A Guess sweater that is so fancy it has a little silver charm at the middle edge of the back of the collar. It's black and silver/gold sparkly. It has belt loops that I may clip off but I kind of like the idea of belting it. (The sweater goes below my hips in a cute way.) Update: It's this. Now I know what style belt to copy.

Plain dark blue T-shirt.

FAVORITE #2: LOOK AT THIS BELT. It was 50 cents. That buckle is giant and heavy. The belt itself is stamped leather and the buckle removes easily. I just...had to.

AND NOW THE BEST, MOST AMAZING FINDS OF THE DAY....

ARE YOU READY?

Boots!!!! IN MY SIZE. They look new - the soles are flawless. They are leather. They are a high-end brand. They are brown. They FIT. AND????? They were $4.50 for the pair. BUT WAIT!

MORE BOOTS! (I will...eventually take a better picture.) These are Clarks, black, leather, fit me, soft, comfy... ALSO $4.50 for the pair. PERFECTION.

Boots, fox sweater, sparkly black sweater, cute cardi, fancy belt, more more more....I spent about $30 TOTAL. WOOHOO!

A Photo a Day: Day 26

When you don't bring your camera on a walk, your blog readers suffer with pictures of your lunch.

Roasted cauliflower with buffalo wing sauce. Sometimes it comes out just OK, this time it came out beautifully.

Zoodle bowl - spiralized zucchini noodles (using my Inspiralizer - that's a referral link bee tee dubs), red peppers, carrots, with a peanut butter sauce inspired by Tasty on FB. (There are also rice paper wrappers ripped up and mixed in - I simply can NEVER get rolls right so I just throw it all together.)

I connected with someone today (who may be lurking, hi!) and I may take a class with her to learn the finer points of my camera. I feel like I can do so much more with it.....

A Photo a Day: Day 25

I took what I think is an EXCELLENT action shot - alas, of a neighbor's son running and playing with a Nerf gun. I don't feel right sharing it....

But I am working slowly on leaving Av mode behind and moving on to fully manual mode. Starting to understand the balance between ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. I'm getting there.

Here, have a mirror selfie I took a few days ago.

I really can't wait to get a tripod and remote....

A Photo a Day: Day 24

Another picture from yesterday, tweaked slightly in le Photoshoppe.

It's my friend's kid but I felt that because you can't see this child's face, it was OK to post.

I like the contrast in the colors here.

A Photo a Day: Day 23

Here in Georgia, we got a teeny, tiny snowstorm - but it was enough to have a little fun.

This was me getting over my "camera might break" fear. I had it out in the cold and ice and snow and I just snapped away.

A Photo a Day: Day 22

Back on track!

My husband is a voiceover artist and he wanted a picture of his new microphone in his studio. He and I both took photos with the camera, and in the end he went with one he took himself, but I think (I think!) I shot this one and I like it and so I'm claiming it.

It was difficult in the low light. The shot he eventually chose did use the flash, but this one didn't (because right now I don't have any tools to diffuse/redirect the flash, so I am trying to avoid it as much as possible).

I tweaked it slightly in Photoshop - levels, color, contrast, sharpening, brightening.

I think the framing could've been improved slightly, but I love the focus.

A Photo a Day: Day 20

I spent the entire day today taking care of something and didn't have time to take any pictures. But I'm a determined lady, yes I am.

FatMumSlim's prompt was "Patterns" today, this was my submission, it's from a few days ago, lalala.

Also:

• My new camera strap arrived! It's much longer than the standard Canon one I had so I can wear the camera cross-body, but also ADORABLE. Double sided - one side is multicolored birds, one side is plain turquoise. It's from CraftyStaci on Etsy and I LOVE IT. Photos soon.
• Someone suggested a few photography podcasts to me today and I'm looking forward to listening and learning more. (The downside: I already have too many podcasts AND I have the Welcome to Night Vale audio book out of the library - when will I have time to listen to all the things????)

A Photo a Day: Day 19

I took about 100 pictures of my daughter after school and the session was valuable in that I learned some things, including how to read one specific setting in the viewfinder and....that her wigglyness (that is TOO a word!) plus my inexperience plus my kit lens plus low light = blurry pictures no matter what I do. Faster shutter speed? Picture is too dark. Higher ISO? Picture is noisy. Aperture helps but not enough. So I don't have any pictures of her to share (nor to use in the photo book I'm putting together for my grandmother for her 90th birthday - I just need 2 more pictures and I cannot get those last 2 pictures for the life of me).

So here's a picture I took of my lunch that I then shared on Instagram. It was yummy and involved a different obsession of mine, spiralizing. It was a simple throw-things-in-the-pot-without-measuring hot and sour broth, onions, spiralized zucchini, leftover noodles, and one perfect egg.

I have the Inspiralizer (a referral link), by the way, and I absolutely love it. I used the Paderno three-blade spiralizer (also a referral link) for a year before upgrading, and it was fine, and it's less expensive as well. But there was a sale on the Inspiralizer at the end of last year and I'd been eyeing it for some time so I went for it and it is absolutely better in almost all ways. Sometimes my counter and its clamps/base are not friends - but when they do work together, the results are perfect and much better than the standard suction cups. It's sharper, it's cleaner, it's smaller, I love it. I'm in awe of how Ali has built her blog and brand up and turned it into a multi-channel business. She has the blog, the tool, a cookbook (and another on the way), meal plans, partnerships with restaurants....it's very impressive!

The weather is simply not cooperating for lots of photo-practice. I'm also wondering...what next? Where do I want to go with my photography? Because just posting pictures on screens....that's not it. Learning learning learning.....

A Photo a Day: Day 18

I need to get more comfortable with bringing my camera places without fear that it will somehow break. (The thing is, it's not replaceable - I got it used for a great deal and new ones cost 3-4 times as much.) I didn't bring it to the hockey game today - and I should've, but I was afraid of things like people stepping on it or spilling beer on it. It would've been fine though. Next time.

So instead you get another picture from the Decatur series. I don't know how I got this gorgeous lens flare to happen but I LOVE IT.

A Photo a Day: Day 17

I'm determined to post a picture a day for all of January - but I didn't take any photos today.

So this is from yesterday.

A Photo a Day: Day 16

We went to play on the square today, and the weather was gorgeous, so I finally had a chance to take some city pictures.

These - and more - are going to replace the taken-with-my-phone pictures that I use on many of my bottle openers that I sell locally.

Two favorites - this is a a sculpture and also a steam fountain, and it's a delight to photograph:

I also really like this one (which I've run through a few filters/Actions) - but I know that with a better lens it really could've been amazing. I think right now it looks a bit flat and I wish the pillar in the foreground popped and/or that the background was a little less in focus. Still, I like it.

A Photo a Day: Day 15

It was cold, rainy, and disgusting outside.

The FatMumSlim photo prompt was "Mail" so I came up with this...

A Photo a Day: Day 14

My kid got a haircut today so I ran around like the paparazzi and played with my camera's settings. I still am trying to learn why when I set it to aperture priority, I can take great shots, but if I go to either shutter priority or manual, I often get shots that are VERY dark, despite my best efforts. I'll get it.

Anyway, this is one of my favorite shots from the haircut:

Another dilemma - the warmth/coolness of the tones in the pictures. I ran this through Photoshop, and the original was much warmer. Part of me really likes that. But possibly that's too yellow/orange/red? And this seems more accurate. I also am figuring out how much sharpening I like - I can do it manually or I can use one of a few Actions I've now accumulated. But sometimes sharpened looks fake. And sometimes it looks enhanced in a good way.

I was thinking about how my wedding was shot on film - I insisted, and I bet we were one of the last weddings our photographer shot on film - and how even there, our photographer tweaked the final images we purchased (vs. the raw proofs) and how tweaking is OK and even necessary. But I'm trying to learn how much is just right. I hope to develop that eye over time.

I've had this camera for two weeks. I'm having an amazing time with it.

A Photo a Day: Lucky 13

This is my daughter walking unassisted at physical therapy.

I love it.

OK so while I of course love that she is WALKING! WALKING UNASSISTED! I also love this shot. The background is a little blurry, you can see the motion in her body, but her torso is perfectly in focus. If I were faster, I'd have set the focus point a little differently, maybe. And yet....this is, to me, exactly what I was trying to capture.

A Photo a Day: Day 12

I took one picture today (OK technically I clicked the shutter a few times - I kept one of them) - of my lunch.

Spiralized turnip, spinach, garlic, "tofu cutlet," parmesan. It was so good. Also this picture's histogram was fantastic. Photoshopped: Cropped to square (I put it on Instagram with an Instagram filter over it) and sharpened.

I also Photoshopped a picture from yesterday that was blurry yet still awesome. I turned it from a bad picture into a little bit of art.

See where it says my blog name? That's just placeholders for her album name and her name, obviously. Or her zine title.

I also watched some tutorial videos on YouTube, loaded the camera's software onto my computer (may never use it but it's the only way - for now - that I can access raw files), and spent some time on Etsy looking at various camera bags and straps. I have a gift card generously given to me for my birthday and I think I've found what I want to get. But I'm going to wait a few days before hitting purchase, just in case.

What I really need to do is go on a photo safari of my little city - I took phone pictures a few years back and used them on my line of bottle openers and pocket mirrors that I sell at the artist co-op. I can do so much better with that now. But it's cold here. Thursday looks promising...

A Photo a Day: Day 11

I got some lovely shots of my kid (some overexposed, some blurry, all fun) but I'm going to share this one of my cat instead. He was in my lap and wouldn't move. I all but put the lens on his nose to get this shot. A tiny bit blurry (fixed a tinier bit with sharpening in Photoshop). A lot of love in it. I had the settings...almost right.