Wednesday, February 22, 2012

project 366 - february highlights

I restarted my daily photography project, though instead of only self-portraits, I'm now allowing myself to do the point my camera at cool things in nature that I like to do--especially on bad hair days. Also, I know February isn't over yet, but if I take any more really cool pictures, I can always edit the post.

As with all things requiring commitment and time, I keep wondering whether I should just scrap it, but I look back at all the pictures I took for the last project I did, and I know that I got a bunch of cool shots I otherwise would have never gotten. Not to mention how much it taught me about self portraits and editing.

So anyway, to keep myself motivated, here are those 'cool shots I wouldn't have taken otherwise', i.e. my favorites so far this project.



in the shadow jester's court

day 1

day 1: These two have to top the list, just because I'm so exceptionally pleased with how they turned out. And they kind of proved to me that even if I don't have the patience or time for elaborate set ups every day and my house is a mess, I can still get some really cool photos by taking the time to try.


day 9 - tangle

day 9: I just love how this one turned out. It goes with what I love about photography, how something so simple as a few drops of water on a string can be so artistic. Also, you may notice a theme with colors--I like blue/purple processing right now. :)


day 17 - blown away

day 17: This is a big reason why I like knowing a bit of how to use my camera, now that I've taken a photography class. Had I been shooting in auto, I never would have gotten this shot. Knowing when to over or underexpose is a big part of being good at photography. I actually don't think I needed to edit this picture at all, which is always cool. Also, look, I dyed my hair red again!


day 15

day 15: I've been experimenting with tones to try and make my edits look more like they enhance the original photo, rather than overpower it, and that's what I like about this photo: I was able to get the greens to pop without altering the original too drastically.


day 3 - other side of the fence

day 3: And finally, to show that sometimes all of that planning is overpowered by luck, here's a silly photo of my next door neighbor's dog that I really love. I was spending some time exploring a different shot when he came bounding over to say hi. I got one shot, with no time to adjust my aperture, my zoom, anything, and that one shot worked better than any of the ones I'd meticulously chosen all my settings on. Sometimes, it just works out like that.

Now, I hope I can look back on these if I'm feeling like I should stop, and picture what wouldn't have been had I given in to that impulse earlier. Because if I'm going to ever complete one of these daily photo projects, I'm going to need all the motivation and  reminders that I can get!
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Listening to: Cymbeline by Loreena McKennitt--my writing music, which is what I should be doing. But this blog has been long overdue for an update, so I'll justify it.

2 comments:

  1. I like seeing the pictures again, and all in one place. They're pictures I do enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like the last photo of the dog - I think the framing of his face is perfect.

    Also, writing as blog post totally counts as writing. Or that's what I tell myself.

    ReplyDelete

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