Once again I found myself having to get creative to take a picture near the end of the day.  I had even planned out a location to visit during lunch but it did not turn out as I had hoped.  There is a memorial next to a small pond with a fountain at the intersection of two main roads in New Hartford, NY.  My initial plan was to visit this little park, snap a few pictures using the fountain as a background and enjoy a little time away from work.  Little did I know that there is no parking near this memorial.  I am not even sure where the closest place to park would have been.  No problem, I needed to go to Rome, NY for a dentist appointment after work I’m sure I can find something new to photograph in the city.

Wrong!  I drove around Rome trying to find this garden area I had heard about (sad that I have lived in this area for 21 years and do not know it very well at all!) but the light and my free time ran out before I discovered its location.  That was OK.  On the drive home from the dentist I had an idea to go out in the dark to play with the camera and flash.  My initial attempts a few weeks ago were promising but there is still some concepts I think I need to figure out.  This is the picture I was most happy with.

I think there was the opportunity for some other interesting pictures but my execution was not that great once I saw them on the computer.  As an exercise in using the flash, I did come away with some new knowledge and an interest to learn more.  Which is really what this 365 Project is all about.  Here is the other picture in contention for the day.

Standing outside in the dark trying to review each picture on the back of the camera I thought having the barb wire fence in the image would be good.  In practice though, it didn’t work.  I’m thinking if I had it lower in the picture and was able to remove some of the flash highlights it would have been better.

Like I mentioned earlier, it was still a good learning experience and I definitely want to try again.  When I consider that into the equation, maybe the day worked out better than I initially thought.  Hopefully today will be a different story…

I’m a little late getting this post up.  Yesterday just disappeared so fast.  The weekend was interrupted from its usual schedule so we ended up having to go out last night to finish up our normal errands.  Anyway, day 3 of my new journey didn’t quite go as planned.

I was looking to get out during lunch with my camera but the weather was not in the mood to cooperate.  Seeing how my camera does not have and weather protection and I was without a method to keep it dry I was limited to exploring when I got home.  This limited my options due to the shift back into standard time.  I would only have 30 – 40 minutes after work before the light would escape me.

Luckily for me I had a fairy routine task to occupy my mind at work after lunch which afforded me the time to think about the image I wanted to capture.  I was still fascinated by the fungus I found on the fence rail yesterday and thought a nice macro image would be a great addition to my project.  As soon as I pulled into the garage I grabbed the camera off the front seat and went hunting for that macro.  The late day combined with heavy cloud cover worked against me and required a much longer exposure than I could manage by hand and I didn’t have time to run back for the tripod.  Next time I’ll be more aware of my environment.

Thinking I would be unhappy with the pictures I took of the fungus I switched to plan B.  One of the photographers I found on Google+, Tom McLaughlan, developed a style he has termed ‘ministract.’  It is a combination of minimal and abstract photography.  I really like what you can do with it and my second choice for my project was to get a picture in that style.  Here is what I created…

After a few failed attempts with ideas I had thought of at work I ‘discovered’ this image while sitting down to think about my next idea.  The wicker chairs in the breezeway had some great color and wood grain, especially against the white of the door.  This is a smaller crop of a section of the chair side.  I liked it and it became my day three picture.

Here are a couple of the pictures I did manage to salvage of the fungus on the fence rail.  The first is a straight up macro which I converted to black & white.  The cloudy sky wasn’t helping my light situation and the normal color of the fungus was lost but I think the structure and texture show through.

I’m off to a good start, two for two  OK, maybe that was a little easy.  I guess a streak doesn’t start until after day three.  The good thing about day two is I practiced a little patience.  I was out very early this morning catching a very colorful sunrise but I refrained from posting (or downloading) any of those pictures.

I was able to get back out later in the day during the golden hour.  It really earned its name today.  There were scattered clouds in the western sky and just about forty minutes before sunset, the sun poked its face below the layer producing some awesome orange light.  I only had a little time before it would be over so I walked around the yard exploring how the light played on various objects.

I was fascinated with the neighbor’s fence and was able to get a nice image of one of the posts with a tree in the background.  I really liked it when I was lining it up and I took more pictures than I normally would to ensure I had my day two picture.

I did like one of the other pictures I was taking of the fence.  If I look back over the pictures I have taken recently and pick out my favorites there will be quite a few with a narrow depth of focus.  I’m not sure if this is a bad habit to be in but I do like how they all turn out.  I will need to be more aware of it in the future so I don’t fall into a rut.

Tomorrow is suppose to be a little rainy so I might need think of opportunities at work to play with the camera.  I’ve been practicing there, so my chances are pretty good.

I pulled the trigger on this project and I didn’t hesitate..  first day’s picture posted before noon.  There was still a lot of light left in the day but I was really happy with this one so I ran with it.

The sun was working its way across the yard melting the morning frost so I headed outside before it was gone. My goal was to catch some sun off the ice structures in the grass.  I tried a few different patches and a few different angles before the early temperature had me running inside to get warm.

Going through the pictures didn’t yield as many great images as I had hoped.  The one above though had a little surprise in the middle that I just loved.  Not sure if it is just my mind playing a trick on me or there really is a turtle face in the ice…  either way, this one was a keeper!

I think I’m off to a good start.  I’ll do my best not to run out of gas on this one.  It will be a challenge when the snow starts to accumulate here in Upstate NY, so I guess I better start thinking of creative ways to use my camera.

Today I started a 365 Photography Project!  If you are interested you can find more info about the group I joined here: Group/as – 365 Project A Photograph a Day and also here: 365 Project, both of which are moderated/curated by Simon Kitcher.  Basically, the goal is to publish a photo a day for one year.  I discovered this type of project from the photographers I follow on Google+ and finally jumped off the fence to begin mine.

I have been exploring photography beyond the vacation picture taking phase since early July.  My original goal was to learn a little bit more about photography so I could improve the images I bring back from my Disney World trips.  I had been wow’d by some of the Disney photographers I discovered online and wanted to improve my pictures.

I must have awoken an innate interest because it has been a fantastic summer!  My camera has been a constant companion for months.  I have found more excuses to explore my corner of New York State and discovered there is a lot to capture in a picture.  Now, I’m excited to start this project and see what else I can learn…