30 Day Challenge: Take 2

Looking back through old blog posts, it would appear I never actually shared the original 30 day challenge list. So here it is. On to the new!

I have wanted to take another stab at this challenge. I enjoyed it for the most part, but there were items that didn't suit my interests and other things I thought were missing. Therefore, I'm editing the original list to better reflect my own photography goals and interests! I will begin on January 1.

The one thing I'm struggling with is the order. I'm currently leaning towards being a little flexible with the actual order these are done in, since many need a specific location or can't be dictated. (I can't force a bird to appear on the appropriate day, as much as I would like to! And I'm not going searching for one if it's 30 below.)

Here's my challenge. Let me know if you're going to join me!

It's a tree!

Another of the 30 Day Challenge topics was trees or foliage. The problem I've been having with a lot of my photography lately is lighting - the sun rises after I've left for work, and sets while I'm still at work. And natural light is of course my favourite. So it's been a little tricky getting some of these shots without either resorting to taking umpteen pictures in my office or through a window. This one, however, I got on a bus!

Part of what I enjoy of this challenge is that it's making me more aware of my surroundings. I have to really look around and think of things that will fit different aspects of the challenge. In this case, here is an ad I had seen dozens of times before, but I'd never really realized it was a tree! (As a bonus, the mirror in effect gives me two trees!)

That IS Fun!

This picture was taken to fulfil the "something fun" challenge.

This is a very nice ice sculpture, and I actually think it's easier to see the face in the picture than it is in real life. It's been unseasonably warm here, so the sculptures probably aren't faring quite as well as expected. So far, it just means the edges are a little softer than was perhaps intended, but the details are still clear.

Normally I would think the light pole behind the sculpture was a flaw in composition (although there's only so much you can do with an object you can't move), but in this case, the facets of the ice seem to pick up the colour of the pole, making the edges clearer. I like it!

Textures

Thus far, this was one of the hardest parts of the 30 Day Challenge for me. I thought texture would be easy, because I'm quite a tactile person, so I notice textures all the time. Soft like chinchilla fur or rough and raw like stone. The problem I had wasn't in finding texture, it was in finding interesting texture to photograph, and then figuring out how to capture it nicely. I'm going to share two different images of texture.

Originally I just wanted to take this because of the fabulous way the light made this ribbon look almost on fire! (It's actually a red ribbon, the colour on the right-hand side.) What you also see, especially on the right, is the texture of the ribbon. The light played with this ribbon so wonderfully, I may not put it on any presents, just so I can keep exploring it in photographs!

This second one is a stone from a tile-type table top. Enlarge the image to see this more clearly, but the front section of this tile in particular is incredible for the colours and levels. It's a particularly beautiful part of my table, both to look at and to touch. (There's actually another texture in here, although it's out of focus - right in the front of the picture you can see a couple of grey lines, which are cracks in the table top.)

Clouds

One of my 30 Day Challenge topics was clouds.

I wanted to take this one, because I love whispy little clouds, especially when they are just sitting in a blue sky so alone - no other clouds around. Overall, however, this is not a spectacular picture. There is nothing terribly interesting happening. But here's why it's interesting to me: When you're taking pictures of the sky, there are no reference points about up or down or angles. I could have turned it 180 degrees, posted it, and you'd think nothing was wrong. I actually had my phone at quite an angle to myself when I clicked, because I was trying to omit some buildings and power lines from the picture - as a side effect, the clouds end up looking straight across the "horizon" of the image. I think I would actually like it better if the picture didn't look evenly horizontal. I think it would be more interesting.

Oh well!

(Side note: This photo was taken with my phone.)

Challenge Smile

Part of the challenge for me is to think of different ways to approach the subject.

In this case, I don't have many people in my life who like to have their pictures taken, so instead of stalking a stranger, I looked for a smile elsewhere! The bear in the middle of this scene is actually animated, and when his mouth is open, he looks like he's smiling. I cropped this picture to clear out the clutter and the noise.

Rabbit sighting! but no waistcoat or rabbit hole to Wonderland

The challenge from a couple of days ago was to take a picture of an animal. I saw some wild rabbits in a field near my house, and took quite a few pictures with the only camera I had on hand - my cell phone. Challenge completed. This is not one of those pictures, however it is the same field and likely one of the same rabbits.

I brought the good camera with me yesterday, specifically because I was hoping those guys would be out again - the weather is still fairly mild, given it's December, so I expected they would be out eating what they could find while they had the chance. I think this guy was just sunning himself, however, because he was out when I left and was in pretty much the same spot when I was on my way home a couple of hours later.

I used full zoom, because I didn't want to startle him. You can already tell he's fully aware I'm there and paying attention to me. Patchy snow means not the best hiding for him, but better pictures for me!

Silly camera

Strange things can happen when you let the camera make decisions for you. Part of this week's challenge was "favourite colour". Okay, well, it's my fave, so I have several items in that colour. My initial idea was to make some sort of colour block collage... but this occurrence side-tracked me. This is the clipboard I started with:

But since I didn't really want the ugly orange couch, the carpet, etc, in the picture, I figured I would just zoom in to a solid block of colour - simpler than cropping - but not!!

I'm not certain if the problem was that I was blocking the light, or if it was just that zooming in on a solid block  of colour overly removed the context so the camera no longer had any idea how to process what it was seeing. The texture of the clipboard is essentially in focus, so that wasn't the problem. I'm not sure what was going on! But the outcome was neat, and an important lesson came out of it - pay attention to the colours the camera is showing you! If they aren't accurate, you may need to monkey with a few things to trick the camera in to seeing things properly.

Something old

Another of the 30 day challenges was to capture something old. I have a lovely cabinet that fits the bill, but since I'm trying to stretch my mind when it comes to how to portray something, I decided against just taking a picture of it against the wall. Instead, I took several pictures of different details on the cabinet.

 

The cabinet has a key that opens several doors and such. It's a simple key, but I've always loved it's old style. Since the key is at least as old as the cabinet, it qualifies as "something old" all by itself, but I think this image gives it some context, in an unusual way. This is looking down the cabinet, towards the floor. I'm pleased that the key came out perfectly in focus, and that all the background is blurred - that was the intention, and it's always nice when plans pan out.

late day

Very late today, however, it's still Sunday, so it still meets the requirement!

One of the 30 day challenges I assigned was a bird. Here are two pictures of the guy I caught!

I honestly thought I had missed this guy completely. I looked up, and 2 mapgies were coming straight at me between the houses. This picture is not cropped, that's really how close I came to missing him. However, since catching a bird in motion has been a real challenge for me, I'm still quite pleased with the picture, because he's not just a blurry smudge, he's actually fairly clear.

And here's a nice picture of where he landed. As I've said before, I love the contrast between the bare branches and a bright blue sky, and with that fluffed up magpie, I really like this picture. I did try to get around more to the front of him, but he flew away in short order. The challenge of trying to capture uncooperative wildlife!

New 30 day

Life and my computer have gone haywire, so I am once again behind on the "daily" aspect of this blog!

I'm going to try a new 30 day photo challenge. I will not post them all, because some just won't be that interesting (or good!) but I like this particular one. Day one: pretty pattern. I wanted to avoid what was (for me) the obvious and choosing a fabric for it's pattern. So on my day off, with the weather being cooperative and moderate, the camera and I went for a long walk.

There's actually two patterns here. One is in each individual pane of glass, and the second is the cross itself, formed of different panes that the surrounding ones. I love how simple and understated this is. The designer clearly didn't feel the need for this cross to scream out it's presence, but it's still easily seen and obvious. Two, very pretty, patterns.

Sunflare

This was an interesting bit of education... It was very sunflare-y when I took the picture, but the camera almost completely compensated! An excellent feature - unless you actually want sunflare.

What I read

Another of the 30 day challenge images was simply titled "what I read". Since I read a lot, I went for the book I was reading on that particular day, instead of trying to capture something at work, or a sign or even label. I wanted to so something different than just propping up the book somewhere and taking a shot of the front of it.

It didn't come out perfectly, I think I would have needed more than just 2 hands to properly execute my vision, but after playing with the manual focus quite a bit, I think I came quite close.

Sunset

Another 30 Day Challenge was to get a sunset. I played around with the settings and such, but in the end, letting the camera do its own thing on the "sunset" setting was the best.

While I was attentive to the time I needed to head outside at, I neglected to think of where I would take this picture, so the colours are there, but the view is somewhat less than interesting. It wouldn't be bad if not for the power lines. I think the dark frame on three sides really makes the oranges stand out. Regardless, here is a non-challenge picture of a much more spectacular view.

Imagine the colours if I had known about the sunset setting! Hawaiian sunsets (at least the ones I saw) seem to be very pink, while the ones at home are often very orange. I wonder if that has anything to do with altitude.

Yes, this picture breaks the rule of thirds "law", which I didn't know about at the time, but I think it really works. I love the frame of the dark foliage, particularly the little fringe at the top. I would not change the composition of this one, except perhaps to straighten the horizon just a hair - I took this free-hand.

Pretty Pattern

The challenge for today's Photo of the Day was a Pretty Pattern. I took a variety of shots at lunch, mostly inside city hall. I had never realized what an interesting building it was! Too bad I had to get back to work, I could have spent all day sitting there taking pictures from different angles.

Anyway, here's the one I ultimately chose:

I'm sure others I took had a stronger pattern, but it didn't say strong, it said pretty. And I love the contrast between the metal and glass windows, and the beautiful trees and blue sky that you see through them.

Flower

It's a little dark, but otherwise I love this picture.

For the 30 day challenge, one was "flowers". Okay, yes, this is a single flower, but it's a really cool one, so I'm counting it. Besides, I did take a lot of pictures of flowers that day, I just liked this one the best.

Shoes!

Another 2-post day! I haven't been posting my 30 Day Challenge pictures, but since today's was especially fun, I thought I would do this one. Today's photo task? Shoes!

Opened toed sandals, high heels, kitten heels, boring-but-comfy low heels and my ultra-reliable runners. What do your shoes say about you?