Thanks
Valmae
This page contains my photos and blog posts from 2013, plus three days of 2014. My latest CY365 blogs and other posts can be found on the 2014 Photoblog page.
Thanks Valmae
0 Comments
Winter Sports: Skiing | Sledding | Bundling Up Inside Rightio. A prompt that is not really quite relevant for the Southern Hemisphere! No sign of winter sports here at the best of times with our temperate sort of climate. I did contemplate getting Steve to set up the volleyball net in the pool and getting some shots of the ball and water but it started to get a bit too late with the light disappearing on us. Besides, he's been in quite a few photos recently. At lunch time I played around with taking photos of ice in a wine glass - the champagne type ones with the thick red stems. Next I added some blue food dye to get some colour. Not too bad. My next thought was crushed ice in a glass bowl with the red of the glass in the background. This is what I ended up with. I must admit I liked how it was a little abstract and not obvious as to what it actually was, so I decided to go with this one - just for fun. ISO 100, 100mm, f4.0, 1/400 sec After being here for more than two years we have finally made a pathway to lead to the front door. We picked up some tiles, sand and grass and over yesterday afternoon and this morning finally finished it off. I'm hoping the grass will settle a little more so that it's not so high, but doesn't really matter if it doesn't. Now to keep the grass alive in the hot temperatures that we're experiencing. ISO 160, 100mm, f4.0, 1/160 sec
I think it must be about time to cool down again. Hope your day has been, is going to be, wonderful! Night all! Goals: Intention | Resolution | Target
Ahhh, the new year's resolutions. Mine are pretty much the same each year: to eat healthily, maintain my exercise and fitness routines, and to make the most of the opportunities presented to me. Then I started to list off a few other things I wanted to achieve this year and the list started to get longer and longer … However, the major goal I have set for myself for 2014 is to actually run and finish a half marathon. I am aiming for the Gold Coast ASICS half marathon on July 6 (that's 21.0971 km, for those who don't know). There's going to be quite a bit of training in front of me, but one step at a time and I should get there. Well, that's the plan at this point in the year. We'll see how it goes. These are my trusty running shoes that will carry me over a lot of kilometres in the next few months. I did have fun down on my stomach on our side road taking photos of my shoes from different angles and directions. I really must look strange moving shoes into various positions and then wiggling around all over the place to get an angle that I liked. Between laying on my back, side and stomach I was covered in all sorts of twigs and leaves by the time I was finished. Thankfully Zimi left me alone for a change. Usually he thinks if I'm down around his level it's open season for playing! Post processing was a bit of a crop and the use of one of my favourite presets, Grandma's lemonade. Celebrate: With Food and Drink | Cheer | The New Year Happy New Year! Can you believe that it's actually 2014? Wow, it sure does go by quickly. New year's day was a pretty quiet affair at our place. I was talking to my mum and she said that what you do on new years is what you do all year. So this is how it went: some gardening, a bit of doze, internet surfing, swimming and a run in the afternoon when it had cooled down somewhat. That seemed to be a good way to spend the rest of the year. I still hadn't taken my daily photo as we weren't really celebrating as such, but after my run we did get back into the pool with a drink. I grabbed the camera and set up the drinks on the edge with the aim of getting some sort of interesting perspective on the drinks with the pool and surrounds in the background. However, Bella and Zimi thought this would be a great time to start playing - and of course that had to be running around the pool chasing each other! So much for setting up a creative masterpiece :-) ISO 3200, 105mm, f4.0, 1/200 This is the photo I uploaded to the 365 gallery - Steve rescuing our drinks. ISO 1600, 99mm, f4.0, 1/160
I hope that your day was spent as you would like the new year to continue! The End: The Year | The Date | Ultimate
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Wow! 365 days! Well, almost. I almost did a photo a day for 365 days. There were just a few days I skipped for various reasons, but overall I figure I did it, and am pretty proud of that accomplishment. There were times when it almost became a bit of a chore to actually have to take a photo and I had to push myself through those days. Other days I didn't feel particularly interested in the prompt so again it sometimes was any shot will do. Sometimes the prompts were almost the same as other days and it was difficult to think of another way to take the shot. But overall I really enjoyed the process of thinking about a prompt, how I could interpret it, what the subject matter would be, how I could take a more interesting shot of a pretty ordinary subject. I guess the big question is: Would I do it again? Most resoundingly yes. I feel I have benefited from doing a photo (or more) every day and I think I have become quicker in looking at how I want to take a shot. I've learnt more about composition, framing, apertures and shutter speeds. I have experimented a lot with the shots. And really, it was rarely one photo a day - some days had heaps and heaps of attempts. I have photos of things I would never ever have thought to take a photo of, and there are quite a lot of photos that I am really happy with how they turned out. There are photos of the animals that I would never have taken and I know will provide me with comfort when those precious fur babies are no longer with us. I've taken photos of the grandchildren that I wouldn't have done. The camera is always close by and ready to be used. This year I would like to start thinking more in manual mode and think I might challenge myself to choose one or two prompts a week that I shoot completely in manual mode. Anyway on to the last photo of 2013. Juanita, Steve and I went to see the 8:30 fireworks at Southbank, Brisbane, and I took the camera along specifically to photograph the fireworks for my daily prompt. While we were waiting for them to start I got on the internet and starting looking up exposure etc for fireworks. That was when I discovered that I really should be using a tripod and a long exposure. Hmmm, first big problem - I didn't bring a tripod and there was no way I could hand hold the camera steady enough for a long exposure. I did try beforehand and have some pretty whacky lighting effects to prove that I really needed a tripod. In the end I just went with a fast shutter speed and wide aperture of f4 with the ISO on auto. This meant I didn't get really good light trails and the photos had a lot of noise (which I reduced in postproduction). These three photos were the best that I got. Anyway, bring on 2014! Wishing you all everything you wish for in 2014 and more! Leftover: Unused | In The Fridge | Remnant
We didn't do too badly this year with leftover food, as we tried to not over-cater. We also had some handy takeaway containers for food and sweets that went home with the family! However, we didn't quite manage to even get to the pudding on Christmas day so we've been having that for dessert some nights. Last night we had Steve's daughter over and out came the leftover pudding. We were given a gourmet bottle of brandy custard for Christmas and that soaks into the pudding quite nicely. I think it's almost time to put the remainder into the freezer for a later indulgence. Connected: Linked | Associated | United The photo that featured in the email for connected was about the use of technology to keep families connected over the distances that separate them. While I had a few photos of that from Christmas day I wanted to get a photo today seeing that I have nearly ended my year of daily photos. We went to Ikea today to get some new chairs and came home with a children's kitchen set as well. Steve has been wanting to buy one for the grandchildren for the past two years, and finally couldn't help himself. This is my take on connected - Steve had great fun putting it all together. It really is quite neat, and has batteries so that when you press a button the element on the stove glows red. How good is that? This is just one of the photos I took on Christmas day with the kids gathered around the iPad to talk to their Abuela and bisabuela (Spanish for grandmother and great grandmother). Mum lives in Innisfail and we're in Brisbane, so it's nice to be able to make a connection with her through the internet. It's great that technology has advanced to such a degree that this ability to be connected is now possible.
A Portrait: Image | Snapshot | Likeness
Well after saying that Steve doesn't get to feature very often in my CY365 photos, he ends up featuring in another one. Today's prompt of a portrait basically meant that he was it. I took this as Steve was doing his clarinet practice and it was difficult to get a good shot in the office without too much distracting background, as well as trying to get his eyes in focus. I think they could have been sharper as the framework on his glasses seems to be just that bit sharper. Dinner calls - night for now. Well Used: Loved | Worn | Passed Down
This was one of the prompts where all the things I thought of for loved, worn or passed down had already been photographed at some point during the year for a daily prompt. My husband did suggest taking a photo of Bella but she's featured in a lot of shots as it is, without adding to her tally. I don't have a lot of my children's things as I have been gradually handing them back for them to store, or to do what they want with them. However, I do have a small box of stuffed toys, some of which have found their way to the bedroom where the grandchildren play. There they sit on the bed and occasionally get pulled out and played with. This clown was my daughter's (she is now 32) and it did get a lot of use in its day. Reckless: Carefree | Brash | Breakneck
Technically I didn't take this photo on the day. It's actually one from Christmas day but I liked it so I thought I'd share it. Little Justin (our grandson) had been running madly all day burning off energy that only 6 year olds seem to possess! This was much later in the afternoon and he curled up quietly on Bella, who obviously didn't mind a bit. This is something that would not be possible with Zimi, the crazy 4 year old, although he seems to be slowly maturing. His behaviour with all the activity that was about was pretty good. Signs that he is growing up! |
ARCHIVE CY365 -2014
This blog started out to be about my first 365 day photography project - one photo each day - through Katrina Kennedy's Capture Your 365 challenge Blogs I followThe more I start looking at blogs the more I find that are interesting. This is not good. I can never remember where I found them. Not to mention how time consuming they can be ...
Food Blogs and recipesGreen Kitchen Stories
Veggie Num Num Kothiyavunu: Indian The Post Punk Kitchen: vegan Apron Strings Sprouted Kitchen: Mainly vegetarian foods with a focus on seasonal products and clean eating Keeping it kind: Vegan recipes The Sweet Life: Vegan recipesCoffee & Quinoa: Mainly vegetarian recipes Monthly listsArchives
January 2014
Categories
All
|