365 Photos: Week 49 Time with Dads

April 23-29, 2013

It is nearing July, as I look back on the waning weeks of my 365 Photo Project. I’m realizing that I miss doing it. There was a sensibility and way of looking at the world that I have put away.

But that is not the reason for this entry.

Week 49 saw time with both of our dads. Not much of a theme, I grant you.

Tuesday shows a Choke-Cherry tree in the park in downtown Anchorage.

When I took the shot, I would have told you there would be leaves and flowers on this tree in a month. There wasn’t. We had late season snow in May. Those pictures will come. Notice the snow and ice still in the park from the late season snow we had already had.

Spring was trying to take hold in Anchorage in late April.

These little purple flowers were one of the first signs of plant life I saw. Not sure what they are, but there were on the west side of a building where sun is getting to be abundant.

My brother and father made an appearance in Anchorage from Fairbanks. This was time with dads number one.

I like this shot of him in the lamp light of our house. You can also see some of the waning daylight in the window behind him. This was taken late in the evening, around 10-11. You can also see how the light is rally making a comeback.

Moose are a common enough sight in Anchorage. And for some reason it was very important that I get a moose shot for the project. And I can’t believe I went nearly the whole year before seeing a moose on the loose.

This little guy was on the street of our house. Kind of a small one. No cow around, so I imagine he was recently let go by his mom. As we drove past him, I shot a picture with my iPhone, and the moose tried to stick his head in our car. That was exciting! This was shot with my long lens for the safety of my front lawn.

We had an early birthday party for Ernie, Evan’s dad. This was time with dads number two.

He loves his riverboat, so we had a local bakery fashion a cake in the shape of his boat. It was a really cool cake.

I’ve become fascinated with stop motion photography. While watching some videos on Vimeo, I noticed there are iPhone apps that help you create stop motion videos. And there are free ones!

This shot was taken of me taking a stop motion video of the sunset. The app I was using is called iMotion HD. It’s a very cool app and so easy to use. I plan to post the video of my first video.

I found myself still shooting late in the evening, so this was another sunset shot in our home.

It’s not one of my favorites, but I like the new perspective on the same scene through a mirror. Looking back, I wish I’d done a mirror series. Ideas for a new 52 week series, I suppose.

365 Photos: Week 14 50mm Lens Part II

Up Close and Personal continued…

August 21-27, 2012

Without actually intending to, I did a second weekend with my new Canon 50mm lens.  Since I didn’t get away from Anchorage again for a second week, I was forced to be more creative and get off my usual beaten daily paths.  When I work (my job), it seems like my usual mode is to wait until after work to find a shot.  This isn’t good, as I am usually tired and not feeling like being creative. The couch, a glass of wine, and an episode of Modern Family call. In these weeks I force myself to carry my camera everywhere.

Tuesday’s shot was at the Brown Bag Sandwich Shop.  I was taken with the fun beer taps that were on display.  It was a rough day at work, and I could have used a beer too!

On Wednesday morning I had to stop to get gas on the way to work.  As we move into August, the sun is coming up later and so I’ve been able to capture some early morning light on my way to work (As I write this now on September 15, it is now more or less dark when I go to work in the morning).  I was trying to capture the motion of the cars, and then I noticed the “One Way” sign and thought it was funny.

As I said when I started, being creative some days is challenging, hence the picture of my mailbox. The 50mm lens is great for getting the narrow depth of field, so I was going for the clear mailbox and a out of focus Stop sign.  I’m glad for the commitment of the 365 Photo Project, but some days are more creative than others.

The Self Portrait of me was taken at Campobello Bistro.  The 50mm lens was great to get the low light condition.  I hid the camera from the mirror by getting it down low.  Not a good angle for me.  It was also a RAW shot, so I had to do some post processing.

Saturday was another more mundane shot around the house.  We have some boas in our bedroom for reasons I can’t entirely remember.  I keep thinking I want to do a mirror challenge with the three recent mirror shots I’ve taken. A week of mirrors might be fun. I liked the sharp focus in the mirror.

Sunday’s shot has become one of my favorites.  This was taken at a family dinner and represents the youngest and oldest in the family–Great Grandma Jeanette and Little Chloe.  I love the look on Great Grandma’s face.

As I said earlier, with the progression of summer the light is changing quickly in Alaska.  As the light is getting later in the morning, it is getting earlier in the evening, so getting some nice sunset shots in more reasonable hours (ie NOT around 11:30 P.M.) is much easier.

When doing a project, how do you keep the creativity flowing?  Also, I would love some ideas for weekly themes and challenges.

365 Photos: Week 13 The 50mm Lens

A Week of Up Close and Personal

This was the first week where I put on the new 50mm lens and didn’t take it off.

I’ve read a lot about using a 50mm lens. It takes you back to older days of photography. It’s a good composition challenge.

I dug out my old Pentax film camera, and sure enough, it had a 50mm lens on it. What I love most about it is the ability to open it to a 1.8 aperture. I’m working in much lower light now, which is fun.

The first shot of the week was at my office with Evan and my parents. Notice how close in the shot appears. Thank you 50mm. We were on the way to the airport for their trip home to Fairbanks.

The next shot is what happens when I wait until the end of the day. It was taken in my office parking lot late after dinner. It is getting darker in Alaska these days.

The shot in my front yard was another desperation shot. I have enjoyed some of these shots, but because I am so focused on this project and committed to it, I feel like I want options everyday, but that is a lot of work. And at the end of the day, forcing myself to be creative doesn’t sound as interesting as having a glass of wine and watching and episode of Modern Family on Apple TV.

All summer long, I drive past the museum on the way to work. It has the most beautiful flowers out front. I’ve been looking for an excuse to get down there to get a shot, and also waiting for the right day so I don’t waste an opportunity shot. I was having lunch with friends at the Museum, so it gave me the perfect reason to get a shot.

I did two for Saturday. One was of Evan getting a haircut. I liked the mirrors and so I took this shot. Kinda fun. Then there is the shot of the kids at the Farmer’s Market doing hulahoop.

I should be more creative on weekends when I have time, but on Sunday I didn’t have it in me. So at dinner time, again with the low light lens, I shot Evan making us dinner.

Finally, there is the Walk/Don’t walk sign. The 50mm lens gets you close whether you like it or not. I thought it was fun to be this close to the walk guy.

This was not my favorite week in general.  Being in exciting places makes taking pictures much more fun.