My 52 Week Project : Week 8 {self-portrait}

Okay, so this week is self-portrait week.  Ugh!  I hated this “assignment”.  This is the first time I’ve ever done a self-portrait and it ain’t easy.  Just sayin’!  

For one thing, it’s really difficult to get the camera to focus when taking a self-portrait - at least it is for me!  For some reason, I could get it to focus on other things, but not my face.  I tried over and over again and finally just used manual focus.  Which brought on a whole new set of problems.  I went back and forth, back and forth.  Tweaking the focus, checking the display...on and on and on until I got the focus in the right spot.  

I actually started out in a different location with the perfect idea all thought up in my head, but the lighting was NOT working out for me, so I moved to the bathroom of all places!  I knew I wanted to do a black and white photo this week, so I wasn’t too concerned with the crappy white balance that I would get (I’m pretty sure our bathroom has one incandescent lightbulb and one fluorescent one in the same fixture!).  It actually worked out pretty well shooting in the bathroom because I could look in the mirror to see how I looked before I shot. I know that sounds conceited or whatever, but it’s harder than you’d think to make yourself look in a picture the same way you think you look in real life.  Does that make any sense?  Anyway, I set my tripod on the bathroom sink/counter, directly in front of the mirror, and used a remote shutter release.  I probably could have just hand-held my camera, but since I have this handy dandy remote, I thought I should probably use it!  I’m sure they make different remotes and self timers and whatnot to make this whole process easier - especially the focusing part - but I don’t see myself investing in any of those anytime soon!  I’m not super thrilled with the technical side of this picture, it was more of a let’s-just-get-a-shot-that-makes-me-look-halfway-decent-and-get-outta-here kinda thing!

Oh, and I can’t believe I’m posting this so early in the week!  I’m so proud of myself!  :)

Hope you all have a wonderful week!  Here’s to warmer weather!  :)

My 52 Week Project : Week 7 {red hot}

Week 7’s theme was “red hot”.  We could shoot anything that was red, hot, or both red and hot!  :)  Of course, once I found out what the theme was, all I could see was red!  I saw every little red detail on every toy and book that my daughter owns.  It was crazy!  I wanted to shoot something that meant something, though, not just something red.  This weekend we went to my in-laws’ house to stay over night.  I knew we were going ahead of time, so I kind of put off my “assignment” until then.  I like to shoot outside of my home because I get a little bored shooting the same stuff all the time, so when I have an opportunity to shoot somewhere else, I take it.  I had a couple ideas of what I wanted to shoot for “red/hot” this weekend.  I knew I was going to see a movie at the theater, so I thought it might be fun to shoot the lit up movie theater sign...but I didn’t.  Maybe another time, though, because I think it would be fun.  Another thought I had for “red/hot” was to shoot traffic on the highway.  Standing on an overpass at night, I could blur the motion of the cars’ taillights heading away from me which would result in some cool red lines.  Again, didn’t do that, either, but really want to some time.  It ended up snowing and there was no way I was going out in the cold!  Haha!  Maybe I’ll try it in the summertime.  :)  

One more thing I thought of was the Raggedy Ann doll my mother-in-law owns.  She’s had it for several years and keeps it in a box in a closet.  She likes it a lot, but doesn’t want it to get ruined by sitting out (which I totally understand!).  I knew she had it, I knew the doll is special to her, and I knew it has RED hair!  Perfect!  I gave it a little bit of a vintage feel both in setting up my shot and in post processing.  I staged her on the guest room bed which has a beautiful quilt and soft colored pillows on it...and the room just so happens to have a window with amazing light coming through it!  Then, in post processing I gave the photo just a little bit of a vintage look.  I didn’t want to go overboard because I don’t like my photos to be too processed.  Just a little “improvement” to give the photo the look I was going for.

I know I’m super late on week 7, but I’m hoping to be super EARLY on week 8.  Look for it in the next day or so.

My 52 Week Project : Week 6 {culture}

This week’s theme was culture.  We could do anything that represented our personal culture/background, our country’s culture, etc.  I chose a baseball since it’s such a big part of American culture.  I used to HATE baseball until I met my husband.  He has loved baseball since, like, forever and over the years has gotten me just shy of obsessed with it!!  :)  I can't wait for the season to start (GO Tigers!!), but spring training hasn't even started yet, so I have a while to wait!

I got this ball at a Tigers game a few years ago.  The players were practicing on the field before the game started and one of them threw it up to me in the stands!  (My husband may or may not have caught it for me - but I'm the one that asked the player for it!)

And, guess what?  I'm a day earlier than I usually am in submitting my photo!  Go me!

My 52 Week Project : Week 5 {best friends}

Ugh!  What a hard week for me!  I won’t go into any detail, but I’ll just say this - I’m glad it’s almost over!!  

Anyway, this week’s theme was “best friends” - and, really, who’s closer than PB&J?  Or, in this case, PJ&fruit spread!  ;)

Here it is...

See ya next week!  :)