Project 365, Day 13

Simple post, simple images.  Sometimes you can bring out the best in something ordinary.  Tomorrow I leave for KS and won't have access to my posting method for a few days but I'm looking forward to the great images I'm able to post when I return.  

Project 365 Day 12

These pictures were taken last night technically, but since it was after my blog post yesterday, it still counts as today right?  That's the tree in our backyard with Venus showing brightly through the tree.  The Hubs is a big fan of astronomy and has a fancy telescope and everything, so he's pretty excited for me to be able to take some good night shots.

These photos were taken below as I ran some errands at lunch time.  The first is of the columns in front of the courthouse and the others are of our favorite local brewery, Logboat Brewing Company. Maybe being featured on the blog will get us some free beer.  :)

Finally I got brave enough tonight to take the camera to manual mode.  I still definitely have lots to learn and play around with, but I'm proud that I'm learning to do the work of getting great photos myself, and not always relying on the camera to get them for me.  I'm SUPER excited for my trip to Kansas this weekend.  I'm planning on taking manual mode for a real spin taking pictures of the natural limestone and the beautiful Flint Hills.  xoxo

Project 365 Day 11

SCENES FROM AN EVERYDAY LIFE

These are photos taken in ordinary places that I drive by on my way home from work every evening.  The key of a 365 photo challenge is to see everyday things in a new way.  Enjoy.

Project 365 Day 10

This is Porthos.  He is an amazing, sweet, smart, and deep thinking dog.  He joined our home several years ago when his owners entrusted him to us when they moved to Europe.  He has been such a joy to our house.  He is the Alpha in our pack.  He is the calm leader of the rest of our crazy brood.  These photos really bring out his personality, shy but regal, serious but with a playful spirit that comes through any time there is a football or tennis ball in his midst.  He doesn't demand affection like the others, and very much requires his 'me time' but when he does come looking for pets and loves, they are beyond worth it. He's getting a little older these days, he can't play Chuck-It for hours on end as he once did, but he still loves to run free, play ball, and always tug at your heart.   He is Pup pup and he is loved.

Project 365- Day 9

I tried experimenting a bit with the manual shooting mode on my camera this evening.  This mode is otherwise known as plain old photography prior to the days of the DSLR.  Right now I'm trying to learn the distinctive nature of each feature so I understand how to use them so I can put together all the pieces in the puzzle.  

Project 365/Day 8 - Birds, trees, and lenses oh my!

M had a request that I try to photograph some of the birds at our feeder.  We live a little in the country and since we have 2 feeders in our yard we tend to get visitors all winter long.  

I also decided to take my telephoto lens out for a spin.  Turns out the telephoto lens requires a lot of patience and a lot of stability.  I'm an instant gratification kind of girl, that's a demon I regularly battle, so it was not my idea of the best time to stand out in the cold for quite a while trying to stealthily take pictures of birds.  But, like most things, it ended up being totally worth it.  I got some amazing pictures of the birds.  

The picture of the tree with the white, gnarly branches is my absolute favorite tree.  There is something about that tree that speaks to me.  It always seems to look majestic and beautiful in the midst of anything.  

Part of this new journey for me takes me back to my graduate school days when I studied Marriage and Family Therapy.  We had a professor who talked regularly about following the weaker impulse. Of course he was talking about it in terms of preparing and working with clients in change....but if the shoe fits.  I find myself regularly thinking about the weaker impulse.  Today it was twice, once when my stronger impulse was convincing me it was the weekend and I was too tired to work out.  The other when I thought about standing in the cold just to get pictures of birds.  

As I found with the workout and with the birds, sometimes the weakest impulse leads to the strongest result.

Project 365/Day 7 - Rocheport

I had a meeting today that I had to travel a bit for.  On my way back I thought to stop in one of my favorite towns in the area.  It's right along the river as well as the Katy Trail.  It's beautiful in any season, but I'd never really thought that such amazing shots would come in winter. It was only about a 20 minute stop, but it sure changed my whole outlook on the day and the impending winter weather. I was also pretty proud of myself that I listened to my inner voice that said yes to different shots and stops and not long ago that same voice would have said "you can't do that" or "why bother".  Man, that voice is REALLY annoying. I'm glad I'm learning to ignore that voice more often than not and listen to the one that brings joy to my crazy, happy life.  xoxo - Kat

 Okay, I totally did not see the llama in the corner in the picture above, so....see below.  Apparently I was llama bombed.

 I love, love, love this tunnel but I hate, hate, hate walking through it.  It's REAL dark in there, so today I just settled for an outside shot.  

 Since the vineyard was kind enough to number the rows, my plan is to come back in the spring/summer and take these photos in the same location with the growth on the vines.