365 | seven

{perspective}

I originally thought I would satisfy this prompt by literally shooting from a different perspective than just straight on.  But then I read this article Nothing is Wasted and it made me think about how I see things through different lenses - both literally and metaphorically.

I have three different lenses right now.

One is a 50mm lens.  That lens is supposed to "see" things how they actually are.  No distortions, not closer than they are, not wider than they are.  Just how they are. (this isn't really true for me, because it's a full-frame lens on my cropped-frame camera so it really sees a little more telephoto, but for the sake of this post, we're going with it).  I use this when I want a true-to-life, here and now, in-the-present view of things.

The second lens is a 70mm-300mm lens. This means that it "sees" things in the frame closer than they really are. (and much closer on my cropped-frame camera).  I love this lens for capturing close-ups of things that are seemingly far away.  I can sometimes see little details that would have otherwise been missed with a different lens.

The third one is a 35mm lens.  This is considered a wide angle lens.   It "sees" the forest, you might say.  I use this when I want to capture more of the environment in the image, when I think the things around the subject are just as important to include in the story.  It also distorts the scene a bit, making the center of the image a little more prominent than the edges, almost as if you are looking through a fishbowl.  The wider the lens, the more the distortion.  

So after reading the article, and thinking about these lenses, I started thinking about how they are very representative of how I (and probably everyone else) look at life and the world around us.

Sometimes I like to have the 50mm view.

Everything is just as it seems.  Whatever I see is exactly how it is.

This is the ideal to me, if things were always as they seemed.

But although I love this in photography, it doesn't help me much in life, to not look beyond what is right in front of me.

A lot of times I have the 70-300mm view.

I inspect things at a much closer view, study all the details.

Sometimes that is helpful.

Sometimes it's a hindrance.

I can easily get caught up in the details and miss the big picture.

Which brings me to the 35mm view.

The big picture view.

I think this one is the most difficult for me, but I don't know why.

I actually love this perspective in photography the most.

I love how it documents more of the story and gives that photojournalistic feel.

But for some reason, in real life, it's easier for me to look at things close up, one at a time, rather than a broad view of many things.  Maybe my right brain can multitask, but my left brain is lacking in that area - who knows.  But rest assured, I have plenty of people around me who help me out with this :).

I think each perspective is needed - both in life and photography.

And if you see my husband, you can let him know that I might need more perspectives in my arsenal.....like a 28mm or an 85mm or a 105mm.....

{technicalities}

I like this picture, especially how the background has a good blur so that you can focus on the subject, which is the lens.  I think the exposure is a little off - more light would have helped.  And I feel like the bright blurred spot in the upper right area (probably a reflection from a silver picture frame) is a bit distracting.  My eyes struggle with whether to look there or at the lens.  I wonder how it would have turned out if I had moved a bit so that the light was more at a 45 degree angle to the lens instead of 90.  Things to ponder :)

365 | six

{calm}

I have an obsession with capturing the skies.
We are blessed with very beautiful sunrises and sunsets here.
Not all the time, but often.
I never have my "big" camera with me, though, so almost every sky image I have is from my iPhone.
And usually shot through the car window.
Because we are up and getting kids to school at sunrise around here.
Ugh.
I think 8-4 would be a much better school time :)

{Technicalities}
I wasn't really paying much attention to the mechanics of this photo, because it was such a quick capture and with my phone.
I did expose for the sky to create a silhouette of the light pole and houses, and I'm happy with that and how the colors came out.
I wish that the driveways and utility boxes were more underexposed.
I think they distract you away from the sky.

365 | five

{breakfast}

Pretty much the same everyday.

Some kind of cereal.

Orange juice to wash down the Tamoxifen (otherwise I forget and Dr. P does not like that).

And this devotion book that I've had forever.

It's the One Day At His Feet Devotional by Chris Tiegreen.

(you can find it here if you're interested)

I keep thinking I will get a new one each year, but I still get something new out of this one everyday and really like his writing style, so I won't try to fix what ain't broke, right?

The content of breakfast pretty much stays the same everyday, but it's typically is not as serene looking as this setup today.

I managed to get lunches together last night, and we were blessed with a late start for Elliott today (thank you to whomever decided that was a good idea for the first day back),

so I had a little more time to sit down.

Breakfast is usually eaten standing up in between dropping Elliott off and getting Ethan on the bus, and the devotion is usually sometime after that - sometimes even way after that - like bedtime.

But this is how I would love it to be every morning - a quiet, peaceful start.

{365 details}

I decided I needed some more direction with this 365 project.

I knew there would soon come a time when I would be at a loss of what to photograph one day.

I did some quick research and found a 365 challenge that fits my needs.

It gives a prompt for each day of the month.

I won't use all of them, but when I'm stuck, I like having something to refer to.

Plus I enjoy looking at everyone else's projects.

If you're interested, it's called

THE BETHADILLY CHALLENGE

and more info can be found at

bethadilly.com

I do not really know much about it other than I've seen a few other photographers refer to it in their Instagram posts and other forums that I participate in.

I'm incredibly thankful that she has taken the time to organize it and encourage others to participate.

Anyway, that is where the {breakfast} theme came from.

{Technicalities}

I'm really not thrilled with this image.

I always like the documentary part of anything I shoot about my family's everyday, so I do like that.

But I wish I had pulled back a little more.

The book is way too close to the edge, and I had to straighten the image a bit in post, so that cropped it even tighter.  I need to keep work on shooting straight.

I also wish I had used the 50mm lens instead of the 35.

I'm not loving the distortion in this one - I don't think it really adds to the image this time.

I've been concentrating on being aware of my ISO settings recently, and I'm happy with that, but I think I was concentrating on that so much that I didn't take care of the aperture appropriately.

I would have liked to have increased the aperture a bit to get a little more of the blue glass in focus.

I do not like the white bowl in front of the bright window - not enough contrast.

And I think the exposure could have been bumped a bit.

f/2.0

1/160

ISO 320

35mm

365 | four

Rubik's Cubes

It's one of his hobbies at the moment.

He is constantly watching YouTube videos, trying to learn how to solve them.

One thing about him....when he decides he wants to do something, 

his determination will not let him stop until it's finished.

Right now he is determined to figure this out.

And then start on more challenging ones.

I did not even realize there was more than one of these.

But he was more than happy to show me all the different ones he has his eye on.

This has got to be better than video games, right?

Technicalities:

(Since my goal in this project is to dig deep into my photography skills, 

I thought I would critique myself - feel free to ignore)

I like this picture and the mood it portrays. 

I wish I had moved the pillow.  It distracts me and doesn't add to the story.

I think the side lighting adds a nice depth to the image.  

It emphasizes the concentration going on and draws my eye right to his hands and the cube.

I used my wide angle 35mm lens just because it is what is on my camera 90% of the time, but I'm glad I did, because I think the distortion draws your eye to the hands and cube even more.  I did a profile correction in Lightroom, but went back to the original image because I liked the distortion  - it adds to the strength of the shot.

My favorite aspect is the somewhat of a juxtaposition of his growing, almost teenager hands holding what many would consider a child's toy (although if you've ever tried to solve one of these, you would completely disagree, so I will keep that to myself).  

It tells the story of him being in that in-between age of still a boy yet so much closer to an adult (which I'm totally not ready for).

365 | three

NERTS

Our new family game obsession.

We learned how to play one night at our friends' house, and I think we've played at least once a day ever since.

My goal was to beat our friend, Aly, which hasn't happened yet.

But I am the current champion at our house, so I'll relish in that role for a while.

365 | two

Chai tea.

My sister introduced me to this addiction.

So I blame her.

It's probably full of sugar because it's a latte.

But it's only 140 calories, so I say I can have one everyday.

And I look forward to it every. single. day.

The mug is my new favorite.

It was a gift this year.

You can't see in the picture, but it's tall with a matte finish.

It's perfect.

I'm sad when it's in the dishwasher.

I know....it's truly an important issue :)

365 | one

I said I would never do this again, but here I am.

One of my goals this year is to really dig in deep to my photography.

It's been a goal for a while, but circumstances have prevented me from being able to devote the time that I needed.

This is the year!

I'm so excited about it and want to tell you all about it, but I want to get my ducks in a row first.

But I can tell you that one of the ways I will be digging deeper is by shooting everyday,

so I decided to go ahead and do a 365 project again.

I have no doubt that I will miss days.

I'm totally fine with that.  I just want to learn and improve however I can.

The photos I post may or may not match up with the day of the year.

Shhh...don't tell anyone :)

This was actually taken on January 1st.

On my way to get Elliott from an all night lock-in.

I had a hard time dragging myself out of bed to get there in time, because we had been at said lock-in until 2ish that morning.

All I wanted to do was pull the covers up and go back to sleep.

But then I was rewarded with this beautiful sunrise.

His mercies are new every morning.

What a beautiful reminder on the first day of the year.

The awesome news is that no matter what day of the year it is, we are blessed with His mercy morning and night.