"I love photography. My boyfriend's got a great camera, which I bought for his birthday." - 365 Project, Day 18

Now, don't ask me where the inspiration came from, but (and as strange as it may seem) I had a thought.  What happens when two photographers marry?  This query may not seem so insane, but ponder the ramifications of this for a moment or two.  Photographers, enjoying photography, probably have a higher percentage of friends that enjoy photography than people who don't enjoy photography.  Also consider work acquaintances that may be invited to the prestigious day.  (Also consider the invitees who's penchant for photography is unknown, but who also enjoy snapping the occasional shot.)  Perhaps even many family members may enjoy the craft (or not, but it doesn't matter too much at this point).

Will the bride and groom even bother hiring a photographer for this day of days, given how many D3s's, 5D Mark IIs and perhaps even a P65 or two, might be present?  Or will they resent the presence of a camera, being so tired of them because it's their livelihood, and ban them from the ceremony altogether, forgoing even the thought of a pixel within the vicinity?  Or perhaps they themselves will whip out their favorite compact and prefer being behind the camera even on this special occasion?

The answers to these questions are, well, unknown at this time.  As such, let's move on to today's pictures.  Interesting compositions in all of them make this a nice batch.  I'm thinking that one day we'll pick a theme and see if we can all submit a picture of that theme.  We'll see, but for now, here are the pictures.

Frank

His note: I built a lamp to give me light for reading in my favourite chair.... before neon bulbs became the norm.

Mandy

Her note: On the same day, there was a magnitude 4.3 earthquake that shook us here in Ottawa and a local hardware store caught fire.  The store burned to the ground, destroying many business alongside of it. I spotted two large windows that had been shattered and I focused right in the middle. The reflection off the shards really captured my eye and I really like this photo.

Shannon

Her note: The sunrise caught my eye this morning as I was going to work.

Pat

It was very tough choosing what picture to put up today.  I had two pictures I really liked, but I chose this one because of the composition.  I would have preferred getting slightly different framing (such as having the sign a bit more to the left of the picture) but it was a bit windy and I couldn't really see the screen given how close to the ground it was.  In the picture, a temporary stop sign fell over to reveal its underneath.  I liked the way it looked under the street lamp.

Under the wire again.  It's about 5 minutes away from the 19th.  Tomorrow, the pictures should come in a bit earlier, depending on whether I decide to go walking around my neighborhood or not.

"I shutter to think how many people are underexposed and lacking depth in this field." - 365 Project, Day 17

For reasons I don't want to get into at this particular moment, other than saying it's March 17th, I'll go ahead and skip the intro to this post.  I do have a subject I could talk about, but I'll scootch it over to tomorrow.  As for now, I'll just skip anything I would feel like saying and fast forward to the pictures.

Actually, I'm lying.  Two things.  1) I'm sorry about the incredibly stupid pun in the title.  I needed a generic title that didn't really have anything to do with the subject of my little intro.  (To be fair, it sort of matches my state of mind at this moment.)  2)  People who actually bother looking at the EXIF data on the flickr page I link my pictures to might notice that Mandy's picture was taken with my own camera, but I assure you it was taken by her.  We had a nice time for St-Patrick's Day, and she took that particular picture.  She just so happened to have been holding my camera.

The pictures today are good, and to my eyes figure into this project pretty well.  Again, and I really enjoy this, very diverse (though most of the have a common thread - what do you want, we're Canadians, and three of us four are partly Irish).

Frank

His note: This tattoo is a stylized clover made of skulls with a shamrock at its center. It represents the Celtic Brotherhood who are committed to raising money for charity while promoting human compassion in the community.  Have a Happy St-Patrick Day everybody!!!

Mandy

Her note: St-Patrick's Day has come and passed for yet another year and during the festivities I decided to snap a picture of my green beads.  The table we were at was really old and antique-looking so I chose to lay the beads onto it to add a little something extra to the photo. Slainte.

Shannon

Her note: As I was waiting for a bus on Preston street, I looked up and saw the funky street lamp.

My picture

As our afternoon wore on, the three of us at the table made a pyramid of our empty glasses.  The effect here is nice, as it reflects St-Patrick's Day without being green (to be fair, it could reflect any day, but I don't usually drink Kilkenny unless there's a reason, though my glasses say Keith's (don't ask)).

I will have a more interesting commentary for tomorrow's post, as today, as soon as I know this post will go up without a problem, I will go sleep.  I hope everybody reading this will have nice dreams tonight!

"Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow." - 365 Project, Day 16

I had a topic to talk about today, and it vaguely related to the title of today's post.  Unfortunately, I've forgotten what I wanted to speak my mind about.  I suppose that's better for the reader, because it probably wasn't all that interesting to begin with, given I've forgotten it and all.

Photographers are picky people, it seems.  I mean, why else would they shuck 35mm film to the side and create medium format cameras and 8x10 negatives?  Why else would companies create cameras with 80 megapixels, and with both focal plane and leaf shutter systems in one?  It's not just a case of the grass being greener (or keeping up with the Jonses, as the case may be).  It's a case of the grass being greener, and having more megapixels to prove it!  (Or, depending on the analogy you're following, having a cumulative megapixel count greater than what the Jonses have accumulated.)

To be fair, Ansel Adams would have never achieved the images he created with a Polaroid Instant Camera, and his strive for the perfect (and the bigger, to be sure) stemmed from his dissatisfaction with (I assume) Polaroid (and only Polaroid, though don't quote me on that).  Just when, however, will the numbers be big enough?  I suppose I should count myself lucky, in that I'm currently pretty happy with the equipment I have (though, to be fair, I don't shoot vast landscapes of the American West), and I've wanted to post more than simply 16 pictures up to now.  I wonder how long that will last, though, because maybe I'll take a better picture tomorrow, and I'll want better equipment the day after.

Today's pictures are glad very different from each other, and I like this because variety is something about life.

Frank

His note: I cannot believe how nature (in this case with a little help from man) always has an affinity for matching colours... I found this shot after leaving my dentist's office... it made me forget my visit.

Mandy

Her note: Today I went for a blood test with my father and happened to have brought my trusty camera with me. While he ran into the house to fetch a last minute item I caught my reflection in the door handle. It made for a very interesting photo, even though I do look a little like Igor aloft in the bell towers of Notre Dame

Shannon

Her note: As I was leaving for work this morning, I saw this icicle leaning up against my neighbours house.

Me

The creepy thing about this picture is not the tree, it's that I've walked by this tree literally a thousand times before and have never really noticed it.  The street lamp gave it an interesting glow, and though a little brightness might accentuate the Tim-Burton-esque quality of the picture, I think the darkness gives it a slightly scary feeling.

If you're Irish, I hope tomorrow is a lot of fun, and I'd be interesting to know how many green things will be on people's 365 project around the globe.

"I think a photography class should be a requirement in all educational programs because it makes you see the world rather than just look at it." - 365 Project, Day 15

So I've heard before, time goes by quicker when you're having fun.  The problem with this is that, at least for percentage of the population that describes themselves as photographers (whether they may be or not), moments get lost.  Photographers have to slow down time and capture something that only lasts an instant.  When time flies by, instants don't seem so visible.  Being busy also distracts you from the world, and little things are missed.

Indeed, I left my apartment today at 9:30 in the morning and arrived home at roughly 8 in the evening.  (To be fair, this is far from a typical work day for me, but it so happens to fit perfectly for the day's topic, and not only because I chose the topic because of my lengthy work day.)  Unfortunately, I was hardly able to take pictures during that time, as I was busily working on various things that would still have still been done by others were I not there.  I took, I believe 5 pictures before coming home, and when I got home I only had the faintest idea of the picture I wanted today.  So the lesson today should be pretty self-evident (and no it's not to always look around for something, no matter what you're doing): inspiration only comes through deathly boredom!

A nice selection of pictures today and I especially enjoy Shannon's.

Frank

His note: I liked the texture of this sidewalk brick.

Mandy

Her note: Today I was in a bit of a rush to take the picture before tending to other plans. I took a few of this 'n that, and then my West Highland White Terrier, Apple, wandered into the kitchen and looked up at me. No other candidate photos had a chance. There is a small trick I use to get her to actually look at the camera. The mention of "Outside?" gets us a quick stare, longer if were lucky, and if we are really lucky we get the cutest little head tilt.
P.S I took this with my dad's 35mm 1.8... Good lens but it needs getting used to after years of being stuck with an 18-55mm kit lens.

Shannon

Shannon, that's because you weren't bored enough.

Pat

I did edit this file slightly, as Canons tend to occasionally have funny white balances.  All I did is warm up the picture so my hand doesn't look so zombie-coloured.  I suffer for my craft, as I will explain in a sentence or two.  Every streak and scratch on my hand is Tux-induced.  Those two big scratches occurred as I was playing with him and he almost fell off the bed.  He tried to claw onto something so as not to fall off the bed.  Unfortunately, my hand was the closest object.  Here's where I suffer, though.  Doing this set of pictures (and on this very picture, in fact) Tux re-opened a half-healed wound he gave me a few days ago.

One may wonder how much others will suffer for their craft tomorrow.  Probably nobody, but I may do something stupid to prove you wrong.  Tune in tomorrow.

"No place is boring, if you've had a good night's sleep and have a pocket full of unexposed film." - 365 Project, Day 14

If only photography could, for better or worse, capture aromas, as well as visuals.  It was a gorgeous day (read: not -12C with a massive windchill) so I took the very present opportunity to go walk around and I spent the better part of the afternoon strolling from street to street, seeing if anything interesting would catch my eye.  Indeed, there were many such things.  Now, most of the pictures seemed slightly more elegant in my mind than they actually did on my computer, but there's no harm in pressing a simple button to capture a few bits of information.  Regardless, walking around, the feel and texture of the street is likely what pushed me to press the shutter as many times as it did.  At times, the atmosphere is stronger than the composition.

When one looks around for inspiration, it will certainly be found.  I took pictures of streets, people, cars, buses and even a piece of paper on the floor.  Varying in degree of quality and artistry, some of the photos turned out to be pretty, well, picturesque.  It might be crazy for some to read I took roughly 310 pictures in a 4-hour time span, but for people who have looked around for things to shoot, it should not be that odd.  I am quite happy with my day, though my eyelids are now feeling the effects of too much walk and too little sustenance.

The pictures follow, as is pretty self-evident.

Frank

His note: I was taking photos around the lamp I had made to see if anything would work out and decided to take this shot... very innocent with no thought of ever using it but as it turned out it was the best of the entire series...

Mandy

Her note: I was outside my house and a snowbank caught my eye. The very top has some icy crystal-like formations and they seemed to sparkle. I ran inside to get my camera and noticed the sun was directly across from me up in the sky. So I ended up half crouched in the snowbank and half in a deep puddle angling my body partially towards the sky. I picked this picture from the set I shot because there was a hole in the icy formation and I angled the camera to capture the sun in the hole. There was no editing done, the camera captured the sunbursts on its own. I love this picture and it was fun to take.

Shannon

Her note: My crazy friend is always up to something!

My pic

As I was walking around the random streets I came across, I saw this dog enjoying itself looking at passersby on the street below.  I didn't get the straight-on angle I wanted, but I doubt the older gentleman shoveling the snow off his driveway would have appreciated my walking on his lawn just to take a picture of a dog.

It has now been a fortnight and the weather is warming up.  That means a lot more walking around and hopefully some interesting pictures.  We shall see!

"Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshot from the photograph." - 365 Project, Day 13

I've found that since beginning this project almost a fortnight ago, my eyes have been wandering more so than usual.  I've been taking a lot more pictures that I usually do, and though their quality probably doesn't surpass my previous output, I've been having a nice time looking for interesting angles and fun compositions.  I seem to find inspiration everywhere, which is strange.  A puddle of water can seem interesting, or a piece of string.  Though only 365 pictures will make it onto this blog (as part of this project, in any case), there are many more than that in my camera.  Some I take knowing full well they will never show up here, as they're not intended for this blog (and get your minds out of the gutter, it's not like that), but I do look around whenever I can, hoping that I will find the perfect picture to post.

I understand now why this is designed to make you grow as a photographer.  I am liking this greatly.  It also seems the others are enjoy it at, as well, and are looking around for interesting things to shoot.  Today's pictures show this, I believe.  Finding inspiration in little things is what a photographer's life is made of.

On a completely unrelated note, does anybody know a very good photography podcast?  I've heard a few, but no consistent, quality one.  Photography.ca's are too brief for my liking, and prophotoshow.com's don't have any consistency in when they're released.  Tips from the Top floor is the most consistent one, but I would prefer something not from the twit.tv network (and I won't go into any more detail about).  Let me know if you know of a good one, or I'm going to have to start my own and I don't think anybody wants that to happen.

As for today's pictures, here we go!

Frank

His note: What rhymes with orange...?  How about... orange?

Mandy

Her note: Spring is peeking around the corner of winter at us as though it's shy to take the last step into the room. That being said I took to the back yard with my camera and sat in waiting. To my surprise this brave little chickadee, against the tweets of his peers, disregarded the human sitting a couple feet from the feeder, and got down to some nice peanuts in the feeder. Not to mention a very nice portrait of himself.

Shannon

Her note: Hope this pic is appropriate.

Well, I think it may very well insult stupid people, so I'd be careful.

Pat

There was a soirée of sorts at my work today, and I left late enough.  In the parking lot, I looked up and saw the moon.  A few exposure tweaks later (not very obvious taking a picture of the moon in the night) and this turned out nice enough.  Still a bit soft, but I don't it'll get much better with the equipment I'm using.

Tomorrow should find more pictures here.  In fact, I'll go one further and bet you anything you'll find more pictures here tomorrow.  Til tomorrow!

"Every time someone tells me how sharp my photos are, I assume that it isn't a very interesting photograph. If it were, they would have more to say." - 365 Project, Day 12

I have no real thoughts for today, and as such, you'll be spared my meandering thoughts and vague explanations of things that everybody already know anyway.  Nor will I blather on about the weather, as I've been won't to do in the past couple of weeks.  (The main reason I will not do these things is that it's getting close to tomorrow, and I am somewhat tired.)  Instead, I'll just say I enjoyed my Saturday, had a lot of fun at my friend's baby shower, and took a lot of pictures (and a few videos), though mostly with my S95 and not my 7D.

The pictures today are pretty good, and hopefully no one will tell us how sharp they are.  Feel free to let us know what you think, though.  Feedback is always nice to read.

Frank

His note: Unfortunately my lens is not high quality but it lends itself to allow the imagination to flow.  This is obviously a small puddle on the pavement. However, if you let your imagination flow it could represent the shore of a lake...

Mandy

Her note: We are collecting these for an organization that melts them down to make wheelchairs and they caught my eye just sitting there in their bottle.  Took this pic off centre and at an odd angle to throw something different into the mix of straight-on average shots I took. It turned out to be the funkiest and overall best shot.  Goes to show stepping out of the box yields some great results.

Shannon

No note from her, but I will add a blurb.  A couple of years ago when I was visiting Montreal, one of the vending machines I saw had a, say, kind of toy, though definitely not for kids, in a vending machine.  Ottawa is a bit safer.  Here are a bunch of gum balls.

Pat

The baby shower I attended was not usual.  The baby was adopted, and so was present at the shower (which, I definitely recommend, given that it was a lot of fun).  I took a lot of pictures of said baby and his happy parents, but this is the one that struck me the most.  it was a plant in a corner with track lighting near the ceiling shining down.  It seems lonely, but I enjoy it.

I will ramble more tomorrow, as I should have more time to write something.  I should also have more inspiration.  A good night's sleep should help.  Until tomorrow.