Photo Journaling 2012

One of my projects for 2012 is to take at least one photo a day that truly represents what that day was all about, or perhaps documents the highlights of the day, people who showed up, or some other aspect that makes that day what it was.  The purpose of this project is two-fold- first, to document my daily life in pictures, and second, to improve my photography skills as I go.  (You know....it's that thing about being good at what you do every day.(

Now that January is almost over, I took some time to evaluate this project.  I realized that there are some days that carrying my big camera is just. not. feasible.  For these days, I reserve the right to take iPhone snaps, instagrams, or whatever to document the day.  Also, there seems to be some days that the priorities of the day are going to trump this project.  That's ok.  I try to put first things first, and in some instances, this project just isn't a 'first thing.'  Ground rules are a good thing, and with those in place, here are a few of my favorite daily photos from January.

January 2

January 4

January 6

January 7

January 10

January 12

January 16

January 24

January 29

Picture this

Picture five glorious days surrounded by beautiful scenery and creative energy.

Picture nights by the fire, letting laughter and friendship chase away the cold.

Picture learning a new skill and making new friends in the process.

Picture creeping vines giving way to riotous blooms of color.

Picture sunrise on the dock, the water calm and soothing after a night of storms.

Picture tiny gifts found at your feet.

Picture being with those that understand the whole of you, who know you in a way most can't.

Picture feeling the sun on your face, it's rays warming your body and healing your heart.

Picture watching the tiny movements of nature, and knowing there is something bigger than yourself at work. 

Picture a solitary afternoon on the dock, sorting through thoughts and emotions and finally finding the peace that comes when you know what steps to take next.

Picture a walk through the trees, letting yourself get lost and reminding yourself that you found yourself here before.  And that when you are at home in your soul, you are never really lost, anyway.

I have gorgeous friends. Please meet one of them.

When I was pregnant, I was not a glowing expectant mother. If I 'glowed' at all, it was the result of an ever-present fine sheen of sweat and vomit. Not glowy. No, not at all.

My friend, Brittany, however, is definitely one of the loveliest pregnant women I have ever seen. In a non-pregnant state, she is gorgeous. Pregnant...WOW!...amazingly beautiful.

She was kind enough to help me work on my photo skills one evening, and I got to capture some lovely maternity images. These are a few of my favorites.

(These are her husband's baby booties. I think it's so sweet that his mother kept them and that Brittany has them now for her baby. )

This baby is one lucky girl. She is much anticipated and much loved, and has such intelligent, cool parents. A lucky baby girl, indeed.

See? She's gorgeous, no?

Thanks, Britt, for letting me take these and for being so patient with the weeds and the grass and the bugs. :) I hope you like them. I learned a lot and had so much fun with you and baby D!

Tour of Utah - Stage 4

This afternoon, I spent a few sunny hours enjoying two of my favorite things - bicycles and hot men who shave their legs!

It's the Tour of Utah time, baby!

Besides the bikes and athletic men (which should not be discounted), watching the race also gave me a great chance to practice photographing moving subjects. All of these photos were shot on manual. There were some really terrible shots, but I started to figure it out as the laps counted down. I'm pleased with a few of them.

52 photos project *Colors*

This week's prompt was "colors". I shot a bunch of different photos with this in mind, but I keep going back to this one, which I took in a candy shot in SFO Terminal 2. My flight was delayed by a couple of hours, but I made good use of the time by working on shooting on manual and getting rich, true colors by manipulating the f-stop and shutter speeds.

Plus, who doesn't want pictures of gigantic lollipops? It was a cute little store.


IF you want to play along with the 52 photos project, go here for the details and to post your photos.

Christmas Eve Happenings

Riley and I spent Christmas Eve-Eve and Christmas Eve in Idaho. It was a very quick trip, but it gave us the chance to enjoy some time with our family, and still make it back to Utah for Santa to find Riley in our own home.

Ambrie

Hallee

Riley

Lexi

Baby Karlee

Riley and I decided to take Hallee and Lexi out for breakfast on Christmas Eve. It was so much fun, and so entertaining! We will definitely be repeating that experience! Best breakfast dates ever!

After breakfast, Hallee and I headed out on a little aunt/niece outing. She and I like to drive around, doing whatever random thing we come up with (I love this girl!). This time, she manned the Ipod (Taylor Swift, anyone?) and I shot a few photos.

I'm digging how the white on white on white of the structures, the snow and the sky. This is how I imagine Idaho in the winter.

Then it was time to head back to Utah to await Santa's arrival. Of course, Riley opened the traditional Christmas pj's before bed.
Stockings were hung (sorta) and Riley's haul was set out for her to discover on Christmas morning.
Merry, merry!