Month 1 in Review - January

Well, I've made it through the first month of this project.  After only week one I began to feel that I was learning new things about my camera - exactly what I was intending to achieve with this project.  Wanting to post decent images has forced me to slow down, to think about what I'd like to take a picture of.  What would be something that is representative of my day?  The cold weather had been an issue earlier in the month, so I took more images indoors than I had anticipated.  This forced me to develop a great relationship with my tripod, which I have used more this month than I had in the previous three months since I first got it.  The ball head is super easy to use and the whole tripod is very sturdy with my 18-200mm lens on there.  I couldn't be happier with it.  Tracking the exif info underneath each photo has also become helpful - I'm learning which focal lengths I gravitate towards, so this might assist me in deciding on a future lens.  For the next little while I want to slow down some more, aiming to get more creative compositions - 'catchy' images.

Some stats for January:

• Favourite photo: Day 9 - Blowing Snow - So austere, and accurately portrays what that moment actually felt like.  Tied with Day 30 - Winter Wonderland.
• Least favourite photo: Day 14 - Cold Tree - A snapshot and it shows.
• Most challenging photo to take: Day 20 - Dancing Smoke - Lighting became everything in getting the smoke to register.
• Most creative photo: Day 6 - International Avenue Clock
• Most used Photoshop edits: sponge (saturate), burn, sharpen mask
• Number of photos taken this month: ~ 710
• Number of days on which I wouldn't have taken a photo if I didn't have to for this: 23
• How I feel about this project: Glad to have started it.

Which is your favourite photo from January?

Day 31 - Bedroom

This was one of my mini design projects.  Found the duvet cover at Neiman Marcus Last Call in Dallas, duvet quilt at IKEA, alarm clock by Hilton, round mirror from a store in Kensington, and table lamp by Dainolite.  Furniture design by yours truly.

f/14 | 1 sec | 22mm

Day 30 - Winter Wonderland

f/10 | 1/400 sec | 18mm

Day 29 - Dreamy Violin

Nothing but snow in the forecast, so I dug out my old violin at 12:10am to get the day's photo out of the way.  I ran this through Filter Forge's dreamy filter, but am not sure what to make of it.

f/4.5 | 1/20 sec | 42mm

Day 28 - Red Bench

Second day of unedited photos.

f/5 | 1/15 sec | 24mm

Day 27 - LV

This is the first unedited photo that I'm posting to this blog.

f/5.6 | 62/100 sec | 200mm

Day 26 - Birthday Cake

f/4.5 | 1/40 sec | 48mm

Day 25 - Read

Trying the Lensbaby effect (slice of focus) without a Lensbaby.  What is the first word that you notice on these books?

f/4.2 | 1/60 sec | 36mm

Day 24 - A long way down

Stacked balconies, non-stacked drains.  Colourized using Filter Forge Freepack 2 plugin for Photoshop.

f/9 | 1/32 sec | 130mm

Day 23 - 'Screenshot'

Because sometimes you simply don't have time for a proper photo.

f/4 | 1/4 sec | 28mm

Day 22 - So blue and foxy

f/14 | 1/800 sec | 20mm

Day 21 - Rose

f/5.6 | 1/4 sec | 170mm

Day 20 - Dancing Smoke

Smoke has got to be one of the more difficult things to capture.  This time I set up a black background and placed a headlamp right under a stick of incense.

f/5 | 1/2 sec | 65mm

Day 19 - Masterclass

10pm and I don't have a photo yet. To the rescue comes a macro and flash shot of my new Digital Photography Masterclass book.

f/5.6 | 1/30 sec | 31mm

Day 18 - Ganesha

S. gave me a lucky ganesha today.  Thank you - this will be a cherished piece.

f/5 | 1/2 sec | 65mm

Day 17 - Interesting

Stuck in rush hour traffic, why not just roll down the window to get something a little more interesting?  Like a neighborhood boutique!

f/5 | 1/30 sec | 80mm

Day 16 - Incense

This was my second attempt to photograph smoke.  After barely getting any smoke to register, I read this article, so will be giving this another try some time.

f/5.6 | 8 sec | 200mm

Day 15 - Räuchermännchen

f/9 | 15 sec | 105mm

Day 14 - Cold Tree

Another cold morning: -23ºC, but -36ºC in the windchill.

f/4.5 | 1/15 sec | 48mm

Day 13 - Pyrite and Quartz Crystal

Pyrite gets its name from the Greek pyr, meaning fire, because it gives off sparks when hit with a metal.  Quartz is believed by some to have various healing qualities. 

f/5.3 | 1/6 sec | 95mm

Day 12 - Neon

f/5.3 | 1/15 sec | 112mm

Day 11 - New York

I got this city in a bag at the MoMA Store a few years ago.  The focal length varies, giving this effect (in other words, zooming out during a longer exposure).

f/9 | 4 sec | 40-60mm

Day 10 - Underwear Affair

An article I read on photographing clothing suggested shooting things flat, not showing the full item, and pairing it up with something natural.  As I've been longing for some colour amidst all this snow, the fake grass will have to do.

f/5.6 | 1/125 sec | 135mm

Day 9 - Blowing snow

It's a poor day for driving with sections of Hwy 1 closed and a windchill of -28ºC.  I didn't pay much attention to what I was capturing, but like the balance of yellow.

f/8 | 1/250 sec | 65mm

Day 8 - Lots of time

This is an old clock that has been in the family for generations.  A few decades ago it was dewormed and taken apart in attempts to make it functional again.  We believe that it is a Junghans Regulator clock from the latter 1800s.

f/5.6 | 1/40 sec | 135mm

Day 7 - Barware reflections

A just-after-midnight shot that ended up getting the 'happy accidents' Lomo effect.  I had never heard of this technique before, but will be trying more of it.

f/7.1 | 10 sec | 75mm

Day 6 - International Avenue Clock

Used the ND grad to get better contrast in the sky.  Read a little bit of history on the International Avenue clock here.

f/10 | 1/1600 sec | 120mm

Day 5 - 'D' Dutchmen Dairy

Delicious milk that I got at 'D' Dutchmen Dairy. Converted to sepia using Filter Forge Freepack 2 plugin for Photoshop.

f/4.6 | 1/5 sec | 70mm

Day 4 - U of C Downtown Campus

You can find more information on this building here. 

f/5.6 | 1/125 sec | 32mm

Day 3 - DeMille's Farm Market, Sicamous

DeMille's is one of the farm shops I visited around Sicamous and Salmon Arm today.  Lots of organic goodies to be found.

f/4.5 | 1/30 sec | 42mm

Day 2 - Merritt Colour

f/10 | 1/400 sec | 48mm

Day 1 - Icicles at Glacier Park Lodge, Roger's Pass

It's probably been ten years since I last visited Roger's Pass.  The Visitor Information is undergoing renovations, so was moved into the adjacent Glacier Park Lodge.

f/9 | 1/320 sec | 42mm

Preview Photo - Calgary skyline

With the temperature sitting at -26ºC with the windchill, yet a perfectly clear sky, I opted to stop by the bluff on my drive back tonight.

f/20 | 30 sec | 18mm

Preview Photo - On the living room table

Playing with the tripod, longer exposures, and depth of field. 

f/20 | 15 sec | 29mm

The challenge

365 days in a year.  365 photographs.  365 days of having to take photographs.  Would I be up for it?

After reading the Digitial Photography School's weekly e-mail just before Christmas, an article grabbed my attention: share your results for the 365 Project - good or bad.  Having just gotten my first dSLR - a Nikon D5000 with 18-200mm lens - a few months ago, I'm intrigued.  I've been learning the manual controls, learning how the lens works, learning how the exposure triangle works.  I'm at a point where I feel comfortable with the camera and don't want to go back to my point and shoot (a Canon G10).  Sometimes, however, I need to be challenged to get something done; a 365 Project seems to fit the bill.  And so, armed with my Nikon, I intend to take one 'good' (of the non-snapshot variety) photo every day of 2011.  Some might be images I'll be proud of, while others, I'd imagine, may be more of the I-have-to-take-a-photo-today variety.  What will I learn with my camera?  What will I see and experience in 365 days?