Day 334 Green Headlamp

Green Headlamp

I have really loved my makeshift studio. It has helped open up all sorts of nice photographs that I can make late at night with simple items from the house. I got this headlamp for my birthday and like it a lot. It did take some getting used to though because the lower brightness light is green. I am now totally a fan and only occasionally use the bright white light. i made lots of different photographes of it trying to find a balance between the flashlights light and my studio lights(house lamps).

Day 333 I Heart You Nut

I Heart You Nut

I have been carrying this nut around for over a year now after picking it up thinking it would be a neat thing to photograph. I finally made my first photograph of it. I like the way that it looks like a heart and how there are two dark "eyes". I also enjoyed using my table studio.

Day 332 White Rail

White Rail

This is a brand new railing installed in my grandparents house. There was something about the interaction between the stark new wood with the dark paneling around it. I also really like the way the railing creates a diagonal line moving away through the frame.

Day 331 Burn Chair Burn

Burn Chair Burn

This is my grandpas chair that he has used for as long as I can remember. Finally he got a new chair but still would not get rid of the old one. Now he has moved it out and we thought it only fitting to give it a grand farewell. And let me tell you, well actually show you, it burned.

Day 330 Grandma T

Grandma T

I got to have another thanksgiving feast today, this time with my family. This photograph is of my grandma who claims that she never looks good in photographs. I obviously had to prove her wrong and I think this photograph does it.

Day 329 Forestry

Forestry

Today I am at my grandparents house and one of our tasks is to do some tree maintenance. This photograph is of my cousin trimming the branches off a tree he just fell. I like the composition and the way the chainsaw is spitting out sawdust.

Day 328 Turkey

Turkey

Today is thanksgiving and my family joined a few other families for a afternoon feast. I of-course had to make some photographs and was smart enough to do it before I got distracted by eating. This is my favorite one because I like the crisp golden color of the cooked turkey and I like how you can see a dark black hole from where the stuffing came.

Day 327 Improve Studio

Improve Studio

I put together a makeshift studio today. It is very small and only suited for for small product type photography. It was also surprisingly easy to find the pieces and assemble. I made it from a large map using its white back and a few clamp household lights with fluorescent bulbs. This setup is somewhat limiting and more difficult to use but with work and patience can make some very professional work. I am glad I put it together because it is letting me practice this type of photography and teach me what I want when purchasing more advanced tools for the job. And I am making some nice photographs. This one is my favorite from this session because I like the white, verses gray, background and the clear contrasty but not overly shiny light on the frosting. Below I attached a photograph showing my setup with takes up a space about 1meter square in a corner.

Day 326 Teapot

Teapot

I like tea but what I really like is hot coco. I decided to photograph this teapot even though I have done so on multiple occasions before because it was in a new environment and I wanted to try out some DIY(Do It Yourself) flash modifiers. I really like this photograph of it  because it shows the teapot in good light and has a great background. You can see the stovetop, chimney pipe and stone wall all things that for me are integral parts of the hot coco experience.

Day 325 What?

What?

I don't really know what to title this photograph. There really isn't anything that relates the floss with the jars of lentils other than they happened to be sitting next to each-other. I do however like the absurdity of it and the balance of color and brightness between the bright white floss container and the darker colorful lentils. I also intentionally made it an especially tall photograph to enhance the abstract composition.

Day 324 Snow Fire

Snow Fire

We had a HUGE bon fire today. As the grand finally of my kinda birthday party we burned the 10x10x20 brush pile from clearing an area to expand our gardens. It was massive and really neat especially because there was lots of snow on the pile which made the really dense steam and would tower hundreds of feet into the air. I like this photograph because is showed the raging inferno of flame combating the snow in a chaotic rage of smoke and steam.

Day 323 Micro Study

Micro Study

My mother was doing some cleaning around the house and dug out this old microscope. I thought it made a very neat dramatic thing to photograph. I like this one because of the low angle and the contrasty angled light.

Day 322 Dove

Dove

I got these chocolates for my birthday! They are very tasty. I was looking for something to photograph late in the day. I had some trouble getting them to stack the way I wanted. I was finally able to get the words to be legible and the blue to not be totally washed out.

Day 320 First Snow

First Snow

We got our first real snowfall today. We have gotten flurries before but nothing that stuck. I was very excited because my birthday wish was to have snow and I got it! Everything was beautiful with snow clinging to every branch and surface. I right away went outside and started playing in the snow and building snow guardians and starting a quincy. I like this photograph because it shows the snow on everything and you can see far down into the valley.

Day 319 Solid House

Solid House

I have made simular photographs of our house before but this one stood out. The main thing I like about this photograph is the dramatic feel created by the wide angle lens making the building imposing, and the clouds reflected in the windows.

Day 318 Hungry Gold Fish

Hungry Goldfish

We recently moved our goldfish from there outdoor pond to an inside tank. We drain the outdoor ponds for the winter so that they don't freeze and break. It is very fun to actually be able to see the fish now that they are stuck in a small space. I decided I wanted to photograph them eating because I liked how they flited about when they came up to the surface to get the food. i ended up getting this photograph that I love because I got it right as the fish was eating the food.

Day 317 Money and Power

Money and Power

I have found myself photographing money on numerous occasions through this 365 project. It is somehow very photogenic. I like this photograph because of how intently the eyes are looking through the image and the interaction of the coin and bill.

Day 316 EverGreens

EverGreens

We have gathered mountains of evergreen sprigs. We only take about 9 inches of the end and have been harvesting from the same trees for over 20 years. I like the chaos of all the different twigs going every which way and yet it is simple showing only those greens.

Day 315 Making Holiday Wreaths

Making Holiday Wreaths

Every fall my family makes and sells holiday wreaths. This year Laura and I joined them. We got to hike through the woods gathering greens then sit and weave those greens into beautiful wreaths. This photograph is of Lise making a wreath. I like the perspective looking over the shoulder and how you can see much of the wreath already done and her hands preparing another bunch.

Day 314 Split Rock Shines

Split Rock Shines

Today is november tenth the day that the Edmond Fitzgerald sank. It is also the day that the beacon is lit to commemorate the lives lost in that shipwreck. It is a big event that hundreds of people come to see and photograph. I arrived a little later that I preferred, hours before the light was going to be lit, and there were already masses of photographers lined up with their tripods. You can see one such line below. I searched around finding the compositions I wanted then picked a spot to start. I waited awhile for the light to be lit and then started photographing. I moved around wanting to get different compositions and exposures. Unfortunately it was cloudy because it is also the full moon today and it is rising somewhere behind those clouds. I did however get many photographs I am happy with and this is one of my favorites. I like having the waves hitting the shore adding to the drama of the dark cloudy sky with the light shining through it all.

Day 313 Lighting the Dark

Lighting the Dark

I liked this light fixture the way it all sprouted out from a central point. I didn't like it in its original color and tone so a tried to stylize it. I was looking for an older look that accentuated the dark and light. I took away the distraction of color and found a balance of bright and dark that kept the details but put the focus on that contrast.

Day 312 Rising Full Moon

Rising Full Moon

This is one of my composite images. It was so dark that I couldn't get the really bright moon, the brightish sky, and the very dark trees properly exposed in the same photograph. So I made multiple images for each level of lighting and merged the layers in Photoshop. I am still working on being able to do that merging without it being obvious. This photograph is one of my more successful attempts.

Day 311 Ancient White Spruce Falls

Ancient White Spruce Falls

Today we were walking into the woods to gather greens for the holiday wreaths we are making. We got to the section of trail that passes some of the oldest and largest white spruce trees in the area. To our shock we found the largest of the great trees laying fallen on the ground. It is around 150 years old and has an 8 foot circumference. We all have so many fond memories of walking past this tree and it is a real loss that after surviving the logging, droughts and storms it has fallen.

Day 310 Hungry?

Hungry?

I like this portrait of Laura. It is lit using my flash off camera with my on camera flash filling the shadows. I Love her expression and how I caught her just as she was biting down. I do wish the focus was on her eyes and mouth instead of her nose, eyebrows, and fingers.

Day 309 Splitting Wood

Splitting Wood

Laura and I have been spending many hours recently chopping wood for winter. I kept meaning to get my camera out and make a few photos of it but didn't until today. It was harsh midday light but I got some photographs I am happy with. I like this one because of the perfect timing of the wood parting ways and because of Laura's very focused expression. I also think the spray of wood dust, which you can barely make out in the lower left of the photo, adds a good element.

Day 308 Indoor Fire

Indoor Fire

I was trying to find something to photograph late in the day and I always love photographing fire. I like the combination of the red frame of the stove with the glowing red of the coals.

Day 307 Feasting Bat

Feasting Bat

I got to visit the local zoo again today. It was just as rewarding, or even more so, than the last time. I made many photographs I am pleased with but this one I think is the most unique. We were there right around feeding time so all the animals were more active then they otherwise would have been. The batts were busy flying all over the place chowing down on fruit. I like this photograph because it is in focus, a huge challenge in the total blackness, the bat is hanging off a branch and it is eating.

Day 306 Disk Golf

Disk Golf

I was convinced to go play some disk golf by the fact that I should make some photographs while doing it. I didn't get a whole lot of great ones but I do like this one. I like the implied action and motion. Also the blue hat helps draw the eye to his face.

Day 305 Curious Cat

Curious Cat

I was trying to photograph my pet cat but she was not cooperating. However it turned out for the best because I got a few photos like this one which I think are just comical and way more interesting then many that I have of her. She was very interested in the blinking read lights that flash on my flash, lol, and how it flashed very bright every so often.