365: Week 2

2 weeks in and going strong. Haha. What is it "they" say? It take 3 weeks (or 21 days) to form a habit? So I'm 2/3 of the way there, right? Taking a photo a day hasn't been burdensome at all. I've been really enjoying it! I found a website/blog that's all about this project and each month the creator publishes a list of inspiration "prompts" for each day. So I've been looking over those just so I can have ideas in my head for days that there is seemingly nothing for me to shoot. So far I've only had to use one, which you'll see below.

Day 9, 9/22
Drake and his new hamburger toy.
I'm not sure why this one is so "fuzzy" I don't feel like the ISO was extremely high, and it's
obviously fairly well lit. Any hints/tips for me? Maybe it has something to do with the image size?

Day 10, 9/23
I call this one, "Eyes on the Prize" :)

Day 10, 9/23 (I couldn't decide between these two.)
The nanny-child is crawling now! Isn't he just the cutest? I have a pretty wonderful job :)
I got permission from his parents to post pictures of him here

Day 11, 9/24
Baby bed-head

Day 12, 9/25
Mountain view

Day 13, 9/26
Inspiration prompt for the day: "Notes"
My Grandpa's handwritten music

Day 14, 9/27
Doing a bit of re-decorating around here and finally getting
around to using at least 1 of the old windows from our wedding.

Day 15, 9/28
Super exciting Saturday in the Smith household
Okay, what the heck? This picture looks terrible here! But it's crisp and clean on my computer.
I'm convinced it's blogger now making my pictures look fuzzy. Hmmm, gonna have to figure this out.

Day 16, 9/29
We got Drake a trainer this week (notice the collar)!
We're only one session in, but we feel like there's hope for our little pup.

K, so 2 of those pictures were really fuzzy. The rest of them were okay, but still not nearly as good as they look elsewhere. Bummer! Hopefully I can get that fixed soon!

Currently on the record player: The Mamas and The Papas, If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears

365: Week 1

Here are my photos from Week 1 of my 365 project.

I think one thing that might take me a while to "adjust" to, will be that I won't LOVE all my pictures. I'm sure I'll have a couple stand out every week and definitely have a handful by the end of the year. But I need to be okay with not taking award-winning, magazine-worthy photos every day. And I need to continually remind myself that I'm still learning. Besides that minor disappointment so to say, I've been having fun looking for opportunities to snap a photo everyday!

Day 1 (9/14/2013)
Obviously, a favorite. Which I think will stand as a favorite through out the year.

Day 2 (9/15/2013)
The nanny-child is so close to crawling. He's in that push-up and rock back and forth stage. Any day now...

Day 3 (9/16/2013)
I really like the kitchen floor at the house where I nanny. I foresee many pictures being taken there.
Plus a chubby baby playing with a whisk? Pretty great.

Day 4 (9/17/2013)
We're FINALLY getting some peppers from our little porch/balcony garden :)

Day 5 (9/18/2013)
I maaaay have super-glued my thumb and index finger together.  I also may have dyed them
blue in the process of unsticking them (which isn't super obvious in this picture, unfortunately.)
I don't even like this picture, I'm only putting it on here for the sake of having a picture a day

Day 6 (9/19/2013)

Day 6 (9/19/2013)
I couldn't decide between these two. We had BBQ chicken cobb salads for dinner,
which included mini peppers from our porch/balcony garden (they were DELISH)

Day 7 (9/20/2013)
Our apartment number. Haha, another one that I don't like. Pretty boring.
But I did take it at night, so I'm impressed at how bright and non-blurry it is

Day 8 (9/21/2013)

Day 8 (9/21/2013)
Another day I couldn't decide on one. We went and watched the hang-gliders at the Gliderport
and then did a little bit of un-authorized exploring along the edge of the cliffs.

three sixty five

*Deep breath* I can't believe I'm about to commit myself to this...but I think I'm going to attempt to take a picture every day for the next year. 365 photos from 365 days.

Three hundred. And sixty five.

I'm not really sure how this is going to look for me blog-wise, whether I'll post a picture a day (so very HIGHLY unlikely, haha) or sum up at the end of the week, or maybe just post my favorites at the end of the month...or maybe scrap this blog altogether and start a tumblr, where it seems more...acceptable (?) to just upload a picture a day. I really don't know. And I'm just going to let it grow and develop on it's own, so we'll see what happens.

But I'm kind of getting ahead of myself here. This past weekend, I did something so completely out of character that I'm still shocked with myself about it today. Ryan and I went to our local photo/camera store to get a print made of that picture of Drake in the dog park that I took with my Diana camera, and I walked out with a brand new DSLR camera in tow.
Can you believe it?!

(really terrible photo) Here it is! My Canon SL1.
The smallest and lightest DSLR, perfect for my little hands :)

Actually, that makes it sound much more spontaneous than what it was. You see, I've been wanting a nice camera for years. And I've been researching them more seriously the past several months. I knew the camera that I wanted. But I just couldn't bring myself to spend that kind of money on myself. Not that we are hurting for money right now, but even with Ryan's steady income and my measly contribution we want to continue to be smart with our money. We're trying to build up our savings account (which was non-existent just a few short months ago) to have a little bumper in case of emergencies. And OF COURSE, we're saving up to buy a VW camper van. In short, we are trying to not spend when we don't have to. So I just couldn't do it. I couldn't bring myself to buy it. And then I got an email about my rewards points that I've been building up since I was 19 with my trusty old credit card. And there was my loophole :)

We went to Nelson photo knowing that I was going to look at the camera while I was there. You know, actually get to hold it and see how it felt in my hands. But neither of us expected me to really go through with finally buying it. Like I said...I'm still kind of in shock. But I'm thrilled with my new purchase. I have a pretty good grasp on the concepts of photography...composition, exposure, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc. But I wasn't able to practice most of that knowledge with my point and shoot. With this camera, I actually have control of all those things. So I'm just...really excited about it.

See how perfectly it fits my hands?
Don't worry, this is a one time deal. This new project does not mean
I'm now in the business of taking selfies in the bathroom mirror.

I'm rambling now. Anyways...

My purpose behind this 365 project is to mostly improve my photography skills and to get to know my new camera :) And similarly to this blog, I think it'll be a great way to document our lives. Next year, 5 years, and even 10 years from now, I know I'll enjoy looking back on all these photos.

I also know this challenge is going to be just that...a CHALLENGE. Yeah, taking a picture every day doesn't seem like much work. But doing it with the hope of improving my skills means that I'll want to be a bit more intentional with each shot and I'll need to step outside my comfort zone and look for variety. I have taken a vow to not use my camera in auto mode, so I'm hoping this will help me to feel more comfortable in manual for all situations and be able to quickly identify when I need to increase my shutter speed or decrease the aperture, etc. This challenge also means I'll need to carry my camera with me all the time. I'm already fairly good with this, because the first rule of lomography is to take your camera with you everywhere. I'm pretty good at toting my Diana around (love that little camera, even the mention of 'er makes me smile) so now I'll just have to start carrying something a tad bit heavier. But I think the hardest part about this will be staying inspired. It's pretty easy to want to take a photograph when you're on vacation (which is never me, who am I kidding?) or doing something fun, but what about those days where I'm just doing dishes and making dinner? What about those days when the nanny-child doesn't want to nap and then I go home and re-heat some leftovers for dinner? Those days it'll be hard to find the inspiration for a photo. But in a strange way, I'm kind of looking forward to those days the most. I think that's where I'll do most of my growing.

My goodness, this has been a wordy post. To sum up: I got a new camera and for the next year you all will get to see a whole bunch of pictures of Drake.

Currently on the record player: Led Zepplin, Presence

learning to surf

Welp, I've check the first thing off my "26 before 26" list. The most fun one on the list!
Last Saturday, Ryan and I headed out bright and early [for us] to Pacific Beach, put on our wet-suits and headed into the water with our surf instructor, Travis. (Who we really really liked and secretly wish we could be friends with him.)

North PB

[Wait. Ryan and I found someone we want to be friends with?! That puts the count at a whopping 3 people for this year. And yet, we remain friendless out here.]

Ryan was a natural. He picked it up pretty quickly and just did his own thing for the most part. I had a bit more trouble with the timing of it, so I stuck around our instructor so that he could tell me when a good wave for me was coming and when to start paddling, etc. But all in all, we both did pretty good. And had a blast doing it. And we didn't have any close encounters with a shark. Successful day in the ocean in my book!

We plan on buying our own boards and wetsuits so we can continue surfing. We might have to buy a new car for this though, because our car is shorter than our surfboards would be. The struggles of moving from a big city to Southern California.

Currently on the record player: Led Zeppelin, Presence

analogue love

I FINALLY got these 2 rolls of film developed. They've been sitting on my desk for months now. Want to see my latest Diana cam loves? Look no further :)

Pretty self-explanatory...Four Corners, from our road trip

Elephant's feet, also from our road trip
(If you look closely, you can see Ryan and Drake down at the bottom of the right "foot")

 Inquisitive seagull at Mission Beach (look at that empty beach! Mission Beach DOES NOT look like this after Memorial Day)

Diggin' Bubs at Fiesta Island

Ryan at Fiesta Island (light leaks and vignetting? It's like a lomographer's dream come true!)

Our favorite neighborhood, Ocean Beach. Where lots of old hippies live :)

Colorado Landscape. I'm the next Ansel Adams. [Blasphemy]

St. Louis Arch at night, from our road trip

World's Largest Catsup Bottle, another road trip one

City Hall in Philadelphia. My first shot with my wide angle lens.

Philadelphia Skyline from South Street Bridge. Wide angle.

Drake at the dog park in Philadelphia. One of my faves, of course. Another wide angle.

I really REALLY love this one! Reading Terminal Market in Philly, another wide angle.
(Also, pronouced like RED-ing. Which is also how the Reading Railroad in Monopoly should be pronounced.
Sorry for crushing your childhood memories.)

I've also been working on a project with my polaroids. I want to fill a frame on our gallery wall with various polaroids of VW buses. So I've been slowly building my collection. Here's what I have so far, plus a couple of extras from our road trip.

From the penny arcade, a stop in Colorado on our road trip

Grand Canyon National Park

I'm amazed by the color in this one. Makes me so thankful for the diligent people over at Impossible Project.

Kind of hard to tell, but I really love the buses with the little flaps over the headlights like this one.
They look like eyelids to me :)

Currently playing on the record player: The Who, It's Hard

ryan's favorite place

Hahaha, man, it's really hard getting back into the swing of blogging. That 6-month hiatus very much became the "new norm" and now my blog is not even on my radar most of the time. I'm really trying to get back into writing more often, because Ryan and I have both agreed that my blog is a great way to document our life. After my last post, we both went back and read a bunch of posts from the past. We loved re-living our road trip across America, being reminded of how sweet my little Oliver boy was (I MISS THAT KID SO MUCH), reading about the [few and far between] good-times we had in Philadelphia with our Philly Bucket list...you get it.

PLUS, on my birthday this past July, I made a list of 26 things I would like to do before I'm 26. And like I said, this is a great way to document life and slowly completing that list over the course of the next year is definitely something I want documented. (You can see the list here or by clicking the "26 before 26" tab, not all of the things will be written about, but I'll cross them off there as I complete them.)

Moving on...Ryan and I are really struggling getting to our favorite spot. We both have the same place for our favorite spot. And for a while, we were going every weekend, but lately we just can't seem to get there. Sometimes life gets in the way. Stupid mundane errands and junk. But for the sake of variety and timeliness, Ryan has agreed to let me post something else as his favorite. But just know it's not his number 1, more like a really close 2nd.

About a month or so ago, Ryan finally bought himself a motorcycle. He's been wanting one since the minute he gave my Dad back the one he loaned to him. He's been working really hard (and worked super hard getting through PA school) and deserved to get himself something nice now that we have a steady income. And I just got a job (part-time nannying again), so it was necessary for us to have more than just our car.

So, Ryan's favorite place to be, or favorite thing to do rather, is to go on long motorcycle rides. Mostly dirt road/mountain trail stuff. He always comes back a dusty mess. He loves it.

I think he's super cute riding his motorcycle. Which is probably not what he wants to hear. Or what he wants published on the internet. But how do guys riding motorcycles want to be described? Burly? Manly? Rough and Tough? I mean I don't know. So I'm sticking with my original. Super cute. [Sorry Ry-guy.]

Currently on the record player: Frank Sinatra, My Way (although it's not actually playing right now, just the last thing we listened to and it's still in the player)

drake's favorite place

Welp. Here I am. What's it been... almost 6 months now? So much has changed since moving to San Diego. But no worries. I'm still me. Still having regular dance parties to "Whip My Hair" and J.Lo tunes, listening to Boston several times a day on the good ol' record player, and just as much in love with my SX-70 as the day I got it.

Sigh...she takes my breath away.

Why the lack in posts lately? (If "lately" can even be used to describe a 6-month hiatus)
I told my sister when I was visiting Michigan in April, that I truly blog for myself. I know a lot of bloggers say that, but I also don't believe about 99% of them. Cause...if you're getting paid to blog and are ruthlessly trying to get hundreds or thousands of followers...well, that just makes your little lie that much harder to believe. But I really really do blog for myself. I enjoy writing. It's a good outlet for me. It's an easy way for me to express my thoughts, because I'm not so good with the talking.

While living in Philadelphia, I needed to blog. I needed that outlet. I needed to write about checking things off my "Philly Bucket List" to try and keep my spirits up. I needed that to continually remind myself that my life wasn't so bad, that I had a lot to be grateful for. And then San Diego became our new home. And I felt like I no longer needed this outlet. So, I stopped blogging.

But I guess my family is missing reading it. Which is understandable, because I'm so darn hilarious. Just kidding (but not really). So my sister requested a simple post with just 3 pictures: 1 with me and my favorite place, 1 with Ryan and his favorite place, and one of Drake. And well, since I love her so dearly, I'm giving her not just 1 post with 3 pictures, but THREE posts with lots of pictures. Enjoy, Em!

First up, Drake in his favorite place. (I realize this is outside of your specifications, Emily, but I hope you'll let it slide because he's so darn cute.)

Drake actually has two favorite places (oh, now I'm really breaking the rules!) The dog beach and the park in our apartment complex. He FLIPS out whenever he hears us say "beach" or "park", so we had to start spelling where we're going so that he wouldn't be SUCH a freak on the way there. "Do you want to take Drake to the P-A-R-K tonight?" But, he's a smart little pup, and apparently he's learned how to spell. So now we have to get creative. "Let's head over to the Paa-R-K."

Our favorite thing about taking Drake to the park is letting him off his leash when the park is in sight and watching him run as fast as he can to the grass and then crouch down, just waiting to fetch his ball. He'll sit in his "ready position" for so long, it's super cute. That dog has a one thing on his mind...his green ball.
(Feel free to skip over 10-35ish seconds. It is literally just me walking. I don't have the editing capabilities to cut that out.)

Isn't he just the cutest?

Look at that happy pup! Pretty obvious this is one of his favorite places, huh?

Onto Drake's next favorite place...the doggie beach! We mostly take him to Ocean Beach Dog Beach, but these are pictures from our trip to Del Mar (seasonal) Dog Beach...but you guys won't be able to tell the difference because it'll just look like every other beach to your untrained-on-California-beaches eyes :)

Yep, this is where we live! I still can't believe it.

Riding the wave in. He was born to surf.

Obviously, our little Bubs is living the life out here! Pretty nice "favorite places" for a dog, huh?

Currently playing on the record player: Boston, Boston. But we already covered that. I wasn't joking when I said I listen to it several times a day.