Day 28: B&W 2

Thought I'd try another shot at black and white photography. I'm surprised Kristen let me get that close to her face. She sure puts up with me a lot and that's one of the reasons I love her so much.

"Mathematics are all well and good but nature keeps dragging us around by the nose." -Albert Einstein 

Day 27: Chocolate Chip Cookies

What's better than the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies? There is something about the smell of them that just makes me smile. I was working on calculus homework this evening and decided that I needed a break and so went and baked some cookies. I think it was a very productive break.

"Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap." -Barbara Jordan

Day 26: Perfume Bottle

Designs of perfume bottles I find really interestin. Often the bottles look better than the perfume actually smells though.

"Childhood smells like perfume and brownies." -David Leavitt

Day 25: Icicles

Even though it is still winter it hasn't been as cold. No below 0 wind-chills. Can't believe that it is the last Friday of January already!

"Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate." -Albert Schweitzer

Day 24: My (Not Anymore) Secret Love

I love cereal. Really that is all I should say, but I'll explain anyways. When I first started eating solid foods my mom would give me Cheerios. From what my parents say I was easily content when they gave me my little container filled with them. My love for cereal hasn't changed as I've grown up. Almost every morning I have a bowl of cereal before leaving the house. For a midnight snack, mid-day snack, lunch, dinner, or practically any other time imaginable I've eaten cereal. It's just that good. This picture is of a newer cereal that I wish I could thank the person who made them, Chocolate Cheerios.

"Do we need to have 280 brands of breakfast cereal? No, probably not. But we have them for a reason- because some people like them. Its's the same with baseball statistics." -Bill James

Day 23: Bushes and Ice

I enjoy winter for about a week. It is pretty when the snow and ice first falls. Adding sledding or skiing is enjoyable, but then I'm ready to move on. Bring spring and summer so it is not as cold! There is still at least another month of this cold weather though.

"A picture is a poem without words." -Horace

Day 22: The Impossible Triangle

Today I had my Math, Music, and Art Seminar class. The class is really interesting so far as we discuss the similarities between the two at first unrelated fields of math and art. In the class we cut out and made our own version of the Escher's impossible triangle. Today I have two pictures. One is of the correct camera angle to form the triangle, while the second is what the paper actually looks like. It is surprising how just a little change in the angle ruins the illusion.

"Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible. I think it's in my basement... let me go upstairs and check." -M.C. Escher

Day 21: Piano Player

I can not believe I am already three weeks into this project! Tonight I thought I'd use the piano as the subject of my photo. The piano is special to me since my grandmother taught me to play it. For about nine years we had lessons and spent time together in front of the keys.

"Life is like a piano... what you get out of it depends on how you play it." -Anonymous 

Day 20: Go Steelers!

Tonight the Steelers will play the Jets for the AFC title and be one step closer to their seventh Superbowl win. Kristen has been a foot model for me (her legs are sticking out of the dryer in the title photo) so she might as well be a hand model as well. Go Steelers!

"Going after the QB is like playing king of the mountain. When you get the QB, you're on top of the mountain." -Joe Greene

Day 19: Bunco Night

After a soup and sandwich potluck dinner we enjoyed a Bunco night. Everyone enjoyed the time fellowshipping and rolling the dice. Some of us were better than others. Let's just say that tonight wasn't my night with luck. Looking forward to the next social in Wheeling.

"A cube of cheese no larger than a die may bait the trap to catch a nibbling mie." -Ambrose Bierce

Day 18: Self-Portrait 1 Reflections

I went outside today planning to take a picture of the fresh snow that fell last night, but since the sun was so bright getting a photo was difficult. I couldn't get one I liked before my hands were frozen and so decided to go inside to warm up. I then noticed the mirror cabinet in our dining room and took this shot. Glad the weekend is here!

"To me, photography is the art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them." -Elliott Erwitt

Day 17: A Little Fun in the Snow

We had another snow storm come in and so Kristen decided to help me with today's photo. It's surprising how a street light can really add a great "glow" to the photo.

"For there is no friend like a sister, in calm or stormy weather, to cheer one on the tedious ways, to fetch one if one goes astray, to lift one if one totters, down, to strengthen whilst one stands." -Christina G. Rossetti

Day 16: Bitsy

Our cat, Bitsy, is over 10 years old. We got him when I was in third grade and he still plays like a kitten sometimes. I do believe he thinks he's a dog sometimes especially when he enjoys playing catch and chasing the family as we walk through the house. Either way we still are glad he's our pet.

"If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way." -Mark Twain

Day 15: Soccer Game

I ended up going to Washington's indoor soccer game this evening. There was plexi-glass around the entire field and provided a nice challenge to get a good picture. For some reason the players liked to keep moving too! Yearbook last year helped me to overcome some of my fear of sports photography, but I'm still getting there.

"I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate challenge." -Mia Hamm

Day 14: Stairs

Previously I've chosen a quote after I take the picture, but since today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day I decided to look for a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. to use as inspiration for my photo.

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." - Martin Luther King Jr.

Day 13: Decks of Cards

When I was about thirteen (a coincidence that this is the 13th photo I'm posting), I started collecting decks of cards. When I'd go on trips I would try to find some cool cards and I now have quite a collection of oddly shaped and themed cards as well as, cards that have special meaning to me. After others found out I collected cards I have received them as gifts including these Beatles cards from my parents. For this photo I used my fish-eye lens giving the outer edges a stretch.

"Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well." -Robert Louis Stevenson

Day 12: Portraying

Almost two weeks into this project! I am enjoying this so far and can't wait to see all of my pictures at the end. I've already come to the conclusion that every picture isn't going to be a success, but I'll learn from them. I wanted to learn from this project and so far I feel like I have. If I wanted every picture to be great I wouldn't have started this. Plus, I've already had a few days that have been a challenge to fit in taking a picture, but here is another one.

"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever." -Isaiah 40:8 NKJV

Day 11: Colors

Water + Food Coloring =

"Colors are the smile of nature." -Leigh Hunt

Day 10: Boots

I had to get a picture of my dad's boots. These boots are older than me.There is a picture of me wearing them when I was about two. I don't know how much longer these "firemen" boots will be around and so this is to honor the many snowstorms they have been through.

"A lie travels around the world, while Truth is putting on her boots." -Charles H. Spurgeon

Day 9: B&W 1

Here's my first black and white photo (for this project). Black and white photography is a branch of photography I'm planning to really explore over this next year. You may notice that I couldn't find a good quote about chandeliers and so I used a quote from Aristotle's Rhetoric.

"... things that are true and things that are better are, by their nature, practically always easier to prove and easier to believe in." -Aristotle from Rhetoric

Day 8: Lights

Today I worked with the exposure time and a "spotlight" for some fun with shadows and light. Well, more light than shadows.

"Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light." -Helen Keller

Day 7: New and Old

Today was the first day of my spring semester. Now since I commute I spend a lot of time in the Honors Lounge between classes. When I went into the lounge today there was this bright couch right below a reproduction painting of "A Study of Architecture Florence 1910" by John Singer Sargent. The couch wasn't there last semester and is a nice addition even though it doesn't quite match the rest of the room. (I used my Olympus Powershot.)

"We must use time as a tool not as a couch." -John F. Kennedy

Day 6: Blue Skies and Trees

Today the sky was so blue and I couldn't pass that up so I decided to underexpose the photo a little leaving a blue hue to the tree as well.

"Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it, the tree is the real thing."
-Abraham Lincoln

Day 5: Purple Mountain's Majesty

Ok, so it's not a picture of the beautiful purple mountains as the lyrics of "America the Beautiful" say, but Crayola crayons are another great thing in America. I still love crayons and would love to meet the people who have named them. What a great job that would be! The purple mountain's majesty is still one of my favorite crayons to use.

After a quick search here are a few of the the creative Crayola crayon names:

• Jazzberry Jam
• Mango Tango
• Pink Flamingo
• Razzle Dazzle Rose
• Fuzzy Wuzzy

"Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A beauty bomb. And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one. It would explode high in the air-- explode softly-- and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air. Floating down to earth -- boxes of Crayolas. And we wouldn't go cheap either -- not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest. And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with imagination." -Robert Fulghum

Day 4: Gnomes Anytime and Anywhere

I decided to go for a little drive and see if anything popped out at me today. I was only a couple blocks from my house when I saw this in someone's front yard and couldn't pass it up. Hope it makes you smile like it did for me. Happy Friday!

"You are a furry little gnome and we feed you too much!" -Dorthy [to Sophia], Golden Girls

Day 3: A Little Snow Please

I woke up this morning with a little snow on our sidewalk and the sun hitting it beautifully. I quickly got ready and went out and "a lot" (compared to the minuscule amount to begin with) of the snow was already melted and the sun was behind a cloud. I still wanted to catch the first snow of 2011 and decided to use a macro approach.

Also for those wondering, I am using my Sony Alpha 200 DSLR for all of these photos. If I use my Olympus Powershot (which will probably happen on occasion when school starts next week) I will mention that in my post.

"To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug." -Helen Keller

Day 2: A Day at the Park

Today I decided to go to the park and take some shots. I came back with a handful making it hard for me to just choose one, but I finally did.

“Life becomes real only when we begin to face and solve our own problems. Until then we only swim in circles in a large fantasy world which tends to make us very tired of living. Don't waste energy! Face life now!”

Day 1: Spinning Globe

Here is photograph number one! I wanted to work with motion and after a few tries I was able to capture the spinning of the globe.

"I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself."
-Aldous Huxley 

365

I was looking at some photography sites and saw one that mentioned a 365 photography project. I've decided I need to continue taking photos and develop my hobby. What better way to do this than take a photo a day? So until January 4, 2012, I plan to take one photo a day and upload it to this blog. It'll be interesting to see my photography and "creative eye" develop over this next year. I'm planning to experiment with different photography techniques. Let the challenge begin!