January 31 Hockey Edges

January 31 Hockey Edges, originally uploaded by NedraI.

Wherever there's an edge, there's energy. Make a photo where two things meet: land-water, land-sky, etc.

Definitely energy when a hockey skate edge meets the ice!

As my husband shot today's game I would take over the camera from time to time and focus on the skates looking for a good shot for today's Daily Shoot.

Handle

Handle, originally uploaded by NedraI.

Get up close and personal with a building today. Make a photo of an architectural detail.

The door handle of the Adirondack Cheese Store in Clinton, NY. Not only does it sell cheese but it's a great little gift shop as well.

Frosty Windows

Frosty Windows, originally uploaded by NedraI.

No snowflakes to photograph today but plenty of frost on this very chilly day. I started the day by taking pictures of the frost inside our house and ended the day by taking pictures of frost on a store front window while waiting for my daughter's hockey game to begin. Amazing patterns!

January 29 Turkey Joints

January 29 Turkey Joints, originally uploaded by NedraI.

Sugar, spice, and everything nice. Make a photo of something sweet today.

I believe these are an area delicacy They are made in Rome NY, a neighboring town. Turkey joints are a hard candy with with a chocolaty, nutty filling and very sweet! We ended up with two jars this Christmas. They are tasty but not the type of treat that once you eat one you can't leave them alone.

January 27 Shadow

January 27 Shadow, originally uploaded by NedraI.

I have to admit that as I do the Daily Shoot I sometimes have to Google a term to get a better understanding of exactly what I should be shooting that day. I don't have much of an art background so today I was searching to better understand Abstract Photography. I'm still not real clear but once my husband called me out to take pics of the rabbit tracks i just started playing around with some ideas. Can you tell this is a self portrait? I am happy to report our ice rink is back! I ended up selecting a picture of Gertie for my Daily Shoot. www.flickr.com/photos/nedrai/4310085923/

Daily Shoot Birds Eye View

Daily Shoot Birds Eye View, originally uploaded by NedraI.

I've been using the Daily Shoot challenge as my POD frequently this year. Having that focus has been very helpful. When I've had two different photos I haven't posted the DS. Today I decided that I would change that and start adding both pictures.

Change your perspective today. Make a photo from a bird's eye view. Get out the chairs and ladders if you need to!

As the birds sit at one of the feeders on our back deck this would be their view. Perhaps keeping a look out for a larger bird or the pesky squirrels or looking for a safe place to enjoy the seeds.

Poor Quality Flake

Poor Quality Flake, originally uploaded by NedraI.

We had a quick heavy snow just as I was leaving for work. I had 10 minutes to take pictures. Rushing is not conducive to good pictures! The snow was not great either. It was constantly changing from huge clumps to little pellets. Even though the quality is not great I am still amazed by the detail and beauty of a single flake of snow.

January 25 Stream

January 25 Stream, originally uploaded by NedraI.

I drove down a different road on my way home today and the streams were running fast due to heavy rain and melting snow. I wasn't dressed to get out and take pictures so I went back later. By then the rain had let up and the water was slowing down as well. This was a heavily wooded area so it still looks pretty. Most of the area is ugly with patches of snow and lots of sand piles. Ugh, I'm not ready for that yet. Give me snow!

January 24 Car Lights

January 24 Car Lights, originally uploaded by NedraI.

Sunday challenge: Experiment with shutter speed today by making a photo with a long exposure.

This is something I've been wanting to try! But I've had trouble getting my camera to a correct setting. I finally asked my husband and he said to check the menu for a setting and sure enough that was the problem. So with that fixed I walked over a couple of blocks to our busiest street and tried it out. When I got home I jumped on my bike in the basement and listened to a Photography 101 podcast about nighttime photography, yep I did that a little backwards! I set my ISO way to high according to that show. So , next time I'll make that adjustment. I had fun playing around with Photoshop. I changed the exposure so you don't really see the houses or the dirty snow along the road. I had one person that turned the corner stop and ask what I was doing. I'm looking forward to trying some more long exposures and night time shots.

January 23 Snowbabies

January 23 Snowbabies, originally uploaded by NedraI.

We're all collectors of something. Find an interesting way to display and make a photo of a collection today.

This was a tough decision. Do I take a picture of snowmen, cookie cutters, Fiesta Ware, Blue Fenton glass, copper or my Snowbabies. I decided I didn't photograph any snowbabies last year so they won. I collected these for years and have so many that they all don't fit on top of the piano any more. So I finally quit collecting them.

I took many shots but decided on this one showing my three favorites. I love children's books and one of the few things I miss about being in a regular classroom is reading to my students. There would be days as a first/second grade teacher that I would realize at the end of the day that I hadn't had time to read a book to my students that day. That always left me feeling sad and frustrated. I love the moose because it reminds me of being a mom and always looking out for my kids no matter how big or old they grow. My third favorite is the hockey player simply because both my kids have played hockey since the age of 4 and it's the only sport I truly love to watch.

January 22 Blue Skies

January 22 Blue Skies, originally uploaded by NedraI.

Let's have some fun on a Friday. Make a photo that goes with the title (or lyrics) of a song. Interpret away!

We've had two straight days of blue skies! So this one seemed appropriate.

Blue skies
Smiling at me
Nothing but blue skies
Do I see

Bluebirds
Singing a song
Nothing but bluebirds
All day long

Never saw the sun shining so bright
Never saw things going so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you're in love, my how they fly

Blue days
All of them gone
Nothing but blue skies
From now on

January 21 Icicle

January 21 Icicle, originally uploaded by NedraI.

Daily Shoot: Quirky things often catch your eye and make for interesting art. Make a photo of something that makes you go "Hmmm" today.

For a change the skies were blue all day in CNY. A rare treat for us. When I got home from work I grabbed the camera and went for a walk while it was still light out. This little icicle decorating the large pine tree was interesting to look at and made me stop and say hmmmm. I was glad that I shot it from more than one angle. From this angle it was reflecting what little light there was left in the sky.

January 20 My Camera

January 20 My Camera, originally uploaded by NedraI.

Make your camera the star of the show today. Use another camera or mirror to put your camera in a photo of its own.

I brought home our school's new point and shoot camera for the weekend so I could play around with it. But I never touched it until this morning. We were enjoying a beautiful snowfall this morning so I set my camera up with the macro lens and tripod and shot a picture of it with the point and shoot. Unfortunately I only had time to take about two photos with my camera before heading off to school. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for another snowfall this weekend when I'll have some time to get out to take pictures.

January 19 Baklava

January 19 Baklava, originally uploaded by NedraI.

Every time I make spinach pie I must buy a new box of phyllo dough when I only need half a box. As a result we have leftover dough sitting in the freezer. My daughter loves Baklava so I suggested that she use up some of the dough by making something new. Today was the day and it turned out so great! I ate two pieces and I don't normally care for it all that much since I'm not much of a nut eater. She learned that it's a time consuming dish to make an that phyllo dough can be difficult to work with at times.

January 18 Lesson Learned

January 18 Lesson Learned, originally uploaded by NedraI.

Last night this area received a little snowfall-just enough to make everything look fresh and pretty again. I got up early and headed north about 5 miles to take some pictures of Lake George and the Adirondacks. I was inspired by @dmcordell's pictures of this same spot earlier in the week.
Last week at the photo club I talked to the guest photographer/judge about my pictures. She was willing to discuss why she didn't select our photos for the awards. One of the things she mentioned was that she likes to see something living in the photo and that often times you have to be patient and wait for the right moment. As I looked at my photos today I selected this one because of the fishermen. I really do think it adds to the picture.

January 17 @dmcordell

January 17 @dmcordell, originally uploaded by NedraI.

Sunday challenge: We've photographed many things, but few people. Make a photo where the theme is a person or people.

Today I had the privilege of meeting Diane, someone from my PLN for coffee. It's great making a real life connection. Diane and I talked about many things including how great it would be to get other New Yorkers from our PLN to meet up sometime this summer. It would be wonderful if that happened. Thank you for the coffee and conversation Diane!

January 16 Team Spirit

January 16 Team Spirit, originally uploaded by NedraI.

My daughter is participating in a hockey tournament this weekend. After tonight's game they had to head to this rink for the skills competition. They were also awarding a spirit award. The 12 and 14 U teams were ready for this award. They wore their jerseys, painted their faces and hair, carried banners and noise makers and really showed their spirit. You can see the groups were really spread out but they rocked the place with their enthusiasm.

January 15 Birdhouse

January 15 Birdhouse, originally uploaded by NedraI.

I drive by these birdhouses every other day on my way to work. They have nice character and always make me smile when I notice them. The roof is an old license plate. I'm sure the birds love the location right along a creek on the edge of a very small town.

January 14 Bird of Prey

January 14 Bird of Prey, originally uploaded by NedraI.

On my way home from work I decided to take a different road hoping to find something to shoot. When I spotted this big bird sitting on the wires I first assumed that it was a hawk. I was so surprised to see that it was an owl. I quickly changed lenses and quietly got out of the car. He glanced at me and then turned his head and then took off. I guess he didn't feel like being photographed today. If I crop the shot the picture shows it's poor quality. I forgot to check the ISO in my excitement. Oh well, I'm just happy to have my first photo of an ow. I hope it won't be my last. I know nothing about owls. Does anybody know what kind this is?

January 13 Staying Warm

January 13 Staying Warm, originally uploaded by NedraI.

Make a photo of something you wear to keep yourself warm and/or dry: coat, gloves, scarf, hat, you name it!

This is a self portrait as I headed out to the backyard rink tonight. It worked I stayed warm!

January 12 Music for Every Mood

January 12 Music for Every Mood, originally uploaded by NedraI.

Someone once said "Music is what feelings sound like." Make a photo of something musical to illustrate the quote today.

We own hundreds of CDs. Whatever our mood I'm sure we have one that will fit the occasion. I'm finding that I listen to music less and less. In the car I listen to NPR and with my ipod I tend to listen to podcasts. But if I need something to soothe my nerves or pep me up I can find a CD to do the job.

January 11 Favorite Colors

January 11 Favorite Colors, originally uploaded by NedraI.

What's your favorite color? Make a photo dominated by your favorite color today and share it!
My favorite color changes with the seasons. In the spring it's the light green color of leaves poking through the ground in my garden quickly followed by the first flowers of the new season. In the summer it's the colors of the fresh peaches and berries available at the market. In fall it changes to the yellows and oranges of the leaves, pumpkins and Indian Corn. And finally in winter it's a burst of red against a snowy backdrop.

January 10 Frost

January 10 Frost, originally uploaded by NedraI.

I wasn't going to take my camera into the rink today but quickly changed my mind when I was the frost laden glass doors. First I shot from outside but my shadow was in the way as well as reflections from outside. So I moved inside and tried again. They came out really blue and then I remembered what I had read about white balance while on the ride to Erie. So I made some changes to the Kelvin and they turned out better. I made a few more changes in Photoshop. I love the delicate feathery look of frost.

January 9 Ice Stick

January 9 Ice Stick, originally uploaded by NedraI.

We arrived at the rink early today for Kira's game in Erie. There was a nice wide sidewalk all shoveled off along the connector highway so my husband and I grabbed the cameras and went out to explore the area. Obviously they've had ice recently! With the sunshine all the trees were sparkling! It was beautiful and it was such a treat to see the sun even if it was cold. I enjoyed trampling off the path to take pictures of crab apples and other plants along the path. It was the beginning of a great day. I'm not sure what draws me to this picture over all the others I took today. I definitely broke the rule of not centering your subject!

January 8 Memories of Dad

January 8 Memories of Dad, originally uploaded by NedraI.

Glasses help many folks bring the world into focus each day. Make a photo of a pair of any kind of glasses today.

My first shot tonight was of a pair of glasses I keep in my photo bag. Then I decided to shoot my dad's sunglasses . I knew I had taken a picture of them last year but couldn't remember the set up. So I just went ahead and took this shot. Then when I got on flickr I found last year's shot and was surprised at how similar they are. www.flickr.com/photos/nedrai/3648843940/ I thought about going with my camera glasses but then decided to keep this shot. I think it show that I'm growing as a photographer. One thing I wish I had done differently was switch the two smaller pictures around so my dad would be looking into the picture.

January 7 Ice on Red Berries

January 7 Ice on Red Berries, originally uploaded by NedraI.

Daily Shoot-It's winter time here in the northern hemisphere. Make a photo with snow, frost, or ice as the theme today.
I was very happy to see this as the assignment today. And even happier because I knew I'd have time to shoot some pictures between two appointments that had caused me to take the day off. It didn't snow today but we did have a little light rain. I was dissapointed until I got to the nature trail and saw that the rain had iced over the plants. It was a little windy so most of the time I had to be patient and wait for the wind to die down to take the pictures. I didn't make it down the trail very far but I did manage to take 50 pictures. I selected this one because I like the burst of color on such a gray day.

Blue Candle

Blue Candle, originally uploaded by NedraI.

Daily Shoot-We typically use light to illuminate a subject. Turn it around today and make a photo of a light source of any kind.
I enjoyed shooting the candles tonight. I thought about a computer monitor or the flash light app on my ipod touch but knew I'd enjoy this the most. When my daughter glanced at this she thought I shot it from inside my car today since we had a little freezing rain.
Here in central NY we have long winter nights and I enjoy the soft light of the candles to help brighten the evening.

January 5 Shadow

January 5 Shadow, originally uploaded by NedraI.

While I was out trying for some evening shots I noticed this shadow and decided to make it my focal point. This poor tripod is about done. I broke a piece off last winter and broke more of it off this year so now I can't move the center post up and down. And I lost a pin that holds a bracket that supports one of the legs so I have to be real careful when I use it. I think I'll be looking for a replacement real soon. I want one that gets closer to the ground anyway. I look forward to teaching inservice classes so I get some extra money for my "toys".

January 4 Daily Shoot Circular

January 4 Daily Shoot Circular, originally uploaded by NedraI.

The frame of a photograph is rectilinear. Fill that frame with a circular subject and make a photograph. Thanks to Colemama I found a new photo challenge today. It was just what I needed. I tried to take some pictures outside in the dark, something I'm terrible at, and they didn't turn out. At least this time I can blame the wind. On my way home from work today I was thinking that I needed to take more pictures of this vase and when I saw the challenge to take a picture of something circular I decided the vase would be perfect. This is a beautiful vase my daughter brought home from Europe last summer. It came from a glass factory they visited in Austria or was it Venice? I'll have to check with her later.

January 3 Day of Shoveling

January 3 Day of Shoveling, originally uploaded by NedraI.

We have a driveway large enough to hold 12 cars, a patio out back and a large deck. My husband usually does the shoveling/snow blowing but at the moment he's in Iowa visiting his family. The snow blower is old and doesn't work well at all so in his absence I get to build up my muscles and get a work out with the shovel. The forecast is for snow all week. I miss my husband!

January 2 How Good are the Flakes?

January 2 How Good are the Flakes?, originally uploaded by NedraI.

Well, doing this project has become such a habit I'm having a hard time saying I don't need to do this every day! So here it is at midnight and I'm working on pictures yes a day behind but still working!
This picture shows how I tell if flakes are worth photographing or not. I look at them on the sleeve of my jacket or perhaps my mitten. If they show great detail like these I know it's time to bring out the camera. Today it was windy so it was a little harder to try and photograph the beauties.

January 1 New Snow-New Challenge

January 1 New Snow-New Challenge, originally uploaded by NedraI.

Here's to the New Year and the beginning of a new photo project. Before I begin I'd like to reflect on last year's challenge.

I took on the challenge because I wanted to
* become more familiar with my camera
* improve my photography skills
* use flickr in a more social way
* prove that I could stick with a project for a year

What I learned
* I met all of my goals and I learned enough about my camera to become jealous of my husband's camera and went out and bought a new NikonD90 for myself.
* I took a photo class at a local college to learn more about my camera-which was still my old one-and to learn about Photoshop. My husband had shown me a few things on Photoshop but I used it so infrequently it was like starting over every time. I enjoyed learning about it so much that when I got my new Macbook as part of a grant project I asked for PS for Mac for Christmas-and received it!
* I learned that doing a 365 project is very time consuming. Most days I was uploading more than one picture to flickr and I usually did some editing to the picture. Then it was important to me to write about the day's photo and post it to the blog. Last month I got 10 days behind and it took a long time to catch up!
* I learned that I didn't enjoy searching the house for a photo subject at 11:45 PM.
* I learned that joining three 365 groups and two weekly groups was overkill. I should have just stuck with one.
* I learned it's nice to have another photographer in the house. I only missed a handful of days and fortunately my husband had taken photos on those days so he unknowingly became my guest photographer for the day.
* I don't think I improved on using flickr socially but continued at the same pace. Through looking at other people's posts I've learned about about animal and plant life in other parts of the country/world. I've learned that farm scenes make great photos and next year I'll be looking for the farmers in our areas to be out working their fields. I also learned that if I wasn't sure of a plant/bird name I could ask on flickr and someone will know the answer.
* I've learned to take my camera with me as much as possible. You never know when a great photo opportunity is going to appear.

Downfalls of the Project
* The amount of time it takes
* I started on flickr with the PhotoFriday group. It's a small group and I enjoyed posting and commenting on other photos. I tried to keep up with it but found I wasn't getting there to comment so I quit posting to the group because I didn't think it was fair to post and then never comment.
* As I mentioned above I joined too many groups and ended up spending very little time interacting with other members of any of the groups or joining in any of their challenges.

New Year-New Challenge
* I know without a doubt I will continue to use my camera on an almost daily basis thanks to last year's challenge. However, I don't want to be tied down to having to post every day. Therefore I'm going back to the Photo Friday group and I'll post to my blog as often or little as I want. I'll continue to follow other photo blogs and I look forward to seeing the world through their eyes.

Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to look at my pictures and read my ramblings on flickr or my blog. I appreciate your time to check it out and the comments you may have left.

Happy New Year!

December 31 Happy New Year

December 31 Happy New Year, originally uploaded by NedraI.

We went to a party for a little while tonight. I took along the camera but I really didn't want to photograph people so I tried to sneak in a few pictures of things around the house. I liked this ice bucket-although I must admit I was tempted to find a way to shine it up a little more on the top to get rid of the smudges! I like looking at reflections and purposefully put myself in this one. Tomorrow I hope to write a reflection piece on my thoughts about my first 365 challenge. Happy New Year!