Welcome to the Photo a Day Project blog, where you can read about my adventures in my quest to take a photo every day for the whole year!
Shadows
Day 109
Looking for different things in ordinary things can be rewarding, I've passed this fence a million times and always looked a the shadows it cast and the patterns they make and thought they were interesting, but never took any photographs, but that was before the photo a day project, now I look at everything as a photo, after all, a year is a long time, and a lot of days and a lot of photos. In the past I didn't want to take the time to stop, or I didn't have my camera or I felt odd stopping to take a photo of a fence, but not any more, after 109 days I don't even think about it any more. So far this project has been fun, I haven't felt pressured yet to 'get a photo' I just take one at some point during the day, I've noticed if I take one early in the day the rest of the day seems nicer, and if I don't take one till later, for instance after work, I look forward to the challenge of finding something to photograph all day, so it is a win win situation for me. I know that not all of the photos are great ones, but I hope they are at least interesting and maybe something you don't see everyday.
"Once you really commence to see things, then you really commence to feel things." -Edward Steichen
The Moment
Day 108
I saw this heron from a distance, I didn't think about taking a photo of the big bird, I've taken a million of herons and was hoping to find something different today, I didn't know what but I did know that I was tired tonight and didn't want to spend to much time driving around. So down to the park I went, not sure what I would find but I thought what the heck I'll take a spin through. So I saw this bird fishing on the other side of the canal, he was still there when I finally got near, but he was in the shadows, I took a couple of photos anyway because I really like them, I love the way they curve their necks, the way they stalk their prey, and I love their fancy feathers they have in breeding season. So as I took a couple photos just to take them, he started to move, I took this one and the next step he took he was back in shadows, the next he was in the weeds, so I left and went home. I had taken another photo of the docks in the calm water, I liked the reflections, so I knew I had at least something for today but when I got home and downloaded the photos I saw this one, for one instant the bird was in the sun, perfectly lit and perfectly in focus, I think it looks fake but it's not.
I've said in the past how I don't see the pictures I take, and I really didn't see this one so it was a nice surprise when I got home, I've also said I love capturing moments for others to see, I'm so glad I caught this one.
"A photographer who made a picture from a splendid moment, an accidental pose of someone or a beautiful scenery, is the finder of a treasure." -Robert Doisneau
Details
Day 107
It's very interesting to look at things such as flowers closely, from a distance they are beautiful but up close, real close, they look completely different, still beautiful and even a bit creepy! I think it's awesome how things change the closer you get, so the next time you think something is just ordinary, like a tree, or a leaf or a flower, or anything at all just look super close you will be amazed at what you see.
"Nobody see a flower really; it is so small. We haven't time, and to see takes time - like to have a friend takes time." -Gerogia OKeeffe
Dandelion Season
Day 106
Everyone tries to get rid of the dandelions, my grandfather used to have this pointy thing on the end of a long stick he used to dig them up with, my father uses fertilizers and weed killers, my grandmother used to pick the greens and eat them in salads, even little kids pop the heads off them. But as you know you can't get rid of them, you can mow them up, they keep coming back, you can put all the chemicals you want on your lawn, they eventually come back, so I say why not enjoy them for what they are? Little yellow polka dots decorating the lawn, I kind of like them because on gray rainy day like today their yellow color was like a zillion little dots of sunshine to brighten everything up.
"You cannot forget if you would those golden kisses all over the cheeks of the meadow, queerly called dandelions." -Henry Ward Beecher
Simple Happiness
Day 105
I hope you don't mind pictures of birds, because there are a lot of days in the year, and thankfully a lot of birds in the sky. So on my weekly trip to Montezuma I was starting to get a bit bummed because there wasn't much happening, but I said to myself, self, slow down, birds are tiny you have to look for them. So I stopped and listened, I heard what I thought were the usual bird songs, red wing blackbirds, song sparrows, and swallows, but eventually I started to see movement in the bushes and reeds. I noticed that what I thought was a song sparrow actually wasn't, these little birds had yellow and black stripes on their tiny heads. I watched them for a bit, and got my bird book out to see what kind of sparrow it was, and for the record it's a Savannah Sparrow.
I'm glad I stopped to see what I could see, and even though I didn't see a great variety of birds, it still made me happy just to watch the sparrows and blackbirds zip about looking for mates and gathering supplies for their nests. I'm glad for days like today, it reminds me that simple things actually make me happy.
"Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated." -Confucius
