Squares.

Here it is already the middle of January, and I have yet to do the thing that I planned to do with the blog starting this year. So let's get to it.

As I mentioned before, I've been wanting to take the blog in a new direction, a direction which would hopefully help me to achieve one of the things that I'm striving for, and that is to improve my photography skills. And as every professional photographer advises in every photography book I've ever read, the only way to do this is to practice and take lots and lots of photos.

Well, gosh, I can do that. I *love* taking photos. However, there are times when I'm dying to shoot, but I can't find anything to shoot. As I peruse others photos, I often lament that I don't have access to things that make for fabulous, breathtaking photos like beaches or horses or fields, etc., Why if we lived on a farm near a lake, I'd never run out of things to photograph! And just how can you take a bad photo of those things anyway? Anyway, when you live in the middle of suburban Pittsburgh, you have to try a little harder, especially when it's the middle of winter and you don't get home from work until sundown and all the light is gone.

So in order to motivate me to shoot more often and get my creative juices going, there will be posts that are going to contain photos that interpret a single topic. I got this idea from the Flickr Blog, but there are many photography groups that are dedicated to challenging their members to get out and take photos of the subject of the day. I've joined a few of these groups, so many of the topics on the blog will no doubt come from these groups. After all, I need some objectivity, or else I'll just end up with posts titled "Cute kids named Lauren" and "Dogs who love donuts." How challenging is that?

Sometimes, I'll offer commentary on the photos, to explain how I would have done things differently or what challenges I faced. For example, I think this one would have been stronger if I had dressed her differently. Maybe in a dress or her fairy outfit, to give it a more dreamlike quality. However, given the fact that I had to bribe Lauren with three gummi worms and Wii time just to get her to stand there for me, I seriously doubt she was going to willingly change her clothes.

I should have also taken it in front of the other window, which may have made for a more picturesque view. I don't think you can see the stupid telephone pole as much looking out from the other window.

I also should have used my tripod. I prefer to take photos on-the-fly, and it really takes me out of the moment to have to drag the thing out and set it up. It also makes me feel like I'm a "serious" photographer, so as a result, I feel more pressure to produce something quality rather than let the process happen organically. Unfortunately, every professional espouses the absolute necessity of the tripod if you want truly sharp photos. Therefore, I must learn to love my tripod. I must allow it to buy me dinner and watch chick flicks with it. Either that, or invest in some expensive vibration reduction lenses.



And sometimes, I won't say anything, and let the photos speak for themselves.



Basically, I'll just do what I feel like, without any pressure to be funny or clever or deep or tell a story. So there can be no more excuses not to get out, shoot and post.