52 Weeks of 2014: Week 4 - Transport.

A couple of my friends had posted on Facebook recently about their children participating in pinewood derbies, which led me to dig out the car that Mark made when he was in Boy Scouts.

Next week's theme is another "take a photo of a stranger" type thing. After last year, I'm weary of taking photos that I don't want to take, and since I don't see myself as ever being that type of photographer, I don't look at it as a growing experience either. I may just skip it and substitute my own theme here next week.

Also, I back filled all my sketchbook journal entries from the last three weeks. So if you scroll back through the blog, you'll see them throughout the month of January. I'm still working on this week's, so I'll probably be posting them a week behind going forward.

2014 Sketch Journal - Week 3

In comparison to week 2, this was a pretty laid back week, so here's a pretty laid back layout. Now that I'm getting better at the drawing part, I need to figure out a way to incorporate ephemera into my pages. I also have some cute stamps and washi tape that I'd like to get in the mix. Maybe I'll make that a goal for week 4.

52 Weeks of 2014 Week 3: - Rule of Thirds

Another week with a wide open topic, and I still had difficulty coming up with something. I hope I can shake this off soon.

Last month, Lauren had to do a book report on a biography. She chose Neil Armstrong. The assignment included a paper bag. She had to place inside the bag three objects that were meaningful to the life of the person. Neil Armstrong was inspired to become a pilot because as boy he was fascinated by airplanes. Eventually, he joined the Navy and flew planes similar to this one. The other two objects were astronaut food (freeze dried chocolate chip ice cream) and a miniature wind-up moon rover.





Some bonus photos from today - how funny is this odd couple? We're very lucky that are pets get along so well. Sure, Kitty Coconut likes to give Marcus a good smack now an then, but that's only when he gets into her personal space.

I also finally caught up on my sketch journal, but I'm still debating whether I should back fill the prior week's pages here.

It's a three day weekend for Mark and I, so hopefully I can use the extra day to be more productive on the photography front. Lauren has to go to school tomorrow because it's a make-up day from the teacher's strike. She is sitting next to me as I type this and has insisted that I clarify that we will be authorizing her early dismissal.

2014 Sketch Journal - Week 2

When I was considering starting a journal, the thought had occurred to me that I was going to have to document a bad day at some point and how I would go about doing that. Little did I know that I was going to have tackle that problem so soon, and it wouldn't just be a day, but a whole week!

This layout was inspired by a card that my cousin Noreen had to sent me years ago. Photographing people is not my strength, and neither is drawing people. I *slaved* over Wonder Woman. I also came to the realization that I'm in desperate need of a flesh colored pencil. I ended up using a couple of Lauren's crayons, which unfortunately mixed with the graphite. The layout is much more dynamic than last week's, so I think I'm getting the hang of it!

52 Weeks of 2014 Week 2: - Square

I was so optimistic and excited about the new year, getting started on new projects and making changes, but this week just completely crushed my enthusiasm.  It was extremely stressful, all related to work and outside activities, and I will just leave it at that.

So now I'm in a funk. This week's theme was completely open, and you could take a photo of just about anything as long as it was cropped square. I still couldn't come up with anything. Today we went to a music store to pick up a small amp for the electric guitar that Lauren got for Christmas. They had hundreds of guitars on display, so I just snapped a quick picture with my phone. I spent all evening trying to come up with something better, but my mind is a creative void right now.

I also didn't get a chance to work on my sketch diary this week. I almost finished the pages for the first week -  I just haven't had a chance to post them. At first, I was at a loss about how I was going to depict this week, but then I thought of something perfect. So maybe things are looking up after all.

2014 Sketch Journal - Week 1

Here's my very first attempt at sketchbook journaling. Since I'm new to this, I've been heavily inspired by the style of Jenny Firth of Jenny's Sketchbook. She is so amazingly talented. I could just burst with happiness everytime I look at her artwork. I can only dream that my art could have that same effect on someone.

Anyway, hopefully once I get the hang of things I can develop my own style. I have to admit that several time during my first and second attempts at this, I wanted to chuck it altogether. I wasn't completely satisfied with how these pages turned out, but part of the point of this is to get over my perfectionist tendencies and just do it, because if there's one thing that photography has taught me is that you have to actually do in order to get better. Part of the problem was I didn't plan out my layout. I plan my photographs, so I have to learn to apply that to sketching. I do like how the confetti running up the side of the page turned out.

A couple of notes about supplies - I chose a 5.5 x 8 inch Strathmore Visual Journal in mixed media / vellum finish. The size is perfect, but I'm not wild about the spiral. It's not enough pages to last the whole year, so once I finish it, I'll decide if I want to switch to another type. Also, I picked up a 24 set of Koh-I-Noor Mondeluz Aquarelles Watercolor Pencils which I just *love.* I'm still figuring out how to use them, but I already wish I bought the complete set of 72.

52 Weeks of 2014 Week 1: - Out with the old

Took a break this week from photography. On Thursday, our first day back to work and school, it was very strange not to have to go work on something photography related after dinner was cleaned up. Strange but nice.

Until today, I wasn't feeling motivated to shoot. Not only was I not feeling motivated, I couldn't think of anything to shoot. So my first entry into this week's project is sort of underwhelming. This kind of photo has kind of become my bread and butter, so to speak, and if I have a photography resolution, it's to do less of this and more "moments." We'll see.

This wasn't even my first photo of 2014. This one was:



And I like it much better. :)

365 | 365

On January 1, 2013, I set out to shoot every Our Daily Challenge group topic for the year. Our Daily Challenge is a Flickr group where a topic gets posted everyday, and the group members respond with a photo. I've been participating in the group for three years, but I never tried to shoot every topic for the year. I also never tried to do a 365 project or a photo a day project. A 365 project is kind of an equivalent to a marathon for photographers. Many try, but few succeed.

Since there is no way I'd be able to shoot everyday, I allowed myself up to when the topic expired to post a photo (One week). Unfortunately, I spent most of the year a week behind, so I ended up taking a photo almost daily anyway.

There were many, many times that I wanted to quit. I spent way too much time in front of the computer editing and posting photos. I often felt like I did nothing in my free time but photography. Lauren will be the first one to tell you that all I do is photography (In between working full time, volunteering, keeping house, cooking, raising her, etc.).

 



In exchange for those sacrifices, I've made so many photos that I'm proud to call mine - photos that never would have been born if it wasn't for this project. One of my goals in doing this was to grow my commercial photography portfolio, and around 200 photos that were either shot as a topic because of the topic were invited into the Getty Flickr collection.






While I will not be doing another 365 project in 2014, I will be doing a 52 weeks project which I hope to post here. I'll also be reacquainting myself with my other neglected hobbies. In fact, I plan on taking up sketchbook journaling, and if I don't stink too badly at it, maybe I'll share my work here as well.

Many thanks go out to Mark and Lauren for their help and patience this year. I hope they can someday forgive me for my insanity.

Here's a slideshow of all the photos that were part of the project (I only wish you could see the corresponding topic):


Created with flickr slideshow.

You can also browse them here.

Otherwise, bring on year seven of the Ross Family Equation! :)

Christmas 2013 - Christmas Evening

The parade of presents continued as we spent Christmas evening with my family.



Spirograph is back! I will probably enjoy this as much as Lauren.

 

One of the my many "grab bag" gifts (Which is what my mom has always called any small gift item).



Mark and his grab bags.



But I got Grandma her own grab bag - a Potato Express!

 

Here's Pappy showing off the calendar that I made for him, featuring Roxy and Kitty Coconut!

 

Next it was Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Craig's turn.

 

Craig certainly enjoyed his Panera Bread hot press panini sandwich!



And what's even hotter than a Panera Bread panini sandwich? Why Mel C, of course!

That's concludes another Ross Family Christmas. A lot of sweat and tears (but thankfully, no blood) goes into making Christmas happen each year, but in the end, it's always worth it.

Christmas 2013: Christmas Morning

Santa came - hooray!



Lauren didn't waste anytime digging in. What could be in that big box?



Instant rock star kit, of course!



Another big package - what could be in there? Kitty Coconut is certainly curious about it.



Is it a Red Rider bb gun? No, but you can certainly shoot your eye out with it! It's the real bow and arrow set, which is the gift Lauren wanted the most this year.



Santa didn't forget our furry friends. Just look at them destroying, I mean, enjoying their gifts!

But what about good ol' Mom and Dad?

 

I got a cute purple sewing machine!



And Mark got some lint rollers. Hey, that's a very thoughtful gift for someone that lives in a three pet household!