One Month Photo Challenge

Hello, friends!

I have something fun for anyone to try!

Some of you may have seen photo challenges like "31 Days on Film" or "'This Month' Photo Challenge." I know I've seen them on Pinterest and I've watched as Facebook friends participated in series of them. I like the idea, but I wanted mine to be less a chronicle of my everyday life and more a schedule to practice photography. You know, a reason to go out and take a photo every day and get some practice. As any professional and hobbyist photographer (I am the latter, for sure) will tell you, the best thing you can do for your photography is to practice. 

I found a March photo challenge via Pinterest. It had some flaws, for example it was missing a day... So I decided to make my own! Haha!

I have created an easy to follow calendar, below, that can be performed any month. It has 31 days of photo prompts, but you can do 30 if the month is a short one. When I did my challenge, I tried my best to accomplish one a day, but some days I just couldn't fit it in or the photo I took that day was not up to my standards. And then there were days that were great; I had great lighting and I was feeling inspired! The point of the challenge is to give you a reason to practice, so if some days you don't get to it and other days you are crazy prolific - that's great! Just try to get all 30 or 31 items taken care of before the end of the month!

Also, this is your practice, so you don't have to do them in order. You can print out the calendar (.pdf here!) and cross them out as you accomplish them. :) It's flexible, easy, and fun!

So April starts tomorrow!! Get shooting!

Below are some of my favorite shots from my March 2013 Photog Challenge!

Happy Easter, my friends.
Stay excellent!

- Jenny -

Animal Portrait - "Amber"

Abstract - "Death"

Flora - "Awakening"

Something Huge - "La Luna"

Low Angle - "With Persona"

A note about the last picture. "Persona" is the name of this wind vane. It's a kinetic sculpture found on the Washington State University Pullman campus, atop the libraries, that sings when the wind moves it. Learn more about its dedication here and here is a recording of its singing. Awesome, right?

Loving July

I love summertime.
The thunderstorms, the hot days, the warm nights, the smell of rain on hot pavement, barbecues, cut grass, spending time outside, and, well, just about everything.

I was born in July.
I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but I love July.
It's my favorite month.
Okay, yes, my birthday is in it - but I love it for so much more than that!
July is the first true month of summer for me. June can be cooler and the trees and flowers are just coming into full bloom. In July, it is full on summer. It's in your face and you can't deny it.

I love fireworks. I love lightning.
And this July, I tried my hand at photographing both of those things, for the first time!

Now, I don't have a DSLR. I have a nice digital camera, an Olympus SP800UZ. It's an ultrazoom digital camera. I love this little beast. It may still be mostly a point-and-shoot with super zoom, but it can take some great photos. With a tripod and the right settings, I honestly believe that almost any run-of-the-mill point-and-shoot camera can take great photos. There are a lot of places to get tips on how to use your non-DSLR camera to take stunning photos. Here's a great article from lifehacker.com that got me inspired about using my point-and-shoots with pride! To show you what my Olympus and my (much smaller, snapshot camera) Sony Cybershot DSC-W120 can do, here are some photos I have taken this month.

My lovely month of July.

Sony DSC-W120 - My zinnia plant! 

Sony DSC-W120 - Grand Coulee Dam on July 4, 2012

The next photos were all taken with my Olympus SP800UZ. The fireworks and lightning photos were all taken using a tripod - a must-have for low light and nighttime shooting. The lightning shot was a lot like fishing for me, since I can't (or haven't figured out how to) control my shutter speed or aperture manually. So I set my ISO really low, decreased my image size (to facilitate sequential shooting), adjusted the white balance to my liking, and set it to sequential shooting while the shutter button is down. Then, I held the shutter button and let the camera take photo after photo while I had my eyes on the sky.

Anyone who has me as a friend on facebook has seen these photos and is probably sick of them by now, but I am just so proud! :P So you'll have to bear through me one more time, and I swear, I'll put them away. ;)

Fireworks off of Grand Coulee Dam

Fireworks off of Grand Coulee Dam

Part of Grand Coulee Dam and the Moon Reflecting off the Water

Desert Thistle - the haziness is some sunscreen on the lens, I kinda like the effect, oddly enough.

My prize lightning shot. 

Well, I hope that I have inspired my fellow point-and-shoot owners a bit. Just 'cause we don't have all the fancy lenses, the expensive camera, the flash diffusers, and other crazy gadgets doesn't mean we can't get some pretty great photos.

Happy hunting and happy July!

Stay excelllent!

- Jenny -

Infrared Photography

Recently, I have come across this neat version of photography. The whimsical, dream-like results are breathtaking. Something about the cotton candy pink foliage and the pale, vintage feel really has me smitten. :)

I think it would be so fun to buy a filter and take some photos like this - if only had the funds to spend on such whims. ;)

This artist was also featured on Honestly... WTF and it was their post that brought infrared photography to my attention.

Yiu Yu Hoi (known as d3sign on Flickr) of Hong Kong has taken some beautiful shots using this method and I am truly delighted to share some with you! See more of his work on his Flickr page! You should really take a look at his Flickr stream, it's amazing! These photos below are via mymodernmet.com. 


Enjoy! 


- Jenny -