Day 92: Screw/Heather

My family is having a reunion this weekend in Leavenworth (WA-not the prison in KS). My original plan was to drive over tomorrow morning but my aunt flew into Seattle today and I decided to drive up after work to spend some extra time with her. I was going to grab a couple of screws from the garage before I left for work but I was running late and forgot. Luckily, I had a few random screws in my desk at work so I grabbed those.

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 70mm

Day 92 - Screw/Selina

Hah!  Screw should have been easy, I am sure there must be some screws somewhere in the house.  But alas, my foot is not well and moving is painful.  So, I went with my surroundings yet again.  This time, my Sizzix Big Shot was handy and, thankfully, is held together with screws!  I turned it over and took this photo, not a great shot, but it'll do in a pinch.

 (F4.5, 1/20 second, ISO 1600, 30mm)

Day 91: Mirror/Heather

I decided for this challenge I wanted to get a picture of a mirror without me in it. That wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. This shot wasn't my favorite by far, but my favorite shot doesn't really show the mirror as well as I would like and I don't have time to mess with the settings tonight.

This is a shot of the mirror in my downstairs bathroom. I like this mirror because it isn't rectangular like the others are.

f3.8, Exp. 1/30, 25mm

Day 91 - Mirror/Selina

Mirror - well, I have a large mirror that's not hung on the wall yet, some smaller mirrors and those in the bathroom. But, I got my cast off today, so I wasn't feeling very crafty - it hurts MORE to walk now than it did before, but it'll get better.   So, because I'm not feeling well, I decided to do what I could.  I did have Morgan bring out the larger mirror so I could try some pics, but no go.  I ended up taking a picture in the bathroom mirrors, I'm not impressed with this shot, but it'll have to do.

(F4, 1/20 second,  ISO 1600, 28mm)

Day 90: Rectangle/Heather

It was not hard to find rectangles today but I was being pretty picky and eliminated most of them right away. When I got home from work, I was straightening the rug and noticed it is not only rectangular but has rectangles within rectangles so I decided to use it for today's theme.

Day 90 - Rectangle/Selina

I'm still not getting around well, but that should change tomorrow since I'll be getting my cast off.  In the meantime, I have been working hard to get some cards made for a craft fair at the end of October for work.  So, I have all sorts of rectangles sitting on my makeshift desk.  Here are a few.

 (F5, 1/500 second, ISO 100, 37mm)

Day 89 - Starts with N/Selina

Hmmm....I was at the park today with the kids after school for their cross country meet.  I still have the cast on, so I'm limited in where I can go.  Right in front of where I decided to watch for the kids was a pine tree.  So my picture is full of "needles" - pine needles.  

 (F5.6, 1/125 second, ISO 400, 300mm)

Day 89: Starts with "N"/Heather

I spent this morning trying to think of things that start with "N." Newspaper and nectarines kept coming to mind, followed by nozzle. Then I got "nachos" stuck in my head. And once I got that thought in mind, I couldn't shake it. I had to run errands today at lunch and Taco Bell is right next to my bank, so I got nachos for lunch. (So much for eating better!) It was purely on a whim that I grabbed my camera this morning and the guys from the warehouse weren't quite sure what to think of me taking pictures of my lunch.

f5.6, Exp. 1/125, 70mm

Day 88 - In the Kitchen/Selina

I was excited to do this shot because Morgan was going to cook dinner.  Do you think I remembered the camera at that point?  Nope, but here's a nice shot of the kitchen after Jeff had almost finished cleaning up after dinner.

 (F4.5, 1/40 second, ISO 1600, 110mm)

Day 88: In the Kitchen/Heather

Hurricane Heather has definitely struck my kitchen! So I took pictures of random items in which the mess couldn't be seen. I decided to go with one of the fun pictures for this post: the boys looking for their treats, which are kept in the turkey roasting pan (bottom left). This is a very common sight in my kitchen, so it definitely qualifies for today's theme.

f4.2, Exp. 1/60, 38mm

Day 87: Moon/Heather

We tried for moon during last month's full moon phase but the weather here was not cooperative. So we decided to try again this month. I got some great shots last night and some really horrible shots tonight. Basically, I have a lot of shots of white spheres with a black background. Some of the shots I took when the clouds rolled in are kind of cool, however. Selina texted me some settings to try and while I lost the clouds, those settings gave definition to the moon. Thanks Selina!!

f5.6, Exp. 1/160, ISO 200, 300mm

Day 87 - Moon/Selina

I took some great shots using the same settings that I offered to Heather, but this one was unique.  From the angle that I was at, there's a tree in my way.  I really wanted to show the leaves covering the moon, but it was difficult to do.  I had to switch the camera to manual mode and focus in on the leaves, unfortunately what that did was make the moon a bright light and didn't show the different shades of the moon.  But it's a unique shot, so here's the one I used.

 (F5.6, 1/160 second, ISO 100, 270mm)

Day 86: Feet/Heather

After work, I headed over to my friends' for an impromptu BBQ and game night. My friend watches her 6-month-old niece for her sister and the baby was still there when I arrived. Since she had the cutest feet of anyone there, I used her for my subject.

I have several shots where both feet can be seen, but this was my favorite.

f5.6, Exp. 1/125, 46mm

Day 86 - Feet/Selina

It's not very easy to do a self portrait of your own feet!  But here's my "feet" shot.  I had been having some pain in my foot, so I had gone to the dr and rather than removing the cast, he cut from top to bottom on both sides so that I would have room for swelling.  In order to keep the cast from scraping me up, he also wrapped it with an ace bandage (this cast is actually from my toes to my knee).  And I painted my toenails teal because in September it's Ovarian Cancer Awareness month, and this is one way I can support that.

(F5.6, 1/60 second, ISO 400, 55mm)

Day 85: Statue/Heather

Today's challenge found me back along the river, without Sammy. There is a huge statue along the trail that I always thought was Pocohantas. It turns out she is actually Ilchee, or Moon Woman, daughter of Chief Comcomly who was a friend of Lewis and Clark. Though I have seen this statue many times, I am always impressed with it-especially the detail and how peaceful she looks gazing out at the Columbia River.

Ilchee's story can be found here.

f4.2, Exp. 1/400, 38mm

Day 84 - Inspiration/Selina

Inspiration - I really wanted to leave the house to get pictures of a church or a cross or something, but it's so much work to get around I had to find "inspiration" around the house.  Luckily, the trusty craft room was around the corner so I thought about the swap we had recently with cards.  This ladies created some awesome cards and also inspired me to make more cards too.  So, my inspiration is other cards and the catalog I purchase my stamp sets from. 

 (F 3.5, 1/50 second, ISO 400, 18mm)

Day 84: Inspiration/Heather

The night James died, everything I knew to be true and believed in changed. Over the last 2 1/2 years, a lot of it has come back and though at times I declared I no longer wanted to believe in the things I did when he was alive, the truth is I can't change my fundamental beliefs.

The one thing I still struggle with the most is faith-especially faith in myself. I came across this plaque one day at Hallmark and had to buy it. The quote is by someone I greatly admire: Martin Luther King, Jr and reads "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." It is my reminder to keep putting one foot in front of the other and trust that "it" will all be okay.

f3.8, Exp. 1/30, 22mm

Day 83 - Bench/Selina

At the last minute I remembered I needed this shot.  Luckily, it was still light outside and Victoria was willing to load up the car with me and the knee scooter so I could take my picture.   Off we headed to the park and got a couple of shots with benches in them.  

(F4.5, 1/50 second, ISO 400, 130mm)

Day 83: Bench/Heather

For today's challenge, Sammy and I headed back down to the waterfront. There are several benches along the walking trail and I took pictures of a few of them as the lighting was different at each one. Today turned out to be absolutely gorgeous and this picture seemed to best reflect that it was not raining. I also like that this one is not f4.5, Exp 1/60 as that seems to be a trend for me lately!

f10, Exp. 1/200, 44mm

Day 82 - Color Me Blue/Selina

I really thought about having the kids color something blue for me, but I decided to fall back on my crafty habits.  I asked Morgan to go pull out several different blue things from my craft room and this is what he came up with.  It was even his idea to set it up this way.

Day 82: Color Me Blue/Heather

I was amazed to see how much blue there is in my life. If I had taken my camera to work today, I could have spent a lot of time taking pictures. I was even dressed in all blue today-something I didn't do intentionally to coordinate with today's theme.

I found a lot more blue things when I got home and had some fun taking pictures of various items around the house. This picture was kind of a fluke. I have a display case with my Atlanta Braves collectibles on the bottom and my Mary Moos on top. I opened the case and snapped a couple of shots of my Chipper Jones Easter Bunny Beanie Baby and was pleased with how this turned out.

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 56mm

Day 81 - Reading/Selina

It's not easy to take a picture of yourself reading.  I keep forgetting to take a picture of the kids when they are reading (except the other day when I really need a "learning" photo).  Oh well, here's a picture of the book I was reading, "The Girl Who Played with Fire".  Great book - now I have to order book three.

 (F4.5, 1/50 second, ISO 400, 34mm)

Day 81: Reading/Heather

I figured it would be really hard to take a picture of myself with a book in hand and that the customers at the bookstore or a coffee shop would not appreciate a random stranger taking their picture. So I called my friend Trista and asked if I could come over and take a picture of her with her nose in a book. She said she'd be by my house and would just stop by, which was awfully nice of her. The book she's reading happens to be a book of mine that she borrowed.

Thanks for being a good sport!! (And for suggesting we go get ice cream).

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 56mm

Day 80: Women/Heather

Tonight the Meetup group I do the most activities with had its 1-year anniversary party. There was also a bachelorette party going on at the venue the party was held. This is a random shot of some of the ladies from that party with a random guy from our party thrown in. I chose it because of all the shots I took, it has the most women in it.

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 70mm

Day 80 - Women/Selina

I knew that I would be at this Women of Faith conference this weekend and I was hoping I would be able to get a good picture of lots of women.  No such luck, I had to use my point and shoot and didn't have any luck.  So, I waited until I got home and took a picture of the bag from by books that I bought.

(F4.5, 1/50 second, 1600mm, 32mm)

Day 79: Starts w/"A"/Heather

I made this more difficult than it needed to be. The first thing that came to mind was "apples." But I asked Selina if we could do that as it's own theme one day in October. Then I thought of "angels," and suggested that for December. Then I said I would stop eliminating everything that starts with "A."

At the suggestion of my co-worker, I wanted to find a really cool arch. It was pouring when I left work and I wasn't thrilled about wandering around in the rain when there is a nasty flu going around. Driving home, I noticed there is a house down the street in which the shrubs along the street have been shaped to form an arch over the driveway. With a break in the rain, I rushed over there. And discovered I left the battery on the charger. Grr. Not that I would have gotten my shot anyway. As soon as I parked, it started pouring again.

So here's a shot of one of the five African violets from the reception following James' funeral I have somehow managed to keep alive for almost 3 years.

f5.6, Exp. 1/125, 70mm

Day 78 - Learning/Selina

This shot would have been better had I thought about it and saved it for a few days down the road, but the kids neither one had homework, except reading, on this night.  Oh well, it's still a great picture of Victoria reading Tale of Despereaux; both kids love this book and movie.

(F4, 1/50 second, ISO 1600, 80mm)

Day 78: Learning/Heather

This is one of those rare shots where what I had in mind actually turned out. Having looked ahead at the themes, I knew this one was coming up and that it would be hard for me as I am not in school nor do I have easy access to anyone who is.

My answer came in the mail in the form of the course guide for the Clark College Enrichment Program. They offer a couple of photography classes. My intention was to highlight the course description with my point-and-shoot digital camera in the background. Using the landscape setting made quite a difference in the lighting and I am really happy with how this turned out.

f4.5, Exp. 1/30, 70mm

Day 77: Night/Heather

In a perfect world, this would be an awesome shot of a star-filled sky. However, I do not live in a perfect world. I live on the Washington-Oregon border where it rains. A lot. And that was the case tonight.

I also have a camera that has to have something specific to focus on or it won't take a shot. I tried playing with different settings; interestingly, my worst pictures were taken using the night modes. I took this shot on my front porch looking across the street.

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 70mm

Day 77 - Night/Selina

It's not easy to get around with crutches, so I was limited to taking pictures from the porch.  This is a store about 2 1/2 blocks down the street and it had lights on the outside.

(F4, 1/20 second, ISO 1600, 85mm)

Day 76 - Laundry/Selina

Now laundry is my least favorite thing to do.  Actually, I don't really mind washing and drying the laundry, but folding it?  I am terrible at keeping it folded.  My friend calls her, Mt. Neverest and it's so very true for me as well.  Sadly, on this day, I didn't have a Mt. Neverest as I had just folded the laundry the day before.  But I still had a few that were in the basket.  

(F 4, 1/80 second, ISO 1600, 28mm)

Day 76: Laundry/Heather

Back in July when Charlie had to have surgery, he decided to recouperate in the laundry basket. Now that he has recovered he and Sammy are having a turf war over it. So I tried to get a cute shot of one of them in with the clothes. But I wasn't really thrilled with how they turned out. I didn't really like any of the shots I took of just the clothes in the basket either.

I snapped a couple of shots of the blankets sitting in front of the dryer waiting to be washed-it seems like I am always washing blankets!-and decided to use one of them.

f4.2, Exp. 1/60, 34mm

Day 75 - Shoelaces/Selina

Shoelaces - with four of us in the house, we have plenty of shoes.  I had Morgan gather several of them for me and take them outside so I could get some good lighting.  Then I hobbled out with the camera and tried these.  I like this shot because both the foreground and background were blurred and the center was in focus.

(F 5.6, 1/80 second, ISO 1600, 55mm)

Day 75: Shoelaces/Heather

I thought about taking the laces out of a pair of shoes for this and then decided it would be too much of a pain to re-lace them. So I decided to try for a shot that focused on the laces with minimal shoe showing. I like how this one turned out. To me, it looks like the end of the lace is suspended in air, but it isn't.

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 60mm

Day 74 - Communication/Selina

I literally remembered that I needed to take a picture in the last minutes of the day.  We had decided that we would watch Lord of the Rings with Morgan and I completely spaced this theme.  Luckily, when it was time to go to bed, I remembered, it was about 11:45ish.  So, I thought of the thinks that I use for communication and took photos of that.  I use my cell phone all the time, the house phone, and laptop and typically when using my laptop, I am on Facebook. 

(F4, 1/60 second, ISO 400, 24mm)

Day 74: Communication/Heather

I call this the evolution of the cell phone. My very first cell phone, on the left, was only used to make and receive calls. My flip phone could do a little more than that. And now I have a cell "phone" that I use for everything but making and receiving calls! Ah, technology. I also think it is funny that when cell phones first came out, everyone wanted them smaller and now that they are mini-computers, they are growing in size again and no one seems to care.

If I ever find the power cord for the first one, I plan to make sure there is no personal info on it and donate it to a woman's shelter. Even without a service plan, it could still be used to dial 9-1-1.

f4, Exp. 1/60, 29mm

Day 73 - Behind Closed Doors/Selina

My craft room frequently has the door closed, so I thought this would be the best place to start.   I tried just barely opening the door and taking a picture, but couldn't get the lighting right.  So, I went into the craft room and left the door mostly open.  Behind the door I have a couple of extra tables, a host of craft punches, and some of my stamps are in the vicinity.  Morgan & Toria's profiles are also on this same wall.  

(F 3.5, 1/30 second, ISO 800, 18mm)

Day 73: Behind Closed Doors/Heather

Yet another reason why I don't exercise. My exercise room has somehow turned into a storage unit and I can't get to the equipment. Trust me when I say I am not too terribly upset about this. I keep the door to this room closed so the dogs can't get in there and investigate and/or "help" me dispose of things they don't think are important.

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 55mm

Day 72 - Magnets/Selina

Magnets - well, I thought this would be more creative, but I wasn't have a lot of luck.  After surgery, the nurse told me that I could use an office chair that had wheels to get around in, rather than crutches, in the house.  How brilliant is that?  Anyway, that's what I have been using for the last couple of days and as I was scooting into the kitchen, the chair tipped, I wasn't hurt, thankfully, but still.  I use that as my excuse for this shot.  :)  We have a few magnets on the fridge, but they don't hold anything up (well, there was a phone number for one of Morgan's friends, up there, but figured that better come down for the picture).

(F 3.5, 1/25 second, ISO 250, 18mm)

Day 72: Magnets/Heather

I took the easy road on this one and just pulled a few of the magnets off the fridge. I like to collect them when I travel and the one from Mexico is my most recent travel magnet. The panda bear is courtesy of my boss who brought it back from one of his trips to our office in Asia. The magnet from "Kooza" represents my interest in the theater and the dog's licenses were just a fun thing to do-my friend has them for her dogs too. And finally, the polar bear is from a set Selina gave me that I put up every year for Christmas. Somehow, I missed putting this one back in the box.

f3.5, Exp. 1/13, 18mm

Day 71 - Eyes/Selina

My children have the prettiest eyes and I can sometimes capture that in pictures with them, but I wasn't having as much success as I would have liked.  Morgan, with his beautiful long lashes, is going to cause me a world of problems with the girls.  Victoria, with her gorgeous blue eyes is also going to be handful with the boys.  I even tried a picture of Morgan's and my eyes together, but it was out of focus, unfortunately.  So, here's the best of the shots I could come up with.  Oy...the trouble I will have.  

(F 5.6, 1/40 second, ISO 100, 55mm)

Day 71: Eyes/Heather

I really wanted to get a picture of Sammy's eyes for this. Sammy, however, does not want to cooperate. Before trying to get a shot of his, I tried for a shot of mine. Two attempts later, I decided that wasn't going to work. After I gave up on Sammy, I was about to go raid my (doll) eye stash in the craft room when I decided to try my own eyes again. I ended up with some really funny pictures that could easily pass for mug shots. It took several attempts but I was finally somehow able to get a few with both eyes open that don't have my entire nose in them. I do have one with less nose, but I like this one better.

f4.5, Exp 1/60, 48mm

Day 70 - Around the House/Selina

Today was surgery day on my foot, so Heather and I figured I better do something really simple since we didn't know how I would feel.  Surgery went great and I was home by 10:30 am; getting around with a non-walking cast isn't very fun but in the long run it will be with it.  I chose this picture because it's a common site around our house.

 (F 5.6, 1/60 second, ISO 400, 51mm)

Day 70: Around the House/Heather

When I got home from work today, I grabbed the camera and just walked around the house taking pictures. I'm surprised at how many I took in about a 15 minute time frame. I also came up with a few more themes in the process.

I had several I liked-but this is my favorite. I can't help but laugh that my favorite picture involves my least favorite chore!

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 52mm

Day 69: School/Heather

This could have been a real easy theme for me as there are both an elementary and high school within walking distance from my house. There is also an elementary school about two miles from work-right across from our first house. So I had plenty to choose from. But with school back in session, I thought it might look a little suspicious if a random woman was loitering around taking pictures!

So after work I headed over to the University of Portland campus to take my pictures there. I had a two-hour window between the time I got off work and when I had to be at the Food Bank to volunteer. The weather today was nasty, however, and when I got to campus it turned out I only had about a 15-minute window between downpours.

I'm not in love with any of my shots-I didn't get that many as there weren't many dry spots to shoot from. I have two versions of this shot-the other without the student, but I think this one has more of a school "feel."

f3.8, Exp. 1/80, 24mm

Day 69 - School/Selina

I knew for this picture that I really just wanted to find a really old schoolhouse to do a picture of, but didn't know where to start, nor did I have the time to do so.  So, I ran by one of the many nearby schools and loved the entrance.  The top has a wonderful quote with a book, if you click on the photo you'll be able to read the quote much easier.

(F 5.6, 1/50 second, ISO 100, 20mm)

Day 68 - Fountain/Selina

I thought the fountain at the nearby Catholic Church always sounded beautiful (and it has a bell at the very top), so it was bound to be pretty.   Unfortunately, the water is quite green and by the time I took this photo, I didn't think I would have time after dinner to search out another one.  So, this is the best I could take.  It's a really tall fountain and I couldn't get the whole thing in the picture unfortunately, but this does show quite a bit of the height.

(F 5.6, 1/200 second, ISO 100, 18mm)

Day 68: Fountain/Heather

There are a ton of fountains in Portland. I probably could have spent hours walking around taking photographs of them all. But I have a hectic couple of weeks coming up and wanted to spend time today just relaxing. So I decided to shoot a fountain closer to home.

There is a popular walking trail along the Columbia River on the Vancouver side. I knew this water fountain was there from when I used that trail to try to take my horizon photo. (I actually got a really cool shot of the fountain that day). I decided to take Sammy with me. Charlie got to go on a lot of "bye byes in the car" when he was sick in July and Sammy didn't get to go. I decided he needed a "bye bye" of his own. I also joined a Meetup group for single dog lovers and wanted to get him out with people as I am considering taking him to an event on Friday.

I had a hard time deciding on my picture for today. I have several that show more of the fountain, but chose this one because I managed to press the button to turn on the flow of water, not get my finger in the shot, take the shot with one hand, keep hold of Sammy and have the shot turn out.

f8, Exp. 1/60, 18mm

Day 67 - Breakfast/Selina

Breakfast - should be easy with children, right?  Well, Victoria made her breakfast and I thought about taking a picture, but I knew I was fixing pancakes and eggs for dinner so decided to wait.  Well, wouldn't you know?  Plans certainly changed mid-afternoon.  So, I made a nectarine crumble, because I would totally eat that for breakfast!  :)  The crumble was a big hit and I came from from a bbq with very little left over.  

(F 5, 1/60 second, ISO 400, 46mm)

Day 67: Breakfast/Heather

We had to do some shuffling for today because boats just wasn't going to work. I was planning to go out to breakfast with my Meetup group tomorrow so I suggested we move fountain to today and do breakfast tomorrow. It worked better for Selina to leave fountain for tomorrow and do breakfast today. So I texted one of my friends last night to see if she would meet me for brunch today at a little place in SE Portland called Slappy Cakes.

Slappy Cakes is awesome. They have little grills at the tables were you can make your own pancakes. You have your choice of 4 or 5 types of batter and you can add toppings either while they are cooking or to the top. They also have menu items they will cook for you. We decided to do a combination and split pancakes and an entree. I ordered the pancakes with strawberries for me, bananas for her and chocolate chips to share and she ordered the daily special which was migas with toast and breakfast potatoes (I would go back just for the potatoes).

I took some fun shots of our pancakes on the grill, but the shot that turned out best was the one I took of the migas (which was delicious).

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 70mm