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“There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope.” Bern Williams
I am standing here on a dock at 6am in -7 degree Celsius literally freezing my fingers and toes off to capture this amazingly gorgeous shot of the sunrise over the Fraser River Delta. This is what this 365 Project has done for me . . . it has awakened the passion for photography that has been bubbling below the surface for many many years. I’ve always had a camera in my hand to record special moments, but I’ve always wanted to really immerse myself in the craft . . . learn how to really utilize my brain, my vision, and the tools available to me to create amazing and thought provoking images. I’ve had the most fabulous year of learning. I’ve made new friends and connected with some fabulous inspirational photographers.
One more shot to go . . . then what?
365-365
“Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.” Marcus Aurelius
I’m giving everyone a break today from all the Hawaii shots. I dug in to my Las Vegas stockpile and found this shot that I took the first night hubby and I stayed at Mandalay Bay. This was the view from our room.
Sin City. Fascinating City. City of Lights. City that never sleeps.
Most people come to Las Vegas to gamble, drink, party . . . or even to get married!
I came to live my passion of photography with an amazing group of people I’ve gotten to know over the last year through this 365 Self Portrait Project.
338-365
“It’s when ordinary people rise above the expectations and seize the opportunity that milestones truly are reached.” Mike Huckabee
Wow! I can’t believe I have reached Day Three Hundred of this 365 Project! There have been days when I really didn’t think I could come up with something to post . . . another photo much less another blog post! Because I took on the task of not only doing a self portrait every day, but also doing a blog post about it ever day as well. I have fallen behind a few times . . . but I have not neglected the actual taking of a photo every day. It’s pretty incredible what I have learned through this process . . . one of which is Photography is most definitely where my passion lies. There has been a thread of Photography throughout my entire life . . . I just didn’t pursue it as I am able to now because of where life took me. I’m here now though, and so fortunate and blessed to be in a position to finally pursue my passion. In fact – in a few days I will be meeting up with fellow 365’ers in Las Vegas for a weekend of shooting and camaraderie over our shared mutual passion. Here I am perusing the 365 forums, amazed at the talent and friendships that we have formed even tho few of us have met in person. Vegas . . . here we come!
300-365
“I don’t care about my looks but I wish people will see my soul and it appears more clearly in these photographs than in others.” – August Strindberg- said about a series of self-portraits.
I continue to be supremely challenged to put myself fully before the camera. It’s so easy to capture a shadow or reflection that gives a suggestion, but not the real image. Every once in awhile though, I surprise myself and actually capture something I like. I like this image. I look content, I look happy. I am content, and I am happy. I’m in a great place in my life, with few of the worries, stresses, illnesses of so many people I know. Unfortunately, I have lost too many dear, close loved ones to cancer or other illness/tragedy way before their time.
I am not a “religious” person, so therefore I believe that life happens . . . some things we have control over and some things we do not. In no way is my life perfect, and I’m certainly not perfect. However, I do believe it’s up to me to live my life to the best of my ability, physically and emotionally. I am responsible for my own results, and if “life happens”, I have choice in how I deal with it. If I die tomorrow, it’s the impact and influence I’ve made on the people around me, the ones I leave behind, that carry my spirit forward. I live on in the energy I create and put out in the world. That energy can be positive or negative . . . my choice.
I choose positive energy, as it is the basis of harmony, happiness and love.
271-365
“If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” Dale Carnegie
I set my D7000 on timer and let it shoot away. This was the best of the bunch, as I was heading off to the airport to pick up my sister who is flying in from Whitehorse, Yukon. I love the timer feature on my camera(s). It makes doing this 365 so much easier. My only challenge is focusing. To do a shot like this I have to guess where my focus is and hope that it turns out sharp, not blurry. I was trying for the panning effect in the background as I was rounding a corner at the time. And it looks like I was fairly successful with my focus this time. I did process it a bit in LR4 and Topaz Adjust.
269-365
“We need to ditch the idea that there is any value in the strong and silent man being in any way attractive. Being silent isn’t being strong, it’s being a victim.” Jane Powell
Reading this quote made me think about what a strong man I am married to/partnered with. He’s no victim! Yeah, I know – he’s digging that ditch with a back-hoe attachment on the John Deer tractor. But that’s the thing . . . he’s dug a few ditches in his lifetime so he knows the value of using the proper tools to get the job done. And now that he can afford the tools, why not use them?? I am continually amazed at his strength in all kinds of situations . . .not just ditch-digging. He fixes things, builds things, designs things, sells things, thinks big and lives large. I guess you can say I’m a huge fan of his! He keeps his cool in some pretty difficult business situations . . . when projects seem to be heading off the rails he manages to rally the troops and get things back on track. He doesn’t lose his head, he doesn’t lose his cool. He’s an amazing father who helps his boys when they need him, but at the same time enables them to make decisions and learn from their mistakes. He’s an absolutely giddy and silly Grandpa . . . completely in love with the little ones. He’s about the best son a mother could ever want . . . being there for his 93 year old mother no matter what. And most of all, he is my rock, my best friend, my confidant and life partner. Every day is not perfect . . . and guess what . . . his farts do stink . . . but I love him no matter what! We are traversing whatever ditches and mountains we encounter in life . . . hand in hand, side by side, together.
226-365
226-365-2
Oh boy . . . challenging day today. Had several appointments scheduled, starting with a visit to our accountant at 9:30am, then taking MIL to get a Holter Monitor put on for heart palpitations. She’s 92, healthy as a horse but having stability problems. After the Lab appointment, I was taking her for an Orthotic evaluation to hopefully get her better shoes and support for walking. She uses Nordic walking sticks to get around generally. We made a stop at the bank, then headed next door to the lab for an 11am appointment. We had to navigate down about 4 steps, and then up another 4 steps. On the very bottom step going down, she grabbed for the handrailing, and missed. I had taken one step ahead of her anticipating turning around to help her down the last step when suddenly I heard a yell, turned around just in time to see her literally just tipping over. She had completely lost her stability and down she went. She landed on her right hip and lower back. Luckily there were two bystanders who rushed over and helped me get her up to her feet again. She seemed fine and insisted that we carry on to the lab for her appointment. However, as we sat waiting . . . the more it was obvious she wasn’t ok. So I packed her up in the car and took her to the ER for evaluation. Long story short . . . after X-Rays and CatScan . .. a fracture in her right hip. Not a bad one . . . but it warranted surgery to pin it so that we could get her up and mobile ASAP. Otherwise – it would be six weeks of bed rest – a death sentence for a 92 year old woman. We (hubby, his brother and wife) stayed with her until they moved her up to the surgical floor and settled her in for the night. I live 30 minutes from the hosp – so was tucking myself in to bed around midnight.
This is my 365 Self Portrait Challenge pic of the day . . . taken with my iPad and a bit of editing applied with PhotoShopElements App.
365 Self Portrait Challenge Day Eleven
I’m having fun today playing with textures on my photos. I’ve used Kim Klassen textures to give this kind of a dreamy feel – hubby and I and a romantic candlelight dinner.
365 Self Portrait Challenge Day Ten
I’ve been seeing several people putting up Multiplicity shots on the MTM Challenge board so had to give it a try. A bit of a cheat on this one, as I took the pics yesterday up on Grouse Mountain but had so much fun doing the edit in Photoshop today. Can’t wait to try this trick on one, or several, of the grandkids!
What do you mean CLOSED! Where are those darn BeaverTails anyway??
365 Self Portrait Challenge Day Seven
Had a great day today – celebrating my 60th birthday with my favorite companion . . . my husband. I thought we were just getting new snow tires for the car . . . who knew tires came with a whole new car??
365 Self Portrait Challenge Day Six
Nurture Self 365 