Favorite Photos: January to June

One of the goals that I set for 2012 was to work on becoming a better photographer. In order to work toward that goal, I started a 365 project in January, but found that I struggled with having an additional form of social media to have to which to post things and to comment on the work and posts of others. So at the end of April, I decided to reset the project and start posting my daily photos to a 365 blog here. During the summer I did a good job of consistently taking photos daily and uploading them to the blog, but I struggled a little bit with doing this once the semester got underway. I plan to continue the project until I reach 366 photos, and I'm trying to get back into the habit of snapping photos daily and posting them regularly this month. Even though I didn't always take daily photos and restarted the project in April, I did take a number of photos that I thought were interesting or meaningful to me, and I did get a bit more comfortable with my DSLR.

Here are my favorite photos from the first half of the year.

January: I took this photo with my DSLR right after midnight. Having just recently decided to take on a 365 challenge, I was really into trying to find ways to make every day kinds of subject a little more interesting. I also was exhibiting something of a newbie obsession with bokeh.

February: Going back through my photos, I really had a pretty limited selection of ones that I liked from that month. However, this one, that I took with my point-and-shoot while I was in Alaska interviewing for my current job and getting a tour of Turnagain Arm is one that doesn't make me feel ashamed of my photography skills or bored out of my mind. I like how the natural light gives it a vignette effect, albeit one that is not exactly centered.  

March: In March I traveled to San Antonio to see my sister, brother-in-law, and new niece, Isla. I took a number of photos that I really liked during that tripand, looking back through them, it was hard to choose a favorite. I ultimately settled on this one of the waterfall and bridge at the Japanese Tea Gardens.

April: My favorite photo from April is one that I took of my niece Norah, while we were in Toronto for Passover. She had a lot of fun playing her dad's shoes that evening, but I love this one in particular because of the look of concentration on her face.

May: I took this photo using the macro setting on my DSLR. It was a beautiful late spring day, and I spent part of it in the Royal Botanical Gardens in Madrid alternating between fiddling with my camera and taking photos of flowers and reading on a bench.

June: In June Mark and I did a bit of traveling -- we went to Alaska to look for a home and to Mount Rushmore and the Badlands. It was difficult to pick a favorite photo until I remembered this one that I took while we were exploring a beach near the place that would be our new home. I love everything about this photo: the guy, the stone skipping in the waves, the mountains and clouds in the background.

Have you ever done a photo challenge? If you've posted a favorite photo on your blog or on instagram, I'd love for you to link up in the comments!

Bailey on the Run

Have I mentioned how much I love my doggie?  She is a complete dork, but, then again, so am I.  She makes me laugh with her outrageous antics; she cheers me up when I am low, she accidentally tickles me with her chilly little nose. 

M. and I adopted her from a local shelter last August.  She had just been spayed, had kennel cough, and wasn't housebroken.  The ~ year of her life before she was left at the shelter is a mystery to us.  Allegedly, she was dumped by her owner on a friend who could not keep her, and she ended up at the shelter.  Coincidentally, we went to look at dogs a day or so after she had been brought in.  M. and I chose three dogs to spend some time with at the shelter, and she was one of them.  A beagle wasn't the kind of dog I had in mind, but she suckered me in with her sweet, brown eyes.   The shelter didn't know what her name had been before, so the dedicated staff there called her Daisy -- a name that I like well enough, but my sister already has a dog named Daisy.  I wanted to take her home right then and there, but M. and I agreed to go home, think about it some more, sleep on it, and then decide.  At the end of the next day we were back at the shelter and filling out forms.  M. picked her name.

 In some ways, she's been a challenging little booger.  Housebreaking was a bit of chore, but nothing too horrible.  Occasionally, she still has an accident in the house, but, if she does, that's almost always our fault.  The bigger issue with her has been some pretty severe separation anxiety.  We have been working with a behavioral specialist and our vet for months, and it's still tricky.   We've tried and still do try kongs, music, gradual departures, in and outs, etc.

I love her, though, and so does M.  She is the first doggie - the first pet, really - that he's ever had.  She is a goofball and the fuzziest member of our family.  And she's the first subject of M's first photo shoot with my new camera.

New Camera

I've been eyeing DSLR cameras for months, but the purchase of one wasn't really in my budget.  When my husband picked me up from my dissertation defense, he handed me flowers and a card and asked me if I wanted to go to Target to get my camera.  I was flabbergasted!  Then it turned out that Target only had the camera that he was buying me for sale online, so we had to wait for its arrival via UPS.  They finally attempted to deliver it at a time when we were actually home, this afternoon.  If I hadn't been in the middle of spooning home-made Trapanese pesto out of my food processor, I would have signed for it and then high-fived the UPS delivery person.  Oh, well.  At least I have an awesome new camera, even if I haven't had a chance to cross high-fiving the UPS guy off my bucket list.

The battery is charging now, and I'm sure there'll be a bit of a learning curve, but I'm really thrilled about this camera.  Many, many thanks to my wonderful husband!*  I'll probably spend the evening perusing the user's manual.  Hopefully, I'll have some good shots to share on both blogs soon!

*Edit: My husband informs me that this is also a gift from his lovely parents, sister, and brother-in-law.  Many thanks to G., W., J., and D!