The Last of the 30 Day Photography Challenge

The penultimate photo challenge was to take a black and white picture. Before jumping in, I read a bit online about how to take a really sweet b&w photo. All sources said to shoot in RAW. So I did. And regretted it. I could view the pictures on the camera, but that was it. I couldn't open them on my computer or upload them to this blog. ugh.

I finally found some software that came with my camera that could open and edit RAW file formats and convert them into sweet, manageable JPGs.

Here are the last photos of the challenge very, very late!

Day 29: Black & white photo. Can't get enough of these mushrooms. This is a photo of our rather small second batch.

Day 30: Self-portrait. If you click on the picture, it'll blow it up, and in my eyes you will be able to see my arms stretching out to take this self-portrait. Classy!

I'm all done! I successfully took a photo everyday (almost) for 30 days. And I think I got a little bit better for it.

30 Day Photography Challenge - Days 27-28

Day 27: From a distance. Is this "from a distance" enough? I hope so. I took a picture of this yellow door in an abandoned parking lot at night from the driver's side of my car. Anything to squeeze in my photo before the clock ticks over to the next day!

Day 28: Flowers. There are at least a dozen or so of these lilies growing about twenty feet from my apartment door. Last spring, when I was walking to the mail and first saw them blooming out of rather unremarkable green plants, I stopped in my tracks. I had only seen lilies in the grocery store around Easter, and never blooming so beautifully out in nature. I love these lilies, and I love this picture of them.

Day 29 & 30: I shot days 29 and 30 in RAW file format rather than JPEG. Therefore, I have no idea how to open them on my computer. Oops! Note to self: research file types before just assuming that your netbook and free photo editor can handle them. I am hoping my tech savvy husband can solve this little conundrum.

30 Day Photography Challenge - Days 20-26

The challenge continues...

Day 20: Bokeh. I think "bokeh" means the fuzzy background. Or maybe it means backgrounds with little globes of light. I don't really know, so I got both in the background of this picture of my beloved snap pea plants.

Day 21: Faceless self-portrait.

Day 22: Hands. Michael and I went to the Asian supermarket on Saturday, bought all of these sauces, and cooked up two big pots of Thai soup (brown sauce soup... ask Michael what it's called in Thai) and Vietnamese soup (Pho). Yummy!

Day 23-24: Woops. Didn't do them. Here are my excuses. The prompt for day 23 was "sun flare." I don't really know how to do sun flares, but I do know it requires sunlight and it was cloudy all day. The prompt for day 24 was "animal." I was indoors in downtown Los Angeles the entire day. I guess I could have wandered the city for a bit to try to get a shot of a pigeon, but I didn't.


Rather than falling behind, I decided to just plow on ahead to the next day. Perhaps I will come back to these two photo days at the end.


Day 25: Something pink. In my mind, I was a photographer for a makeup ad. I did a better job than I thought I could!

Day 26: Close-up. Alfalfa sprouts growing in a jar. I need your help. Which is better?
The cool, sharp, blue-ish tinted one?

Or the warmer one?

Please let me know in "comments." Don't be shy, I need all the help I can get!

30 Day Photography Challenge - Days 15-19

Day 15: Silhouette

Day 16: Long exposure. 30 second exposure, baby!

Day 17: Technology.

Day 18: Your shoes.

I missed day 17, so I combined it with day 18. I hope that's acceptable.

These are my lovely 3.5 year old running shoes with my brand new Nike+iPod run tracker! The sensor for the run tracker is designed to fit snugly into the bottom of Nike+ shoes, but I didn't want Nike telling me what shoes to buy, so I did a little internet research and found a perfectly simple and cheap solution: put it in a ziploc bag, roll up the bag, and slide it between the tongue and the laces. 

If my shoes didn't look raggety before, they sure do now.

Day 19: Something orange.

30 Day Photography Challenge - Days 10-14

So far, I have managed to keep up with this photography challenge. The biggest thing I've learned is that the more time and thought I put into setting up a good shot, the better it comes out. I guess I always knew that, but these pictures really prove it. For instance, the pictures of the apple and the potato below were taken in a rush. Not good at all. But, I actually spent time on the photos of the sunset, the kissing figurines, and me with all my instruments... and I like them! Lesson learned.

Day 10: Childhood memory. Growing up, I ate sliced apples with a homemade peanut butter/yogurt dip. Recipe: mix one part vanilla yogurt with one part peanut butter. It's that easy and it was a hit at the Super Bowl party we went to!

Day 11: Something blue. My in-laws picked these blue, kissing dolls in the Netherlands (though I'm not that sure it was the Netherlands) on their 25th anniversary trip to Europe a couple of years ago.

Should I use these dolls to communicate with my husband? When I'm happy with him I'll put them kissing. When I'm upset, I'll put them with their butts sticking at each other. Probably not the best communication strategy!

Day 12: The sunset.

Day 13: Myself with thirteen things. I have a fun collection of instruments from all over the place courtesy of my dad who travels all over all the time (in fact, he's currently in the Philippines) and picks them up for me! The instruments below are from Mali, Costa Rica, Argentina, Moldova, the Guitar Center, and the Folk Music Center.

Day 14: Eyes.

30 Day Photography Challenge - Days 6-9

Here are the next few pictures from the 30 day photography challenge!

Day #6: From a low angle.

Day #7: Fruit.

Day #8: A bad habit. I used to never make my bed. I am trying to break that habit!

Day #9: Someone you love. <3

30 Day Photography Challenge - Days 2-5

The photography challenge continues!

Day #2: My outfit. Day two fell on Sunday, my day of rest. So, I spent the afternoon in my pajamas and slippers.

Day #3: Clouds. Taken from the top floor of the parking structure at my law school.

Day #4: Something green. A snap pea tendril wrapping itself around a rope.

Day #5: From a high angle. My morning espresso.

30 Day Photography Challenge

Whenever I read up on how to improve my photography skills, I always find this advice: Take more pictures! In that vein, I am going to begin this 30 day photography challenge that I found on Pinterest. I probably won't post my photos everyday, but I promise that, unless I say otherwise, they were taken on the day I was supposed to!

Day #1: Self-portrait