Day 30 - Self Portrait #2

The 30-day photo project wraps up in DC, which turned out to be fun as I moved around the city, filled with monuments and landmarks that are known the world over.  Most of my time in DC was spent in meetings, so I did not really do any sight-seeing, other than what I could see as I rolled past in a cab or car.


After the "big" meeting and subsequent dinner on Tuesday, I was in a car with some colleagues on our way back to the hotel and the White House was in full view.  The driver commented that he had never seen the White House live and in person before, so with just a little prompting from me, he agreed to park so that we could walk to check it out.


There is a whole story around parking that deserves it's own blog entry; the end game is we made it over to the front of the White House, which in my opinion looks even better at night thanks to some great lighting.


My first self portrait yielded a really unflattering and almost frightening shot of me, looking as if I was having some sort of medical emergency.  I tried another time or two, but abandoned it after determining the flash of the camera on me was clashing with the lighting around the White House.

Option #2.  That's me...see my ring?  I like the way one of the lights around the fountain somehow looks as if my index finger is the source.  


This has been a fun assignment, I need to figure out an entertaining way to keep the blogging and photo skills alive!

Day 29 - In Motion

Still in Washington DC and now it is morning - the topic is motion!  If you were wondering, using a timer on the camera to take a picture of yourself jumping up and down on the bed in your PJ's is fun in theory, but poor in execution.


With the morning calisthenics out of the way, I turned outward for some motion inspiration. My DC hotel (it was actually in Arlington, I passed by the Pentagon on my way there) faced out to a fairly busy road and I felt that the stillness and beauty of the changing leaves, contrasted with the two lanes of traffic - stopped and moving - made for a pretty interesting shot.

Ebe pointed out that the yield sign ends up being a really clear...and really still...focal point in the midst of the truck & car in motion.  I would like to say that I planned that, but that is not really true, just some advantageous framing!

Day 28 - Purchased

The spirit of these 30 days of photos and blogging has been excellent.  The execution in some cases has been spotty, as I will occasionally be behind a day or two, take a couple of shots at once and then wait another day or two for the next.  This assignment represents this time crunch.

Imagine if you will - I have traveled to Washington DC for a business meeting and en route realized that I have 3 shots left, and am a day or two behind.  I check the list to see what is next and figure that is an easy one because it certainly seems like I am purchasing things all of the time, usually out of necessity but in the spirit of the activity, I am buying it, so it counts.

Here I sit in my hotel room at midnight or so (still living in the dual time zones of both the East and West coasts) when I decide I am going to knock this shot out.  The only and I mean ONLY thing that I have that represents something that I have actually purchased TODAY is a bottle of diet Coke that I bought in the vending machine because there were no peanut M&Ms when I went looking for a snack (I was craving those things and had no luck finding any!).

I am sure the Coca-Cola people would tell me that I did nothing to help glam up this shot, but by now, I am just looking to check it off the list!

Day 27 - After Dark

Originally intended to fit in the "Something Old" category, I snapped these shots of Union Station while I was waiting for Elizabeth's train to arrive.  As identified in the previous post, I went with the bench seats inside for that shot, leaving me with what I think are some neat shots of the station at night.


It is actually kind of hard to identify where this picture is...in the daylight you can read UNION STATION in the stencil letters across the front, but in the dark it is lost with the bright up lights on the wall.

I enjoy the silhouette of the clock tower off to the right.  This is a pretty cool building and it shows well in both daylight and evening hours.

Day 26 - Something Old

I must admit here (although I don't think that I would actually tell him) that I was thinking as something of a joke to use David as the subject matter for this shot, as his 50th birthday is tomorrow.  While it cracked me up because that is actually rather silly, I used my better judgement and looked around all day for something that met this not very specific criteria of 'old'.


Ebe joined us for a weekend of activities and took the train into Union Station to avoid the hassle of driving.  Whenever walking through the station, I always feel like it is 1940-something because of the way the station looks and feels, including what I believe to be much of the original furniture and decor in the main waiting area.

Now I get it that 70 years or so is not really that old, but if in fact these seats are from the original station days, that is impressive that they have held up, because something like 1,000,000+ visitors every year pass through this train station.  They don't all sit in this very chair, I am sure, but still, that is some pretty good endurance!

Day 25 - Sunflare

I realized when completing this assignment that I L-O-V-E taking pictures with sunflares and have a decent number of them in my archives.  Given the fact that I am work for nearly all hours of daylight this time of the year, it was out to Carthay Circle for yet another upshot of the trees...I have indeed taken my share of photos out here!

It took a shot or two to get it just right, but the sun is shining bright, the rays are visible through the leaves and the color on the tree lends just the right amount of contrast...I approve!

Day 24 - A Smile

Surprisingly, this proved a bit more difficult than I might have liked.  If you have ever wondered, taking a picture of just someones mouth yields some odd and not particularly attractive photos (think the Joker in Batman).  At least the way that I approached it did!  After a few failed attempts (including a self-portrait), I quickly changed gears and decided that I was after a sentiment, not necessarily the physical smile.

The photo here is a picture of a card that quotes Winnie the Pooh.  The sentiment is right on, "Your smile makes my heart bounce", and it is FAR better a shot than the creepy corner of my mouth in a mirror that I deleted immediately upon review!

Day 23 - Sunset

This should be an easy one for me...I have soooo many great sunset pictures, courtesy of living in So Cal and many travel trips to great places like Hawaii, Israel, England...my skills of the sunset picture should be (although I am not sure they are officially dubbed this) legend by now.


The interesting thing about this 30 Days of Photo assignment is the picture is supposed to be taken on the day of the assignment...no using stock photography from a previous day.  That poses a bit of a twist on things, because it is a weekday and the time change has now taken effect, whcih means there is NO WAY that I will be out of the office and near the beach in time to capture the sun as it drops below the horizon.


I tried to set a reminder for myself to get out for the sunset (scheduled at 4:54 pm), but I think that I was locked up in a meeting room and completely missed any chance of watching the sunset.  Not surprising, given the agenda of the day, but a bit disappointing nonetheless.


I took a page from the book of Ebe (who presented a GREAT picture-of-a-picture for clouds) and pulled up an AWESOME sunset photo that I took on vacation in Minnesota 3 summers ago.  The sky would light up in magnificent colors every night, and the scenery against the stillness of the lake was always fantastic.  The photo that I have on my computer was actually downloaded from Shutterfly, so as a digital copy, it is a bit pixelated.  By the time I magnified it enough to view and then zoomed in the camera, we ended up with this fuzzy, hazy representation of a sunset.

I shall call it my homage to Monet!

Day 22 - Trees

Trees are in plentiful supply around here, making today feel like a relatively easy assignment.  While I had plenty of good shots, I actually found myself faced with choices and I had a hard time picking the one frame that captured for me the quintessential tree.


I am a fan of the upshot (on landscape, not people, because just how many chins should one person have?), especially when there is a nice contrast of the green leaves to the blue sky. I also enjoy the single, lone tree, as they have so many twists and turns that are shaped by the environment, yet they continue to grow and thrive.


Let's not forget having the sun streaming through, so I tried a few of those shots from the courtyard at work.  Also a very good and a completely different angle on the whole tree thing, I thought about doing a perspective shot along the median down San Vicente Blvd., because there is a row about a mile long of trees, but decided that I already had enough shots and I didn't need to risk getting run over by a bus just to take a picture!

Green/blue contrast won out.  I like it!

Day 21 - Patterns

The weekends are proving a little challenging in this photo project.  I think that the challenge is more around how I organize and set up my day to ensure I remember to take the photo!


Sunday is always a full day, and this week was no exception.  It started with a heavy rainstorm to drive through on our way to Mission Viejo, then church at both campuses, lunch and a dinner meeting.  I knew in the back of my head that I needed to take my photo and I even remembered that it was a pattern, but once again I found myself near the end of the day without anything good to show for my efforts!


I remembered the error in my ways when I saw Ebe taking a picture of the inside flap of her purse - it has at least 4 different patterns and I am sure has been framed to be very cool.  I didn't even have my camera with me!


Fortunately, Ebe was kind enough to loan me her camera and was even in the process of pointing out a pattern that I could use.  We were on the same wavelength and I made her stop with the suggestions, this is supposed to be my own creative interpretation!

Thank goodness for bulletin board borders, is all that I can say!

Day 20 - What I Read

I would like to consider myself quite the reader.  I have a Kindle that is filling up nicely with electronic books and I have a paperback book or two either in my backpack or purse at any given time.  You would think that with all of that reading material, I would have made a better effort to capture the intelligence, the depth and the significance of my chosen reading material for the day.


It turns out that I wasn't really reading too much of great significance on Saturday, it was a busy day.  We were eating dinner, looking at the back of the chip bag from Poquito Mas, when I realized that I had not capture the photo for the day.  I could have pretended, I suppose, but the fact of the matter is, this is what I read today!

If anyone is curious, the chips are fresh and are indeed YUMMY!

Day 19 - Where I Slept

Full transparency...while this is indeed where I slept overnight, I could technically post a picture of my desk because during one particularly long call this morning, I do think that I dozed off!


Today's shot is not particularly creative...in fact, it is a bit monochromatic with my brown on brown on brown sheets, pillowcases and blankets.  Good snoozing, though if not enough hours to keep me from feeling a little snoozy while listening people talk about project management of Greek yogurt.

I am noticing some rather rumpled sheets here...must be doing some serious sleeping!

Day 18 - In My Bag

Today's assignment had a lot of options assigned with it.  I realize that I carry a lot of bags around (note - I said BAGS, not baggage...don't go putting words in my mouth!)  


There is my purse (and admittedly, that is only in the last 4 or 5 years that I actually carry one around, much to the chagrin of my mother, right Mom?), my backpack (which weighed in at 17.5 lbs over my vacation, technically 2.5 pounds over my lifting limitation allowed), a bag with all of my running clothes in it, the assorted sundry reusable grocery bags floating around in the back of my car and the "lunch bag" that I use to drag things back and forth to the office.


The "lunch bag" today is my current favorite, the freebie I got at Hilo Hattie in Hawaii.  I like the colors and the reminder of a fun trip.  It is later in the afternoon now, so the lunch has long since been put in the refrigerator and later consumed, but that was in there, along with my yogurt, a plum and a can of Trader Joe's iced mocha.  All that remain now are my crocs - a staple for driving back and forth to work to avoid the annoyance of driving in heels.

This whole ensemble fits rather neatly under my desk, and that is the story of our picture today!

Day 17 - On the Shelf

I am sure that there were many interpretations for today's assignment and while I had a few ideas for inspiration, none of them were rockin' my world, so I just kept it in the back of my head.


We have a shelf above the pantry cabinets in the kitchen at home that used to have a cute display of boxes, baskets and silk plants; at some point in my traveling days David and Holly converted it to an extension of the cabinet where we keep the corning ware.  It irritates me no end, yet I haven't made the time to go through and clean out the cabinet so that the items will fit in easily.  I can get everything in there (with a good deal of stacking), but D & H claim a degree in origami is required, so they do not attempt to put anything away.


At any rate, I didn't fancy putting up a photo of something that irritates me, so I opted for my goose and turkey friends, amongst the faux greenery that is in the corner of my cube.  Someone brought in a bunch of farm animal figurines a year or so ago and for some time there were pigs, cows, etc., all lined up on the edge/shelf of the cube wall.  I am not a fan of a lot of trinkets at my desk, so one quiet Friday morning, Farmville disappeared, save for the two webbed-footed specimens you see here.

They have a quiet and serene life up on that shelf.

Day 16 - How I Nourish Myself

I enjoyed the assignment today, because I had many ideas that could be fairly easily accomplished without having to scramble to get somewhere or capture the daylight or any other complication that would likely leave me scratching my head and wondering how I missed the opportunity.


Many would have expected me to take a picture of my signature fast food meal - an egg salad sandwich and iced coffee from 7-11.  I am not lying when I tell you that those sandwiches are fresh and delicious and travel well!  Enough of being an advocate for this multi-purpose snack, for it was not in my routine to stop off for breakfast today, I had plenty of the regular items at home.


I actually enjoy and attempt to practice the consumption of 6 mini meals throughout the day, about every 3 hours.  There are a few standby items that I almost always have such as soy sausage links or patties, bananas, hard boiled eggs, laughing cow cheese and crackers, Greek yogurt...the list goes on.  


One of my FAVORITES happens to be on the desk right now, Uncrustables!  A delightful PB&J treat, I buy the whole wheat bread version and just grab one out of the freezer on my way into work in the morning.  It thaws pretty quickly and serves as one of the mid-day meals, along with some kind of fruit (we have cantaloupe today, hooray for Trader Joe's and their pre-cut fruit).


Also in the shot are my trusty water canteen and mug for tea, I shoot for about 60 ounces of water over the course of the day...the tea is admittedly cold most of the time, but I don't mind and am appreciative of some flavoring in my water.

Enjoy the glimpse into my head, and my routine for daily nourishment.


*In the interest of full disclosure, the jalapeno popchips and Scharffenberger dark chocolate in my desk drawer are not pictured but certainly should be considered a part of the daily nourishment...a girl's got to enjoy some treats too! :)