Thankful – Picture Fall, day 31

Today is the last day of the Picture Fall online photography class.  We were instructed to focus on something that expresses our gratitude today.  I am most grateful for my wonderful family, but I already shared them with you on Day 24, and here and there at other times throughout the month.  I’m also grateful for this blogging community that has grown up around several blogs.  I love the support and comments I’ve gotten as I’ve navigated the waters of photography, so a collage of the shots I’ve taken this month seemed apropos.

I hope you are having a great Halloween with lots of treats and no nasty tricks! 🙂

Fantasyland – Picture Fall, day 30

If I’ve learned anything at all during this month long photo experiment, it is that our instructor for this class will always make us think before taking a picture.  That’s a good thing for me.  My husband would always make the comment that I’m so anxious to take the picture that I would often forget to consider the surroundings and then end up with something messing up an otherwise nice picture.  Stop and think about it – good advice.  This photo class has really made me think before I take a picture.  Today’s prompt wanted us to:  shoot a little bit of fantasy—you or your childs—to commemorate the tricks and treats of the season.  It then went on to explain, however, that we shouldn’t just take the typical shot of someone wearing a Halloween costume, but to try to translate something more into the photo.  It stumped me at first.  How is a picture of someone in costume any more than that?  Then, I came up with this shot:

When I was first setting up the shot, I considered where to place Sarah to end up with the best light, not to have a distracting background, etc.  I figured I’d open the shot in Photoshop and crop and brighten and maybe find a fantastic-looking blur.  Then I looked at it, several times, cropped and not.  The picture you see here is SOOC.  I thought it said exactly what I wanted it to, just the way it is.  I like the dark hat against the slightly out-of-focus background.  I like the hint of Sarah’s nose.  I like the look of a 13-year-old girl innocently wondering what it might be like to live the fantasy life of a wizard,  unretouched in our little corner of suburbia.

Coming tomorrow: In addition to tomorrow’s photo prompt, the last of the Picture Fall photography class, I’m hoping to feature “Ghosts of Halloweens Past.”  Be sure to come have a look for some laughs!

Sweet Relief – Picture Fall, day 29

Well, I’ve broken the streak again this month.  My creative juices felt tapped out yesterday afternoon by the time I got around to considering my photo prompt:  Capture a little something sweet today; whatever it is that tickles your taste buds.  It isn’t really an excuse, but this past week had me helping my girls figure out and do make-up  for their Halloween parties at the dance studio.  That doesn’t sound like much, but each of my girls goes to the studio on three different days each week, and would either of my girls be content to wear the same costume all three days?  Of course not!  This is the one time of the year that I am thankful for the piles of old dance costumes that reside in this house.  But I digress.  I had no ideas whatsoever for how to make a picture of candy or cookies or the like something out of the ordinary and worthy of photographing last night.  Meghan suggested, “How about you carve the pumpkin and have it barfing up piles of candy?”  I chuckled at the idea, but after dinner had been cleaned up last night I wanted nothing more than to crash on the couch and relax.  Today, however, was a different story!

Because of this photo prompt, I’ve had this little diddy playing in my head for the last 24 hours:

The Great Pumpkin – Picture Fall, day 28

The days are winding down in my one-month commitment to take a picture for class and blog about it each day.  I’ve no way to predict of course, but I’d imagine the next few days, including today, could have a Halloween feel to them.  Today’s prompt is named after one of my favorite childhood tv specials.

My pumpkin isn’t carved or decorated yet for Halloween, but Cedric decided to investigate the new arrival to the house, as cats are wont to do:

Personally, I’m looking forward to chopping open the pumpkin’s head and eating its brains!!!  Buh-wa-ha-ha-ha!  Oh, er, um, by that, I mean the seeds, of course, roasted with plenty of salt. 😉

Leafy Love – Picture Fall, day 27

It poured buckets today.  Unfortunately, not a fun day for today’s photo prompt.  I tried a few shots from inside the house and under the overhang of the front door to no avail.  Our instructor wanted us to find a way to capture a leaf or leaves in a way that says something new.  Unable to find something pleasing in today’s dreariness, I went back through other shots I’ve taken this month hoping to find one to feature.  I don’t know if this says anything new, but I did love this picture when I took it:

That should count as leafy love, right? 🙂

Open Heart, Open Mind – Picture Fall, day 26

Today’s photo prompt was almost a little too vague for me at first.  “Seek out some kind of openness and shoot it,” explained the instructor.  Being a lovely sunny afternoon, I wandered my backyard in hope that inspiration would hit.  My husband and daughters even shouted out,”Take a picture of …..” but their suggestions weren’t moving me.  Finally, I strolled to the back of yard and found it:

The old tire swing seemed to say “open to possibilities” to me.  The addition of Meghan’s Halloween-painted toes and some sunshine-and-tree bokeh put the finishing touches on today’s shot.  Open to possibilities…. I like it.

ETA:  I feel the need to “crow” just a little bit.  I just received a comment from the instructor on this photo over on the gallery page for this class.  She said, “This is brilliant.”  Woo-hoo! 🙂

Fall Colors – Picture Fall, day 25

When the day for this prompt, which I was sure was coming eventually, showed up, I was hoping it would have been one of the lovely, sunshiney days we’ve had this month.  I was also hoping it would have been a day when I had time to take the dogs for a walk in the woods or up the small, local mountain.  But it came today, on a dreary, cloudy day – fall colors.  Here in New England, the landscape is kind of known for fall colors, although it has been an odd year for them for sure.  Some trees seemed to go wild with color quite early, while others are still holding back – at least in this part of New England.  I actually have a few days, usually in November, when it seems my entire backyard has turned yellow.  Hasn’t happened yet, didn’t go early like virtually every other plant that I grow did this year.   I did the best that I could to show some fall colors today, with a look up my street:

(That’s my driveway with the tan Suburban parked in it)  I chose this shot because I noticed my little street is actually showing almost all the colors of the rainbow, with the exception of blue, at this moment.  Although not in perfect order, we have orange at the top of the street, followed by red, yellow, green and purple (ish).  Speaking of rainbows, another made an appearance the other day, and I haven’t had a chance to share it, so here you go.

Family Matters – Picture Fall, day 24

The prompt from our instructor struck a chord with me.  She said, “If it wasn’t for the self-timer, I wouldn’t be in any of the photos of my family.”  That is so true, isn’t it, photographer friends?  We usually prefer to be behind the camera, rather than in front of it.  Sometimes, though, I look at pictures of a family vacation or event, and wish that I was included as part of the action.  As a result, usually the only pictures of me are posed ones that I have wrangled the family into doing or on the rare occasion that my husband grabs the camera and sneaks in a few candid shots.  Anyway, today’s prompt requires  the family photographer to get in the picture and show our family unit.  My family has been pretty understanding through my recent photo-mania.  Thank you, family, for putting up with all my picture taking and time spent in front of the computer editing and blogging.  I love you very much!

The Rhythm of Repetition – Picture Fall, day 23

A lovely find from The Christmas Tree Shops in West Dennis, MA, produced the subject for my photo prompt today:

The instruction was to use the repetition of shape or form in a way to please the eye, and look as though the image might go on forever.  I was so happy to find the box of this flavor of K-Cups while I was on the Cape last weekend, I wish that I will forever be able to find this selection again.  (I actually jumped up in down in the aisle of the store.  True story – you can ask my sister after you read this post about our visit  if you like!)  Alas, that is generally not the way of the shops of the Christmas tree.

Darks and Lights – Picture Fall, day 22

Mother Nature wasn’t really on my side for today’s photo prompt.  I have seen some absolutely gorgeous and brilliant skies recently, but today was the day the prompt actually was looking for sky color.  The afternoon and early evening around my particular corner of the world was filled with dark, not very colorful clouds.  The prompt specifically asked for us to take a silhouette of something against the sky, and then to adjust the sky color in photo editing software until we got a nice, autumn feel.  I worked with what I had this evening.  I ended up choosing my neighbor’s pampas grass as the subject of my silhouette, which I shot looking upward from my knees.  Not being any sort of Photoshop expert, I played with some of the color sliders and came up with a purply sky that pleased me somewhat:

It’s “aw-ight” I suppose.  Nothing like the gorgeous pinks and golds I’ve been seeing lately, and I don’t have the skillz to produce that sort of thing in Photoshop, or even know how possible that would be in Photoshop.  Here’s the SOOC:

Any thoughts about what you would have done with it?  Please don’t be shy in the comments!  I can take it! 😉

ETA:  Brian of FS Photography did a beautiful job adding just the colors I would have loved to add myself to my picture.  He said it took less than a minute to do!  I want to go to the Funky Slug School of Photoshop!