365/365 - Behind the Camera

Taken by looking into a mirror... then flipped in post-processing so that the camera's logo wouldn't be backward.  If the camera placement looks a little odd, it's probably because I focus with my left eye, even though I am right handed.  When I take photos while wearing makeup, my nose smudges the preview screen, which has helped me sympathize with how left-handed people must feel using products designed for right-handed people.

(And so ends this Project 365! I'll be writing a little about the project as a whole in my next entry.)

351/365 - Obligatory Self-Portrait

I figured I ought to take at least one more self-portrait before this Project 365 thing is all wrapped up and done (such as it is). Maybe I should've taken a minute to brush (or at least smooth) my hair before I hit the shutter release, though...

250/365 - Crocheting Away

I continued to work on my hexagon afghan, a bit at a time. . .

231/365 - Hexagon Progress

This was my progress on the hexagon afghan as of the 2nd of June-- with my feet as a reference for scale. ;o)

I've added a fair number of hexagons since then. Maybe nearly twice as many? I'm not sure... I think I'll be done in a few more weeks, going at my current pace.

202/365 - Reflection

. . . my reflection in a flattened glass marble set in a polymer clay "sail" I made for some wind chimes (which had lost their original sail). . .

(This is another "cheater" photo. I seem to have forgotten to take a photo on day 202, so I just substituted one taken the next day.)

151/365 - Self

Self, looking like I need bangs, though I'm pretty sure (based on past experience) that bangs and I don't really get along. . .

146/365 - dc 5 in next sc

The rippling continues apace (by my standards, at least). I find it relaxing to do a row or so at night while listening to the late local news or the mp3 player.

(Incidentally, after taking this photo-- and a few rejects of similar pose-- I realized that I'd skipped part of the repeat and had to go back a few stitches. Oops!)

126/365 - Let the Laundry Wait

The title says it all. ;o)

(But just in case it doesn't. . . (g))
I'm reading Murder on the Orient Express for the first time. Because it's so famous and has been around so long, I guess people assume that everyone who cares to will already have read it, so they don't bother much about spoilers-- which means that I've heard spoilery things about it. Still, I'm finding it an interesting read.

For years, I found the thought of Agatha Christie's novels intensely boring (oxymoron, anyone? (g)). I'm not sure why, but in any case, I was wrong. So far, the ones I've read aren't edge-of-your-seat thrillers, but they're engaging and somehow even cozy. . . which seems strange for murder mysteries, but is true all the same.

82/365 - Making Lemonade. . .?

It's inevitable, when you're taking at least one photo every day for this long.  You get a little bit lazy.

I decided to try a self-portrait or two, yesterday.  I wasn't really happy with them, but I never got around to taking any other photos, so today there's not much to choose from.  The solution, of course, is Photoshop.  (It's always Photoshop.)  Try to make lemonade with a real lemon of a photo.  I probably Photoshopped the life right out of this one, but at least I feel more comfortable sharing this than the original. . . maybe because it's not as recognizable as me.  (g) 

77/365 - Cozy at Home

There wasn't a lot of real "picturing" going on here, yesterday, but I did sit on the couch and play around with the new camera a little while. Most of the playing around was with the special settings (selective color, color replacement, etc.), and the results were odd. (g) I think I prefer to take a regular photo and mess around with it on the computer. You have more control that way.

So, the photo I chose is just a plain picture of Trixie and my feet being warm, cozy, and dry inside on a rainy December night.

31/365 - Marble Reflections

Reflections in a glass marble-- part of a homemade copper and marble garden ornament. The spiral in the top part of the reflection is what initially caught my eye, but afterward I noticed myself in there, too, as well as the rest of the immediate surroundings (patio railing, windchimes, birdhouse, trees, lawn).

Editing on this one was simple:  Resize, Curves, and Unsharp Mask.

19/365 - New Glasses

Our new eyeglasses (ordered online from Zenni Optical, in the middle of October) showed up in our mailbox on Saturday. Since the frames we chose were so affordable, we decided to splurge and order three pair each. As I mentioned on my regular (but lately neglected) blog, this is the first time I've had new glasses since Donald was here visiting for the first time. (Summer 1998? I'm not the best at remembering dates. . .) As you can see in today's photo, the extravagance of having three new sets of specs all at the same time has left me slightly unhinged. ;o)

Well, ok, I just thought it would be a more fun way to show the new glasses than staring straight into the camera (or using my customary "looking up into the camera to minimize those extra pounds" pose). But if you want a better look at the glasses themselves, I have photos of all but one pair on my Flickr photostream. (One was left out because Donald was wearing them. If you're absolutely desperate to see that pair-- and, really, why wouldn't you be?-- you can see them in the photo of him playing guitar.)

The photos aren't all perfectly focused.  Some could use some more tweaking to get the color just right, but it's good enough.  (I'm tired, and there are Things to do.) 

Oh, and I also converted this photo to sepia and b&w.  I think I may actually prefer the sepia to this version, but I decided I'd done enough b&w / sepia lately.  (And considering the subject matter, there's not that much difference between the original and sepia, anyway.)

Editing: Kind of hard to explain. Basically the same as usual (cropping, resizing, adjusting for light and color, etc.), but the biggest part of editing today was putting the various photos together into a whatever-this-is.  (Mosaic?)

17/365 - Me as a Ghost

Since it's Halloween, I thought it was the appropriate time for some trick photography-- namely, a "ghost" image.

Back when I was younger, my parents were really into photography for a while. My father even set up a makeshift darkroom in their bathroom. In addition to the traditional portraits and landscapes they took, there was also some fun experimental photography-- lightning, fireworks/sparklers, and multiple exposures, for instance. One of the multiple exposures I remember resulted in twin Moms, even though my mother is not a twin. (g) In another, I was a "ghost", the background of the room mysteriously showing right through me. (Spoo-ooo-ooky!)

These days, it's so much easier and quicker to make a ghostly photograph. Basically, you just put your camera somewhere where it won't move (like a tripod or a table) and take two photos-- one of the "ghost" (in this case, I used a remote and photographed myself) and one of the exact same scene without the person in it (here, a brick wall). (I was planning to use some trees and shrubs as my background, but quickly realized that the breeze would make the background shift too noticeably.) Layer the photo of the person on top of the other in a photo editing program. Lower the opacity of the top layer, and there's your ghostly photo! Of course you can also do all kinds of other things in conjunction with this technique. For instance, I made the images sepia-toned. (For another presentation of the ghost technique, visit this page.)

The results aren't usually really that realistic-- no-one from the modern world will be terrified (g)-- but what would a "realistic" ghost photo look like, anyway? ;o) 

Editing: This one had quite a bit of editing. Let's see how much I can remember. . . Cropped, Resized, Grayscaled/Duotoned (two-part process to convert to sepia), Layered and Opacity changed (as described above), Curves (to lighten), Unsharp Mask. . . I used the Dodge and Burn tools to lighten and darken a few spots. . . I think I may have used the Spot Healing tool and/or Clone tool here or there. . . I used the Eraser tool (at various strengths) to erase my other hand (which had been holding the camera remote) and to soften the edges of the "me" photo and make myself dissolve a little more into the brick in spots. I also added a vignette around the whole photo and the Dodge tool to lighten it a little in the middle.

6/365 - Textures

I thought I'd give self-portraiture a try today. I wasn't entirely pleased with the results, but I'm "making do".

This is me sitting out on the porch swing with a denim rag quilt and my newly crocheted scarf. (Even though it's gotten warm enough today that I didn't really need either, I thought they'd make a more interesting photo.)

Sepia-toned and gently Ortonized.