day 322.

Ladybug strikes again!

Luckily, it wasn't something ultra-important. I mean, I read all of that stuff immediately the day I got the camera.

Digital Field Guide: read an article on my Nikon School app.

Images: A group called "Vignetting" on Flickr.

day 321: longhornssss.

Do you do this? Put an 's' at the end of places' names that don't have an 'S?'

I try not to do it, because I know what the proper names are, but I totally slip up and do it anyway.

Subway becomes "Subway's."

Kroger becomes "Kroger's."

Aldi becomes "Aldi's."

Nordstrom becomes "Nordstrom's."

And yes, Longhorn becomes... "Longhorn's."

Digital Field Guide: another page in Niki's manual.

Images: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

day 320: anthropology.

Went to the mall with one of my good friends and took pictures in Anthropologie. Man that was fun.

Anthropologie is one of my absolute favorite stores. I love meandering through that place, examining every corner of it, and finding all of these delightful treasures that I wish I could just stuff in a box and take home with me.

And Amanda is one of my best friends. We like a lot of the same things, and have many similar interests. Besides that, she's very pretty and has been gracious enough to let me photograph her. All of this evening's photos turned out so lovely, I am already planning where we can go next.

Digital Field Guide: read an article on my Nikon School app.

Images: One Love Photo on Flickr. These are pretty much the kinds of pictures I want to take myself.

day 319: lightning.

There have been about five teenagers who have been struck by lightning in the city this past week. A couple of them died. It's shocking (no pun intended at all) and scary.

I've noticed the lightning a lot more lately. It could be because of the recent news items. It could also be because I was stuck in my car for about fifteen minutes (right next to my back door) a couple of weeks ago, waiting for this mega-storm (with some pretty terrifying lightning) to die down. My family were all in the house, waiting for me to come in with some pizzas I had picked up. I was not getting out. I would have sat in my car for an hour if I needed to, but I was not getting out. Large bolts of lightning were striking everywhere around me. I ain't no punk.

So here was this evening's sky. Ominous. And rife with lightning. I kept trying to catch some with Niki, but to no avail. Bummer.

Digital Field Guide: another page in Niki's manual.

Images: Yvette Inufio on Flickr

day 318.

There are some things that I really love about the advent of August.

I get to shop for school supplies.

I get to plan for the new school year. I'm so excited about this. I have an eighth grader and a Kindergartener this year. (Ladybug will do some "preschool-ish" stuff.)

And that's... pretty much it.

The stuff I love is overshadowed right now by the stuff that I hate about the advent of August.

These lesson plans for my school year at Master's Academy. I love teaching there, but I don't love writing these lesson plans. (To clarify: I like coming up with ideas of things to do with my students. It's just the writing of all of these documents and following all of these "formats" and including all of this other seemingly superfluous (at times) stuff that I could do without. And I'm not alone in this.)

Orientation.

I love the first day of school. But orientation leaves a lot to be desired for me. I think it's because I have to do a bunch of extra "planning" just for that one evening too! It's exhausting!

And it's orientation at not just one school. Two schools.

So I have to do extra planning for two different schools. And since I'm not teaching the same subjects at both schools, that means EXTRA planning, because I have to do something different at each one.

Sooooo,... I guess I just had to vent.

Back to our regularly scheduled blogging tomorrow.

day 317.

Ooooh. A meter!

Also at my neighbors' house.

And no, I'm not a creeper. Or stalker or intruder. Their house is just really close to mine.

day 316.

Okay. This actually isn't my house. It's my neighbors'.

Is everything supposed to be all out and exposed like that?

I have no clue what all of that is.

As a totally unrelated aside, I have been thinking about the fact that it's been MONTHS since I shared some of my photog crushes. Once I get over this hurdle of finishing all of this crap that I have to finish (and right now, it feels like just that. CRAP.), that will be one of the first things that I post.

Even though I have been working steadily on said crap, I have just realized that it may take me a bit longer than projected. So I will be burning the afternoon and evening and probably midnight oil. I'll be taking the next three days off from technical reading and image hunting.

Sigh.

day 315.

Ummm... so... yeah.

I have a buttload of stuff to do this next week (and by buttload, I mean BUTT load) so the inspiration well is running a little dry for me due to the stress of trying to finish everything.

I try not to procrastinate. Really. I do. I'm serious.

But.

It seems that no matter how hard I try or how much I "plan" I still end up stressing out and doing things at the last minute. Will that ever change? I want it to, but I'm not gonna stress out over not being "perfect" in this area.

So, a few things will be on the back burner for the next couple of weeks.

I have started adding videos to my YouTube channel and wanted to make some more videos this week, but that will have to wait.

I will also need to put the art supplies aside.

As for the photos, I think I will just take some photos of things right outside of my house, and make a small series of that. That should remedy the "I don't feel inspired" feeling.

Besides, I think I heard someone say once that inspiration is for amateurs.

Digital Field Guide: read another page in Niki's manual.

Images: added new Flickr favorites.

day 314.

A storm was coming. Thankfully, we made it home before the worst of it hit. It was pretty ominous-looking out there.

What I really wish is that these afternoon thunderstorms would really cool the temperature outside. They don't seem to do that at all. They just make everything steamy. That doesn't make anything feel better.

Digital Field Guide: read a page in Niki's manual.

Images: Dirk Dallas on Flickr

day 313.

Another old car is done with its makeover and ready for the big reveal to its owner. I'm not sure I like this one that much though. What do you think? I mean, the wheels are cool, but it's all just too plain looking for me.

Digital Field Guide: read a page in Niki's manual.

Images: the iPhone Photography group on Flickr

day 312.

Just another page in my art journal. I'll get better at painting faces.

Digital Field Guide: Read a page in Niki's manual.

Images: I finally went through my iPhone and deleted about half of the photos. And there were a lot. Many of which I hadn't seen in over a year. That's a lot of pictures.

day 311.

My husband does not like it when I take pictures of him. He hates being photographed.

I try my best, always, to get flattering shots of him. And I succeed most of the time. At least I think so. But despite my best efforts, he never seems too pleased with the output.

I understand. I feel the same way a lot of the time. But since my perspective has changed a bit, I am making the effort to not shy away from the camera, and I think he should too. Thankfully, he indulges me, even though it's uncomfortable for him. This makes me happy, since I need models to use other than my kids all of the time.

Besides, I think he's hot.

Digital Field Guide: read a page in Niki's manual.

Images: the SOOC group on Flickr

day 310.

I ventured away from watercolors and into acrylics this time. I like how it came out. I do need to learn how to draw better. Off to the library to get some books.

Digital Field Guide: read a page in Niki's manual.

Images: the Georgia Photographers group on Flickr

day 309.

The great thing about driving around (which I have to do a lot) is the plethora of signs that one sees. Some signs are more interesting than others, and sometimes, it's the ones that seem less interesting at first that catch my eye almost instantly. I'm thinking it's because of what's around (or isn't around) them.

Take this sign, for instance. Nothing exciting about the font. Old, fairly ugly building. Nondescript street. But, I'm drawn to it. I think it's because of the negative space above it. The closed-in, concrete ugliness gives way to open, beautiful expanse of sky. And that beautiful expanse seems to make what's under it more attractive.

Digital Field Guide: read a couple of pages in Niki's manual.

Images: one of my iPhoneography groups on Flickr

day 308.

Again, my affinity for graffiti rears its head.

What does this say? "Into you??"

I'm sure that's wrong.

Digital Field Guide: read an article on my Nikon School app.

Images: one of my Shutter Sisters groups on Flickr.

day 307.

Caught this in the city today.

When I was a little girl, I loved watching trains. I even wanted a train set.

I always wondered where these trains were headed, what was in them, who was driving them, where their trip originated. I don't think I ever made up stories that answered these questions; I just always wondered.

Digital Field Guide: read an article on my Nikon School app.

Images: enjoythelittlethings on Flickr

day 306: our town.

I love my town.

I can't articulate exactly why at the moment. It's not that other towns aren't nice, or that there aren't any places that are as lovely or even lovelier than this town. We've been here for five years, and as much as I couldn't imagine living in this area before we moved here (and didn't actually want to), I can't think of another town that I have lived in for a prolonged period of time where I have felt more comfortable.

I'll have to take a moment and reflect on what in particular makes me feel this way...

Digital Field Guide: I'm so glad I unearthed Niki's manual! Read a couple of pages.

Images: added new Flickr favorites.

day 305: being a mall rat.

Taken with my iPhone using Hipstamatic and LoMob.

I spent the afternoon at the mall chaperoning (from a safe distance) my son hanging out with several of his friends. And I realized, I haven't taken many photos with my phone lately.

I also realized that my camera roll is WAY too big. Deleting photos off of this thing is long overdue.

Digital Field Guide: read some more pages in Niki's manual.

Images: my Flickr app.

day 304: days inn.

Sunrises are nice.

Signs are nice.

Morning light is nice.

Cooler temperatures (albeit temporary) are nice.

Digital Field Guide: read another four pages in Niki's manual.

Images: the Shutter Sisters pool on Flickr

day 303.

Here's to doors waiting to be opened.

Digital Field Guide: I finally found the manual that came with Niki after unpacking a few more boxes, so I read the first few pages.

Images: added new Flickr favorites.

day 302.

I have a few heavy-duty project ideas tumbling around in my head. One of them involves the city, and would involve a lot of work. But I really want to try it. I really want to try all of these projects. And I will.

These things could potentially be really big creative successes. They could also totally blow up in my face and not turn out anywhere near what they look like in my head. But I've done many things this year for the first time and am bent on keeping my fearless streak going.

Fearless. Remember? My word for the year?

Yeah.

Digital Field Guide: page 103

Images: Julia Margaret Cameron

day 301: morning light.

Not much to say about this. Like I've said before, I love morning pictures.

And rays of morning sunlight.

And balloons.

Digital Field Guide: page 104

Images: Kohl on Flickr

day 300!

It's Day 300! Woohoo!

I cannot believe I have done 300 days worth of pictures. It's absolutely insane.

I love the fact that I am now in the habit of taking photos every day. It has helped me improve by leaps and bounds as a photographer. I am doing things now that I couldn't imagine a couple of years ago. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around how much I have learned through this, and am still learning. It's exciting!

And I still have 65 days to go.

This is a self portrait, following my pattern of doing self-portraits on pivotal days of this challenge. Day 1 is here, Day 100 is here, and here is Day 200. The difference with this one is I am really starting to go for a more artistic/creative bent with a lot of my photos.

I am also still discovering or attempting to discover my style. I cannot articulate it yet. I can certainly articulate what I like to shoot, and the types of artistic styles of others that I like, but I still am not certain exactly of what my own style is. Do you have any thoughts?

Digital Field Guide: page 103

Images: my LIFE Magazine app.

day 299: la vida.

La vida es buena.

Aunque circunstancias ocurran que no expectamos ni queremos ni entendemos.

Aunque haya tanta llueve y tantos tormentos.

Aunque a veces parezca como no haya esperanza, no modo posible en que podamos sucedir.

Aún en esos momentos, la vida sigue siendo muy buena. Porque El Señor siempre es bueno, y nos da la vida.

Life is good.

Even with its pitfalls and its unexpected, unwanted curveball circumstances.

Even when it's raining and pouring and storming.

Even when there seems to be no hope, no silver lining, no possible way of a happy ending.

Even in those times, life is still so good. Because the Lord is always good, and He is the giver of life.

(Disclaimer: It's been a while since I've had to sit down and really study my grammar, so my apologies if the Spanish grammar is wrong. I've been meaning to brush up. Speaking it colloquially all the time inevitably leads to forming bad grammatical habits.)

Digital Field Guide: page 103

Images: Flourella on Flickr

day 298.

We had so much to do today.

Tonight was the last session at church, and before that I had a mountain of laundry to do plus grocery shopping to get done. So of course, the first order of business for the day was to go lounge on the beach.

We did that this morning for a couple of hours, then the sun became a wee bit unbearable for me. That, and I knew that if we didn't leave at noon the rest of the day really would get away from us. I was the only one who wanted to leave. I hate being the bad guy.

As it turned out, I was right to leave when I did. I justdid make it through my other tasks for the day before it was time to leave for church this evening.

day 297: blur.

Had a couple of hours in between conference sessions today. Just enough time to get lunch, let the kidlets get a piece of a nap, and do a little quick page in one of my art pads.

day 296: wilbur.

There is a big conference at my church this weekend. Between sessions today, I took one of my students out for QuikTrip drinks and snacks and photowalking. At the local open-air market, they had a petting zoo today.

Check out this adorable pot-bellied pig. We both fed him. His snout tickled delightfully as he munched the feed out of my hand. I fed some goats and bunnies too. They were fun as well, but not as much fun as this sweet little pig.

Due to the frenzied conference schedule this weekend, I will not be getting to any technical reading or image hunting. I will resume Tuesday.

day 295.

And, yet again, my obsession with old vehicles is made evident.

I hope it doesn't bother you that I tend to post the same types of things over and over again. Cars/trucks, abstract/blurry whatnots, my kids, the sky... signs. It's not that I am feeling uninspired; I say to myself that I'll try something new and then something like this (or one of the other above-mentioned things) catches my eye. Does that happen to you?

Digital Field Guide: page 103

Images: AisleOne on Flickr

day 294.

More abstractness in my life. It's all good.

Morning pictures make me happy.

Oddly enough, however, I am far from a morning person.

Digital Field Guide: page 102

Images: Chez Larsson on Flickr. I love that she uses Ali Edwards' digital layouts for her 365 photos. I think that's a cool look and idea.