Photo Project: Day 1

Posted by Melissa Baumgart
(You better read the whole post, because you could win something.  For real!)
My first project is going to be to take a photo at the same time every day.  Yesterday I picked 7:20 pm as the time of day.  I remember once that Amy told me the lighting can be nice later in the day.  Or was it in the morning?  Well, anyway, I am not doing 7:20 am, because I usually still have my pajamas on at the time.  But perhaps this could be a motivating force, to get back into being an early riser.  Yes, I do like that.

Both the times, am and pm, happen to be times when I am most likely to be home.  Does that offer enough variety?  Do I really want a bunch of boring photos of my apartment?  "Hey, here's my toilet!  And tomorrow, you'll get to see map of the world I made in Montessori when I was 4!"  Well, this could just be part of the challenge...maybe taking a walk in the evening or finding unique ways to see things around my home in a new light.

Eh, after all that, I will stick with the original 7:20 pm.   Here is the photo from yesterday, Day 1.  I ran out to the front of my house in the middle of making dinner and snapped a shot of the contrast between the beautiful blue sky and the industrial looking scaffolding that obstructs my view of that aforementioned sky.  Seriously, for the past few weeks, I have been looking at gray windows from the plastic covering.  The one time of year when it is gorgeous in Seattle, and I can't see a damn thing but gray.  Oh well, it's all good.  I mean, I can at least walk outside.

Join me?  Anyone?  You can pick your own time of day.  Just be sure to post your photo on our Facebook page.  I'll give away a prize for the person whose photo gets the most likes.  Let's make the prize something really special, like that map of the world I am going to photograph on Day 13!  Psyche.  Just kidding.  I'll find something better.   

What's in your Inbox?

Posted by Melissa Baumgart 
I mostly get junk mail in my inbox.  My friend tells me to change my email more often, but I find an odd sense of pride in keeping the same email address for nearly seven years.  Plus, I am the last person to remember to update everyone's constantly changing emails, and thereby am always sending things to the wrong address.  So, who am I to now ask the same of others?  And so, at current count, even after hours of deleting last week, my inbox stands at 5480 emails.

This morning, as I was lazily deleting a few of the day's trash, a TED TV message was among them.  And while I have, at times, been touched by a TED clip here and there, I usually ignore or delete the emails.  Today I opened it, and clicked the link...and watched the video.

It was about photographs, so I was interested, given this month's focus.  After the video started, I realized it was about sentimental photographs.  I almost stopped watching.  I don't feel that way about things, about stuff...even photos.  You know how people ask the question, if you knew your home were burning down, what would you grab before running out the door?  My answer is always the same - nothing but my family.  I can live without everything else.  I don't need all those photos and things, I have my memories.

But I watched on.  And although, I think I would feel differently, I was moved by the stories of families that lost nearly everything in the tsunami that occurred in Japan last year, and how much their photographs meant to them.  People volunteered to retouch damaged family photographs, bringing them back to their original state.  For one man turning 40, the childhood photo of his family was the one thing that remained of his life before the tsunami.  Everything else had been destroyed.

As I sit comfortably in my home, and declare that I wouldn't need to hang onto any of my "stuff", not even a photograph, I have no idea what that man went through.  I may not think I would have any treasures to hold onto, but I am glad that he does.

For me, this month of photography is about creativity and exploring what life looks like through a camera lens.  What different things we all see when asked to catch a glimpse of life in still.  But for others, photography is about capturing meaning and precious moments in one's life.  Perhaps I can find a way to blend the two.

Current Inbox count: 8402 -  I just realized that 5481 number is for unread emails only!  What am I holding onto?  

Oh Snap!

Posted by Amy Baranski and Melissa Baumgart

Welcome to Photography Month!

We are happy to be dropping our paint brushes and picking up the cameras!  While July brought us our first "Readers Choice", it did not bring much productivity in the way of painting a mural.  And, as always, that's OK with us.  Life happens.

I (Melissa) picked Photography, not because I had never done it before, but because I wanted to explore it new ways.  I was interested in getting creative with photography and trying new projects with it.  Thoughts were: to take a photo at the same exact time everyday, or take one photo every hour for 24 hours.  You know, something challenging.

I (Amy) broke my camera over a year ago.  But since, Christmas, I have become an iPhotographer with my iPhone.  In truth, the camera function and the camera apps are the reason I purchased the iPhone (aside from the fact that I needed unlimited text messaging to maintain my friendship with Melissa).  I look forward to exploring the iPhone camera apps further and dipping my toes in the DSLR world by using my husband's camera.  I, too, would like to take on some challenges like a photo a day.  

We would really love it if readers would visit out Facebook page and post any photos you take throughout the month as well!  Let's all motivate each other to look at life through another's lens.