Day 143

For reasons that may have something to do with my recent birthday, the photos that are ending up in my class project all have something to do with decay, disorder, the sagging and peeling that come with age, and, most of all, neglect.

Day 142-Seagull Park (not really)

On Maryland Street in North Portland, about a block from Killingsworth, is a little park where I sometimes walk Henry before I get my hair cut. A lady in the neighborhood (a rather unpopular lady, I might add) feeds seagulls in the park, and this is the second time I've seen her. The first time, just as I was getting out of the car, a hawk swooped in and grabbed one of the seagulls. Very exciting; I skipped Henry's walk.

The reason she is not popular in the neighborhood is because the seagulls like to perch on the roofs of houses across the street from the park. It's like a scene straight out of "The Birds." Apparently, nothing eats through your roof faster than seagull poo. Who knew?

Day 141

Day 140

I worked at home today, and this was the view from my office window.

Day 139

There was a smidge of snow in the valley today, but you had to look hard for it.

Day 138

This looks so harmless. And yet, it inflicts such misery.

Day 137

Day 136

This was taken with my iPhone, giving me a whole new appreciation for my Canon.


By the way, this kitty does worship Henry, just like it appears in the photo.

Day 135--Building the coop

Day 134

Maybe this photo will remind me to get batteries for my flash. Then I can practice shutter speed exercises like Karinya suggested.

Day 133

I wanted to take a photo of Henry tonight, but he drank about 1/4 cup of coffee I had sitting in the car, and now he's racing around the house at about 90 mph. The moon, at least, held still.

Day 132

Tonight I have to free-write for 15 minutes about photography. I've been writing all day. Does that count? I also have to come up with around 6-10 photos to take to class next Wednesday. The good news? It was still light when I got home tonight--for about 20 minutes.

Day 131

Tonight was the first of four classes at Newspace--mostly about finding a voice in your photography. Lots of show and tell ... It's late, so I will talk more about this as the week progresses. One of the other people in the class made a comment about photography having to do with "memory, love, loss, and time." That's a good thought to end with.

Day 130

Kip! Show anger. Henry! Show submission. Good job, boys.

Day 129

Hung up on spring.

Day 128

Day 127

Day 126

For my birthday, we went to my first roller derby. I'll be going through the photos for a month, but these are a few that didn't need red eye removal. Shooting in this arena was horrible. People got in the way, it was dark, and I was trying to hit a rapidly moving target with a slow lens. I'm amazed I got as many decent shots as I did. Here are a few.

Day 125

Ahhh. Popcorn.

Day 124

Lots of knobs, but not a single door.

Day 123

Next Wednesday I'm starting a four-week class at Newspace with Christine Eagon. I've taken other classes from her, but this is the first actual photography class. It's my birthday present to myself. It's more about concept than technique, so it should be fun. Not that learning technique isn't fun ... but that workshop (on using flash) was full.

Day 122

Melaney tries to overcome her almost unreasonable fear of numbers ...

Day 121

I remember the old days--when a chicken looked like a chicken.

Day 120

Two tired boys.

Day 119

This photo seemed to capture the spirit of the day better than any other photos I took.

Day 118

So here's why I put up with puppies who don't obey and never give you a moment's peace and old cats who snag your sweaters and pee on the floor. I came home tonight dreading my photo of the day. I didn't have a clue what I could photograph, and I sure didn't want to go out in the cold. As I headed down the hall to get my camera, I noticed Phoebe in the puppy's toy basket. I thought that would be a good photo. I mean, what could be cuter than a cat in the dog's toy basket? Nothing, right? Wrong. Can you guess what is cuter?

How about a dog finding a live toy in his toy basket?

Day 117

Some UO students were at SAIF today presenting plans for our "park." These were the only photos I had time to take today. Most of my evening was spent stuck in traffic on I-5.

Day 116--Nobody's perfect