22: A Little Reflection

Kitchen lights reflecting off a stack of three glass bowls.

21: Textures and Patterns

20: J.O.B.

Last Saturday, I looked around my job and noticed a lot of blue, potentially photographic moments. So I dubbed this week, "Take Your Camera to Work Week." Only problem, my normally quiet-on-the-weekends workplace was hoppin' today. And I have performance anxiety when it comes to taking photos.

In point of fact, one of my goals in this project is to face that particular demon down.  But c'mon, we're just starting out here. Can't I face that demon next week, or better yet, next month? Which is precisely what I was thinking when I took these few photos on a quick break when I was alone in the building.

For the most part, I'm not particularly satisfied with the results of Take Your Camera to Work Week, although I do like this last one. I wonder if I'd gone ahead and faced that Performance Anxiety Monster, would I be more impressed?


On another note, I'm thinking about a silly game called "Guess My Job." Can you guess what I do, if you don't know already, based on the pictures I post on Saturdays (sometimes Sundays)? Here's a clue from a few weeks ago.

Back at home, in the bosom of my family, where I can take whatever crazy photo I want to without worrying what anybody's thinking. My husband turned the light on as he walked into the room during the shoot, wondering what I was doing in the dark. I turned to him with a disgruntled "Dude!" and without a word, he  turned the light off and walked the rest of the way into the room. At home, I own myself as "photographer." Out in the world, still a work in progress.

19: Early Start

My daughter and I were up for the day before 5 a.m. As long as we were up, we got busy, each in our own way.

It looked to be a long afternoon. Thank goodness we had plenty of fuel: sunshine, and of course, coffee.

18: School Days

Some of the sights on the way to my son's preschool.

17: Sunlit Oranges and Winter Pool

Going on day 3 stuck at home with one sick kid and one cranky toddler, I felt pretty uninspired this morning. As I sipped my coffee, I stared at a stick of butter on a blue plate and blearily wondered if I could do something with that. Fortunately, my daughter brought an orange to me, begging me to peel it for her. I set the prepared orange on the kitchen table, and the slices glowed in the bright winter sunlight. 

Second pleasant surprise of the day came when I dropped a few bins of clothes and toys off to sell at The Clothesline Consignment Sale, coming up this weekend. I took my camera with me, just in case. As it happens, the pool at the community center where the sale is held featured lots of blue. Bonus challenge: all these were shot through the chain link fence around the pool.

16: Sick Day

Another sick day. Tools of the trade.

My first collaborative piece of the project! I didn't really have a specific idea about what I was going to do with this unusual teapot until my under-the-weather son leaned down and looked at me through the hole. He even held the pose long enough for me to take a half dozen shots or so to get the metering adjusted. 

15: Fear and Fun

Our new neighbors have a huge, loud Rottweiler. I am trying very hard to give this dog the benefit of the doubt, but when he barked ferociously and rushed me as I snapped a shot of this bit of blue twine on the fence between our yards, I was afraid he was going to jump right over it.

Home with a sick kid today, and nothing in mind for the project. I try to plan ahead, at least to have an idea of what I want to photograph that day, but I'm finding that the images I like the best are the spontaneous ones.

14: Sunday at Maymont

Just a cool straw, after breakfast.

Another unusually beautiful Sunday, another family outing. This time we headed over to Maymont, as did, it seemed, half the city's population. I found two themes in my hunt for blue today. The first was animals, of course. I suspect the blue flags mark a live electrical fence in the picture with the bobcat. He doesn't seem too concerned though, does he? There's a bored fox pacing in the the next picture.

The second theme was vehicles. We've never taken advantage of either of these forms of transportation at the park, but both a public tram and a more private carriage are available to tour the grounds of the beautiful former estate of 19th century millionaires, James and Sarah Dooley.

13: An Angry Stork, a Tired Houseguest and Some Robots

What's up with this guy? He seems so angry. Yet another subject that may be seen again. I think yellow fruit, pears in particular, are so pretty in this bowl and its companions, but I've never quite captured it just the way I want.

My sister's dog is staying with us while she's traveling over the next few days. Poor pooch has been so patient and good-natured with the kids' well-meaning but slightly heavy-handed affections. Even the mean old cat seems to have it out for her, stealing her bed then hissing when she comes around. No wonder she's tuckered out!

My husband made these sweet little robots when our oldest was still a baby. He intended for them to be played with and they're pretty sturdy guys. But, well, let's just say they used to have antennae.

12: Puzzles and Pillows

A friend recently pulled some puzzles out while my son was visiting, and that has inspired a renaissance of puzzle work at our house. I love this cool little double-sided puzzle from Crocodile Creek. The smiling puff of smoke strikes me as a bit of dark humor: "Hi! I'm just a friendly little cloud of pollution!"

This blanket is currently serving as curtain in our room because we are too busy and too broke to buy anything that might qualify as "real curtains." I like the cool, happy light the hippo brings to the room. He was a baby gift we received from a friend when our oldest was born, inspired by this little ditty. (Consider yourself warned: it's quite the earworm.)

11: Trip to Ellwood Thompson's

My daughter and I did a little shopping at our local natural food store, Ellwood Thompson's, this morning. I love this pretty bicycle parked in the FOOD portion of the bicycle racks shaped to spell out "Real Food."

While we were there, we dropped off our plastic bottle caps to be recycled. How cool is that?? They also take wine corks and #5 plastic, among other things.

We don't shop at ET as often as we'd like, due to both cost and location, unfortunately. The shopping experience is altogether different from that of a chain grocery market. This store is artfully arranged with attractive fixtures, and it smells divine, like real, fresh food. The music is upbeat and fun, the staff is friendly, and the bulk section, my favorite, is fairly substantial.

10: Paranoia in the Night

Like so many young boys, my son is a fan of the superhero Ironman. Ever since we introduced him to the Black Sabbath song of the same name, that's all he wants to listen to in the car. I'm grateful that he's been willing to expand our listening repertoire lately by branching out to the next song, Electric Funeral.

This is the LED nightlight in my son's bedroom. We were thrilled when we realized we could replace the old incandescent bulb nightlight with this cool, energy-efficient light. It casts an interesting shape on the wall that looks a little like a frog to my eye, but I couldn't capture that effect. 

9: Spiderman to the Rescue, Elixirs, and Out-of-Season Sledding

I'll admit I was a little worried when my excited son came running into the kitchen to tell me that Spiderman was climbing the television in the next room. Turns out my fears were unfounded (this time). Of course I had to take advantage of the moment to capture this bit of blue.

These tiny jars are mementos from my husband's childhood. I'm fascinated by their brilliant colors and unusual shapes. I'm not terribly excited or satisfied by this attempt, so I suspect we'll be seeing them again.

We bought this sled for our kids after living through several unusually heavy snowfalls for our area without any of the usual snow gear those from colder climes take for granted, including shovels, brushes and even boots. What do you know, there's been no snow since we brought the sled home.

8: Soak

As part of our efforts to reduce our food costs, we buy dry beans and soak them at home. What seemed like a major inconvenience in the beginning as become part of our weekly routine. And, in honor of Valentine's Day, don't forget that beans are good for your heart!

7: 17th and Franklin

I debated whether or not to take the camera with me to a breakfast meeting this morning. So glad I did. It felt like a big step in the project, taking the camera out in the world with nothing in particular in mind to photograph. No kids, no special event, nothing. Just me and Blue.

This spring, I'll be working with a local elementary school to create a large outdoor mosaic. The teacher and I  worked out some of the particulars while enjoying a fantastic brunch at Lulu's, across the street from the 17th St. Farmer's Market.

After brunch I wandered around the corner and discovered an alley with mural-covered walls and some balloons tangled in the telephone wires outside a bar.

Later that afternoon, my family and I took advantage of the unseasonably warm and sunny day by taking a little stroll in the woods. This is one of my daughter's beautiful baby blues as I helped her out of the car.