Creativity Exercises

On Saturday, I got up at the crack of 8:00 or so to gear up and head down to a local park for a gathering of photographers who wished to stretch their creativite muscles. We were each required to bring a random object, some sort of camera, an open mind, and we had to be there on time.

I wracked my brain trying to come up with a good, random object to be photographed. Something with flexibility. Sometime fun and interesting. Aha - Socrates, Caleb's sock monkey. I was pretty excited about this choice. A sock monkey, a garden at the park, and a camera = fun photos. Or so I anticipated.

But these creativity exercises were about thinking outside the box, about being creative with whatever comes your way, about doing something different. So we were paired up with another photographer (10 of us total) and we each had 20 minutes to photograph our partner's random object in 10 images. Oooh, what a tricky leader/instructor we had. Obviously, my partner had it easy with Socrates. He came up with some pretty fun shots.

What did my partner bring? A pair of statues.

They turned out to be a very interesting couple to photograph.

For the second exercise, we had new partners and one person had to walk and walk and walk until the partner said to stop. Wherever you stopped, you would mark that location, and then you had 10 minutes in which to shoot 10 photos no further than 10' away from where you stopped, using the random objects or not. Naturally, my partner (our illustrious leader/instructor) was nice enough to stop me in the middle of a dirt trail. Fortunately, with my 10' radius, I could get to a few things. And I had a zoom lens on my camera, so that gave me some flexibility. Here are a few of those:

And for the third exercise, we had yet another partner and you had 10 minutes to take three photos in which you tell a story. My partner? Yeah, he got to tell a story with a sock monkey. Easy peasy, right? Me? He handed me his wallet. I had to tell a story in three photos with his wallet. Okay then.

Okay, it's not a Pulitzer Prize-winning story, but it's a story, nonetheless. Sometimes you have to work with what you have.

Show Me - Table

A few years back, another blog friend, Robert, hosted a meme called Show Me. We had specific things to post for this assignment and you can see my previous version here. There are some posts besides those that follow, but for whatever reason, they popped up, too, in my search.

Anyway, one of the girls, Kaylia, who participate in that thought it would be fun to do it again. So I said, "Sure, I'm in." And then I almost forgot to be in. But I digress. My poor little blog here could use something to share, so here we go.

Week 1: Table {<-----click to see the meme}

John and I have had this dining room table for a very, very long time. I think we bought it around 1991, maybe. The original chairs started to get a little wobbly (I can't imagine why, raising two boys!) and about 7 1/2 years ago, John brought home some free RV chairs. Those are what you see around the table now. They were fairly close to matching. And did I mention they were free? We like free. Mostly. The table has a leaf, so it's sometimes larger.

For quite awhile, this table was also the home office of John's business. Which was not always convenient when it came time to eat. So sometimes we ate in the family room. In front of the tv. Don't judge me. But on another happy, free note, someone gave us a pretty nice desk, so now his home office has a more permanent residence. And we get to eat at the table more often.

It's been a good table. We've had a lot of meals here, played a lot of games here, and used it as a fort. I imagine it'll be around for a lot more years, too.

Vivian Maier

I want to see this when it's complete. It would also be fascinating to see an exhibit of her work.

A New Project

Because I don't have enough to do.

I've participated in 365 Projects before. I know of one year where I actually made it the entire year. Another time, I didn't. I don't remember the others. I didn't do one last year, because...well, I guess I just didn't want to. But now I'm ready again.

There are plenty of projects out there that people can join and play with all sorts of other people, which is fun and inspiring and interesting. While I want to do this, I don't know that I want the pressure of playing with everyone else. Selfish? Perhaps. But I said pressure of playing, not the fun of it. Because I like the social interaction and the connections. But the pressure of keeping up with so many people overwhelmed me the last time I did this. I'd get behind and feel guilty and then spend a bunch of time catching up on the last 7-10 days' of images posted and leave comments. I really just don't need added stress.

So I'm playing on my own this time. I'm sure I'll still check out some other 365ers, but only when I have the time and inclination. I do still enjoy the interaction and inspiration. Rather than clog up this blog (as if it's been so busy!), I'm posting these over at another one, called 365 in Color. Instead of just photographing whatever each day, I wanted a framework or theme to follow. So it will be one color per month. Here's the plan:

• January - white
• February - pink
• March - brown
• April - yellow
• May - purple
• June - blue
• July - red, white & blue
• August - turquoise
• September - black
• October - green
• November - orange
• December - red

Yes, I know that July isn't A color, but I was running out of ideas, without venturing off into chartreuse, vermilion, or verdigris. That would probably make me a little crazy(er!).

It sounds easy, but I suspect that after about a week's worth of pictures, it may become just a little more challenging at times (especially in July!).

New Year's Eve - 2012

We often have more people over on New Year's Eve, but due to sickness and the potential for slippery roads, it was the four of us and my parents. We still had a wonderful time. I made homemade fettuccine Alfredo for dinner (just the sauce, not the noodles). We had salad and focaccia bread as well.

Then the boys headed downstairs to play their games and we got the cards out for a game of Oh Hell and a couple games of Liverpool Rummy.

We had a relatively new deck for Oh Hell, so handling, shuffling, and dealing was a little challenging.

A different perspective.

Some delicious chocolate!

In case you missed it on Facebook, my mom has a chip on her shoulder. A very tasty chip from Senor Manuel's, specifically.

I've been having some fun with this fisheye lens over the holidays! Although I can't get a shot that's a full circle because my camera has a crop sensor. But it's still fun to play with!

Pre-Thanksgiving

Usually when the week of Thanksgiving rolls around, I think that I'll have the boys do some school during those first two or three days. And then that usually doesn't happen. So this year, I just told them they had the week off. Done deal. No guilt over what we didn't do. No stress over the lack. This was a good decision.

Monday morning, some of The Girls* met at Starbucks. We had a blast. We had so much fun that we seemed to annoy certain other people. Obviously those people needed to gain a sense of humor. Whatever.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Tuesday morning, some of The Girls* met at Starbucks. We had a blast. I don't think we irritated any other Starbucks patrons this time. Since it's the store where my sister works, we don't get severely out of hand or anything, just laughing at silly stuff and having some fun. We wouldn't want to tarnish her good name, after all.

* The Girls - consists of my mom, my sister, some dear friends, and me. On rare occasions, we actually ALL get together at the same time. Alas, it wasn't to be this time. Thus the need for two days at Starbucks. But we still didn't get everyone. We'll keep trying, of course.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I did a little cleaning earlier in the week and wrapped up shopping for Thanksgiving dinner food items. I had no desire to be in the grocery store come Wednesday.

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On Wednesday, I felt the need to photograph someone and Caleb is my go-to subject. It's so nice to have one cooperative son when it come to photography. Well, for Zach, he's just happy to assist behind the scenes. Which is also nice. Everyone has their part to play, right?

Color?

or B&W?

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Okay, rather than one very long post, I'll split this one into a couple. So the rest of the week will show up sometime soon.

Changes and a New Business

I began homeschooling each of our boys when they started 6th grade, a.k.a. middle school. They're a year apart, so I began with Caleb in 2005 and Zach joined us in 2006. If I was going to homeschool them through the end of high school, that meant an eight-year journey ahead of me. Eight years seemed like a very long time. Even within the first few years, it was hard to imagine that I'd ever not be homeschooling. Not that I was in a hurry or anything, but it's like when your kids are born. The thought of having them go to school, be in high school, or not live under your roof isn't a concept you can - or even want to - consider.

Fast forward almost seven years. That 12-year-old boy with whom I began the adventure of homeschooling is 18 1/2. He's a senior in our homeschool. He graduates this spring. Of course, that means that his 17-year-old brother's close behind. I am nearing the end of my homeschool mom career. It still kind of blows my mind to think about it. Though it felt so long in the beginning, now I can't believe we're in this place already. There's still so much I feel that I need to do, so much that I want to do. Like have a big, huge do over.

Not really. But sort of.

Sigh.

Last year I started to wonder what this would mean for me when they'd both graduated. As a parent, and especially as a homeschool parent, you work your way out of a job. At least that's usually the goal. We get along okay being a single-income household, so it's not like I have to go to work. I'm sure I could get used to just having free time all day, but I doubt that would be very good for me (sloth, laziness, boredom anyone?).

I've often considered taking my photography into a business. But I usually talk myself out of it. Or in and out of it. I'm a good decision maker like that. It typically depended upon the day and my mood. I think it's mostly been a lack of confidence. But something that I've found to be good for myself is to pretend I'm someone else. What would I say to me if I were a friend of mine? Well, last year, when I won a year's subscription for a photography web site, upgraded my camera, and was obviously becoming much more immersed in the art of making photos, I'd tell myself that maybe it was time to pursue this as a business.

So in my confidently hesitant mode, that's exactly what I did. Well, after talking about it with John, praying about it, and looking at the bigger picture, it seemed like a good time to give it a shot. Out of town friends and holidays took over somewhat, but since the beginning of the year, I've been working on the business side of things. I've read that many photographers fail, not because they're not good at producing lovely images, but because they don't have their business ducks in a row. So I've been working on the ducks.

I'm very close to officially being in business. To actually scheduling sessions and taking pictures of real clients and getting paid. That's not to say that the engagement, weddings, and senior I shot weren't real clients. They were and are. And they even paid me.

I've been a little hesitant to share my site and Facebook page and such, because there's not a lot going on there. But I suppose that's to be expected, right? If you're new, how do you have a portfolio (working on that). However, I those weddings, the engagement, the senior session, and a couple of portraits. So I do have a little something. And I have a name. Besides Bunny Trails. Besides Dianne Godwin. A name for my new business:



I even had business cards printed. I was kind of pushed into it, but that's a story for another post, as this one is becoming rather long.

So all this backstory to say that I'm starting a photography business. It's exciting and a teeny bit scary, but that's okay. It's something I can work on part-time while I complete the homeschool journey, and if all goes well, I can delve much deeper into it when I've reached the end of that chapter.

Oh yeah, the links.

{extra}ordinary life photography

{extra}ordinary life photography on Facebook

Please be patient. I'm still working on both. But I know if I was the one reading this, I'd want the links. Cause I'm curious like that.

Maybe you are, too. If not, you don't have to click them.

Either way is fine.

p.s. - the Bunny Trails Photography was something I used on my photogblog. But not really what I wanted going into business. So it's still on many of my blog photos, but not meant to confuse you.

Wordless Wednesday - Burberry

For more wordlessness, check out Live From Waterloo and the Wordless Wednesday hub.

Catching Up

Wow. Life has sure been busier than normal. Ever since August, I've been on the go and generally quite occupied with this and that.

• Trip to Breckenridge & Glenwood Springs
• 25th Anniversary
• New year of homeschool
• Ladies retreat in Buena Vista
• 1st trip to Denver - Women of Faith with Pam
• 2nd trip to Denver - taking Pam to the airport and picking up nightstands from a friend
• 3rd trip to Denver - David Crowder Band concert with the girls
• 4th trip to Denver - Casa Bonita, Lego Store, and other such fun with my sister, nieces, and the boys
• Messed my knee up in self-defense class
• 5th trip to Denver - photowalk with D, hurt my foot
• Shot a wedding yesterday and my knee went out

In addition to the regular stuff of life. I don't think I've been out of town more than a handful times in the past year. Apparently I saved it all up for these two and a half months.

From what I've read about having a torn meniscus, I'm thinking there's a very good chance that is what is wrong with my knee. I had problems with it last year, but after some chiropractic care, kinesio tape, and massage therapy, it got better and life went back to normal. A couple weeks ago in self-defense class, it made a loud popping sound during a front kick. It wasn't terribly painful, but I was aware that my knee wasn't really okay, so I made an appointment with the orthopedist. Of course, I can't get in until closer to Thanksgiving.

But then last night at the wedding, as we went outside to shoot the First Look, it just went out. And this time it did hurt. A lot. I was totally blessed with a last-minute wedding photographer joining me and she was such a huge help. Both because I often couldn't move fast or well and she graciously shared her knowledge and expertise. Thanks, Briana, you rock, my friend!! I can't wait to see your pictures, too.

I'll be calling the orthopedist tomorrow to see if I can get in any sooner. A cancellation, perhaps? I sure hope so. It's quite uncomfortable to walk and maneuver stairs.

In the meantime, there's homeschooling, photo editing, and house cleaning to do. No more Denver trips planned for now. Time to settle in and start thinking about the holidays soon.

50mm Friday - Sparkling Water

I'm joining up with Hallie Westcott Photography for 50mm Friday. Come join the fun and see some other great 50mm images.

50mm Friday on Saturday

Hallie Westcott is hosting a 50mm Friday Meme. It's pretty simple - get your best 50mm shot, post it, and link up. Next week I'll have to see if I can get this posted on Friday. Come join in. It's not too late.

So I wandered around the yard a bit and settled on our patio lights.

All in One

I mentioned the latest addition to my photography bag the other day.



Here's what it looks like when you have 18mm - 270mm in one lens.





Pretty handy, I think.

Best Face Photo - 2010

My niece is always such a ham, so it was fun to catch this rather subdued, yet mischievous, shot of her last summer at Fatburger.





This is my entry for I ♥ Faces' Best Face Photo of 2010 contest.