2009: 340/365 Ain't Easy Being Green

06 DEC 2009

I must have been short on inspiration in December 2009, because the photos I had to choose from on that day were... Well, they were less than inspiring. This is the garland, the fake stuff, that I wrap around the railing on my front porch every Christmas.

2009: 339/365 Main Street Celebration

05 DEC 2009

My daughter marches in her high school marching band, and one of the events they march in every year is the local Christmas parade. It was hard for me to take pictures that day; the weather was overcast and freezing. The overcast made it tough to get clear, focused photos, and the freezing temps kept killing my camera batteries. The people around me became quite amused watching me trying to warm my camera. And there were a lot of people around me. In our small town, the Christmas parade is a huge event that packs the streets of our downtown district every year.

This photo was about fourth or fifth in the series of photos I took as the band marched past me.

I converted the picture to black & white in Photoshop, then added Virtual Photographer's Bygone Era filter and a grunge texture to age the photo. I love the way it turned out.

Taking Down the Tree

DAY 1

01 JAN 09

First, I need to admit that the first four days of my Project 365 will be a little bit fudged. You see, I didn't learn about this project until January 5th -- five days into the new year. I could have just started with a Day Five picture and moved on from there, but the more obsessive part of me felt cheated. I wanted to look back at the end of the year and see a full 365 pictures, not 360.

So I'm fudging.

The first four pictures were actually taken on day five. It's not a total fudge, as each of those first four pictures still represent those first four days of my 2009. It's a partial fudge.

And now I'm craving fudge.

At any rate, here's my Day 1 picture. I have a tradition. Every New Year's Eve I pour a glass of Kahlua and skim milk and take the ornaments off the Christmas tree. And every New Year's Day, the rest of the Christmas tree, and all the other decorations, come down and it's all put away.

My Day 1 shot is one of those decorations before they're shoved into storage for the rest of the year.