Rainbow Connection...Again

Day 196

15 JULY 09

I love spontaneous smile inducers. This was one of those smile inducers. The sun caught the large window over my front door just right and turned it into a prism. Suddenly, my house was filled with rainbows. It gave me a big ol' Kermit the Frog moment...

♫ Someday we'll find it / the Rainbow Connection / the lovers, the dreamers, and me... ♫

Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, curves adjustment, contrast boost (to make the rainbow stand out from the carpet more), crop, border addition.

Pegs of Many Colors

Day 160

09 JUNE 09

Yes, I'm in a bit of a cliched mood. I kicked around a few different titles for this photo. Square Pegs was out because there were no squares. Magic Pegs and Peg Magic were both rejected for being just plain stupid-sounding. And Peg Me! was just a little too dirty. So Pegs of Many Colors it became.

This is one of those peg games you sometimes find on the tables of restaurants and diners. I think we picked this one up at our local Cracker Barrel. Once again, I used available light (yup, definitely a pattern here) and got in really good and close. I kind of like the result.

Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, a little cloning to remove a couple hairs, and a border addition.

Pinned

DAY 146

26 MAY 09

It's The Board. At the martial arts school my children attend, this is where all the important stuff is posted. Upcoming tournaments. Belt test schedules. Newspaper articles.

In this photo, The Board is empty. The notice for the belt test that occurred just a few days before had already been removed. But I thought the pushpins looked kind of interesting. So I took a photo.

Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, curves adjustment, shadows lift, border addition.

Still Cheery

DAY 132

12 MAY 09

I've mentioned the drought we've been under a few times; this photo relates. When rain became scarce and watering restrictions were put into place, it became nearly impossible to take care of the flowers I'd planted in my flower boxes, and they eventually died.

I completely blame the rain, and not my gardening abilities, of course.

The following spring, I'd wanted to plant flowers since they'd brightened my front porch so nicely, but I didn't want them to die of thirst again. So I improvised. I bought fake ones.

I suppose some people might see it as being a little tacky, but I like they way they brighten my porch. I like the way I don't have to worry about watering them. I like the way I don't have to worry about them when I'm on vacation. Most of all, I like the way they make my house look cheery without breaking watering restrictions. And it's oh-so-easy to change them with the seasons.

Post processing: noise reduction, sharpening, border addition.

Celebration

DAY 66

07 MAR 09

My son was invited to his first overnight birthday party. He'd slept away from home before -- with our next door neighbors. He'd never been away with friends from school whose parents I hadn't known for a decade. So I was understandably apprehensive. Of course it all went well, and he was even invited to stay extra time. When he came home, he was filled with stories of the playing he did, the cake he ate, the movie they saw, and the annoying younger siblings they'd had to deal with.

My little boy is growing up.

What does that story have to do with this picture? I'll tell you. This is a photo of the bow that was on the birthday present that he brought to his friend. I love how colorful it is, how cheerful. It just screams celebrate, doesn't it?

Post-production: noise reduction, sharpening, saturation boost, a little cloning (stray hair removal), border addition.

There Goes the Sun

DAY 55

24 FEB 09

I was sitting in my truck, waiting for my daughter's soccer practice to end, and taking pictures of random things within sight of my camera. My daughter only practices in two different places, at two different schools. And I think I've shot everything within reach of the parking lot at both. So it comes as no surprise that I was quite uninspired as I sat there, almost taking pictures as an afterthought.

I do have some interesting photos of my foot, if that tells you anything.

When the sun started setting, inspiration finally hit. But this time it wasn't the colors in the sky that had me grabbing for my camera and praying the picture would capture it. It was the rays.

Maybe I'm sheltered. Maybe I'm horribly deprived. I've got scads of pictures where the sun's rays are busting through the clouds and shining down onto the earth, but I can't recall ever seeing the rays going up. So, yeah, this picture choice was a no-brainer.

Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, selective color adjustment, and border addition.

Being Green

DAY 53

22 FEB 09

My husband bought a bag of apples. Normally, I would stick them in the fridge. It's a personal preference; I like my apples cold. Unfortunately, in my fridge, apples fall victim to "out of sight, out of mind" and go bad. I wanted this bag to be different, so I tried something new. I put the apples in a bowl on the counter. And you know what? They're being eaten!

They also looked pretty good. Clear bowl, bright, colorful fruit -- I had to get a shot.

I did a little more post-processing than usual on this one. For starters, I applied noise reduction, sharpening, curves adjustment, saturation boost, and added the border. There was also a scratch on the top apple that looked kind of like a cut. I cloned it out.

Sliced Peaches

DAY 34

03 FEB 09

My Project 365 shot took me back to the grocery store. This picture was actually an afterthought; I was walking past this display -- had actually passed it -- when the bright color caught my eye. I turned back and looked, and thought it might make an interesting picture. So I pulled the camera out, held it at waist level, and sneaked a quick picture before anybody saw me.

Agent 365, that's me.

Post processing: noise reduction, sharpening, horizon straightening, curves adjustment and border addition. I considered cropping out the cans that were turned the wrong way, but decided they added a kind of rebellious aspect.

As rebellious as sliced peaches can be, anyway.

"S" is for Store

DAY 14

14 JAN 09

My grocery store (I don't own it, I just shop there) is about 1/2 mile from my house. It was an older grocery store, and the signage was brightly-colored. About two years ago, they moved out of the old store and built a brand new building. A very beige (but clean and nicely lit with wide aisles), much larger, brand new building.

Now empty, the old shell still stands. This is one of the letters from the sign. I took this picture because I was struck by the colors, even though the letter is faded.

Post processing includes noise reduction, sharpening, curves adjustment and a slight saturation boost.