Leaves all in a Row {4/52 MCP}

This week's MCP Project 52 theme had me overwhelmed for ideas. We were slated to photograph "Soothing Repetition." I thought of all sorts of things. The ever repeating sunrise and sunset every day that is so calming, the ritual of bedtime with the Adster every evening. Unfortunately, I never thought of those things when they presented themselves, so they never got photographed. While on my afternoon lunch break walks through the historical district here I had so many ideas. I took pics of a number of them. There was the even repetition of a fence along a yard. Then the soft arches of an iron gate repeating itself in actuality as well as in its shadow drew me in. Neither really spoke out to me when I looked at them later on. I contemplated how the not so even repetition of the soothing, tangled branches of ancient oak trees would be a wonderful representation of 'Soothing Repetition.' However, once I went through my walk photos, they didn't have the impact that I felt about them when I was taking them. As I clicked through the pics, the one that did end up jumping out at me was just as repetitious as the previous contemplations. It drew me in and made me want to edit it into a better composed photo. I decided that it was to be my weekly submission for this theme. It's technically winter here in the foothills of the Texas Hill Country, but it's been looking like fall this past week. I happened upon this pile of leaves blown up against the curb of the street. Closely knit together, the row of them continuing on and on. They were lovely and made me happy. They were soothing. I knelt down and clicked the camera a few times. I didn't think they would be my chosen shots for the theme at the time. They simply made me smile. So here they are, this week's "Soothing Repetition," my leaves in a row. Repeating themselves along the curb, knowing they will soon blow away when spring arrives, only to come back to the same place in a year. They are a true representation of our world as it repeats itself in the seasons of our lives. That may sound a bit poetic for a pile of leaves, but I like it.

To understand the point of these '52' posts, see the inception of it all: http://www.kathyodam.blogspot.com/2011/01/back-on-horse.html

Princess Dancer {3/52 MCP, M3B}

~Disclaimer: I am, once again, tardy in putting this post together. I promise! No more!!~

Last Monday, we had a holiday from work. Thank you, Mr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for making an impression on our world and the way we treat and see others. I appreciate your contributions to society as well as the fact that kids don't go to school on the day we honor you.

The Adster and I set up an impromptu photo shoot in the kitchen. I have a large picture window in my dining area that is great for natural light. It is probably the best/only place in my house that is prime for this kind of lighting. I hung a neutral colored blanket from the ceiling and let it drape onto the kitchen table. Adster put on her dance clothes and brought out all her princess crowns and wands. She stood and sat on the table posing for me until she was over it. We got a number of fun shots, but this one is my favorite.

For my MCP P52, the weekly theme was 'Shades of Grey.' I took the photo and created a black & white version of it. I think it gives it a softness that you wouldn't otherwise find in an unedited version of the picture.

I am combining my posts for both of my project 52's this week because of two reasons. First, I'm behind and playing catch-up. Second, I used the same photo for both of them.

For M3B's P52 I left the photo in its colorized version. I did very little editing. I evened out her skin tones a bit in a spot where she had a rash and lightened the bags under her eyes. Poor girl and her allergies! I made her eyes stand out thanks to a photoshop action from The Pioneer Woman. Love that now that I know how it works!

Please let me know which version of the shot you like more. I'd like to hear what you have to say.



Elvis Cake! {2/52 M3B}

~Disclaimer: I am exceedingly late in posting this, and for that, I apologize.~

I attended a shower for my lovely sister-in-law the weekend of January 15th. It was at the home of one of our co-workers. The atmosphere at her home is lovely and it is always comfortable to be there. She and her husband are both from Louisiana. She was kind enough to teach me how she makes homemade gumbo a few months back!

Anyway- back to the shower. All who attended were charmed. The food spread was abundant and all so yummy. The highlight for me was the bowl of cut frozen fruit. Yummy!

The star of the show, however and week #2's picture is of the cake that was served. The bakery that it was purchased at is owned by a friend of the hostesses. The baker's husband is a huge Elvis Presley fan. So she set out to create a cake that incorporated many of Elvis' stereotypical 'favorite' foods. It is a chocolate cake with a banana pudding filling covered with a peanut butter buttercream frosting and topped off with caramelized bacon. It is quite the concoction! Enjoy!

Old Paint {2/52 MCP}

This week's MCP theme has been challenging for me. I have been wracking my brain on how to creatively "illustrate a song" for the theme. I see other people's submissions for this one and am amazed at all the neat ideas they have and end up feeling very uncreative.

Last night, however, I had a bit of an accidental breakthrough. Adster wanted to use one of the project kits that she got for Christmas. This kit was a horse painting set. They included 3 little horse statues, paints and a brush. The brush was kinda crappy, so I graciously allowed her to use my good paintbrushes that got me through college. Boy, that was brave on my part!! She painted that horse in such a painstaking and methodical manner. It was super cool to watch her. I was asked to help for a bit, which I did in between moments cooking dinner. When she was done painting (aka, when Mommy told her to stop b/c dinner was ready) she had quite the creation. I loved the way she seemed to have a definitive idea of how she wanted the horse to turn out. What started off as her wanting to copy the horse on the packaging ended up as a brilliant patchwork of equine colors. So her lovely little horse, which I'm sure will get more color this evening and will have a name by bedtime ended up inspiring me for one of this week's pictures.

There's a song called Old Paint by Chris LeDoux about a cowboy riding his faithful and intelligent horse home. Well, the fact that it is a horse and painted caused me to feel a play on words there. I thought about a background for the horse and decided a picture of a pasture or something would be neat. Unfortunately, the art books that I have didn't quite have what I wanted. However, I went with it. I think I really like the way the photo turned out. Old Paint, the horse, in front of an old painting... Well, hope you enjoy!

{2/52} Old Paint, originally uploaded by Yellowwick.

Project 52 #2 M3B

As I mentioned previously, I am doing two different Project 52 groups. This is the second, un-themed P52. This is the one through http://www.my3boybarians.com/. I really think this one will be easier and not as much of a challenge, only in that it is wide open for subject matter. It is much easier to take photos of whatever you want as opposed to having to fall into a certain parameter. Here is my photo for the week. I posted it on the group Flickr page last week and am late getting it on here. I'm already scoping out shots for this week's submission. Still haven't decided what the weekly pic will be. I like the surprise of finding out what you like best about the stuff you have been taking pics of.

The following photo is also one I took with my iPhone, as I hadn't (once again) started seriously thinking about the project and didn't have the SLR in hand. I took this on the road the other day when it was drizzly and gray. I edited the pic with the Instagram app which is pretty cool. It's like a twitter for only photos. I'm really starting to enjoy it.

Around The House - wk1/p52 MCP

Week one of my 52 weeks with MCP had a theme of Around the House. I took pics with my iPhone this week since I wasn't thinking or keeping up with taking pics in my SLR. So here we are with my first ever P52 photo. This is the antique lamp I got from my grandmother with a more modern lampshade on it. I've loved this lamp since I was little and am so pleased it lives in my house.

Back on the Horse

Okay- so I have neglected (sorely!) this blog. I created it with good intentions and never followed up on it (funny how that always seems to happen to me). For over a year it has sat here pining away for me. Well guess what, girlie! I'm back. I'm going to be visiting more often. I'm going to post stuff here regularly (God willing)!

My newfound inspiration also comes from the fact that I have joined up with a Project 52 for the year. Two of them, actually. The point of a project 52 is to take photos every week and post one for public sharing once a week. The pictures are all to be posted on Flickr and then shared with the groups there for public viewing. My personal Flickr page is here: http://flickr.com/photos/odam/

The first group I've joined up with is the P52 group headed up by Darcy of http://www.my3boybarians.com/. Her posting group is here: www.flickr.com/groups/m3bp52
go check out all the pics. There are already some awesome things.

The other group is through MCP Actions. http://www.mcpactions.com/ This group has a themed weekly challenge. I have a feeling this one will be a bit harder for me to keep up with.
The creative juices don't always follow the theme. The posting group for this one is here: www.flickr.com/groups/mcp-project52.

I'm going to try to post my pics weekly on here as well. Please let me know what you think of them! I appreciate the feedback. It does good things for my self-esteem.