August 28

Still bloomin' daylilly, a photo by scookster on Flickr.

Create a photo with a single element, no distractions, and lots of contrast.

Life is just passing me by and I can't control it.  School has once again begun and my days are filled with jobs to do.  Last week I didn't know if I was coming or going.  This weekend has been a blessing- I relaxed and did what I felt like doing.  Strange not to have any major catastrophe happening.  I was able to see baby M on Friday and that was a long overdue visit, although she is a whirling dervish.  No need to entertain her as she doesn't stand still long enough to get engaged in anything.  But then again she's only 15 months.  Haven't seen the other two in a week and I miss them.  Been lacking in the photography department too.  I had major plans to practice practice practice this summer but that didn't happen.  Maybe I can at least get back to the daily shoot assignments.  My daylillies are the only plants that did well this summer.  They continue to get a second wind and are blooming again.  The camera that I have does such a great job in grabbing the fine details.  I kind of wish I had a macro lens as I'm sure I could have gotten closer and eliminated the area around it.  As it was I could only zoom in so far and still had a large amount of green.  Luckily I could crop it down but I still think a macro would have been cooler to use.

August 15

The Name Game, a photo by scookster on Flickr.

Make a photograph that has the first letter of your name in it.

It's obvious that my imagination is eluding me.  Where in the world would I find something that looks like an "S."  S-hooks are obvious choices but not very interesting.  But then I found this garden hook hanging from a tree in the back yard.  I had used it to hang a fresh fruit bird feeder but unfortunately no birds were attracted to it.  Maybe next year I'll get my Bluebird (and perhaps Oriole) paraphernalia out earlier so that the fruit eating birds will flock to my yard. In reality the only thing I did get with the fresh fruit was ants.  On a side note, I hate going out in my yard these days.  My summer vacation is over in two days and I did absolutely nothing out there.  I had such big plans- level the edging, fill in the play area with more mulch, clean up the stone where the grasses are, plant more Hostas, and thin out the bushes.  I love working in the yard but there were too many issues that took precedence over summer plans.  Hopefully school will be enough of a distraction so that I can finally get off my big butt.

August 13

Questionable Collection, a photo by scookster on Flickr.

Make a photo of a collection that you have.

Don't own many collections of things unless you count my electronic items and photography misc.  There isn't really much in this house that tells a tale.  Here today, gone tomorrow to the recycling bin is my motto.  But the few cookie jars that I've collected over the years are the things that I've yet to let go.  I can't say that they make me happy now.  Long ago I decided to collect them when I had a shelf built in the kitchen.  The people who knew would begin to buy jars for me- my late daughter in law brought me one, my son drove home from school late one night just to surprise me with a cookie jar on my birthday.  Even my husband took it upon himself to pick several up in the northern woods when he'd go fishing.  I had fun collecting them but as time has gone by they've become collectors of dust and don't quite mean what they meant to me.  But how can I get rid of them?  The people who gave them to me gave them with love; I wouldn't want to disappoint any of them by getting rid of them.  Guess I will just have to pass them on to the individuals so that they can enjoy them as much as I have.  After all, I'm streamlining my house and the less I have the better. Time for payback I guess.

August 8

Orange=plums in season, a photo by scookster on Flickr.

Make a photograph dominated by the color orange today.

Not sure who is monitoring the dailyshoot.com website.  They continue to have assignments that are often repeated- and unfortunately there's not too many days between the repeated assignments.  I've done or thought about doing the orange assignment several times.  Green is another color that is often repeated.  I don't mean to complain; just want to stretch my photography skills further.  Dh went to Michigan last week and before he left he asked what kind of fruit I wanted.  Ahhh.....Michigan peaches....plums....blueberries.  The thought of peach juice running down my face was overwhelming.  And even better the peaches will be ripe, not rocks like I get at our grocery store.  So when he arrived home he had a cooler filled with peaches.  And then he brought out this box of plums.  At first I thought they were apricots.  Tiny, round, and orange is not a plum.  Plums should be dark red or purple and have a shiny, smooth outer skin.  These objects were fuzzy like an apricot.  But I figured I'd better try one and although the fruit does taste like a plum it didn't win me over. 
Shot this picture in my kitchen and I can't figure out what the halo is around the fruit.  I experimented with program and then automatic.  When I shot automatic it automatically set the exposure at 3200.  So I set the exposure to 3200 using program and the fruit was more true to color.  I did use my external flash which I think I needed as the room was kind of dark.  Not sure if I focused on the box itself.  Maybe that's why the fruit appears to have a halo- it's out of focus.  Wish the camera would tell me what I'm doing wrong.

August 2

Sea of Yellow, a photo by scookster on Flickr.

Today's assignment is to make a photograph that is dominated by yellow today.

This assignment happens to be the same one that they had on Saturday which I neglected to do.  I saw a ton of cheerleaders in their yellow t-shirts washing cars for a fundraiser.  Little too shy to jump out of my car to take their picture.  Then on the way to second son's house I noticed a yellow bi-plane zooming around and I could have stopped the car by the roadside to shoot some pictures.  But too shy to do that too.  So when this assignment came up again I took the opportunity to see what was still growing in my garden.  I have spent little time out there this summer.  It's a surprise to see anything growing although many have tons of insect holes in the leaves.  But my Black Eye Susan's have not suffered too hard this summer.  The sad thing is that I don't see enough butterflies.  My Day Lilies are still thriving as is my Joe Pyeweed.  But my hydrangeas are flowerless as are most of my hostas.  Oh well, there is always next year.  By the time the weather makes it tolerable to work outside school will have begun.  I can be grateful though for the fact that every time I look at my backyard I see enough greenery to make me smile.