Uninspiring Monday is Uninspiring

Just two tonight, plus my daily favorite over at 365Project: http://365project.org/proudrhrshipper/365/2011-01-03

We have a calendar in our kitchen that has a different dachshund figurine for each month. This little sledding dog is January:

Mum's collection of spoons, decorated with some artificial hydrangeas:

School's back in session in less than 12 hours! Yikes! Hopefully the new environment will inspire me.

Late-Night Photo Shoot

So I had a little impromptu photo shoot last night because I couldn't sleep. Just me, a light, my camera, and various objects I found in my room. Enjoy.

My niece (who is a year older than me - figure that one out) gave me this a while ago. I mostly chose to photograph it because it's blue, and this week's theme contest on 365 is blue.

Isn't it cute?! My little EMILY train, purchased on some vacation at Cracker Barrel:

Another stab at the blue theme. I love the way the shadows fall, and the little shiny bits on the pins:

Manicure scissors kind of look like birds to me. Birds with very sharp beaks! An experiment in depth of focus:

Another focus shot, this time of a screwdriver. I've been looking and looking to find a really small one so I can take apart the CD drive (which came from the computer that I took apart with this bad boy):

The only one of this set that I edited (cropped it and enhanced the shadows). This is my snowflake pin, yet another blue shot.

Finally... this thing. I have no idea what it is. It came from the aforementioned dismantled computer, but I don't really remember what it was next to or how it works. Anybody know?

Thanks for putting up with me, you guys. More 365 photos will be coming your way this afternoon. Tomorrow I go back to school - new scenes!

The Rest

Here are the rest of today's pictures, as promised. I spent the entire afternoon at school with my mom, and I forgot to bring my camera (!), so all of these were taken this morning. Just two more:

If I had chosen this as today's favorite, I'd have to declare a leaf theme for the week. I love the sharpness, though, and the shadows on the fence.

Another version of yesterday's sundial, this time with better focus and better light. What time does it read?

Remember, you can follow my daily favorites at http://365project.org/proudrhrshipper/365.

Too Early

I know it's only noon, but I have nothing better to do so I'm here to post some of the pictures I've taken today. I'll hold off posting the ones that might make favorite, though - those will come later.

This is a bush. I promise. It's winter, remember? In a couple of months, it'll be covered in beautiful blooms.

Most of our yard is not actual grass; rather, it is green weeds. At least they give the appearance of a healthy lawn.

I took another one like this that might be my daily favorite... the two rings I wear every day, both purchased for less than $10.

Another shot of the rings in the light from my bedroom window:

Sweet little Sassy is difficult to capture in photos because she's almost always moving. But I got these two while she wasn't looking:

More to come, hopefully. Thanks for all the support!

Rainy Day

'Ello, all. It rained here (I always wish for snow, but it's about sixty degrees... no snow today), which made for some lovely photos. Without further ado, today's surplus:

We hardly ever walk around to this side of the house, but I was glad I did today because I happened upon these bright red berries! They look good enough to eat.

This bird feeder is supposed to be squirrel-proof, but we must have some extremely clever squirrels. They can get around any barrier we set up.

Before I took some additional photos, I had this one uploaded as my first 365 Project pic. Thank goodness I didn't leave it, because now I don't really like it. Eh.

Although it's still winter (and I expect we'll have some more snow once the weather straightens up), there are already some brave plants trying to grow in the garden - through the dead leaves!

These kitties are supposed to look like they're having a gay old time, but today I like to imagine that they're upset about the rain. Cats + water = BAD IDEA.

I should have adjusted the focus on this, but I still really like it. We've had this sundial for a while and don't even know if it's aligned properly, but it does make for a pretty photo.

While taking my first round of photos, I crouched under this cute pink umbrella. When I set it on the porch, I noticed the water droplets and thought, "Epic picture!"

What is this, the third or fourth photo I've taken of this darned wagon? Y'all are getting sick of it, right? Sorry, I'll try to hold off in the future.

This one was almost my favorite. I like how the dead leaves and the overturned watering can tell the story that spring is long forgotten. It'll be back soon, though!

Finally, I'll let Frank (a red miniature dachshund) sum up how I hope you all spent New Year's Day:

How Did I Miss This?

It seems I skipped a few photos when I was doing my extra super long post the other day.

I like this one for the contrast - enchilada sauce and gravy don't usually go together (unless you're my brother!).

I took this from the passenger seat of the car. The sun had been in our eyes the whole way home, and suddenly I realized that a great photo was blinding me.

 Ah, the crayons. That day's favorite, for sure. I like how the red one is worn down more than the others - it shows which color the artist likes the most!

Meh, tree. I took this outside the doctor's office while waiting on my mom. What I like best about it is the blue of the sky.

And the cheese. This is actually one of yesterday's - I dunno how it got skipped. We were getting some meat at the deli and I thought the cheese would make a good photo.

I know I promised no more practice shots, but... I think this really is all of them. Stay tuned.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2011, everybody! Let's hope it's a good one. Today also marks the official start of my 365 Project, which means the "practice" tag is no more! This is the real deal, baby! To kick things off this morning (since I haven't technically taken any photos yet), let's see the last of the practice shots. So... the NEXT post will be the real deal. Sorry for getting you all excited.

First up: bananas. (Warning to the hungry: yesterday's theme was FOOD.) I know I'm weird, but I will only eat bananas when they're still fairly green. Those mushy, spotty ones just look gross. THESE are perfect:

This second shot was almost my daily favorite. I like the celebratory nature of the colors and the wonderful... chocolatey-ness of the chocolate. Mmm, chocolate...

Mixed nuts (and perhaps raisins... I didn't look very hard):

I thought about editing this one but decided against it for two reasons. 1: I didn't really know what to do with it. 2: I kind of like the way the shadow falls, because it almost makes it look like a tunnel or a cave just filled with mushrooms.

NOT FOOD. I got my nails done yesterday, and while I was waiting on mom to finish (she took forever), I randomly took this shot. I didn't think it would turn out, but I kinda like the shininess and blur.

Yesterday's favorite (by a narrow margin) is this picture of tomatoes. It is reminiscent of my pomegranate photo, which is probably why I like it.

And there you have it, folks, the last of the practice shots. Maybe this evening or maybe tomorrow, I'll have the first of my REAL 365 photos up. You can see the daily favorite over at my page, so I won't upload that one here. Happy New Year!