Happy New Year! 2015 is here and I couldn’t be happier! I was very ready for 2014 to come to an end. I know that January 1st is just another day – it comes after December 31st and before January 2nd. Yet, for some reason, this year it really marked an ending and also the beginning of something new for me. I am completely embracing my new beginning.
My good friend did a 365 Photo Challenge last year and he enjoyed it so much that he decided to try organizing his own this year – which I thought was awesome! Every day, I get an email with a prompt in it. The prompt is just a suggestion; something to get us motivated to look for a good, fun, interesting shot. The prompt can also be a challenge of sorts if we wish. For example, the prompt for Day 2 was actually ‘Umbrellas.’ If I really wanted to challenge myself, I could have pulled out my umbrellas and tried to get an interesting angle or a neat exposure. However, on Jan 2nd I was still recovering from the holidays and a photo of my sleepy, fluffy dog was more my pace…
Day1 A New Year: We have an amazing friend who’s birthday is Dec 31st. He and his wife always throw a birthday party on Jan 1st. It was a wonderful day to celebrate!
Day2 Napping Izzy: That’s Isabelle, one of our labradoodles, sleeping on ‘Big Puppy.’ This photo well represents how we all felt on Jan 2nd – exhausted!
Day3 Color: The gorgeous completed puzzle that my MIL gave me for Christmas. It’s by Liberty Puzzles and was so cool/difficult. Check them out! One of my brothers visited us for the holidays and he helped me put it together. We pretty much didn’t stop working on it for 24 hours (except to sleep and heat up some food!), it was really addicting. One of my girlfriends came over for dinner and she ended up being sucked into our puzzle mania as well. It was the perfect winter holiday task.
Day4 Messy: The pieces from said puzzle…a beautiful mess in my opinion!
Day5 Night: My husband and I both stopped in our tracks as we exited the ‘Y’ that evening. The sky was completely stunning. I did enhance this photo to bring out the colors more, but these colors are truly how we saw them.
Day6 Repeating: I leave these star lights up all year on our back patio. I love them!
Day7 Through My Window: Another beautiful sunset sky as seen through the window at the ‘Y.’ Not a bad view to have from the elliptical! (Especially when it’s only 20 degrees out…brrr.)
I got a new Galaxy Note 4 right after Thanksgiving this year and I intend to do most of my photography on that. The camera on it is really nice – one of the better phone cameras out there – and I always have it with me. I also acquired a Canon Selphy Printer over the holidays which allows me to print 4×6 photos via a wireless connection from the phone. This has been working so well for my scrapbooking projects and I find that I do more pages when I’m able to print things off at my own pace.
I do also have a Canon 60D which is a really great camera, and I know I’m really lucky to have it, but I typically only pull that baby out for special occasions such as family gatherings or vacation trips. I’m honestly not very savvy with the DSLR. I think if I used it more I’d be better, but it’s size and weight make me want to leave it behind more often than I should. Perhaps this challenge will encourage me to take it out to play more this year…hey, anything is possible!!
If you are interested in joining the same 365 Challenge that I’m doing, just message me and I’ll help get you added to the list so you get the email prompts! Here is the list of prompts for January, and I think you can also subscribe via that page on the right.
If anyone has done these challenges before and has recommendations or insight, please do pass it along!
I hope Week 2 of 2015 finds you happy, healthy and crafty <3