365-ish 2008-ish - Page 3 - Schmootography Photography

365 self portraits. Can I actually do it? Inspired by many others, I decided to give my creativity a kick in the pants with a Daily Photo project. With life happening too fast, quite often I lose the spark that drives me to pick up the camera. Hopefully I can maintain not only this project, but the ability to develop more as a photographer. Ideally, the majority of these will be self-portraits to help me get over my image complex and to document the most important, memorable moments of each day.

My rules:
1. At least part of myself in each shot. Every 24 hours.
2. EXIF data pulls rank. I travel and can't always upload on a timely matter, but the timestamp is as the timestamp does...
3. Try to document the dominant activity/event of the day. This is a journal-type project for me, too.
4. Having help is OK. While I always set up the shot myself, occasionally the location requires having someone else hit the shutter for me.

My current 365 Project gallery is here!

Gallery pages: < 1 2 3 4 5 6 > >>

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schmoo > March 2, 2009

We finally reached the Pacific Ocean! So amazing when just over a week before we were frolicking on the Atlantic. The weather was rainy and gray but we were jubilant. We took our sweet time driving up the beautiful Californian coast on route 1, stopping a few times to stare slack-jawed at the scenery.

We still had to get to Mountain View at a reasonable hour, but almost all of the photos I see of CA's coast are during bright sunny days. The mist and rain were unique and breathtaking. Maybe next time when we plan for a road trip weekend, we'll go when it rains.

I have never been fond of the ocean... until now.

schmoo > March 1, 2009

We both very much enjoyed our brief stay in Flagstaff, AZ but due to being busy and sick I didn't get any photos of the place. Who would have thought there were snow-capped mountains in Arizona? Shows how much I know... and how much more I should travel. ;)

This triumphant shot was from our border crossing. Finally made it to California! The border control lady stopped us and asked if we had any fruits or plants in the car. The truthful answer was that we did have a lot of stuff at one point, but we'd eaten it all earlier in the day. The only thing we could think of was this slightly wilted orange that was jammed into a space behind the stick shift. We do eat a lot of oranges but this one survived because it wasn't that fresh anymore and we didn't want to just throw it away. So we handed it to her and said that she could keep it.

She asked if we could remember where we bought it. Hmm, was it Chicago? Maybe Missouri. But the last place we'd shopped was in New Mexico. As we sat there confused and worridly discussing it, she noticed the label and then handed it back. "This was grown in California, so you're OK. Have a good trip!"

And so we were on our way. :)

schmoo > February 28, 2009

On our way to Flagstaff, AZ from Tucumcari, NM. The thing I remember the most about New Mexico is how unique the Mexican food was. It's so different in the southwest, and for a good reason!

We stopped by Santa Rosa, NM to visit the Blue Hole. Trav had been here as a child when he was traveling with his parents and from what he says, it hasn't changed much. Even on a Saturday morning, this place was hopping with people. Zach enjoyed meeting all of them and their dogs, too.

Afterwards we made messy PB&J sammiches in the car and it was another long day's drive to our next stop.

schmoo > February 27, 2009

Somewhere in, uh, Texas! On a trip this long you lose track of every place you stop and fill up. But this place was definitely after the Cherokee gift shop in Oklahoma since we obviously had already bought this "California or bust" plate.

I was pleasantly surprised by Amarillo, Texas. We drove down the stretch of 66 that had lots of antique shops and old eateries, stopping at a non-66-esque cafe, 806. It was a nice place and Zach was welcome there, too.

I remember being quite hungry and wanting some fresh veggies with my hummus. But I suppose we should have been grateful that we were able to find hummus at all!

schmoo > February 26, 2009

Before we left Rolla, we used the opportunity of having a real kitchen with real supplies to make sammiches for the road. Our favorite (as always) is peanut butter and jelly.

This shot has two parts to it, really. The first: I received a banana case as a gift a while ago, which is an ingenious thing. After all, I've actually had the misfortune of trying to carry a banana in my bag, only to pull it out expecting sweet fruity goodness to find yucky mush all over my belongings. Never more! Now with the convenient banana case you can just pop it in there, snap it closed, and drop it into your purse.

Recently I found the same thing for sandwiches, and even though they say Wonder Bread on them (yechh) they're perfect!

The second part: When I was a kid, of course my mom would make PB&J sammiches for lunch at school. And when I was older, I'd make them for myself and put them in my bookbag. I didn't have anything at all like a sammich case, however, so they'd get squished by my books. After a while I'd get used to it, even preferring the super-dense, cardboard-thick sliver of condensed PB, jelly, and bread. Yum yum yum! So much so that after I met Trav and told him my guilty secret, he'd make me PB&Js for me, pressed under a pile of our thickest books or a tea kettle filled with water.

So sweet. So, that's the story. To fit two sammiches in this one sandwich case, Trav had to squish them REALLY hard using all his might. They were quite ugly after that, of course, but they tasted great.

schmoo > February 25, 2009

Just sitting in the winter grass in the Ozarks. Actually, this is my dad-in-law's yard, which stretches quite a ways down a little hill bordered with osage orange trees. Missouri is nice and the people are nice. I spent a little time in the afternoon playing with my camera, getting re-acquainted with it (hence the lens cap).

Missouri is brown. I used to hate brown, but the older I get the more I like it. It's a warm and comforting color.

schmoo > February 24, 2009

We left Chicago to drive 7 hours to Rolla, MO. It took all afternoon and evening of course, particularly since we couldn't leave until 3:30 PM. However there was a beautiful midwestern sunset and I fell in love with the spacious beauty of America's heartland.

We had a choice making this trip: north, middle, or south. We sort of compromised and took the north to south route, following Route 66. While there are many adventures and treasures waiting to be seen along the way, we don't get to experience the true heartland, which I think of as, say, Kansas. We also don't get to visit friends in the north, or see the beauty of the Dakotas and Montana.

I like this shot because of the flare. I can never get my 5DmII to do it on purpose, but I really love the lo-fi look of Lomography. I've been dabbling in that a little, as you can see here, but this shot was taken with my DSLR.

schmoo > February 23, 2009

Another reflection shot, this time on the way from PA to IL. The road between Clearfield, PA and Chicago is quite long, and goes through many uh, less than interesting sights. We hit two snowstorms on the way so the world was very white. It gave me an opportunity to enjoy snow one last time!

This was shot looking upwards into the sun roof of my car. We have a Thule cargo thingy carrying some of our provisions, which is pretty much the only thing you can see now when you peek through.

We had a great time (and great Mexican food) with friend and coworker Nick and some of his peeps. I love Chicago, especially in the winter.

schmoo > February 21, 2009

We spent the day with my parents down at the NJ Shore. On the way we cut through the town where they'd lived for 24 years and where I was born and raised. It's so strange to see it again, almost like I was visiting for the first time.

We drove and explored Ocean Grove and what's left of Asbury Park. Not much, really, especially in the winter months but we had a really nice time playing in the sand, jumping over my camera. Right after this shot I crashed on the beach and got sand down my pants.

I can walk and chew gum, but apparently can't laugh and run.

schmoo > February 18, 2009

With packing and moving and trying to keep afloat of work, projects, and family, my Dailies have fallen grossly behind. On the bright side I don't really intend to stop this 365 thing when my year is over, so I have plenty of time to make up for it later.

I (think I) have been taking Dailies, just not processing or posting them. But honest I cannot remember because I've been so stressed I have nightmares at night and I'm starting to grind my teeth when I sleep. Soon this will be over.. well, at least the moving part of it will be over. But I'm counting on my friends to be my family once we finally get to SF, since there will be several months of re-adjustment to a new way of living.

This week we're in NJ, spending lots of quality time with my family. Yesterday I had off so we went into NYC for a few hours. The weather was horrid but we had a great day full of smiles and laughs and really naughty food: Beard Papa, thin-crust NY pizza, sushi, Thai...

I also bought my first lomo camera, having spent way too much time in the lomography store on W4th Street. Like I need any more on my plate? But man oh man, what fun. I've wanted to get into film again, as well as experiment with medium format photography. Kill two birds with one stone, eh?

Too bad my scanner is packed, but we'll be joining it in SF soon.

schmoo > February 5, 2009

Zach is always standing by, looking out for me. I love this bugger more than almost anything.

schmoo > February 1, 2009

I'm terribly behind with this, but as we prepare to move, I've been very busy. Today was my mom's birthday and it was her wish to take a ride down I-66 and take exit 66 and find a place for dessert! Fortunately, there is a great restaurant near there that I sometimes frequent with friends, Sunflower, and we had a delicious dose of ice cream and pie. We sat in the back and let the men chauffeur us around.

I don't think either of us were prepared for this shot, but my parents are so cute. :D

schmoo > January 30, 2009

San Francisco!! Some people undoubtedly thought we were a little nuts for taking a detour from Tahoe to SF before catching our flight back from Reno, but we had to do this. For one thing, we had to know how long the drive was from Tahoe to SF for the future when we make our weekend snowboarding trips. ;)

We had a wonderful, absolutely amazing time. It was for less than 24 hours, but we saw the Golden Gate Bridge (first time together!) and explored Fort Point and Crissy Field, and had a perfect lunch with friends at Greens Restaurant at Fort Mason. Actually, our table was the one on the right in the photo!

We love San Francisco. Coming here felt like coming home, and it wasn't just me this time. As we crawled through rushour traffic in Sacramento that evening, headed towards our flight home out of Reno, it felt like we were going away from everything that was comforting and sacred. If there was some way to ship my dog, my car, and my Mac Pro out here, we'd be all set.

Although there's so much that we're leaving behind in Maryland in 3 weeks, we will be coming home. I can't wait.

schmoo > January 28, 2009

Snoi-boarding again. I took it REALLY easy this day since I was still hurting, but I was so pissed about missing such a perfect opportunity with friends. We only went boarding a couple of runs with Nick, but at least I made it down the mountain without any major disasters.

By the end of the day I was actually able to link turns, too.

The view from where we were was amazing. Snow-capped mountains surrounding a huge valley of warm brown hills. It reminded me of one of my favorite trip ever, the 2007 Dgrin Shootout to Glacier National Park, when we drove up to Waterton for an afternoon.

Just a little secret, I really, really hate being bad at something. A huge thanks to Nick, one of the best people I will ever know, for being so patient with my grumbling self!

schmoo > January 27, 2008

I always forget to reset the time zone on my cameras. Anyway, today I had to work but in the afternoon Trav, Shiz, Kevin and I went out to the Emerald Bay area to scout. The sunset was so beautiful, even though it didn't make for good photos. The mountains around us were too tall to produce too much in the way of great shots down where we were (Eagle Falls) but I couldn't help but look up at the rocky crags and remember a perfect day not all that long ago when the sun was kissing the tops of the peaks in Zion National Park.

That alone gave me a sense of peace and familiarity.

I've lost my landscape mojo, but it was great to be out. I love this company, and my company, but stepping away from the indoors was really necessary for a short time.

March 2, 2009

We finally reached the Pacific Ocean! So amazing when just over a week before we were frolicking on the Atlantic. The weather was rainy and gray but we were jubilant. We took our sweet time driving up the beautiful Californian coast on route 1, stopping a few times to stare slack-jawed at the scenery.

We still had to get to Mountain View at a reasonable hour, but almost all of the photos I see of CA's coast are during bright sunny days. The mist and rain were unique and breathtaking. Maybe next time when we plan for a road trip weekend, we'll go when it rains.

I have never been fond of the ocean... until now.