344/365 Raw sugar

Even though I enjoyed it, I didn't take many science classes after I started college. (Choosing to pursue a degree in the journalism school will do that to you.) Physics was my favorite science in high school for two main reasons: math came easily to me (and that's a huge part of physics), and I could see the concepts at work.

I could draw a diagram to help me solve a problem. "If car A is traveling at 60mph, and car B is traveling toward the same point at 45mph from a distance 32 miles farther away, how much longer will it take for car B to reach the destination?" I can picture the situation in my head.

Chemistry? I'm cool with balancing equations (more math). Biology? Get me past the minuscule cell-level discussion and you've got me. But mitochondria, ribosomes, cytoplasm... that was tougher. Because I literally couldn't see it.

The part of biology I did always enjoy was gazing into the microscope and seeing the makeup of minute objects with my own eyes. Ordinary materials we take for granted every day have characteristics that you just can't see with the naked eye.

For instance? Table salt and refined sugar. Any pint-sized prankster knows they look awfully similar. But under a microscope? Their structures are completely different.

I'm sure that's one reason I like raw sugar (pictured above). Not only is it a little better for your health, because it hasn't been refined as much as your standard white sugar, but it reminds me of discovering things under a microscope as a kid. I can even photograph it.

What about you? Is there an aspect of science class that you miss?

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens and 430EX Speedlite, 1/125s, f/2.8 at ISO 500

343/365 Special yearly dessert

It's March, which means that it's time for my parents' anniversary and Dad's birthday. Those two celebrations mean that Mom makes Dad's favorite pie, which he devours over the next three (if even that long) days.

This special, family-recipe, lovingly tweaked pie (which I photographed last year at this same time) may not look like anything amazing -- there's no chocolate; no rich, distinct flavors; no syrupy fruit filling -- but it's a great dessert disguised in a simple blend of unassuming ingredients.

All held together in a graham-cracker crust. (Sorry, not giving away the secret recipe today.)

Yum. Am I the only one who's hungry now? This food theme may have been a bad idea.

Camera: Canon 40D with 430EX Speedlite, 1/60s, f/4 at ISO 640

342/365 Tiny food photo

This is what I love about a macro lens: highlighting very small subjects and details that you can't with most other lenses.

Following the food theme for this week, this is a sweet one -- any idea what it is before I tell you?

These little red, pink and white spheres would fit on the head of a pin. They're not even the size of a BB.

Figure it out yet? They're sprinkles, like you'd use in decorating sweets. I haven't adorned anything with sprinkles in a long time, but this sure does make me want to ice some cupcakes!

What was the last thing you decorated with sprinkles?

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens and 430EX Speedlite, 1/60s, f/2.8 at ISO 640

341/365 New theme: food!

A week has passed, so it's time for a change of theme!

Warning to you: it may make you hungry, because "Food" is my new subject of choice.

To kick things off, I'll start with the beginning of the day -- breakfast.

I'm sure it originates with the encouragement of a parent who wouldn't let me leave the house without it, but I've never been a person who could skip breakfast. I don't know about you, but I wake up hungry every day.

My breakfast of choice lately, especially in the winter months, has been oatmeal. Old-fashioned rolled oats, with dried cranberries, almonds, milled flax seed, cinnamon, a little raw sugar, and a splash of milk. With two hard-boiled egg whites on the side for extra protein. Oh my. So good. Why skip that?

When I started at this job over a year ago, one of the first things many of my new coworkers raved about was a weekly tradition: Friday-morning staff breakfasts. Everyone in the company takes turns cleaning the kitchen for a week at a time. With more than 40 people in the building, the chore really isn't that bad, because you only have to do it about once a year.

The grand finale of your cleaning week consists of providing breakfast for everyone. Breakfast for 40. And boy, is it a hit.

Most commonly you'll see bagels, doughnuts, juice, and fresh fruit. I personally love it when people get creative and do something different.

My turn was last week, and I chose to do an oatmeal buffet of sorts. I got two kinds of oatmeal, provided granola, vanilla yogurt, and milk, and had several kinds of mix-ins on hand to spice it up. There was actually quite a bit of food left over, so I don't think it was as bit a hit as I'd have liked, but at least it was healthy and something different!

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens and 430EX Speedlite, 1/80s, f/2.8 at ISO 1000

340/365 Hidden letter in an eyelash curler

Take a guess at the hidden letter here. I saw both a lowercase "d" and a "p," depending on which way you turned it.

As a young woman who does indeed wear makeup, and has for years, an eyelash curler has become a daily tool in my arsenal.

And I find it really funny that many men seem to be completely intimidated by this little gadget. Have you had that same experience?

Yes, you're putting a metal tool near your eye. And yes, if you don't release your lashes before pulling your hand away from your face, you will definitely lose some lashes.

But keep the phrase "be gentle" in your mind, and with a little practice you'll do just fine. No need to freak out.


Go ahead. Try it. You know you're curious. I won't tell. (Though I'd love to hear about your experience when you're done!)

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens and 430EX Speedlite, 1/125s, f/2.8 at ISO 800

339/365 Hidden letter in a hand weight

These hand weights look like capital "I"s to me, so that's the hidden letter in this photo.

After so many years of using them, in lots of different styles, I've become picky about my hand weights. One thing I like about these is the textured coating, because it is comfortable in my hand and provides some extra grip.

They also don't make a "clang!" sound when you bump the ends together. That gets old after a while.

What about you? Do you use hand weights in your workout routine? Have you found there are certain styles you like more than others?

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens and 430EX Speedlite, 1/125s, f/2.8 at ISO 400

338/365 Hidden letter in a chair

This letter certainly isn't hiding, is it?

My decorating taste tends to favor rich, saturated colors (as you can easily see here). My kitchen features a turquoise accent wall, a bright red chair, and this bright yellow chair.

I can definitely say that it's been nice to be surrounded by cheery color through the long, gray, winter days. I don't feel like I'm terribly impacted by the seasonal affective disorder, but I absolutely know that my spirits lift when the sun shines.

Have you used any tricks to keep your spirits up through the winter?

Camera: Canon 40D with 430EX Speedlite, 1/250s, f/4.5 at ISO 400

337/365 Hidden letter in a candle

No need to stress your brain trying to figure out the hidden letter in this photo! The O nearly jumps right out at you.

I know, I know, Os are probably one of the easiest letters to find. I like several different things about this photo, though: The dark tones made by the candle only being lit by the flame. The perfectly centered subject (so often said to be a no-no in photography, but aren't rules meant to be broken?). And not just one O, but several in concentric circles.

Makes things a little more complex, doesn't it?

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens, 1/250s, f/2.8 at ISO 400

336/365 Hidden letter in a geode

Hidden letter day 3!

I have to say, I really like this one because it's not immediately obvious. I had to pick up the rock and turn it every which way to see the letter.

I see a lowercase R. Do you see something different?

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens and 430EX Speedlite, 1/125s, f/2.8 at ISO 400

335/365 Hidden letter in an antique bed frame

Here's the I-Spy-like themed photo for the day, and it's a pretty easy one. The hidden letter here? S.

You don't find many bed frames as sturdy as this anymore. It's antique, wrought-iron, and weighs a ton. And yet, when I was making the paint-color decisions for this room in my house, I wanted the room to have a light, calm feeling.

It's kind of amazing how such a heavy object, when painted white and paired with light blue, can lend itself to that kind of tone in a room. But it does!

Camera: Canon 40D with 430EX Speedlite, 1/125s, f/4 at ISO 400

334/365 New theme: hidden letters

Time for a new theme! Next up? Hidden Letters.

This one could be a real challenge.

Over the next week, I'll be looking at ordinary scenes and objects to see if I can find a letter of the alphabet represented in the shape.

See the letter here? I saw an A.

It's a bit like playing I Spy through photos, isn't it?

Camera: Canon 40D with 430EX Speedlite, 1/125s, f/3.5 at ISO 200

333/365 Movement in yoga

Long-exposure photos are great for illustrating movement, so for this photo, I spent some time trying a sequence of yoga poses. This resulting photo is the one I found most interesting.

It's a progression from extended side-angle pose to a bound variation. Binding adds an extra stretch to the pose and also ensures that all of your weight is on your feet, rather than shared with your hand for balance.

It's one of my favorites to do. Do you practice yoga? What's a favorite pose of yours?

Camera: Canon 40D, 2 seconds, f/3.5 at ISO 100

332/365 Dripping water

Many times you'll see water droplets photographed using a very fast shutter speed, in order to freeze that motion of the splash coming back up out of the water.

(I love those!)

For this long exposure shot, I went the other direction and slowed the shutter speed down. Instead of seeing the individual, suspended-in-midair droplet, you see a falling streak. And for the resulting waves on the surface of the water, you get gentle ripples.

It may not be as exciting in this setting, but using that technique to photograph flowing water is a tried-and-true way to make a water landscape exude calmness.

Boy, that makes me want to take a vacation. Where's a beautiful waterfall when I need one?

Camera: Canon 40D, 1/30s, f/4.5 at ISO 1600

331/365 Pen pal trinkets

Did you have a pen pal as a kid?

I had several, but I kept in touch with one named Caroline for ten years or more. We wrote letters regularly (several times a year), sending each other little trinkets, cassette tapes with messages so we could hear each other's voice, photos... her stories of her small town in Texas were fascinating as a kid.

I actually still have every single one of her letters in a dedicated shoe box. I've tossed all my other pen pals' letters in various spring cleaning purges over the years, but I can't part with hers.

The little bottles in this photo (they're each about 4-5 inches tall) are old-style perfume bottles that I got during the time I was writing to Caroline. I got us each one of these at a little mom-and-pop gift store in a small town, and sent her one as a gift ("We each have one now!"). I think of her every time I see them.

For this long-exposure photograph, I used the light from the TV in a dark room to light the bottles.

Did you have a pen pal? Or two? Or ten?

Camera: Canon 40D, 4 seconds, f/4 at ISO 100, lit by the glow from the television.

330/365 Potato or tater, take your pick

These are some very skilled, practiced potato-peeling hands.

Or "tater-peelin'" if you feel so inclined.

Whenever I hear someone say "tater", I'm reminded of an overheard conversation that happened more than 10 years ago.

My family was traveling in Austria with our clogging team, performing for 10 days around the country. A few other teams were traveling with us, several of which were from states in the south.

At one venue, a husband and wife were having a conversation nearby. The husband was talking about "taters," when his wife, clearly frustrated about his continual mispronunciation of the word, said to him:

"They're not taters! They're PUH-taters!"

I'll never forget that.

Camera: Canon 40D, 1/6s, f/5.6 at ISO 160