239/365 Seasonal switch

It's that time of year.

Time to pull out the bins of sweaters and stow away spring and summer skirts.

sigh.

I'm not terribly excited about this, which is evidenced by the fact that last night I stowed away an entire tub of light skirts and only retrieved two that are appropriate for cold weather.

Obviously, I have a severe shortage that needs to be immediately remedied.

Now THAT sounds exciting.

Camera: Canon 40D with external E-TTL flash, 1/250, f/5.6 at ISO 100. Flash bounced off the ceiling.

238/365 Repeating patterns

Banana seems to be one of those flavors that always overwhelms whatever it's paired with.

Do you agree?

For that reason, it's not my favorite fruit. I usually only reach for a banana if I'm starving on a deserted island or it sneaks into my smoothie.

Nevertheless, they are interesting and fun photographic subjects. For one, by growing in bunches, bananas give you an automatic repeating pattern. Secondly, since they have defined lines -- almost edges or corners -- the light that hits them on one side drops into shadow quickly on the other.

Camera: Canon 40D 1/60s, f/2.8 at ISO 800 under fluorescent lighting.

237/365 Rayon thread

Mom has a drawer of thread that sucks me in whenever I open it.

It's filled with shiny rayon thread of every color of the rainbow. For this photo, I just picked out a selection of five that mimic fall foliage.

I don't think there's a single color in that drawer that I don't like. I'd love to see a project made only out of this thread. It's elegant, vibrant, eye-catching... beautiful.

Camera: Canon 40D with external E-TTL flash, 1/250s, f/2.8 at ISO 100.

236/365 At the car wash

I still feel like a kid when I go to the car wash, especially those that have the sweeping and spinning cloths that brush the car. They're definitely more exciting than the no-touch washes that just spray streams of water.

We had a trusty Jeep Cherokee that leaked in multiple crevices when I was a kid. Chase and I knew the routine:
1. Grab napkins or a complimentary paper towel for each hand.
2. Press into window corners.
3. Give the go-ahead to proceed into the wash.
4. Watch for rogue water trails not covered by two hands. Squeal if overwhelmed.
5. Exit the wash.
6. Dry inside window sills, laugh about the experience, ask, "Can we do it again?"

We were easily amused kids.

Car washes aren't quite that exciting anymore, but I still get a kick out of it.

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1000

235/365 October Glory in November

The end of Daylight Savings Time is killing me.

Sure, it's nice to not drive to work in the dark, but the sun has set by the time I get home, meaning my options for outdoor photography after work have drastically changed.

So I'll have to get creative.

Last night, I rushed home in hopes of beating the sunset to photograph this tree. When I got home, I ran inside, grabbed my tripod, camera, and hotshoe flash, and raced out to the backyard.

I didn't make it in time to catch the sun shining on the tree, but it was still worth a try. I'm hoping its leaves won't have fallen by this weekend so I can try again. I played with lighting it with a flashlight and by hand-holding my flash, but neither method gave an accurate representation of the amazing color.

This is an October Glory maple tree. Dad commented one day last weekend that its red is so intense it looks like it's glowing. It's absolutely gorgeous, especially since its color doesn't peak until after nearly every other tree has shed its foliage.

Just three weeks ago I photographed its first transforming leaf. We have other red maples planted around the house, but this one is always particularly full and beautiful.

Camera: Canon 40D 1s, f/11 at ISO 200 at about 5:45 p.m.

234/365 Star trails

April 2008 was the last time I did a night sky photo, and I haven't made any of these photos with my 40D. Last night I set up my camera and ran back and forth from the camera outside to Dancing with the Stars inside.

I must say, the 40D quality is vastly superior to the Rebel! The results are crisper and I'm not combating hot pixels.

As I do more of these, I want to concentrate on varying my foreground subjects. I did that here by placing tree branches in the frame, instead of just anchoring the bottom with a more landscape-type scene.

Photographing star trails, and seeing how much the earth revolves in just a matter of minutes, makes me feel very small. It makes me think about how much is out there in the universe, and how we're only on this little speck of a planet in comparison.

Fascinating.

Camera: Canon 40D, shutter speed 17.25 minutes, f/11 at ISO 100 between 7:45 and 8:15 p.m.

233/365 A new Junior Miss

After a long week, we finally named a new Junior Miss for my high school on Sunday afternoon.

No one substantially froze at the microphone, fell on stage, or made a complete fool of themselves (thank goodness), and it was absolutely a success.
The lucky winner left with six scholarships and is the third girl in her family to win the title (what's in the water over there?).

She'll go on to compete at the state level in February, where she'll spend a week in Frankfort being chauffeured from place to place, shaking hands, smiling for photos, and learning yet another fitness routine.

My roommate during my freshman year at college was a girl I met at the state Junior Miss program. We didn't really know each other, but we knew enough to believe that the other was tolerably normal and had to be a better option than rooming with a stranger (it ended up working out very well). If I remember correctly, six of the 29 girls who were contestants in the state program ended up attending Butler, so we already had a group of familiar faces when we started the school year.

I hope our new winner had (and has) as much fun as I did. It was definitely one of the most significant experiences of my high school career. It's for that reason that I continue to volunteer with the program each year.

I love it!

Camera: Canon 40D, 1/60s, f/4.5 at ISO 1600.

232/265 Early voting

After standing in line for nearly two hours today, I submitted my vote and did my civic duty three days early.

As you can see from this photo, I wasn't the only person who had the idea. In addition to this line, another formed on the other side of the building and was just as long.

I decided to vote early because last night, before dinner, I realized that if I wanted to vote on Tuesday, I was going to need to get to the polling place at 6:00 a.m. One of my girlfriends sent an email yesterday that contained the hours and locations for early voting around central Indiana (thanks, Kristina!), and that also nudged me to go today.

I expected that I wouldn't be the only person there, but I was completely unprepared for a line this long. I had to park in the grass in the ditch because all parking spaces were occupied. Surprisingly, no one in line (within my earshot) was complaining about the time. A lot of people had coffees in hand, several read books while they stood, many caught up on email on their Blackberries and iPhones, and I listened to podcasts on my iPod.

I'm positive that everyone's good mood could also be partially attributed to the gorgeous weather. If we had been standing for two hours in freezing temperatures instead of 65 degrees, I'm sure it would have been a different story.

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1000 at about 11:30 a.m.

231/365 Happy Halloween

For the first time, we were invited to wear costumes to work on Halloween. I wasn't sure how many people would actually dress up, but a few people really got into it.

Exhibit A, Jim:
He wasn't the only guy to come dressed like this -- do you think it's a little curious that two of our 30 employees chose to dress up as pimps?

We did a group photo late in the afternoon (my friend Mark shot this photo using my camera). In addition to the two pimps, we had a soccer player, scary old man, old woman in her nightgown with walker, '50s girl (me), Superfan (hilarious and dead-on), and a mailbox.
Melinda said she had been working on her mailbox all week.

One of my favorite costumes as a kid was the year I went as Carmen Sandiego. Though I loved that I could bundle up underneath the trench coat and fedora, the only downside was that no one knew at first glance who I was supposed to be. In other years I went as a witch, fairy, princess, mummy, mouse...

I still love playing dress up like this. It's one thing I miss about high school and college. We had a lot more excuses during that time to put together a crazy outfit and actually wear it.

Unfortunately, it's not quite as accepted in a professional office.

Happy Halloween!

Camera: Canon 40D, (first photo) 1/125s, f/5 at ISO 1600.

230/365 Final darkroom class

Thursday night marked my final night of darkroom class, meaning I have completed all of the courses toward my Photography Certificate! I'll now compile a portfolio that represents what I've learned in each class, the portfolio will be reviewed by a teacher, and I'll be done.

My knowledge of photography, including everything from how to use the camera to what makes a good and better photo, has improved immensely since I've started taking these classes. As I was going back through old negatives, trying to find some I wanted to use in the darkroom, I had trouble choosing any because I can see now how I could greatly improve on everything.

Some people can pick up a book and learn something new simply by reading. I can do that to an extent, but I know that I learn much faster when I can learn from a person and ask questions. (For that reason, I rarely read book assignments in college, and I rarely skipped class.)

I really enjoyed my darkroom class because it was all hands-on. I loved seeing the exposure magically appear on the page while submerged in developer, and I loved coming home with hard-copy evidence of what I'd learned that night. I didn't love it enough to invest in building my own darkroom, though, so I sold the rest of my paper to a classmate.

The photo above is at the same park where I've been stopping before class each week. The leaves are now beginning to fall, but the sunlight through these trees was incredibly eye-catching.

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1000 at about 5:45 p.m.

229/365 Mock interviews

A few years ago, we started doing mock interviews with the Junior Miss contestants at Wednesday night's practice. I think it's a great idea because the two Junior Miss interviews I did (local and state) were the toughest I've ever been through.

They quiz the girls on politics, current events, reasons behind their application answers, and other unexpected topics that really test their ability to coherently answer a question under pressure.

The real interview is held the morning of the program. It lasts about 10-15 minutes, and more than once, a contestant has come out of the room in tears because she's afraid she completely made a fool of herself.

For that reason, even if the mock interviews are more light-hearted, I think it's good preparation.

Camera: Canon 40D, 1/125s, f/5.6 at ISO 1600 in fluorescent lighting.

228/365 Bromeliads

I support the designers who put fountains inside office buildings, though I think if I sat near one all day it would be like a sound machine and make me sleepy.

I had my Lasik consultation yesterday morning, and this bromeliad was one of several that surrounded a fountain outside the door to the suite.

And, after a positive round of tests and measurements, the doctors determined that I'm a great candidate for the surgery! I'm scheduled to have it on November 20 -- just over three weeks from now.

They mapped my corneas, scanned the cells in my eyes, tested my prescription, determined the thickness of my corneas... and all is good news. I can't believe it's finally happening.

I have to wear my glasses all the way up to the surgery, so Chase will be inheriting some brand-new boxes of solution and saline.

I'll be looking forward to seeing these bromeliads again -- without glasses or contacts.

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1000 indoors at about 10:00 a.m.

227/365 Get those knees up

It's Junior Miss week, so eight high school girls are jumping, gliding, stressing, preparing, coping, and getting ready for the program on Sunday.

Monday night is always the night they learn the physical fitness routine. It's 8-9 minutes of constant movement. Beth Ann, the choreographer, throws in jumping jacks, squats, kicks, tae bo, spins, you name it. At state, the girls have had to do push-ups and sit-ups on stage as well, but our local program just keeps them on their feet the whole time.
Their normal schedules don't stop for this week. They have swim practice, volleyball, band, cheerleading, homework... all in the name of earning scholarships. The two girls in band have it especially tough this year because the marching band qualified for the state finals, which happens to be this coming Saturday -- one day before the Junior Miss program.

Good luck convincing the band director to let them out of practice.

Tuesday night I'll teach them the self-expression portion of the program. It may seem like a cake walk compared to fitness, but stepping up to the microphone and thoughtfully answering a question can easily topple the faint of heart.

I love it.

Camera: Canon 40D, 1/60s, f/4.5 and f/4 at ISO 1600 in mixed lighting.

226/365 The socializing of Buster

Chase came home on Sunday with his roommate, Matt, and they brought Matt's dog, Charlie. Charlie is a bouncy, well-behaved female lab who still has a lot of puppy in her.

She's the closest thing to a canine friend that Buster has ever had. He's never been around many dogs, especially at home in his own territory.

Charlie makes him a little nervous, but she's not a dominating dog, and she is very good about ignoring him, so he gets along with her pretty well.

The last time Matt brought Charlie, Buster hardly dared to step a foot off of the deck into the back yard with her. This time, he adjusted for about a minute, then jumped right in. Charlie tore off and ran circles around the trees like a pro barrel racer, and he trotted back and forth, watching her with his ears and tail perked.

With all the excitement, I'm sure he slept like a rock.

Camera: Canon 40D with on-camera flash, 1/60s, f/4.5 at ISO 400 at about 8:00 p.m.

225/365 Getting back to sewing

After an incredibly busy summer, Mom is excited to get back to her sewing machine (and I have to say I'm excited for her to get back to it, too).

We spent the afternoon yesterday in her quilt shop. I traced new patterns out of our Burda WOF magazines, and she quilted and sewed.

After she's done with this dress, the next project will be a sheath dress (my favorite style), a knit wrap top and a knee-length jacket.

She constantly urges me to become a sewer, but I just haven't been bitten by that bug yet. I've made small projects, one quilt, and other odds and ends, but the desire to really learn hasn't quite snagged me.

It wouldn't surprise me if it does eventually -- Mom insists it will happen when I have kids.

Until then, I really enjoy being with her while she sews, and I like getting patterns ready and collaborating on design details. Is that so wrong?

Camera: Canon 40D, 1/125s, f/4.5 at ISO 1000 in mixed lighting.