30 Day Photography Challenge 2018

From desert badlands to Rocky Mountain meadows I’ve incorporated a lot of different themes, styles and subjects into last month’s 30 day photo-a-day challenge. As it went along I noticed I was having to really consider what it was I wanted to shoot that day. Sometimes I would just snap a picture of whatever happened to be lying on the counter. Other days I was more deliberate about what I wanted to capture.

Subject, perspective and composition have all been areas I’ve had to really think hard about and try to improve. Some days I did better than others. Thirty days was a good amount of time to do something like this. It’s enough time to go through the stages of seeing the obvious, then getting frustrated at the lack of obvious subjects and finally, forcing the mind and eyes to work and observe what’s really around us.

I went through a few days when I was wishing I had never started the challenge. But now that it’s over, I just want it to keep going. However, I do want to post other things than pictures each day so I’ll call it officially over. I’m sure many more photos will grace these pages into the future though.

For my last day of my photo challenge I spied this little guy on a strawberry plant in my back yard. It’s amazing how many things you can find to photograph right in and around your house. Once the obvious subjects are out of the way, you’re forced to pay attention to the details of your surroundings. Different weather, times of day and perspectives can all lead to more interesting and creative pictures.

30 Days of Photos – Day 29

There are so many amazing and beautiful trees, plants and flowers in Colorado. It seems like every day I go out I find something new. Horsetail is a neat plant that reproduces by spore rather than seed. This cluster of shoots was found near the Milkweed of day 28.

30 Days of Photos – Day 29

I was on an early morning walk when I crossed over an irrigation canal and found these Milkweed flowers growing on the banks. Although these wildflowers are common in parts of Colorado, I don’t think I’ve ever seen them around here before. I was impressed by their round clusters and starburst buds.

Sometimes people walk by and look at me like I’m wierd while I’m taking pictures. Others are suspicious of someone with a camera and a zoom lens. Still others are simply interested and crane their necks to try and see what it is you are seeing. Most people just walk right by things of beauty and wonder without ever observing them. I think everyone would do well to walk around in the early morning with a camera (even a phone) and try to capture observations they normally wouldn’t make.

30 Days of Photos – Day 28

Memorial Day has only been a federal holiday in the United States since 1971. But its origin is in the days after the civil when graves of the fallen were decorated in rememberance.

30 Days of Photos – Day 27

I was out in the front yard with my son when we saw that our rose bushes were blooming. I love the light in this photograph and the rings of light and shadow that it produced on the petals. There’s even an aphid on one of the petals in the middle that I didn’t even notice when I took the picture.

30 Days of Photos – Day 26

When I showed my family today’s photograph they were stumped about where it was taken. Their perception was thrown off by it too. The background texture looks somewhat like rocks so they thought these were giant spider webs on a red rock wall.

In fact, this image was taken right outside my back door. The red background is the siding on my house. It’s fun to take something that you see every day and take for granted and look at it in a different way. Instead of just sweeping life’s webs away, try looking at them closer.

30 Days of Photos – Day 24

I was trying to get a shot of the large clouds in the sky on this day. But I thought this image of the moon with its craters was more interesting. I was using a 300mm zoom lens hand-held but it still came out surprisingly sharp.

The picture’s a little bit smaller today because I had to crop a much larger one to just get the moon.

30 Days of Photos – Day 23

This image is a cross section of a cooked purple sweet potato. There’s really not much more to  say. It’s purple, it’s sweet, it’s a potato. Enjoy!

30 Days of Photos – Day 22