Regular Life

(Note: I have posted Part Five of “The Keys Are In It,” which brings two of our main characters together. Sorry it’s been a while. You might want to start at the beginning to refresh your memory.)

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I shot this Sunday night while strolling in Memphis. I figured a B&W conversion gave it a classic look. We plan to see the famous Peabody Hotel Ducks before we leave town.

My previous post also features photos that fit this project, and I get the feeling not many folks saw it on Friday.

You may also enjoy visiting Anna Carson Photography, the founder of Project Black, and the more than 90 participants.

I grabbed my camera Tuesday, on what seemingly was a routine trip to take Homer to the body shop and to help Shannon’s mom move refrigerated items to her new house.

“I gotta be ready for Project Blue,” I told Shannon.

Later, as we headed out to the car to go home, I noticed blue sawhorses blocking the driveways of vacant townhomes. Naturally, I had to take pictures. I fired off a few, standing and lying down, tilting the camera to get a new look each time.

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Trying to keep the 18-month old from splashing into the pond and the two pre-schoolers from walking into the black snake’s lair, I flipped open my mobile phone and called up to the house.

I had the wrong lens for the picture I was going to take, and the kids were bound to scare away my already suprisingly bold subject.

“Could you or somebody else please bring my blue camera bag down here? I need something from it, but I’m trying to keep the kids from drowning.” I said.

“Sure,” said my mother-in-law.

A couple minutes went by. I looked at the water. Yep, he was there, still as stones.

Shannon’s cousin arrived with the bags and grabbed up his son. Free to shoot pics at will, I swapped out my wide-angle for my telephoto, lay down on my belly, and rested my camera on a metal post that helped hold up the retaining wall.

I had never been that close before; I was in perfect position.

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My Pic of the Week feature (on Fridays) had lapsed, and this photo seemed appropriate considering the 85-degree temps we’ve had lately. Benjamin absolutely loves water fountains and never passes one without taking a drink.

The Project Green pic I picked (below) is from the same Arboretum outing (where I captured one of my all-time favorite people pics).

This green bench was one of many that intrigued us at Wilson Park in Fayetteville, Arkansas during our trip last week. I tried to do something a little different with the composition by holding my camera high above my head and just shooting until I got something I liked. I couldn’t see the viewfinder at all while snapping the shutter.

I admit I’ve failed to find any new shots featuring green since Anna started her latest project. It’s a tough one. Yellow was much easier to find while out driving.

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This pic finds us at a local Jump ‘n’ Land, home to oversized inflatable slides and other places for kids to jump and, as luck would have it considering the place’s name, land. Benjamin was playing in the toddlers’ area and I never can resist a chance to lie down on the ground with my camera and give folks some good people-watching fodder.

When your wife’s active in a moms’ club, you end up at birthday parties that mix family members with passing acquaintances. Sure, the moms all know each other fairly well, as do the children, but each dad is just there to support his respective wife and kid(s). Take a few pics, smile-nod-and-shake-hands when introduced, and grab a piece of cake if such is presented. No need to be rude and deny what we all know is the most rewarding part of a birthday party — sweet, rich, buttercream frosting.

We had a good time and I got a decent PLT pic instead of having to delve into my archives. If you haven’t joined the fun of Project Looking Through, then it’s not too late. Just sign up below and/or leave a comment (I removed the Mr. Linky form from the previous posts to save page load time).

Driving through my in-laws’ neighborhood (for a little while longer), I saw the sun lighting up this tree’s red leaves. I was glad that I always have at least my Canon Powershot A560. After I pulled into a side street and parked, I noticed that from the opposite side the tree didn’t look interesting at all. The backlighting made it.

It’s great to see so many joining my Project Looking Through. Framing subjects with objects from the scene always has appealed to me, but I don’t do it often. I think it’s also an exercise in foreground. Often, allowing a little foreground can transform a humdrum photo into something more. It can add depth and give the viewer a better sense of being there.

See more Project Looking Through participants at the bottom of my latest PLT post. Join in if you would like to take part. Have a great weekend!

Our trip is going well so far. Shannon and I have had plenty of time to go out after I finish my work each day.

Wednesday night, we went to Fayetteville (Arkansas) and enjoyed a park that we couldn’t believe we’d never visited in the five years we lived in that area. Sadly, it was the last place we stopped, and the light was fading fast as I frantically snapped pictures at slow shutter speeds.

I managed to get a few for Project Looking Through, but the pic here is the only one worth sharing. It’s from a tiny castle built in a funky world created by a local artist. Project Yellow sneaked in there, too. I got several others that don’t fit the project but that I’ll use here in time.

Update: Here’s the “castle” from the other direction.

Thanks again to everyone participating so far. I plan to do this for at least a few more days, but might skip the weekend (I rarely post on the weekend). The form in my latest Project Looking Through post makes it easy to jump on in if you haven’t already.

This picture of baby Benjamin seemed like the perfect choice to move from Anna’s wonderful Project Yellow to my first project. I don’t have the original with me on the road, so I had to pull this small version from an old online album. It doesn’t get very big when clicked.

Below is the picture that gave me the idea for this project. My in-laws in Texas decided that they were finished worrying about a lawn and the other concerns that come with a house on its own lot. This is the view from one of the bedrooms. I like the blue sky and the clouds.

Project Looking Through

The only requirement is the sensation of looking through something. That keeps it specific enough to keep us focused, but vague enough to free up everybody’s creativity. I figured Project Looking Through — PLT for short — is a good name.

So, join in if you like, and please use the Mr. Linky form in my latest Project Looking Through post to add yourself to the list of participants.

In our minivan on Saturday, I created a monster.

Make that four monsters.

Benjamin rode along with Shannon, her mom, her cousin, and me. He joined them in pointing out everything yellow — storefront awnings, road signs, vehicles — you name it, they saw it. While I appreciated their participation at first, it began to grate on my nerves. They knew that, I’m sure, and so kept at it. You can always count on family.

At one point, while my helpers were distracted, I noticed three tiny yellow flags on thin metal sticks warning not to dig near a silver fire hydrant with yellow caps. That would make a nice grouping for Project Yellow, I thought. From the driver’s seat I slid down the front passenger’s side window and aimed my trusty Nikon and its 70-210mm zoom (translates to 105-315 on the DSLR body). Optically, it’s my best autofocus lens.

At the instant I depressed the shutter release to engage said autofocus, a truck pulled up beside us, completely obscuring my view.

Would you believe it was a yellow truck?

So, instead of a boring picture of three caution flags and a fire hydrant (which has been done in Project Yellow already), you get a boring picture of an obsolete Mapsco Texas Road Atlas. But can you guess where it is?