365 Project

The 365 Project is something that I never really considered I could possibly accomplish or even wanted to put myself through. One picture every day for 365 days. I was proud enough of the fact that I managed a 52 week photo project of my daughter, J Bird. It started when I knew close to nothing about photography and you can definitely see my progression and her development through the 52 weeks. You can check it out here if you haven't seen it yet. It was an amazing accomplishment for me, I have to admit.

The other day, however, I read a post by a friend who encouraged those of us passionate about photography and improving our skills to jump in with her and exercise our passion by taking a photo every. single. day! Now, how in the world will I do that? I have no idea. I do know that looking back a year, I can see how far I have come. So, who knows how far I will go in 365 days of practice. I know I want to move on to another level with my photography, but I'm not sure where that will be right now. I hope this project will lead me in the right direction. I can promise I will not post a picture here every day, but I will definitely keep shooting every day. I do hope to make a weekly post of my favorite shots from the week, though. Plus, you can always catch my latest on Flickr. So, here I go on another journey and I'm excited to find out where one photo a day will take me.

I have to leave you with a picture of my favorite muse, my inspiration, and my heart...my little J Bird. Day 1/365

I Heart Faces Challenge

I haven't done one of these challenges in such a long while, but this week's theme was "Got To Wear Shades."  What can be cuter than J Bird in her sunglasses? Ok, don't answer that.  If only I could submit my mommy goggles for this contest.  Head over to iheartfaces to see more entries.

Turning Five

It's amazing how quickly time flies. It feels like it was only yesterday when I pushed out this "little" 9lb 5oz gift from heaven.  Then last weekend, we all went out for a quick little shoot to get a picture for her birthday invites.  Her 5th birthday!  Wow, where does time go so quickly?

It was fun going through the photos and noticing how much she has changed in these short 5 years. She definitely has her own, unique little personality and it definitely shows.

My Favorite Place

In the middle of a busy work week, I find myself looking forward to visiting one of my favorite places, Quinta Mazatlan.  It's a 1935 Spanish Revival Style mansion that was saved from the bulldozer by the city and serves as an extension to our World Birding Center.  They have had some wonderful summer programs for children this year including a visit by Dr. Seuss' The Lorax and The Learning Channel's Dinosaur George.  I love that the minute we walk onto the property you feel like you have left the city way behind.  Even with so many folks around we can usually find some nice quiet time to ourselves and that's what I love the most.  Of course, I then have to whip out the camera and plead with J Bird to stand still for a few seconds. It's these pictures that give me such a peaceful feeling even amid a crazy, busy work week.

Note to my fellow bloggers: I don't know what I did to get such terrible quality on some of my images. They look wonderful in Photoshop and I didn't do anything different when saving, but I'm disappointed with how they look in blogger. Any ideas?