project 365

more macro

2009-05-17T17:50:00.001-07:00

macro

2009-05-15T18:28:00.001-07:00

texture

2009-05-03T18:46:00.001-07:00

made a rookie mistake here - and used the texture to hide it. does it work?

spring has sprung

2009-04-02T14:57:00.000-07:00

I cannot wait to plant my garden. To the point where I've started some tomatoes and peppers inside. I planted these Sunday, today I have 19 sprouts of beefsteak tomatoes. I'm so excited!

little cutie

2009-03-28T18:48:00.001-07:00

L. got put to work a few weekends ago hauling sap buckets, no one is exempt!

The most Wonderful Time of the Year

2009-03-28T18:46:00.001-07:00

There is nothing better in this world than fresh maple syrup, it's totally worth all the hard work that goes into it.

Sap

2009-03-24T17:54:00.001-07:00

Fish Two Ways

2009-03-08T16:28:00.000-07:00

A Northern Pike caught while ice fishing.

Ice Fishing

2009-03-01T12:31:00.001-08:00

on hiatus

2009-02-26T18:04:00.001-08:00

will pick up when the winter blues goes away.

Day 24: Office Revisited

2009-01-25T14:25:00.000-08:00

It too took a lot of work.

day 23: remember the beautiful bathroom?

2009-01-23T14:24:00.000-08:00

It had humble beginnings.

day 22: more bunny

2009-01-22T14:23:00.000-08:00

can I keep him? please?

day 21: fuzzy rabbit

2009-01-21T14:21:00.000-08:00

Finney routed this little cutie out of the wood pile this fall. We both wanted to keep it, but for different reasons ;)

day 20: harder than I thought

2009-01-20T14:19:00.000-08:00

This is turning out to be a harder project than I originally thought. I'm lacking both time and new subjects to photograph. Thus this week is going to be entitled, I dream of spring. It's way too cold and snowy to do anything outside right now.

Labor day weekend 2008

Day 19: Feeling Productive

2009-01-19T13:19:00.001-08:00

Today I graded absolutely everything that students have turned in lately. Goal for the future: grade it as I get it. Today as a marathon!

Day 18: The M. Family

2009-01-19T13:14:00.000-08:00

During Christmas break, I had the opportunity to practice taking some indoor people shots on my friend's family. Thanks for letting me practice on you!

Day 17: I need some warmth!

2009-01-19T13:11:00.000-08:00

These almost do the trick! I remember green grass!

The never before shared engagement session from my friend C. and her fabulous fiancee B.

Day 16: Chandelier

2009-01-19T13:10:00.000-08:00

Hangs over the dining room table - not quite in the center.

Day 15: Dining Room

2009-01-19T13:09:00.001-08:00

Alternative title: V. needs a wide angle lens. I feel like a contortionist trying to take pictures of every area of my house without one!

Day 14: Living Room

2009-01-14T13:07:00.000-08:00

Our living room is tiny, seriously, no bigger than 9x10 if that.

Day 13: I'm officially behind.

2009-01-13T15:40:00.000-08:00

I have some new pictures to post, this week has just been crazy! To deal both with the time crunch of a first year teacher and the lack of interesting things in my life to photograph, I'm expanding the 365 to include working on photoshop skills as well. A few new house pictures to come, but first here's a photoshop before and after. The bottom picture is SOOC (straight out of camera) the top has been edited in photoshop. The result is slightly more visually interesting.

day 12: why hello readers, thought i'd introduce myself

2009-01-12T17:33:00.001-08:00

It just occurred to me that I haven't introduced myself. I'm Vicki. Camera lover since I first picked up a film SLR (single lens reflex) camera in 2001. My h. bought me my own film SLR as a HS graduation gift and I received my first DSLR as a college graduation gift. Hopefully in the coming years I'll build my collection of good lenses, then upgrade to a higher quality camera. For now, I'm enjoying playing with this one.

This is me since starting this blog. Actually, I'm pretty sure this what my nephew thinks of when someone says Aunt Vicki. He's such a handsome and willing subject I can't help myself.

day 11: a photography lesson

2009-01-11T11:41:00.001-08:00

One of the most important aspects to a great picture is nailing the focus. The following photos use my DSLR, but the basic rules apply to point and shoot cameras as well. I'm using a lens here with a maximum aperture of f/1.4, this means that the "pupil" of the lens goes about as wide open as it can get. The problem here, is that it gives a very shallow depth of field and focusing becomes very difficult.

Finney is not usually a willing subject, but she consented to model today. For this image, I allowed the camera to auto focus at will. Notice how this is not always a wise decision. Here the focus fell on the wood behind her. To get Finney in focus, I changed my focus points (check your manual) so I could choose where the focus fell.

I also changed my angle, she didn't want to turn her head. The result is this picture. The focus is on her eyes, exactly where I wanted it.

In this 100% crop of her eye, you can see my reflection as well as the rest of the room. Pretty cool no? This is a catchlight. It gives depth to a photo.

Here the focus landed on her nose, not all together unpleasant do you think?

Play around with the focus on your camera. You'll love the results.

day 10: woodstove, finished product

2009-01-10T18:53:00.000-08:00

There are often hits on my personal blog looking for pictures of a woodstove with a slate floor. So searchers, here you go. Dutchwest by Vermont Castings Cast Iron woodstove with a multicolored slate floor. The rest of the floor is sealed concrete.

day 9: action shots: cupies, cutie pies, and basketball

2009-01-09T23:59:00.000-08:00

day 8: aftereffects of a north country snowstorm

2009-01-08T16:42:00.000-08:00

Day 7: The other half of the upstairs

2009-01-07T12:06:00.000-08:00

Half of the upstairs is sleeping space, the other half I have claimed for an "office."

To the left, my desk. I really like the window, but don't tell M. He found it on craigslist for $75 and we installed it ourselves. That's right folks, just the two of us.

To the right is the laundry area. It just felt so WRONG to put the washer on hardwoods.

My beautiful hardwoods.

Or should I say, the laundry and storage area.

My desk is the create a desk from jcpenney. If I could do it again, i wouldn't get the corner top.

Full view.

I think I need another bookshelf. This one is busting at the seams.

We interrupt our regularly scheduled 365 posting with this

2009-01-06T17:46:00.001-08:00

My new favorite picture. He is one handsome boy. I don't think I'm just biased because I'm his aunt.

day 6: perhaps i should retitle this blog, the obsessed homeowner.

2009-01-06T17:23:00.000-08:00

Todays room is the bathroom. I have to say, quite possibly my favorite room in the house. See the light over the shower? I totally ripped the idea off from my SIL, and I don't care. Because I like to see what I'm washing.

Walls: Valspar Mulling Spices. Floors: Natural Multicolored Slate with a wet look sealer.

My fabulous pedestal sink means no towel storage. Thus the basket, I found it in the stationary section of all places at target.

I can't tell you how much I love this sink and this faucet. Let's just say that someone hit M's truck while I was picking the sink up at lowes (or was I taking part of it back for a price match, I don't remember!) and I didn't even really care.

Faucet is Price Pfister: Ashfield (I love this faucet and the one in the kitchen, but HATE the tub faucet, odd since they're all from the same company).

My beloved sink. Kohler Memoirs collection.

Notice the hard water marks on the faucet. I'm just glad that's the biggest problem I have now. The water used to be a similar color to the walls...

The fact that my toilet flusher matches the faucet hardware doesn't mean I'm obsessed does it?

Day 5: one spoiled dog in the reading corner

2009-01-05T18:33:00.001-08:00

Meet Finney, please don't tell her she's a dog. She's pretty spoiled. That basket is filled with objects she has claimed.

Yes, the floors are concrete. It's going to be a garage, eventually, I hope.

Ick. I blew the whites in the photo above. Good thing this whole project is about learning. I won't be doing that next time.

Just incase we see that porcupine that slapped Finney in the face...

Gotta love the wood pile, it's messy, but hey. My house is regularly 78* and I don't have to pay for fuel. I can deal with the mess.

The closets both under the stairs and the coat closet will get white doors, we just haven't gotten that far yet. And by we, I do use that term loosely.

Artwork credit here goes to my nephew S. He's 2. We love him, a lot.

day 4: man's best friend

2009-01-04T14:52:00.000-08:00

M. finished his corner today, I looked over the railing to find him and finney hanging out. That is her 3rd bed in the corner there, she's not spoiled at all.

day 3: the bedroom

2009-01-03T20:22:00.001-08:00

All furniture (not to mention the house!) built by M.

Except for that little half wall to the left. I built that one myself!

Coverlet: Studio by JC Penney.

Lamps: Left - salvation army $2. Right - ugly daylight lamp that i can't make him get rid of.

Love the window!

Floors: Bruce oak hardwood in spice.

so about that furniture? did i mention that it was my 17th birthday present?

That's my wedding dress hiding under the bed. I don't know what else to do with it.

The stairwell with our ghetto railings. These were tacked on for the benefit of the compliance officer. They will be changed out for iron.

day 2: the kitchen

2009-01-02T18:48:00.000-08:00

my kitchen. i love the combination of the green cabinets, black appliances, yellow walls, and white shelves.

day 1: the dog

2009-01-01T18:46:00.000-08:00

a goal for the year is to be more consistent about picking up my camera and documenting my life. so, the idea is to at least take one picture per day and post it here. we'll see how it goes.

day 1.

yes, i'm evil. finney likes to howl along with the fire whistle so i found a youtube video of a firewhistle then videoed her howling along with it. this isn't finney at her best, sometimes she gets a more mournful sound to it. i wonder if she thinks it's her mom calling to her?

Finney Howls! from vicki Mccullouch on Vimeo.

what is project 365?

2009-01-01T18:44:00.000-08:00

my goal for the year is to simply take one picture per day for an entire year. the idea is to post at least once a week, we'll see how far i get. m. asked that i not inundate my regular blog with these pictures, thus the new blog. happy viewing.