2nd Batch

I didn't mean to go for the whole night theme...but apparently that's what happened toward the end of my week. The project has been different this week. I thought this whole thing would help me with editing, and that I would learn a lot from that. So far, it's been everything BUT that. :)
I've learned a lot from taking opportunities when I see something that I find worth taking a picture of. Here's the week at a glance...they aren't super amazing...but hopefully I can work on my editing skills and keep having this much fun taking the pics.
15/365

I drove up by the Draper temple with a friend and we got this amazing view of the city lights. The sky was pretty awesome too.

14/365

I've been messing around with my shutter speeds, and snagged this one of the moon.

13/365

Yep...another shutter speed photo. This is probably old news to everyone, but I just barely learned how to take pictures like this. My niece and I stayed outside for at least an hour writing secret messages to eachother with my flashlight. It was entertaining, but the best part as always was hanging out with my niece and just seeing her face everytime she figured out the message she was going to write.

12/365

This was on one of the rainy days...that ended with a cool sunset. It was perfect.

11/365

This is Callaway the horse.

10/365

This is the fence that keeps all of the prisoners in at the jail. Okay that's a lie...but it is right outside the jail, and it caught my attention.
9/365

I love this picture purely because it's so simple. Nothing to do with how I took it, or edited because all of that is lacking...haha obviously. I love it because it is my niece smiling because she is happy to be swinging...and that's it. It's anything but complicated and it bears as a reminder to me that this is what a smile should be about...little things. I forget this sometimes.

SNAP

8/365 7/365

6/365

5/365

4/365

3/365

2/365

365 DAYS

My sister-in-law told me of this 365 day challenge. Everyday you take a picture. Just one. Normally I would have thought it to be a good idea, but at the same time I would have shied away from the commitment. However...I've been reading a book that is called "Beauty and the Soul." It talks about the Power true beauty holds, but how we have forgotten, in our day, how to recognize absolute beauty.

I admit, during my busy weeks I feel rushed a lot of the time, sure I feel accomplished at the end of the day (most of the time ;))...but when I take time to recognize something beautiful that crosses my path, when I stop and actually look, and not just pass by, I feel more at peace.

"If we develop an original, honest, courageuos capacity for perceiving beauty, we will have found a value we can always trust. In a night full of snares and demons, we will rely on a friendly light to comfort us and show us the way."

I feel I have always struggled with words. Expressing myself verbally never came without a lot of effort. Even when I was really young. I thought this was a bad thing, until recently. Of course I can still strengthen this, but maybe I just had to find the way I communicate naturally. Not that I'm this amazing photographer, by any means. Hopefully I will get better this year...but I won't make any promises. ;)

So...Here's my first pic. 1/365.

*"We never know where and when we will find beauty. If we look for it where we have been told to, if we already know, or believe we know, where to find it, the search becomes a predictable ritual. But if we are ready to discover it in the most unexpected moments, if our attitude is such that we have no preconceived idea of when the decisive moment will be, then the range of our possibilities becomes immeasurable."