Taken with the Nikon D90 using the Lensbaby. Edited Using Lightroom, Photoshop and Topaz filters.

Taken with the Nikon D90 using Sigma 70-300 1:4-5.6. Edited in Lightroom and Silver Efex Pro.

Taken with the Nikon D90 using a Lensbaby Composer edited using Lightroom.

One of the lenses I love the most is my Lensbaby Composer. It always helps me see things in a little different way. It takes a little more practice and trial & error, but the results are worth it.

Taken with the Nikon D90 edited using Lightroom, and Topaz Labs Adjust 3

Sometimes songs inspire pictures, today it’s the other way around. The lyrics to the song Vienna Waits for You by Billy Joel have always seemed to hit home to me.

Where’s the fire, what’s the hurry about?
You’d better cool it off before you burn it out
You’ve got so much to do and
Only so many hours in a day

But you know that when the truth is told..
That you can get what you want or you get old
You’re gonna kick off before you even
Get halfway through
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?

I’ve never been to Vienna so I don’t know what’s waiting there for me. But I like the song non-the-less. It reminds me to just take things one step at a time, and not to give up. Good advice for someone doing a 365.

Note: found this reference to the song on Wikipedia…kind of cool. I like the song that much more now. Especially since I’ve been wondering what the heck I’m going to be doing when I’m old.

Taken with the Nikon D90 edited in Lightroom and Color FX Pro

Talking a photograph every day isn’t exactly a walk in the park, but today it was.

Taken with the Nikon D90 edited in Lightroom and Color FX Pro

Sometimes when I’m stuck for something to shoot, I grab the first thing I see in front of my and try to figure out how to make it into an interesting photo. Today was just such a case.

Taken with the Nikon D90 edited in Lightroom

I took a side trip after work today to the same little pond from day 43. This time, it’s frozen over solid. Is it just me, or does this winter seem to be dragging on needlessly? I need some warmth!

Today we have a little contrast and compare. The weed in the photo might even be the same one I photographed on day 43.

Taken with the Nikon D90 edited in Lightroom

This is the view from my front door…and a cold view it is. But I love being able to look up at Mt. Ogden. I love the mountains, even if I’m not much of a skier. Just over the mountain, on the other side of those frozen radio towers is, Snow Basin, a wonderful ski resort. I’ve included a close-up version so you can see just how frozen those towers can get. We’ve hiked around up to them and though they look small in the photo, they are VERY big.

This photo was taken just before sunset. A few minutes later the clouds had moved away and it was clear.

Taken with Nikon D90

“Doing something for 365 days is hard.”

Especially for someone like myself who doesn’t seem to have much in the way of stick-to-it-ness. Yes. I lack something in the way of…what should I call it…a long term ability to do any one thing. I’ve proven it time and time again throughout my life. It’s actually quite amazing that I’ve been doing this for over 100 days.

If It sounds like I’m giving up…I’m not. Not yet. I have to admit…it’s hard.

But instead of giving up. I’m going to re-focus. I started this project to improve my skills. I really think that I’ve made a lot of progress. But I’m stuck and I think I know why. I think that it’s time that I start using my other resources to photograph.

Today was an eye opener. I was at my son’s Pinewood Derby race with my other camera (Nikon D90) and it felt foreign to me. I had to stop and really work at it to get it setup the way that I needed it.

Sometimes we outgrow our goals, or our goals simply need to change with the circumstance. I asked myself today, am I doing this to impress people of how consistent I can be at taking photos with my iPhone or am I doing this to improve my photography? I had to answer that question with the latter. The underlying purpose of my goal is to be a better photographer.

So, it’s with much consideration that I’m changing the rules to my own 365. It will no longer be only about my iPhone. In fact, I’m going to try to take most pictures with my Nikon D90, and only use the iPhone on days when I must. I’m also going to start editing the photos using Photoshop and other tools I have. I might as well. I feel I’ve learned so much using my iPhone, there is not telling what I can learn if I use the other tools I have.

On a related not…maybe since I’ll be using my D90 again, I’ll start reading a page a day out of the manual.

Time to refocus!