365 Photographs Later...

Last year, on Valentine's Day, it started -- the take-your-camera-everywhere, late-night scramble-for-a-photo madness of 365 days in photos. And here we are today, many batteries later, my Samsung and I, old friends. We both have our moments -- sometimes he switches to video mode without telling me, sometimes I drop him out of my back pocket into the road-- but we're both still functional, for the most part.

So, here it is, my year in photographs, along with a few things I've learnt along the way.

Discovery: The flash is not my friend. It's been turned off since June. If the light's bad enough that I need a flash, there's no point taking the picture.

Tip: Never take a photo of yourself in a green mud mask and expect people to say flattering things.

Discovery: Taking photos at work seemed boring and desperate at the time, but now those shots are some of the most telling in looking at how my life has changed.

Tip: Photos of fried food will never look tasty, no matter how good the food was.

Tip: When inspiration runs thin, taking photos of the same old things, but from above, can hold you over until the 365 excitement returns.

Discovery: Looking back at the photos, it's always the close-ups that grab my attention, but it's nice to have a few larger-scope photos to help capture the atmosphere of the month.

Discovery: Taking a photo-a-day in those first few months of having Tilly often made me feel like I'd actually accomplished something that day, and worked wonders towards me feeling like a functional human again!

Discovery: Though I haven't beaten my slight fear of public photography, I have gotten much much quicker at whipping out the camera and taking the shot before anyone notices.

Tip: Sometimes it's the mistakes that make the most memorable photos. A blurred leg here, and sneeze-on-camera there, it all helps to recall the real feeling of the year.

Discovery: Who'd have thought photos of feet were so interesting (to me, at least) and addictive?

Tip: As well as all of the regular baby milestones, we've really enjoyed taking Tilly's photo at each of our favourite restaurants and cafes -- her first plate of IKEA meatballs is a big step in this family!

Tip: A very easy home-studio for staging shots can be made from two white sheets of poster board, propped together at a right-angle. The white board reflects light onto your subject, and gives you a blank background.

Discovery: There are several lists of weekly themes out there on the Web for 365ers needing inspiration. When challenged with the theme of 'macro' shots, some new perspectives were found.

Discovery: As with many things, taking photos begets more photo taking. So while at the start, one photo a day was often a challenge, now it's become natural to take a picture of anything of interest.

And what happens at the end, you might wonder? Do I put my camera on a shelf, and breathe a sigh of relief? Put the lens cover on and give my trusty Samsung a rest?

Not on your life! Call me ambitious, but I'd like to commit, right now, to taking a photo-a-day every day for the rest of my life. Off we go again, The Year of the Rabbit in photos...

Tiger, Tiger

October 6: Tiger, Tiger, originally uploaded by RedRedCompletelyRed.

We're way over half way through our "Year of the Tiger" photo-a-day, now, and would still highly highly recommend doing it. Not only do we have an obscene amount of photos of Tilly, but as the year goes on and on, just the challenge of finding something around the house that I haven't already photographed makes for quite the creative challenge!

A Camera Family

Today was Tilly's first proper bath in her bathtub, not just a wipe down with a wash cloth. And, much to my surprise, she loved it straight away. Perhaps it was the lovely warm water, or the little hammock that fits into the tub, or the fact that she was the centre of two people's attention... she just lay back and enjoyed looking out of the window.

And what I realised today, as I scrambled to find my camera, is that photos have come to be the biggest symbol of family for me. As the little battery symbol flashed "low" and I hurriedly dried my hands enough to use the camera, my heart was literally racing... what if I couldn't capture this moment on film? What if I couldn't send it to my family and share the joy of the moment with them? What if , when Tilly turns twenty-five and asks to see photos of her first bath, I have nothing to show her? Luckily, the battery held out just long enough, but it got me thinking about cameras and what they mean to me.

Ever since we started our 365 photo-a-day project back in February, I've felt so much more connected to my family. We remember to share things... the big things (goodness only knows how many people were waiting for the first photo of Tilly!), but also the little every day things: my Mum walking the dog, my Dad en route on a business trip, my brother making lasagne, my aunt's new table cloth. And I'm so grateful for that. You'd think that a family spread so widely around the globe --England, Texas, China-- would undoubtedly lose touch a little. But I really feel that the distance has inspired us to find ways to be connected, in a way that we probably wouldn't have been if we'd lived closer.

You should have seen us when my parents and sister were here visiting a few weeks ago... there must have been ten different cameras lying around between the phones, the digitals, and Alice's Polaroid and antique film camera! And on the last day, as they were leaving, the car suddenly stopped, and all three Duffies jumped out, cameras in their hands, and each of them took several photos of Justin, Tilly and me in the doorway...

... and it made us feel loved. And if I hadn't had a Tilly to hold, I'd have been taking a photo of them driving off!

We take photos of times and people and places we want to remember, and I want Tilly to be able to look back all the way to her first day of life and say, "People love me. People have always loved me. People have wanted to remember how I look every day of my life."

So, I'll be stocking up on batteries, and making sure there's a camera on hand for every moment.

Rambles with Red

"Colour has taken possession of me; no longer do I have to chase after it.

I know that it has hold of me forever... Colour and I are one."

-Paul Klee

Treading Softly

Perhaps it's all of the gorgeous Polaroids I've been seeing lately, but something in me is leaning towards softness and light in my photos this week, rather than contrast and shadows.

It's sinking in, I suppose, that not everything needs to be bold and bright to be noticed or beautiful. That's something I've always struggled with a bit, being rather quiet and soft-spoken by nature, and it feels really lovely to capture some quiet moments on camera.

Shadow Monsters

As you might have noticed, I've really been enjoying photographing shadows recently. At first, it was a nice way for me to be able to document my growing bump myself (as Justin's been on his trip for two weeks, and even when he's here, he's not the most willing photographer!), but I'm finding it's also a great way to play around and take on different identities!

And I've also been putting together a little gallery of some of my favourite shadow beasties, taken by other people, called "Some Monsters". Stop by and check it out!

The Red Leaf Heart

Today was one of those beautiful, find-any-reason-to-be-outside kinds of days. I didn't feel like reading, I didn't feel like writing, and Bella wanted to sit in the bushes and chew on her own leg instead of playing fetch. But I still wanted to be outside.

What happened was the great de-leafing of the funny bush in our garden that grows mostly green leaves, but with a few bright bright red leaves as well.

I made a little collection of the reddest leaves, and managed to happily amuse myself for quite a long time, arranging them into a little heart.

Of course, once she spotted the camera, Bella trotted over, and decided that she needed to be the centre of attention!

And, as a little update, I'm very proud to say I'm now in my third trimester! New cravings include: tortilla chips and salsa that's rather spicier than I usually like, strawberries, raspberry and yoghurt homemade smoothies, and banana splits. So, I've got a feeling Tilly's going to like fruit!

Weekend Away

What a fun weekend! We took a little mini-trip up to Dallas, and had the best time relaxing in the sun, playing a little golf, and eating the most amazing barbeque creations.

Greg and Justin have been friends for almost fifteen years, and still get on so well. And as an added bonus, Greg and his wife, Cari, have just found out they're pregnant, too! Their favourite name for a girl is Lilly... how sweet! We're sure Lilly and Tilly will be great friends!

Justin really enjoyed getting to hit some balls again, and as he'd only brought cowboy boots with him, I agreed to putt for him whenever we got onto the green. (Golfers are very strict about no heels on the green). I got very very lucky on my first putt, and got the ball in from about fifteen feet away... and was so excited I jumped up and down! Unfortunately, golfers don't like that, either...

Luckily, the ranch was so beautiful, I kept myself occupied taking photos!

And, just because I rarely get Justin to take photos of my belly, here's a silly shot we took on the drive up to Dallas. (We're pretending to visit Loreal and Stephen, who live in Athens, Georgia. Athens, Texas is rather a lot smaller!)

Hope you all had a great weekend, too! I'll hopefully have lots of crafty stuff to show you this week, as the College is on Spring Break right now, and I've got plenty of free time to create!

Alphabet Places

This is just the most lovely little printed canvas. It's hanging in one of the children's rooms in our new home, and I hope to find out at some point where they found it.

I also hope to create my own version... an alphabet of places I've been, if possible. Or an alphabet of places I'd like to go!

Street Colour, Part 2

After deciding to photograph all the bright, unexpected, colourful things I come across, I've been seeing colour everywhere!

This bath tub was in someone's back garden right behind the college.

I'd stopped initially to take a photo of the fifteen foot water slide in the same garden!

A little blue flag in the parking lot at work.

Three red signs, again in the parking lot.

Who'd have thought parking lots would be so full of brightness?

February 2010

February 2010
Originally uploaded by RedRedCompletelyRed

Well, the first month is over, and our Flickr photo-a-day project is going strong! Here are all my February photos, since Chinese New Year. What a lovely reminder of what we've been up to.

(Please click on the image to see it a little bigger, if you'd like!)

A Day out in Bryan

In the spirit of doing things worth taking photos of, yesterday Justin and I had a little stroll around downtown Bryan. I lured him out there with the promise of an icy cold chocolate malt from this lovely little antique shop on the corner. Delicious.

And then, fueled by chocolate, we walked around, stopping every few feet so I could take a photo of something or other! This lovely rusty car was the door knob to another little antique shop:

Justin thinks I'm completely insane. He likes the new, clean buildings, and wondered why I wasn't taking any photos of them. But for me, peeling paint and uneven edges are the most beautiful thing!

And old doors.

Did I mention peeling paint?

This was my favourite shot of the day. The fading white paint on the front of the building makes me think of a geisha's face paint at the end of a day!

Today, we'll be staying home and resting, as Justin isn't feeling well. I've also decided to make my cushion cover fabrics into a table cloth, using the red spots as the main piece and adding a border of turquoise (as the red doesn't completely cover the table top!)... so hopefully I can finish that today.

Hope you're having a lovely weekend!

Place Mats

There's something about taking photos that makes me want to live a better life.

Last year, when Loreal got me into scrapbooking, it really pushed us to go out and explore Arizona so that I had more photos to add to the scrapbook. If it wasn't for the urge to do things worthy of taking photos of, we might never have tasted the best of Arizona's wines, eaten pizza at the funky Velvet Elvis, or hiked Madera Canyon in the snow.

Now, in the same way, this project to take a photo every day is inspiring me to do more, to create more, to see more in the world around me. I'm starting to see photo opportunities on the drive home. I'm bringing my camera when I walk the dog.

One thing, though, that I've sort of been restraining myself from photographing is food, mostly because our kitchen table can be so boring, I've never felt the urge to remember it!

Partly, this problem was due to our hideous place mats. Well, not my taste, at least!

Yes, this really is the only set we owned! We had bamboo ones at one time, but they started to rot! And we have ones that say "Happy Thanksgiving," but they're packed away (and really wouldn't be much better).

So, in the interests of being able to feel proud of any food photos I might want to take, I set out to make some more photogenic place mats! And since it was so easy, I thought I'd write a simple tutorial in case you're in need of a new set, too.

Most of the fabrics are ones I used in Matilda's play mat, as I loved the colour combination so much. (And now, if we ever change her on the kitchen table, it'll match nicely!!!!)

All I did was cut 3 inch wide strips of each fabric, about 19 inches long. Six place mats, then, needs 30 strips total.

I pinned them together, right sides facing, five strips to a mat, and sewed them, allowing a 1/4 seam allowance. (Approximately... I'm terrible at even seam allowances, but they turned out okay!)

Once sewed, I ironed the seams flat... my favourite bit!

Then, I pinned the top, right side down, to a big piece of red felt, which would serve as a backing. I cut around the place mat, and sewed the top and the felt together, leaving an opening for turning. I then top-stitched all the way around, which closed the opening-gap, and held it all together.

Finished! Ready for dinner... and photos!

When I showed them to Justin, he frowned and said "You know I'm just going to spill stuff on them, right?"

Yes, well, luckily we have six of them, and so there'll always be another clean one ready waiting!