Project 52: 2014

So, I didn't make it all the way through project 52. I completed 30 weeks of it, the wrench getting thrown in as soon as our real preparation to travel across the country kicked in. My absence of photos took place at 27 weeks, and I didn't get back into the swing of things until week 47. Even then, I had a hard time really balancing this with working and going to school.

Despite that, I'm pretty proud of how long I stuck with it and that it took a move from NY to CA to throw me off! More than anything, I have 30 beautiful images that represent my year in photos - photos from week to week. I love seeing the growth in me from one week to the next, seeing the growth in the photos and the development of it all. 

Needless to say, I do plan on doing this again in 2015! I may not complete it again, but that's the goal! Or, at a bare minimum, maybe I'll make it 31 weeks. 

All the photos below are copyright of Danielle Armstrong and are not to be altered in any way or claimed as another's work.

Project 52 l Week 25 and 26

week 25 ; dreamy

week 26 ; old

No crazy or creative captions for either of these. It was more about how these came out post processing. Week 25 just had such a beautiful, dreamy feel to it. It helped that it was of a soccer net, the sport I literally dreamed about since I was like 5, so there's that. 

And Week 26 just came out with this really pretty, old, and classic feel to it. 

Project 52 l Weeks 23 and 24

Week 23 ; Blur and Week 24 ; Motion

Missed me? Life has been busy in the Armstrong household, especially if your name is Danielle. I started my school semester about a month ago and am currently averaging reading 4 chapters, two to three quizzes, a discussion post and response to the post immediate after mine, two lectures, and a few worksheets each week. For two classes, mind you.

And I squeeze in some photo sessions in there, attention for my husband and three fur babies, anywhere from 30-90 minutes for working out (this does include walking Talos), editing photos from sessions, and still trying to have a social life and enjoy the small amount of time we have left here with friends. Oh, yeah. Throw in planning a move across the country, too. 

My plate is (kind of really) full. Hence the lack of blogging. But, I am trying to catch up! And I am staying on top of Project 52 for the most part. I was late this past week, but only because I just haven't had a moment to edit personal photos. 

I do have a few posts to blog once the photos get edited, which I actually have a moment to do right now! I have a "light" week in terms of school work this week, so that means I actually get time for me. Insert the thought of, "wait, what's that?" 

Project 52 l Week 22

Week 22 ; My Life

My life for the next 7 days consists of fruits, vegetables, and a whole lot of juice. After getting all of our groceries for the majority of the week, we're wondering what we've gotten ourselves into.

Project 52 l Week 21

Week 21 ; My Backyard

This is our backyard. What little of it there is, anyway.

Project 52 l Week 20

Week 20 ; Light

James has been working on his shadow box this week and figuring out a design, which means his blues have been out of the closet and out for me to see. It makes me sad that these will forever be sitting in a box and not available for wear again (because let's be honest here, I love a man in uniform and I think James looks super classy in his), but I understand why these would be such a big part of his box and what he wants to remember.

Before we went to bed one night, I looked at them from this angle and had to seriously convince myself that the better option was to wait until the next day to take this photo, when the natural light came back. I'm glad I did, because this is probably one of my favorite images I've taken to date.

Seeing these and knowing that all these pieces of clothing are soon to be retired is our light at the end of the tunnel. It's so close and so bright. 

Also, in case you missed it, this image also got chosen for this week's "eye candy!" The photographer who runs the group I'm in chooses a select few images each week that she think stood out. The choice can really be based off of anything, such as if it's a stunning image, the story behind it, creativity, etc. Regardless of what it's chosen for, it's selected out of hundreds of images, so you can imagine how excited I am to finally have one of my pictures designated as such!

Project 52 l Week 19

Week 19 ; Faces

We found this little guy during our trip to the shore and he had me obsessed within seconds, mainly because he was on his back and I was worried! Fear not, though. I rescued the little man and sent him back on his way.

And, of course, there will be more pictures from our "beach" trip to follow, soon!

Project 52 l Weeks 16 and 17

Week 16 ; Mine

These cleats have been with me through injuries, some of the most memorable moments of my life, suffered heartache with me, and have aged alongside me. These cleats are mine and me, worn and experienced but still strong.

Week 17 ; Pastel

The newest addition to our "pack," Oakley. Though not pastel, this boy has completely stolen my heart and has me seeing nothing but sweet baby pink in the shape of hearts.

Project 52 l Week 15

Week 15 ; White

In honor of turning 23, my grandma gifted me this awesome refrigerator magnet set, all with Harry Potter words! My husband and I have been having far too much fun with it, with him shown above and taking the label on the package very seriously, apparently. "Over 425 word magnets perfect for the Witch or Wizard who should be busy studying!"

Project 52 l Week 14

Week 14 ; Radiate

I have been waiting for weeks, and week, and more weeks for it to be both sunny and warm enough to be able to take pictures outside. I've been craving light and those beautiful sun flare, but it's been cold, cloudy, or both. It totally gets a photographer down.

But finally, a nice spring day. It was warm and sunny and it felt like winter was almost gone. We all know it's not, not up here any way. But it at least pretended like it was.

So, I took advantage. I dragged my wonderful husband out and we took advantage of this gorgeous, radiant light that we haven't seen in a while. I cannot wait to feel the radiance and warmth of the sun like this all the time.

Also, of course there are more pictures. I'm still editing them and taking my sweet time with them. Look out for a post with the rest of them soon.

Project 52 l Week 13

Week 13 ; Vast

This week is pretty simple. I have a vast love for a man who cooks me breakfast.

Project 52 l Week 12

Week 12 ; Blue

Our poor Princess P got declawed this week, and she was looking rather drugged and sad after she came home from the vet. Poor thing had two little boots on her front feet and she was incredibly miserable. You could tell she couldn't get comfortable and that the booties were really bothering her. She kept trying to shake them off, and succeeded with one of them. We're still not sure how she managed to just slide right out of it, but it took some serious determination on her part. Regardless, I felt this was fitting for this week's theme of blue, because she was certainly feeling it the first few days after  her vet visit.

Penelope is good now, boot free, and adjusted to having to claws on her front paws. She's back to her playful, sweet self, cuddling with Mom and Dad and fetching her beloved hair tie. 

Project 52 l Week 11

Week 11 ; Patterns

Originally, I was going to take a picture of all the different patterns of my shirts in my dresser drawer. I liked how the lines would give good depth and sight lines and all the color I would get, but struggled at the same time because I didn't want my image for the week to be of folded clothes. Granted, folding laundry is a rarity and probably is a fairly substantial thing in the yearly scheme of things. However, I'm trying to capture moments from the year of my family. 

That idea changed last Sunday when I went into work with James to help him finish the last of his FTX planning and get things for his kit. I more so went along to take pictures of him, but I did actually lend a helping hand. We got home later in the evening, but there was still some work James needed to do on his ruck and he had to figure out what he was wearing out on the range the following evening. It started to get dark, so my camera had actually been retired for the night. That is, until he pulled out his flashlight and started doing detail work. My rebel got pulled out of retirement and I got this shot, which vociferates patterns to me.

I know his patterns. My fingers know the pattern of his uniform, my mind knows his patterns for planning things, and my heart knows his patterns of assiduity. 

Project 52 l Week 10

Week 10 ; Soft

It's crazy to think that I'm already 1/4 of the way done with this project. In terms of thinking like a runner, I only have three more laps left in my mile. And as someone who had sports endured asthma, the first lap was always the hardest for me. I would think that this analogy is suitable for this project, because I've definitely had my fair share of hardship at the beginning of this. It's becoming easier, though. 

At first, my image for this week was going to be of donuts. Yes, donuts. Every now and then I get massive cravings for something sweet, and it was donuts this time. They're not the best, mind you, because my California heart will never love (or really even like) Dunkin Donuts. But, the light was so soft when I got home and, again thinking in fitness terms, donuts make you soft. But then Penelope crawled in James's lap and I couldn't not use that.

So, soft. Soft is the way he looks at those he loves. It's the way he looks at me and our fur babies.

Project 52 l Week 9

Week 9 ; Color Blind

There were some absolutely stunning images this week. People have surprised me with such creativity and their ability to look at the theme "color blind" in so many different directions. There was one image of a flower that had split color and black and white in such a that was so tasteful and soft. Sorry, total fan girl moment. Anyway.

Our dear, new Penelope and her baby. We have no idea where she found this hair tie, no idea where it came from because I don't have purple ones, and no idea why she loves it so much. She just does and she was putting on quite the show with it while I was taking pictures of her earlier during the week. I wish I could've caught her throwing it in the air and tumbling after it, but it was too dark inside our home for me to get the shutter speed up high enough and I can't bump up the ISO on my camera past 400 without getting noise and grain. I'm more than content with this image, though, and her intent stare on her weird choice in a toy. 

I thought it was appropriate, too, to take an image of a black and white cat in, well, black and white. It just seemed very fitting, especially since we had gotten her that week, too. After all, this project is to get me to take pictures of my life from week to week and to document the year as it unfolds. 

Project 52 l Week 8

Week 8 ; Bright

I was hoping to get out and snap some shots of the grass during golden hour for this week, but that plan didn't quite work out. Some days I was busy and couldn't get out. Plus, when I actually looked at the grass, I realized it wasn't going to be the prettiest picture. I remembered grass looking very crisp, green, and alive. The grass we have is…not. It's just dead and sad looking. (Don't get me wrong, I'm still happy to actually see it because that doesn't happen during February up here.)

With that gone, I had to get creative and decided to derive something bright from the natural light I got through the window. A lot of people had awesome pictures of brightly colored things, but we don't really have anything bright in our house. We are very neutral, soft, and natural looking people and our home reflects that. So, I worked with what I had and got this.

I decided, too, that freelensing would be great for this week. It's not the brightest here, what with there being clouds all the time, and shooting with my lens off the camera allows me to let in more light than the camera would normally. Hence, a brighter image. The technique delivered and the result was a picture of Morris napping on his favorite chair in front of what little sunlight we have. I got a beautiful, soft, bright, and airy image that far succeeded my expectations. Truthfully, too, I don't think I could've gotten a better image, even if I was able to shoot something outside.

Project 52 l Week 7

Week 7 l focused

I have two images for the theme this week! A good improvement from being so creatively stuck and struggling for images the past few weeks.

This weekend, we were having an apartment crawl and, of course, our theme was California. In the first picture, you can see James working on what would become a US 101 sign. Already, I knew that my image for "focused" would come from there, but that notion was solidified when Morris came. As always, he was looking for love in the wrong places and at the wrong time. He's notorious for head butting the both of us and stepping on us in the middle of the night because he wants loves. It was no different. His little mind decided it would be a good idea to lay in the center of the paper while James was working, thinking it would be perfect and that he would have to pet him because he just got in the way of business. He was wrong, but it was cute and he ended up just settling there. So, James was focused on working and Mo was focused on getting attention.

My second image wasn't even intended for this, but I knew it needed to accompany this week's theme because it was perfect. All the color pops, my ring looks outstanding, and the blur is just beautiful. It's the obvious focus of the photo. But on top of that, I was proposed to three years ago yesterday. I've been in love with this ring before my husband even intended to put it on my finger. I always seem to love it more, though, and focus on it more year after year on Valentine's Day. This man still has my focus, too, even after being together for over 5 years. It just fit perfectly with this theme, and I couldn't not include it.