Kaylee time

The post title pretty much says it all...

First up, this is the sight that greeted me when I headed to bed on Thursday night; apparently Kaylee is very enthusiastic when it comes to providing turn-down service:



But how could I be upset with someone so absolutely adorable?



Friday morning it was snowing at a pretty good clip when I woke up, or at least enough to close the local schools for the day. Kaylee, of course, was full of pep after a good night's sleep, so I grabbed her rubber ball and took her out to play. However, in the winter there's a bit more this particular activity than just a game of fetch; more times than not, Kaylee will bypass whoever's throwing the ball in favor of climbing up one of the snow banks created when the driveway is plowed, dropping the ball, and then digging at it. Which drives it further into the snow, requiring more digging. She'll actually do this for several minutes before finally grabbing the ball and bringing it back to whichever one of us has been standing there doing their best imitation of a popsicle. Then we throw it for her, and the process begins all over again.

At any rate, after watching Kaylee dig for a while I decided I might as well do something with my downtime, so I snuck back into the house and grabbed my camera.

Loved that I managed to catch her just as she was glancing up to see where I was. And yes, she really was in the snow bank that deep:



Trying to get herself turned around:



Digging in a new spot:



Another check on me:



Trying to maneuver herself back down into the hole she'd created:



And, at long last, Kaylee decides she's ready to return the ball to me:

Day 365

I have to confess, it's a bit hard to wrap my mind around the fact that, after 380 posts containing 3785 pictures, I've reached the last day of my year-long photographic adventure. Needless to say, I have many thoughts rolling around in my head about the entire experience. But first, today's photos.

As the calendar rolled over to December, I began thinking about what I wanted to feature in this, the final post of the year. But even though I kicked around various ideas, one in particular felt like the right way to go pretty much from the moment it occurred to me. So I'm ending my project the same way I began it—with photos of Kaylee, curled up and looking adorable in her favorite chair:



A couple of close-ups:





And one last wide shot:



First things first: yes, I do plan on continuing to take photos and post them to this blog after today. If nothing else, my mom has mentioned a few times how much she's looking forward to seeing what I come up with during our stay in Hawaii next month, so I'll definitely be sharing pictures from there. And I'll still be bringing my camera along with me whenever I go anywhere, just in case I see something that interests or inspires me.

But I do want to take at least a few days off to recharge my batteries, so to speak. For one, I can barely remember what it's like to come home after work and be able to do absolutely nothing but read or watch television. And I also think, or at least hope, that when I'm taking photos because I want to, not necessarily because I have to, the results will be even better. Don't get me wrong, though—I have a feeling that if I could go back and chart my brainwaves I'd find it was on the days I didn't necessarily feel like doing so that I learned the most about how to take a picture. And because of that knowledge and experience, I know that going forward I'll have a much better chance of making sure my photographs come out exactly the way I want them to.

Sitting here right now, on the last day of the year, I'm finding it's really hard to try and summarize what this project and experience has been like or what it's meant to me. There's all the technical stuff I've learned about cameras and photography, things like aperture and shutter speed, although I'd also say I now know enough to realize how much more there is to learn. I've also picked up a lot about framing and composition, and I've gotten better at paying attention to everything I'm seeing through the lens, not just what I intend the main focus of the picture to be. And my photo editing skills have improved greatly, mostly in order to make up for my shortcomings as a photographer.

Then there's all the cool things I've seen over the course of the year, moments I never would have enjoyed if it hadn't been for this project, like watching a gray fox walk by, less than a stone's throw away from where I stood. All the different birds I'd never seen before: mergansers, egrets, warblers, and yesterday's starling, to name a few. Having an otter come so close I seriously started considering which direction I should jump if it decided it didn't like me. My quest to get a good photograph of a kingfisher over at Howell's Pond.

Most of all, though, this project has taught me a lot about looking at the world around me. Of all the photos I've taken all year, the entry that got the most hits wasn't the one with the gray fox, or a bird post, or one filled with doggie cuteness. It was a post from August when I photographed rain drops clinging to the plants growing next to my apartment. Something simple, the kind of thing we've all seen countless times over the course of our lives. On that one day, though, whether it was inspiration or desperation, I really looked at what I was seeing, and then did my best to convey at least some of the beauty I discovered in that ordinary moment. Even though I'm sure I still miss a lot, I also notice much more than I used to. And I figure any way you look at it, that can only be a good thing.

Finally, I have to express my gratitude to my family and friends for all of their love and encouragement, as well as say thank you to everyone who visited, read, and commented over the course of the year; there were a number of times I doubted myself or considered bailing on this whole thing, but your support and belief in what I was doing helped me carry me through those times my own faith deserted me.

I'll see you all in 2011.

Sara

Express yourself

I realized yesterday that it's been quite a while since Kaylee's made an appearance on the blog, and since I knew I'd be having dinner with Mom and Dad tonight I figured I could rectify that with today's post. So without further ado, I bring you some of the many faces of Kaylee:

Sleepy:



Innocent:



Inquisitive:



Knackered:



And finally... actually, I'm not sure there's a single word that can encapsulate her expression here. So instead I'm going to go with a classic and call this one her "we are not amused" look:

Say cheese

Just a few photos I took of Kaylee this evening when I went over to Mom and Dad's for dinner, holding the camera in one hand as I fed her her nightly treat—a slice of cheese—with the other:







Afterward Kaylee let me know that she'd be happy to let me try taking more photos of her eating cheese whenever I like, as often as I like. Very considerate of her, no?

Sleepy dog

It was a weird day here weather-wise, and my chances to get out to take photos were few and far between. Thankfully, Mom and Dad invited me over for dinner this evening, so I at least have some Kaylee goodness to share today:

Dog day

It rained steadily here all day (which we desperately needed, so no complaints here), which meant outdoor photography was pretty much a non-starter. However, I did stop by Mom and Dad's after work, enjoying a lovely dinner with them as well as my grandmother.

Anyway, what it all boils down to is this: you only get a few pictures again today, but the good news is that they're all of Kaylee:







Seriously, one of these days I have to bring Kaylee a new stuffed animal and some tasty treats to thank her for always being so photogenic...

Kaylee Sunday

I'm sure it'll come as absolutely no surprise that I was feeling a bit of photo fatigue this afternoon. So when I got home from work, I grabbed my camera, went outside with Kaylee, took a few shots of her, and called it good.

Investigating some interesting smells:



Looking regal as ever:





Finally, a shot I snapped just as Kaylee got tired of sitting/posing and started to head towards me—I thought it came out kinda neat:

Triple threat 3: Hound dog

The conclusion of another epic Saturday multi-part post. If you missed them, you can check out part one here, and part two here.

For this last post, it's all about Kaylee.

To kick things off, here she is laying on top of my parents' hot tub, queen of all she surveys:



What exactly are you little people doing down there?



In this sequence, Greg is feeding Kaylee her nightly treat: a slice of cheese. Which, clearly, is something she doesn't anticipate or look forward to at all:



At no point will her eyes ever stray from the cheese:



When I showed Greg this one, he started doing the theme from Jaws:



Finger lickin' good:



Posing in hopes of getting more treats:



Next, a few action shots as she played with Greg. Rule one: always keep your eye on the ball:



She can definitely get some air when she wants to:





Monitoring the dinner preparations through the kitchen window:



A face that's impossible to resist:



Thus endeth another epic picture post.

Hey, whaddya know? I might actually be asleep before 2 a.m. this time...

Another round of Kaylee goodness

Need I say more?

In the living room, watching over the proceedings and trying to keep her eyes open:



Sleepy dog:



For these pics, I put the camera on the floor and took advantage of my maneuverable LCD screen to help frame the shot:



Talk about looking like the queen of all she surveys:



"One more photo? Really? Fine, if you must...":

She's baaaack . . .

Dinner with the folks=lots of Kaylee photo goodness. Let's get right to it, shall we?

Apparently, she'd had a very busy day today:



Resting on top of the chair:







However, she's always able to muster up enough energy to enjoy her nightly slice of cheese:



Finger Nose lickin' good:



And did get enough of a second wind to play tug-of-war with Greg for a bit:



Closing with this one because, really, how do you resist this face?