Day 365 - Beauty...

Can you believe that this is it? the 365th picture.... A year since I started this project. I found this fortune in my wallet.  It's been there for some time.  I still remember the day I got it.  I was having a bad day. A bunch of us were out at lunch at a Chinese restaurant. One of the members cracked open his fortune cookie, and handed it to me, and said he must have mistakenly taken my cookie.  It was very sweet.  I also thought it was pretty good way to end this project.... A lot of people take pictures for many reasons, and one of the primary reasons I photograph is to capture the beauty around me, and to share the virtues of the world.

Day 363 - Elections

Election day here and I hope many people will vote. I've had many conversations about voting. I really don't care who you vote for, but only that you go out and exercise your democratic right.  There are so many around the world who would do anything for this right, and the right to exercise it without fear.

Day 354 - Set lists

Haven't had a chance to look at my camera, so today's entry is from the archives, sort of.  Here is some background:

I remember years ago I was at an album preview event that was part of a free summer concert series in the business core of the city.  As throngs of fans waited to meet the artist and the staff cleaned up the temporary stage, I walked aimlessly onto to the stage.  There I noticed that artist had a set list printed on a simple white 8 1/2" x 11" paper that was on the ground next to his mic stand.  Next to it were the lyrics to his newest song. Knowing this artist, I knew it was because he admitted that with new songs he often couldn't remember the lyrics new songs until he had performed them for a while.  I still have both of these.

Since I have been volunteering for arts and cultural festivals, I've had many more opportunities to observe artists and how they function.  One of the things I always take note of is where they keep their set list.  The following are two such lists.

This photo was from a couple year's ago. I was with the artist while he sat in the Green Room/Staging Area figuring out his set list. I was thoroughly amused as he wrote it on his wrist; he humoured me later and allowed me to take this picture of his wrist/list.

This set list was from the event last week. The performance came together sort of organically, as we chatted about life in the interview portion, so there was no fixed set list.  The artists did however want to remember a couple of requests that had been made, so he jotted them down on a piece of paper and laid them on the drum that was by his mic stand during the performance.

Day 340 - Choosing which bridge to cross...

This is one of the pictures from a hangout last summer.  I had to work on this one a bit, because it was way overexposed. I also added text, just because.

Day 334 - What place belongs to you?

This was on the ground in the Stockyards area.  Such a great reminder to take ownership and great care of the places we love.

Day 262 - Family

Been thinking a lot about family recently, and wanted to take a picture of what I've been thinking. I was staring at my laptop trying to figure out a shot, and I noticed the W & E keys together, and that summed it up perfectly.  A family is about the we and not me... about what you are together, and being there for one another.... and there the keys were together on the keyboard.

Day 245 - Happy Valentine's Day!

I honour of Valentine's Day, here is a picture of a chocolate box.  I actually really liked the box, and the lighting in the store where I found this box.  I hope you celebrate the people in your life everyday, and not only on this one day!

Day 244 - Interesting carvings

What I loved about walking through the cemetery was seeing how Toronto has changed over time, not only with the names on the epitaphs, headstones, etc, but also in the styles and carvings on them.  I like the carvings on this one.  I wish I knew more about how it was selected and some of the traditions and cultures represented.

Day 201 - Happy 2014!

I have been a little busy with life recently... which is not a bad thing.  So, I didn't get a chance to shoot a new photo for New Year's, as I had intended. I spent some time looking for an appropriate for the occasion.  I found this photo I had done to experiment with light writing for a contest I wanted to enter.  Again, I never did enter the contest with this photo, but thought it was time to share this one.

Salaam to the New Year! Hope it is filled with all that is bright, peaceful, and good!

Day 194 - Happy Holidays!

From my family to yours!

Another picture I took from the first real snowfall we had!

Day 180 - Contradictions?

From the archives again.  This picture was out of focus, so I decided to use a filter on this one.  I like it so much better as a drawing.  As I was editing, I noticed the word... COMFORT, AUTHORITY, JUDGEMENT, EFFICIENCY and VIRTUE.... I'm not sure they are words I would put together, and may be that is why I took this picture.

Day 158 - A place to call home

I'm volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, and I have to say it is one of the most rewarding experiences. I love charity that you are invested in more than merely donating money.  With this organization you can see your "donation" (of time) at work in a real way, touching the lives of real people.

I love this tradition that they have at Habitat, where the volunteers are allowed to write messages to the families receiving the homes, and these get built right into the supports of the home.

Day 155 - "...placed for you the stars...."

Really busy these days, so just added some text to the astrolabe...

Day 153 - Slowly...

I've been staring at this photo and playing around with it on my phone.  This is what I ended up doing with it.  What do you think?

Edited this on the PhotoGrid app on my phone.

Day 83 - Letting go...

I did this exercise with a friend that is meant to encourage someone to let go of things weighing on them. The person identifies these things and writes them on a piece of paper, ties the paper to a balloon, and let them go into the universe.  Really it's more symbolic than anything else.  I don't know if it worked for this friend - hoping it did!

So, this is a picture of one of the balloons at it flew up to the heavens...

Added some text to the picture because reminded me of the pictures that I've seen on tumblr, etc.  

Day 77 - My path

So, this a picture from an urban park.  I didn't love the light, but couldn't fix with my limited software. 

What I decided to do was make the image a little softer, darker and add a quote to it.  I used software that I'm unfamiliar with, so I didn't notice until now that the opacity of the shadow text is a little strange.  I'll have to figure out how to fix that for the next time.