Around Town with Paisley

4 December 2011 - A Day in the Life, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

While working on my 365 project, there were days when photography started to feel like work. It's a challenge taking a photo per day. On some days, work and other commitments left little time for photography. I would start to feel pressure to take a picture. I would take a picture because I "had to" take one.

Over time, I learned to keep it fun. I would sometimes go for a walk on Saturday mornings, before the family woke up. On the walk, I would enjoy the surroundings and snap photos as photos presented themselves. I didn't "look" for a photo. I wasn't concerned about creating a masterpiece on that specific day. I just enjoyed the walk and enjoyed capturing photos of the things around me.

Now that I'm done with my project, I don't ever feel the pressure to take photos. I take pictures because I want to. I still take my solo walks around the neighborhood with my camera. Well, technically, the walks nowadays aren't solo, because Paisley joins me.

Here are a few photos from my walk a few weeks ago. The photo above is where Mohr Avenue crosses the Iron Horse Trail. I liked the way the arrows were pointing to the leaf on the ground and how the shadows from the foliage helped frame the leaf.

Below are the little pumpkins in our front yard. I shot them previously at night, lit by the light coming through our kitchen windows. When I left the house for my walk, I noticed how the afternoon light hit the pumpkins and decided they deserved another shot, this time from a lower perspective.


This is Paisley. Whenever I take her for a walk, a jog, or a hike, the exercise always seems to stimulate a bowl movement. Okay, that was TMI. Anyway, as I was walking her on the Iron Horse Trail, she needed to go. I picked it up with a plastic bag and then noticed the low angle sunlight on her face....so I decided to snap her picture.


The late afternoon sun always brings out the textures in the terrain. As I walked along Kolln Avenue, I came across the "Pacific Telephone" on the sidewalk and just found it interesting. I got down on my hands and knees and shot this with a shallow depth of field. Paisley patiently waited for me....although she kept getting her shadow in the frame, so I had to get her to scoot back a bit.