Day 5 : Driveway in the Mist

I didn't have time to take pictures today. We were dreaming of the perfect steamed fish which is a 50km drive away. After dinner we went to have a look at the jungle house and it was quite misty at the house as was the drive up there. I took out my phone and snapped this picture. The lights on the right are the driveway lights and the uppermost one is a street lamp. My first picture with my iPhone. Yes, this is a photo taken out of desperation.

Day 4 : The Lonely Float

 

Of course it rained again. So the swimming pools were cleared out and ended up quite empty. I was looking around for my photo of the day when I noticed a float left behind in the kids' pool. By that time the rain was stopping. You can see a few small drops hitting the water around the float.

Day 3 : Water Fire

 

It rained again. No surprise there. Not in this sponge of a country. Anyway, I spent the day having a chin wag with a couple of fellow instructors at a dive shop I used to work at. Where I started in the dive industry actually. I picked up a few pieces for my underwater camera set up at good prices. Can't wait for the next trip!

When I came back I decided to have a rethink and another go at something I tried yesterday. Here's what I used today. A glass of water, a bottle of liquid fish medicine (no food dye!), a torchlight and a piece of A4 sized paper. I took a few shots and then chose one which I had loads of photo editing fun with. I've changed the photograph to its negative form, tweaked the contrast and colour a bit and played with its white balance. The picture above is the result. This is more a triumph of photo editing than actual photography.

This is what the original looks like:

Day 2 : Random Raindrop

The weather really didn't co-operate today. My morning was occupied as I sent my car for its quarterly servicing. After, I had intended to head out to the park or drive to the bird park to get some shots. Incidently, the words 'bird park' wouldn't work for my bird-watcher maniac sister. I mentioned it to her on one of the very rare occasions she was in town and I suppose it was just so much of an incredulous suggestion that her mind automatically deleted what I'd said and it went into the It-Never-Happened filing cabinet. I suppose it would be the same if someone told me to go diving in an aquarium. I wouldn't but if we were talking about Osaka or Atlanta.... I'd bludgeon anyone in my way!

So stuck in the house and wondering where Day 2's shot was going to come from. Everything I tried for an indoor shot fell flat. I was standing at the back of the house and had taken some shots of anything, everything when I saw raindrops splashing. Took me quite a while, many shots fired and many many tweaks and I only managed barely acceptable. I took more than two hundred shots, I only got three perfect crowns in the whole lot. Too bad they were all in out of focus areas and not center of the frame. The 'winner' isn't great, I'd have preferred focus on the other side of the crown but I'll do and I don't know whether I can brag about bokeh as I was trying to eliminate most of it. Subsequent shots with smaller apertures drew blanks as well.

Day 1 : At the End of the Day

I had set today as the day I would begin my project but for the most part was busy teaching and what not in the dive centre from 9am to 7pm. I had managed to take a shot or two here and there when I could but didn't get anything that I felt really represented my day. After work my wife and I went out for dinner. I brought my camera along and took more pictures but got nothing which really stood out for me. I had really wanted a proper start to my 365. Feeling a bit disappointed, I sat down in front of my computer to sort through my images. Then I noticed a big envelope on the table. The wife had neglected to tell me I had received a package I'd been expecting. This would be my new cards and certificate from PADI. I opened it, took the contents out, grabbed the camera and snapped it like it was which is what you can see here. I've converted it to a black and white image and that's the only editing done on this photo.

I did try setting up a shot. Tried arranging the cards and certs. Using dive books as props. Photographing the new cards with the rest of my cards. In the end it all felt too pretentious and fake. Only the first shot works for me. A picture of the contents of an envelope as they were on the table after being liberated from said envelope. It's neither artistic nor brilliant but it does sum up my day.