365 to 30: Day 30

Day 30: February 24, 2012

I have this sitting in my kitchen and I always smile when I look at it.  It's so cheerful looking.  Thank you, Jessica (Bohobabybump) for this great gift. <3

365 to 30: Day 29

Day 29: February 23, 2012

This is my beautiful Momma.  We, along with our good from Rebekah, enjoyed a lovely morning uptown Charlotte for coffee, shopping, and laughter.  To top it off, it was a gorgeous day full of warmth and sunlight!  

365 to 30: Day 28

Day 28: February 22, 2012

While outside capturing photos of the beautiful day, I turned around to see my two furry friends looking out at the great outdoors!  They are so cute.

365 to 30: Day 27

Day 27: February 21, 2012

I woke up from a great nights sleep to this really cool looking site.  I believe the bag came with some  balls that I got at IKEA.  I love that TJ used it for the grapefruits.  So creative. <3

365 to 30: Day 26

Day 26: February 20, 2012

This is my kitchen window.  I really love this view every morning.  Not so much what is outside, but the beauty that sits in the window sill.  We've got sweet potatoes sprouting and a few of my favorite vases.  I just love the purple and greens. :-)

365 to 30: Day 25

Day 25: February 19, 2012

I absolutely love going on road trips with the doggies in tote.  Zoe is always alert and making sure everything is good on the road. ha!  Finnegan could care less.  He is along for the ride! :-)

365 to 30: Day 24

Day 24: February 17, 2012

This is my beautiful friend, Nichole.  I enjoyed a nice morning with her in Myrtle Beach while our hubbys were running in the half marathon.  

365 to 30: Day 23

Day 23: February 16, 2012

This is Nix, a restaurant in uptown Charlotte.  We did a photo shoot there last week.  I loved how industrial  and creative the ceiling was!

365 to 30: Day 22

Day 22: February 15, 2012

I really shouldn't have this many photos of myself, right?  However, I started taking photos of myself to capture the highlights that I just had put in my hair today in order to create a blog post about the spa I go to.  This photo came from those moments today, and I liked it.  Whew...that was winded.  You probably didn't want to know all of that did you?  ha!

365 to 30: Day 21

Day 21: February 14, 2012

Last night I looked over and saw both dogs passed out on the couch with TJ.  It was so sweet!

and because one photo isn't enough...

I love my little family!

365 to 30: Day 20

Day 20: February 13, 2012

This morning, I began reminiscing our trip to Ireland last year.  Tea was such a huge part of our daily routine.  Every meal ended with a cozy cup of Irish Tea.  Nothing like sipping tea in Europe!

365 to 30: Day 19

Day 19: February 12, 2012

Last night I made a really yummy spinach lasagna while watching Downton Abbey (such a wonderful show!!).  It was our Valentines Dinner while we watched In Time (good movie). <3 <3

365 to 30: Day 18

Day 18: February 11, 2012

My friend's beautiful baby girl.  She is such a bundle of joy and happiness.  <3

365 to 30: Day 17

Day 17: February 10, 2012

I usually don't brag too much about myself, but I'm pretty sure I make one of the best salsas.  However, I am willing to admit that someone else makes a better salsa.  Challenge?  Perhaps!  I'd love to try other peoples recipes.  

365 to 30: Day 16

Day 16: February 9, 2012

While in the office, I turned to see Finnegan staring at this painting by Pablo Picasso.  He sat there for a good minute without moving even his tail.  Maybe there is a future in art for him? haha!

365 to 30: Day 9 through 15

Wow, I got WAY behind in blogging my daily photos.  Being out of town completely gets me off schedule and out of my groove.

Day 9: February 2, 2012

We were in Virginia for a worship conference, Throne Zone, and TJ was apart of the band.  One of my favorite things is to watch and listen to TJ play music. 

Day 10: February 3, 2012 

 One of the 3 amazing backup singers.

Day 11: February 4, 2012

 This little girl brought me so much joy through her dancing.  It was powerful!

 Day 12: February 5, 2012

And what's a trip without a self portrait in an elevator? LoL

Day 13: February 6, 2012

The sunset was BEAUTIFUL the other night.  

Day 14: February 7, 2012

I have started allowing Finnegan to sleep in the bed with us.  I know that is probably a huge no-no in some peoples houses.  But, hey, as long as he is clean...why not?

 Day 15: February 8, 2012

Yesterday my friend Beka and I got together to make some Valentine garland for an upcoming tea party we are having.  I was SOOOO happy how this turned out.  It was so fun to make.  Thank you, Pinterest!

365 to 30: Day 6, 7, & 8

I may not be posting daily, but I am definitely snapping photos daily. :-)  It's just a matter of me taking the time to load them to the computer.  Today I am actually not using my normal computer, so the workflow is a bit different. But, nevertheless, it is a computer and I can blog on it.

Day 6: January 30, 2012

On Monday, we had family & friends over for a birthday game night.  These were cones that I made for popcorn!  It was a fun and quick project that I found on pinterest.  I was quite proud of them! :-)

Day 7: January 31, 2012

This is one of my favorite things!  Zoe absolutely loves to sleep on the couch with a pillow.  It cracks me up whenever I see it.  So documenting this is a must!

Day 8: February 1, 2012

This was probably the only photo of this post that I actually got semi creative.  While deciding to eat a yummy bowl of strawberries in our hotel room, I decided to do a little photoshoot in the window sill.

I hope everyone is having a great first week of February!

365 to 30: Day 4 & 5

This weekend was pretty exhausting, but very fun!  Yesterday we photographed a beautiful Bat Mitzvah.  We began the morning at the temple, and then gathered in the evening for the celebration!  It was such a great experience.  The parents of the daughter did an amazing job planning such a beautiful event.  I loved every moment of it and met some wonderful people.

With my busy weekend, I didn't get a chance to blog my photo a day yesterday.  So, tonight I will double up.

Day 4: January 28, 2012

This was captured during the Bat Mitzvah service.  Photographers are only allowed to take photos from the balcony.  This a reflection of TJ through the glass door of the sound equipment cabinet. 

Day 5: January 29, 2012

Yep, it's me.  The first self portrait of the project.  I wonder how many more there will be.  Anyone want to take a guess?  Maybe there will be a cool prize for the winner next year!?!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  See ya tomorrow!

365 to 30: Day 3

Three days into this project and I am finding that I am excited today.  I am excited to learn more and better my photography skills.  Continuing to better a skill is something that is always great, especially when it is your profession.

So, today I got to photograph my favorite person, Thomas Jackson Petrino.  We have had so much rain lately that our backyard is so muddy.  I wanted to get a photo of TJ holding Finnegan, but Finn's paws were so muddy just from walking outside.  Oh well!

Day 3: January 27, 2012

It is always hard for me to find good photo spots when in a wide open area.  We have no trees in our backyard, so it was super bright.  I took this around 4pm in the afternoon.  Shot it at f4, 200 shutter speed, and ISO 400.  24-105L & 5DMark2

365 to 30: Day 1 & Day 2

Many people decide to do a photo a day starting at the first of the year.  It is a way to document your year and it's a great New Years resolution to discipline yourself to pick up your camera daily.  However, I usually end up forgetting to begin this project on January 1st and then decide it's not worth it if I cannot do it from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31.  After deciding I would wait until NEXT year to do it, I had a thought.  My 29th birthday is (was) January 25th and this is my LAST year of being in my twenties.  It's a big deal to me! I remember going from a single digit age to a double digit age and then passing from a teenager to turning twenty. It's super exciting and a little sad at the same time.  Not sad because I'm getting older, but sad because I can never go back.  My twenties were great to me and I will always cherish the years and moments that led me to where I am now.  So, my idea was that I would use these 365 until my 30th birthday to take a photo a day.  It will be a huge act of discipline for me as it is hard to do anything consistently for more then a couple weeks.  But, I am REALLY going to try to do this.  It is important to me.

I am not afraid of getting old, I am afraid of not living and truly enjoying each moment given to me.  This project will hopefully allow me to take moments throughout my days to capture what is important, learn new techniques, and push myself.  By my 30th birthday, my gift to myself will be getting a book made of all the photos.  To me, that is huge inspiration!  I think of this as a project that I must do, kind of like Julie, in Julie & Julia, completing all of Julia Child's recipes in the Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

So, here I am, 2 days into 29, and I have already found myself waiting until the end of the day to pull my camera out.  I am trying not to be frustrated.  How many days does it take to form a habit?  I may need to write a reminder on my bathroom mirror. ha!

Before I keep writing a bunch of nothingness, let me share my Day 1 & Day 2 photos.  I promise not every photo will be of my dogs.  But, then again, this is my birthday project. :-)  I will also be using this time to practice techniques that I have not done in forever.  (For instance I tried a night shot this evening and then got poured on)

Day 1: January 25, 2012

This is Finnegan, our newest member of the family.  He is almost 4 months old.

Day 2: January 26, 2012

This is a perfect example of practicing different kinds of shoots.  The day had already slipped away from me, so I decided to try a night shot.  Nothing in my neighborhood is super great to look at, especially at night, so I just chose the front of our house looking out at the street.  I pulled the tripod out and just wanted to experiment with long exposures.  I would have possibly had a better and more creative shot had it not poured down rain on me a few minutes after I started.  So, this was what I got.  It was dark out, other than the lights from the soccer field.  This photo was a 6 second exposure at f4 at an ISO of 400.

Whether this project is viewed by others or not, I will be posting for myself and using it to document my journey.

2 days down, 363 to go.