Settings: ISO 800, f/1.6, 1/40 sec, 50mm lens

This is a photo of my unfortunately dried-out thyme plant sitting on my windowsill.  I like how how the super shallow depth of field gives it that moody blur.  I took a few others in this same vein – I had trouble deciding but the thyme won out in the end. Here are the others:

Settings: ISO 400, f/1.6, 1/60 sec, 50mm lens

Settings: ISO 400, f/1.6, 1/30 sec, 50mm lens

Yesterday I wasn’t feeling well, so on my way home from the nursing home I snapped one photo and decided that was going to be it for the day.  The photo was pretty good – it was of a couple of the guys who work at the nursing home taking a break on the steps of a building across the street.  When I got home and showed Adam, he was unimpressed… he thought I should take a rest and then see if inspiration hit again before giving up so early in the day.  I was crabby and mopey… annoyed for the moment by his high expectations of me.

Later that evening, we decided it was time to change our headers on our blogs…  I was unsure about changing my sheep picture, which I took in Italy and has been my blog header since the beginning.  But – it can’t hurt to keep things fresh so I changed my header to the cheese photo you see now.  What do you think?  Do you like the change?  I think I’ll start mixing it up once a month from now on.

Anyway, Adam was trying to figure out a good photo for his header and I remembered the photo I took a few months back of his bookshelf.  I thought that would be an excellent representation of Adam and the perfect new header for his blog.  He agreed.  However, the sizing wasn’t quite right so I picked up my camera and we re-shot it… rearranging a few books along the way.  (Check out Adam’s new blog header).  That was the inspiration I needed to play around with the camera a bit more and I took about thirty or so more pictures of things around the apartment to try to get a better (or more interesting) photo of the day.  The light was starting to fade, which is the reason I tried out the super shallow depth of field approach with the windowsill photos… that way I didn’t have to jack up my ISO to 3200 or 6400.  Bringing up the ISO like that gives you the ability to take photos in lower light, but results in a much grainier and “noisier” look to your photos… its a compromise and a balancing act (read about it here).

So – I’m glad Adam pushed me to pick up the camera again yesterday.  While I was initially frustrated with the “burden” of being pressured to do better, I am grateful that he believes in me and pushes me to do my best.  Without the structure of a 9-6 job, I know the personal importance of not succumbing to procrastination and laziness and of remaining productive.  Every once in a while I just need a little shove.  🙂