I'm Back!

Hello!  I missed you.

I'm finally back.  Thank you for all of the well wishes! My mother is doing great.  She is on her way to a speedy recovery.


Now let's get down to business.  I am just playing catch up today.  So, here are the days I missed.


March 24, 2011
83/365
30th Street Station

March 25, 2011
84/365
Duchess

 March 26, 2011
85/365
Motherhood

 March 27, 2011
86/365
Washington DC from a car

 March 28, 2011
87/365
Where the Hell is Spring

Tomorrow, I will share my favorite shots from my Saturday Shoot with you!

Aasiya

No Blogging from Thursday to Sunday

I know I am behind, so I am going to do a quick catch up!  I will not be able to blog for the next few days. I am going home to Maryland from Thursday until Sunday because my mother is having surgery on Friday.  I will continue to take pictures, but won't be able to post them until I return to Philly.   Enjoy your weekend and the sucky weather!


March 22, 2011
81/365
Long Exposure for Class

This is what happens when I get off of work almost 3 hours late.  A completely uninspired shot.  I guess it doesn't matter as long as I took a photo.


March 23, 2011
82/365
82/365
My Dinner Tonight

I didn't take a picture until I came back from class.   I ate dinner at 10:30pm because I didn't eat lunch until 2:30pm today.  I wasn't hungry before class.

See you Sunday or Monday

Aasiya

I Miss Baking

I just wanted to say...

Thank You!

 To everyone who voted on their favorite pictures of the MCP Weekly Assignment.  I submitted photo #2.  I will have to wait until Saturday to see if they like as much as I do. 

Now back to my baking thoughts

I use to bake several times I week, but I stopped, cold turkey, during the fall.  I recently started baking on Sundays.  I take all of my baked goods to work like I use to.  I have forgotten how good it feels when people tell me how much the LOVE my baking.  I just don't feel like I have enough time for photography and baking.  I have made a daily commitment to photography for the year and I plan to see it through to the end.  So for now, I guess I will satisfy my baking need here and there.

  

Maybe I could even incorporate my baking into my photography.  

I have never really tried food photography.  

Sorry for  rambling

 Now on to the photo of the day!

My husband gave me a Gerber Daisy yesterday

So I took a picture of it.  

I wanted to get it from a different angel.

So I decided to photograph the flower from behind

March 21, 2011

80/365

From the Back

Aasiya

MCP 52 Weekly Photo Theme: Jewelry Box

This week, MCP 52 theme for the weekly photo challenge is Jewelry Box.  Since my sister was in town, I figured I would use her as my model.  She never says no to photos.  If you don't believe me, just take a look at her Facebook page.  She seriously has a lot of photos of herself.  I told her that she needs to do a 365 of self-portraits.  She just laughed.

I decided to do photos of her trying on ALL my jewelry!  She is always going through my jewelry to see if I acquired new stuff since her last visit.  Somehow, she always manages to leave with one or two pieces.

Here are some of the pictures from the shoot.  

I also used her as a model for my class assignment:  Natural Light Portrait 

Here are a few photos for this series

Now for the Photo of the Day

March 20, 2011

79/365

My Sister a.k.a The Jewel Thief

I love this photo.  She looks like she is being really sneaky.  I should probably check my jewelry to see if anything is missing.  

Now for my dilemma...

I am trying to decide which photo to enter into the weekly photo contest for MCP.  I can't decided which one to choose.  I am tying to decided between my Photo of the Day or this one...

If you could place your vote in the comment section, I would really appreciate it.

#1 (The Photo of the Day)

or 

#2

Aasiya

Muscles and Spinach

My sister Nia and nephew Jarvis came to visit me in Philadelphia this weekend.  She wanted me to take some pictures of them for Easter.  I agreed to photograph them since I need all of the practice I can get, especially when it comes to portraits.  We didn't have any sun in the spots I wanted to take the photos, so I had to find some alternatives.  My nephew, grew tired of having his picture taken really fast.  


I like a lot of the photos I took, but I will only share a few with you.  

My nephew asked for a hat like the ones my husband wears for Christmas.  We are just getting it to him.  Of course I had to get a picture of the two of them in their matching hats

They even managed to make the Photo of the Day

March 19, 2011

78/365

Popeye and Spinach

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man, 

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man. 

I'm strong to the finich 

Cause I eats me spinach. 

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man. 

Aasiya

American Pie

This week was very busy.  I was in definite need of a Happy Hour Friday evening.

... I made sure I got what I needed.  

I managed to leave work early and treated myself to a mini cherry pie from Whole Foods.  When I finally got home I was set to dig into the pie, but I stopped myself because I realized that it had "Photo of the Day" potential.  I put the pie on a white plate, sat it on my patio table and grabbed my camera.  It was a brilliant idea!

March 18, 2011

77/365

Sweet Cherry Pie

I devoured the pie after I took the photo!

In the words of Whitesnake

"Taste so good

Makes a grown man cry

Sweet Cherry Pie

Oh Yeah "

Aasiya

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today was a very long day.  I stayed at work for an extra two hours to finish a case.  By the time I got home, I was in desperate need or some alcohol and a photograph.  Even though it was absolutely beautiful outside, I just couldn't get off my ass once it hit the couch.  

So, instead of roaming the streets of Philadelphia for a picture, I just went into my own backyard/concrete jungle.  

I found this lonely little leaf on a bed of rocks.  I really love the tones and the textures in this photograph.

March 17, 2011

76/365

Now....

Help me please!

For my photography, I need to come up with a theme for my project.  It can be anything, but my instructor must approve it first.  Please leave me with some suggestions in the comment section.  All suggestions are appreciate. 

I have considered the following:

Natural light portraits

Textures

Long Exposures

Aasiya

Last week in class we learned about composition.  We had to produce 3 pictures that followed the three rules of composition

Centering

Leading Lines

The Rule of Thirds

I applied the rule of thirds in my photo today.  This is a photograph of a fire hydrant on my street.  I really like the colors and textures in this photo.  

March 16, 2011

75/365

Fire Hydrant 

What do you think?

Aasiya

The Trendy Treehouse Weekly Challenge: Emotions

Today is Shutter Love Tuesday over at The Trendy Treehouse!

This week The Trendy Treehouse photo theme is Emotion.  You can choose any emotion you like.  I chose this picture because it makes me laugh every time I look at it.  Odessa did not enjoy having her picture taken and she let me know it.  Its probably one of the funnier expressions I have seen from a baby.

Aasiya

Just A Simple Post

March 15, 2011
74/365
Schwinn

I found this awesome bicycle on South Street.  I really liked the yellow color.

Aasiya 

I heart Faces Weekly Challenge: Sun Flare

For this challenge, I am submitting a photograph of my sitting on the bridge at the Japanese Garden in San Francisco.  It has lots of sun flare and personality.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Aasiya

Stormy Weather

Although we didn't have any cases at work today, I spent my time refining my portfolio for clinical advancement.  It is a very involved process and I have worked on it for month.  It is due tomorrow and I finally finished this afternoon.  I am extremely happy and relieved to be finished, but now I have to wait to see if my application is accepted.  I will try not to think about it anymore and just focus on my photography.

 I managed to get a picture during my afternoon walk with Iggy.  Although flowers are beginning to bloom, I didn't want to take more pictures of flowers since I have taken a ton over the last couple of weeks.  I didn't see anything too interesting until I looked up.  The sky looked pretty darn interesting.

In certain areas, it looked like it was going to pour down raining at any moment.   In other areas it was bright and sunny.  I took a picture of the storm looking area because it was much more interesting.  I incorporated the branches into the photo because it gave it an eerie feel.  I used a Photoshop action by Night-Fate which added a little more drama to the sky.  Overall, I like the way it turned out.

March 14, 2011
73/365
Stormy Weather

Aasiya

Oh Cactus, My Cactus

Today was an extremely lazy Sunday.  I didn't get the chance to decorate the dinosaur cookies I made yesterday because I forgot that my decorating tips and bags were in storage.  So,  I spent my day snacking on cheese balls and undecorated dinosaur cookies.  Before I knew it, it was time to make dinner.

The time change has really screwed me up!

It was 9pm by the time I remembered that I still needed to take a picture.   Once again I found myself scrambling around the house looking for something to photograph.  

I tried peeps, but they were uninteresting and I couldn't get them to stand up on their own.

I tried the dog, but he has had enough of me and my camera and kept running away.

Then I spotted my cactus! 

 My sweet little cactus.

  I am surprised it is still alive.  

I know a cactus is hard to kill, but I've done it!

March 13, 2011

72/365

Oh Cactus, My Cactus!

I love the lighting.  It is very dramatic.  It really brings out the details. 

Aasiya

It's Dinomite!

Don't worry...

I spelled "dinomite" this way on purpose.  I am dedicating my post and photo of the day to dinosaurs!  

Let me explain why...

For those of you who don't know my husband Justin...

He is REALLY into dinosaurs!

When we decided to have children, he wants to name the first boy

Thomas Rex Chapman

A.K.A

T. Rex

Seriously!  This is not a joke. 

My husbands name is actually Thomas Justin Chapman.

They have a family tradition where all the male children are named Thomas.  

There are only three of them.  

Now back to the dinosaurs

Every one in a while when I am out and about, I may buy my husband something dinosaur related.  A few months ago, we took a trip to Marshalls.  I spotted a dinosaur cupcake set and dino cookie cutters. 

Of course I had to get both!

I finally put the cookie cutters to use today.  I wanted to practice my cookie decorating skills, so I decided to make sugar cookies.  This was the perfect chance for me to finally use my dino cutters.  

I was way too excited!

Since I had no plans to leave the house today, I decided to turn my cookies project into a photo shoot.  I have two photos that I really like.

But first, 

I need to share Friday's photo of the day with you.

March 11, 2011

70/365

Self-Portrait

I decided to do a self-portrait yesterday because I wanted to play with my new shutter release.  The photos weren't great, but I liked this one.  I used MCP's  sharpening mini fusion.  It really made my eyes nice and sharp.  I also used a Photoshop action, but unfortunately I can't remember the name.  The Photoshop action really did wonders for this photo.  The lighting in the original picture was terrible probably because I used artificial lighting from a desk lamp.  You can't really tell in the edit, but I used a start whit door for my background. 

As for the dinosaurs...

March 12, 2011

71/365

It's Dinomite

Here is my photo of the day runner-up

I haven't decorated them yet.  I think I will save that for tomorrow. I had a couple of drinks during dinner.  I am sure that DWI (drinking while icing) is a horrible idea.

Aasiya

Rainy Days Are Here Again

It has been raining all day.  As much as I hate rain, I have found that it can make pictures more interesting.  Today I decided to take advantage of the rain and all its beauty.  While I was walking my dog, I found a couple of beautifully colored flowers buds covered in rain drops around the corner from my house.  I went home, put the dog away and grabbed my camera and my 100 mm macro lens.  I really wanted to capture each individual raindrop.  I took a plastic bag with me to use as a barrier between my camera and the wet soil.  I snapped several shots.

March 10, 2011

69/365

Raindrop covered flower

The sweetest shot of the week!

Aasiya