Fall is in the Air

Green Eyes

23. This Magic Moment

Even though the composition on this one isn't perfect and you can see my shadow as I shot over Justin's shoulder, I thought that the sheer delight on Dillon's face made up for all my technical problems. He thought Auntie "Eena's" shower was quite magical indeed.

11. Half & Half

Anna's cat Oreo - half black, half white. And all sass.

24. Tiny

We decided that this little mushroom looked like it might be home to a fairy or a sprite - some mystical woodland spirit. And it was indeed tiny - barely above the blades of grass.

Self-Evaluation

Through my viewfinder, here's how I stacked up:

Funniest
For me the funniest capture was Overhead. I should've made one of my family members take a video of me, scooting around the parking lot with my telephoto lens while big beefy farmers carried giant seed bags out to their trucks. The looks I got were hysterical.

Most Troublesome
It's a toss up between Lost & Found and Front & Center. Both these categories gave me a time. In the end, I'd have to say Lost & Found kept me puzzling to the very end. The number of ideas conceived and tossed out for this photo were too many to count!

Not What It Seems
Without a doubt, this one is Front & Center. I thought I was taking a picture of the barbed wire fence for "Narrow", but instead, the two barbs came out perfectly centered in the shot. And then, when I loaded the photos on the laptop and could see the details, I notice my little eight-legged friend. Unexpected good things come to those who keep clickin'!

Second to this is Solitary. It looks quiet and peaceful, but I was standing in a ditch along a busy road shooting through a fence, getting poison ivy, picking up a spider bite and nearly falling in the road when I stepped in a hole.

Hardest to Capture
I think the hardest to capture might have been the totem pole for Spirit. First of all, I chose a tough time of day, when the sun was at its brightest and clearest. But there was also the tug of war between getting the impact of the "big picture" and the uniqueness of the "little" picture in the finely carve details all with an incredibly vertical subject.

Most Creative
For the play on words, I love End. Not only did I get to incorporate my love of Harry Potter, but I thought it was an unexpected choice. And the mysterious light of the setting sun and its shadows and highlights on the books really made this shot come to life.

Pride & Joy
I think that Shoes takes the cake for favorite shots. I bet I took more than 100 photos of these shoes in all different configurations - and in two separate shoots to boot! Anna gave me the great "in the round" idea, and I thought that it added interest while keeping it simple enough to appreciate the detail of these tiny shoes. Plus, I finally got them in the right light!

Runners up: Little Things because of the soft focus and because my love of these thimbles was truly rooted in that they were such pretty little things; and Confusing because of the innovative idea for it and the fact that it was a wholly created picture.

I loved Amy's idea of outtakes, so here's a few that didn't make the cut:

Narrow(ly) Escaping a Barbed-Wire Gouging

Solitary (Confinement. At Alcatraz)

Shoes (Tiny, tiny shoes...)

Public Art

Through the Window

Very Embellished

20. Shoes

Being a great lover of shoes (no comments from the peanut gallery, please) there were many, many, many options I could've chosen for this category. But picking favorite shoes to photograph? Well, I just couldn't do it. Instead, I went back to what could be a contributing factor in my love for shoes - my collection of Barbie accessories.

I won't reveal how long I took to set up and photograph this tiny footwear collection, but I will say thanks to Anna for her stellar art direction and figuring out how to capture them best.

17. Overhead

Believe it or not, this guy is standing on top of a building. The Clayton Feed Store, near where Anna lives, is an old-fashioned feed and seed store right next to The Clayton Food Store, where you can get outstanding homemade cakes and pies. I should've taken pictures of the patrons who were eyeing me like I was crazy and posted it for "Out of Place"!

22. Spirit

This totem sits out in front of the high school where my sister Anna teaches. The totem was an art project conceived by the long-time art teacher and carried out by the students. It's made up of the "heads" of all the area schools' mascots and topped off by the Warrior Chief. And it was very hard to photograph because it's so tall and skinny! I liked this one because it showed the dimension and relief of the totem. Go Warriors!