59/365 February 28, 2011 Wishful thinking....

59/365 February 28, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Well actually it's NOT wishful thinking, because tomorrow I shall be wearing this bikini while I swim in the warm turquoise waters of the Carribean.
Flying out to Turks and Caicos in the morning.
Try not to hate me........

58/365 February 27, 2011

58/365 February 27, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Yesterday was pink, today is YELLOW. Can you figure out what it is?
SOOC
I am actually really enjoying the challenge of trying to get SOOC that I am happy with.
Its fun! Press the shutter and you're done.

57/365 February 26, 2011 The Pink Bunky

57/365 February 26, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

What's not to love about a PINK house?
This is actually a little "bunky" thats part of a B&B , on the way to the ski hill.
I have always loved the colour of it.......

56/365 February 25, 2011 Price Chopper Colour

56/365 February 25, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

"What are you DOING?"
"Well you see.....I am doing this photography project and...."

A little colour from the produce aisle.
Kind of a boring shot.........but the fact that these bright colours are here means my mood is a tad better.

55/365 February 24, 2011 Frozen Apple

55/365 February 24, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Another long f*cking day on the couch, resting my hip flexor.
UGH.
This was the best I could come up with today........mind is not on photography just now.

54/365 February 23 2011 Macbook

54/365 February 23 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Another long f*cking day on the couch, resting my hip flexor.
UGH.
This was the best I could come up with today........mind is not on photography just now.

53/365 February 22, 2011 Guess

53/365 February 22, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Ensconced on my couch.......this is what ya get today.........

52/365 February 21, 2011

52/365 February 21, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

The big tomato.....

I may be kinda quiet for a while. I hurt my hip flexor while doing my physical therapy, and am on crutches, unable to walk.

To say that I am frustrated is an understatement.
The next few days photos may consist of selfies of a crying girl............

51/365 February 20, 2011 Twelve Hours

51/365 February 20, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Yeah.
So here I am , looking gorgeous and oh so happy to be a nurse, after a 12 hour nightshift in the NICU.
I cannot believe I am actually submitting a BLACKBERRY photo as part of my 365, but there you go.
I look like I am going to cry don't I?
I was that exhausted.

50/365 February 19, 2011 Work in Progress

50/365 February 19, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

A glimpse of my brother and his buddy, as they install my new kitchen sink.

49/365 February 18, 2011 Pink

49/365 February 18, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

My big pink Swiss ball.
It looks so innocuous here, shiny and beautiful.
It's actually an instrument of torture.......
I use the ball to do one legged squats.
They are not easy.
Trust me on this.

48/35 February 17, 2011 Red and Green

48/35 February 17, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Today I had to empty the contents of my kitchen cabinets so that a new counter could be installed.
As I frantically tried to find places to PUT all the junk, my eyes lit upon the basket of sunlit tomatoes and apples........and then of course I stopped filling boxes and instead tried to capture sunshine...........
This is another SOOC shot. It's nice to have something pop out of the camera that I am totally happy with.

47/365 February 16, 2011 Waiting.....

47/365 February 16, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Yeah............I know how you feel buddy.
Sigh........

46/365 February 15, 2011 Quack

46/365 February 15, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

"The reluctance to put away childish things may be a requirement of genius." Rebbeca Sinkler

Walking past my son's room I noticed the sun drenched basket of stuffed toys that he still keeps.............he is as sentimental as his mother.

Very tired today. Worked my first full 12 hour night shift last night since my surgery. I did not miss the debilitating exhaustion.
Would have liked to be more creative today, but on two hours sleep this is all I got.
Yawn.

45/365 February 14, 2011

45/365 February 14, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

I knocked on the door of the house to whom this fellow belonged to ask for permission to take this photo, since the snowman was right beside the front door rather than down by the road. The most wonderful, minuscule , little old lady opened the door, holding her yappy , little, white dog under the arms, its pink belly showing whilst he wriggled and barked.
Now THAT would have been a photo!
But I thought it would have seemed quite odd indeed had I rang the door bell and then said "Hey! Can I take your photo??"
The snowman was very obliging however. He sat still and posed nicely.........

44/365 February 13, 2011 Windswept

44/365 February 13, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

I do so love photographing children.
This is the 13 year old daughter of a good friend. She is impish and creative and just a joy to be around. I like the way the wind played with her hair on this bleak , cold day.
Happy with this photo..........especially considering the fact that it is SOOC.

43/365 February 12, 2011 Bleak

43/365 February 12, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Best I got today.
Not in the greatest of moods.
I guess the temperature of this photo reflects that.

41/365 february 10, 2011 Abandoned

41/365 february 10, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

spied this abandoned farm when I was out in the countryside today,
I loved the colours of the green paint juxtaposed with the red rust and the blue sky.
The snow was super deep, and my knee was none too happy with me as i tromped around trying to get a good shot.
Since I only shoot with a 50 mm (come to think of it, this lens has not once been off my camera since I purchased it at the end of December) it was tricky to fit it all in , hence the crazy angle. It was just too hard to move around.
I kinda like the crazy angle though.
Look at the open door up at the top.....I wonder how long it's been since anyone went through it.........


Sorry....I know this is out of order..........oh well.

42/365 February 11, 2011 Runner

42/365 February 11, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

I am a runner............

For those of you that do not know, I had knee surgery 3 months ago.
I needed an autologous cartilage transplant to repair an osteochondral defect that I most likely sustained from a fall whilst skiing.

Recovery has been a long slow process. The cartilage "plugs" need time to take root and establish themselves, much like a fragile seedling would.
I was not allowed to weight bear for 6 weeks......and then my activity was severely limited. But now I am finally allowed to actively strength train.

The physiotherapist has had me doing lots of work to encourage regrowth of my once powerful quads.
I have been diligent about the rehab, spending 1 1/2 to 2 hours a day on it. My muscle mass is increasing nicely. In light of this my PT decided to let me try running . I was frankly shocked, assuming that we would not give it a go for several more weeks.

I did not think I was ready...........and lo and behold I was not.
The pain prevented me from running for more than a couple of thirty second intervals.
Fail.



This picture describes how I feel.

40/365 February 9, 2011 Graffiti

40/365 February 9, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

I found some colour at the skateboard park!
I actually love graffiti..........I think it can be a beautiful art form.

I was on my way home from the library, and spied the bright colours of the graffiti. I was NOT dressed to tromp around in deep snow on this wicked cold and windy day. I was not even wearing winter boots!
But I am glad I sucked it up and stopped to capture the colours....

38/365 February 7, 2011 Street Selfie

38/365 February 7, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Today I had to go downtown to get a passport for my son. It was not a particularly interesting area, office buildings and not much colour.
There was, however, a mirrored office building that allowed me to take a selfie.....


....and whoops......I know this is in the wrong order ..........

39/365 February 8, 2011 Crazy Bananas

39/365 February 8, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Today I give you bananas.........

Ok , Ok, I know they are crazy, super saturated, over the top bananas, but whatevah.

I was busy rehabbing my knee today. Have already put an hour and a half into it in the form of a 30 minute walk and an hour long ride. Still have about 45 minutes of PT to do.

So forgive me for my bananas, but my knee is kinda taking precedence today.......

37/365 February 6, 2011 Spencer

37/365 February 6, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Spent the day at another ski hill today for my son's race.
This little girl was happy to pose for me.
She was drinking Orange Crush and her lips were all stained............
I really need to make some "business cards" to hand out to the parents of the kids I photograph. That will be much easier than stuffing my Blackberry full of their contact info. That way if they want a photo they can email me.

I am happy with the way that the colours turned out in this photo.This is SOOC. Given that it was indoors under icky fluorescent light , her skin tones look lovely.
I am learning the ropes when it comes to white balance......

36/365 February 5, 2011 Chairlift!

36/365 February 5, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Spent a gorgeous sunny day at the ski hill watching my boy race.
I adore the juxtaposition of the bright colours of the equipment with the white snow and beautiful blue sky.
Have some other shots from the day that turned out well I think.
I will post those too. Take a peek!
........oh and I am happy to report that I switched back to sRGB and my beautiful colours view just as they should...........

35/365 February 4, 2011 Mom's feet........

35/365 February 4, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

My mother was sleeping on the couch.
I snuck up on her and captured her feet, and hands.
What i wanted was to put these two photos together in one of those side by side thingies.
And of course I do not know how to do that..........

Now can anyone explain to me why the colours changed when I uploaded to Flickr??
Colours are much more lovely than this......but why? I have never really noticed this before......

:(
Is it messed up because the camera shop dude switched my colour space to Adobe RGB??

34/365 February 3, 2011 The bruises.

34/365 February 3, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

I took this picture while waiting for my sadist.......er I mean chiropractor........to come in and see me.
These lovely bruises are the result of Graston. This involves rubbing a crow bar looking thingy up and down my leg whilst I scream.
Yes really.
I pay him to do this to me!
But seriously, this is the only treatment that is effective for my tight ITB.

Next time I am going to take a picture of Isaac while he tortures me. You might all get a kick out of that!

I would have liked to process this picture so that the bruises stood out more without affecting the rest of the pic. No clue how to do that.
I tried to get rid of the blue triangle (its a poster on the wall) but it just looked fake and silly since I know not what i am doing

I am trying a demo of PS. Its just waaaay too much for me. I want to spend my time learning to take stellar pictures, not learning how to work complicated software. I am a creative girl, not a technical one.
What I want is BASIC easy to use editing software. Suggestions?

33/365 The Bear

33/365 February 2, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

He does not seem to mind the snow........

This is my seasonal bear. He sits on my front porch all year long. His accessories change according to the weather.

In the summer I like to use him to prop up my sore knee while I drink a cold beer or two. My best friend will often come over and sit in that muskoka chair
We share the trials and triumphs of our lives with laughter and sometimes tears. The bear is a witness to our friendship, a silent presence.

Soon enough spring will be here.
The bear will thaw out.
My knee will be healed.
I will be able to run again..................

32/365 Sticky Ball

32/365 February 1, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Another day of frustration...........
Tried a lot of different stuff and was not terribly happy with the way anything turned out.

So here is my sticky ball, on a mirror, covered in water. Take it or leave it!

I have a penchant for shooting in aperture priority. I am trying to step out of my comfort zone and shoot in full manual mode more often.
I drive a 5 speed because I like to DRIVE my car. Refuse to drive an automatic.
I should also learn to DRIVE my camera.......and I am slowly learning.
But heck, if my camera was a car??
I would be having daily head on collisions and killing many innocent people!!

January !

January !, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

One down, eleven more to go.........

31/365 Aquagirl

31/365 January 31, 365, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

I was trying to get an outside shot of something, but it never turned out and so i gave up and went to hang out in the hot tub to warm up.

I really need to get some kind of editing software. iphoto is starting to do odd things and freeze up and generally cause me grief.
Too bad because I would have liked to fiddle with this pic a bit more.......you will just have to take me as I am ok?

29/365 Cutie!

29/365 January 30, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

I was driving home this morning and saw this hat and HAD to stop.
The father said that this little boy just loves to pose for photos.............cute huh?
He was actually very patient while I fiddled with settings.

29/365 Girl in the Snow

29/365 January 29, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Got this shot in the nick of time. I had tried some other stuff prior to this. Long red dress, ....come in take a peek, no that's no good. How about the long black dress? Get changed. No......I look like Elvira, that's definitely no good. Get changed again........now shivering terribly.
Crap! Why won't the remote trigger?? Come on, I'm freezing my ass off here!
Oh.........camera battery almost dead.......
One more try.
Voila!

Do I get an "A" for effort?

28/365 Skittles

27/365 January 27 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Best I could do today........

27/365 The Red Mitten

27/365 January 27, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Does this mean its spring??
PLEASE??

26/365 Oral hygiene

26/365 January 26, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Portraits are hard.
Self portraits are even harder.
Self portraits with a mouth full of Swedish Fish?? Harder still.......

25/365 Yummy

25/365 January 25, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Mmmmmmmm....................
Was in a funky little candy shop and asked the girl behind the counter if it was OK to shoot some pictures.
She was kind enough to say yes.

23/365 Green

23/365 January 23, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

It's a macro kinda day...........

Want to know how this shot evolved? OK, so I started out trying to take a picture of the dog, but she did not cooperate. But she is very fluffy, being an Inuit Sled dog and all. And since it's so cold out, I am wearing fluffy socks as well. The fluffy dog reminded me of the fluffy socks. So I tried to take a macro of the fluffy socks, but it was too boring. So I put the sock against a ballon for colour. THEN I noticed the knot on the ballon......and voila!
Yes, this really is how my mind works. Scary I know.

22/365 Cold

22/365 January 22, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

So very cold......
Spent the day at my son's first ski race. It was -27C, and the racers wore only skin suits.
This little girl got wrapped up in a sleeping bag as soon as she completed her race.
Isn't she pretty?

21/365 Every girl needs a warm winter hat........

21/365 January 21, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

This was LOTS of fun!
Was tempted to set up the tripod and use the DSLR.........but in the end I thought it was safer to use my trusty, indestructible point and shoot since so much water was splashed about.

20/365 White

20/365 January20, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Met a Flickr friend IRL today. We went downtown and wandered around shooting whatever struck our fancy. Thanks for the company Tammy!

The owner of a beautiful bridal salon was kind enough to let us wander around her shop snapping pics of the gorgeous gowns.

I almost did not post this because it's just white. I really do love colour. And white is NOT a colour.
But still, the gowns were quite lovely...........

19/365 Me and The Pink Chair

19/365 January 19, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

First day with the remote.
Kind of fun!

18/365 Broken

18/365 January 18, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Taken on my aunt's old cottage property. Once the scene of many happy childhood memories, it now evokes a wistfulness for the past.
There was a strange beauty in the broken down, abandoned buildings...........

17/365 Freezer Burn

17/365 January 17, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

I am finding that snow is becoming my favourite prop.
Also...I seem to have become a COLOUR WHORE !
;)

16/365 The Sweet Yellow House.

16/365 January 16, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Saw this gorgeous, tiny, yellow house on the way home this morning.
I have a thing for teeny, weeny little houses, and this one was perfect.
Felt a bit silly skulking around in front of their house taking pictures! I am not sure what I would have done had the owners come out and asked me wtf I was doing.
I would have asked their permission, but it was early on a Sunday morning and the house looked quiet.

15/365 Rainbow bike!

15/365 January 15, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

A subject near and dear to my heart. Bikes generally make me swoon, but this one stopped me in my tracks.
Was driving around the downtown core looking for a photo op and there it was, waiting for me.

Some thoughts:
Here I am two weeks into the 365. How is it going? Generally it's going very well. Some days are, obviously, better than others but on the whole I have been pretty happy with my pics so far.
I think the self portraits are fun, and I have many ideas for future ones. To that end I bought a remote today. The pre focus on a cardboard tube and then jump into the picture technique is getting kind of old.
So stay tuned for some selfies!!

14/365 Tea Time!

14/365 January 14, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Milk and sugar with your tea?
Or just snow??

Today is a better day. Looked out my kitchen window and saw the sunlit snow, glimmering and shimmering like so many diamonds. Imagined this shot in my head. Sometimes things DO turn out just the way you want them!

13/365 Silly flowers

13/365 January 13, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

Wow.
I have discovered something interesting .
When you feel kinda crappy, it sucks all the creative energy out of you. I have not felt very well for the past few days , and my creative mojo seems to have vanished.
Ugh.

Grandma's hands.......

Grandma's hands......., originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

My mother making my son's birthday cake.

12/365 January Swinging

12/365 January 12, 2011, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

She loved to swing from chandeliers..........

Airborne

Airborne, originally uploaded by aquagirl 5.

My son in the air at trampoline class.
Really, really, really hard to capture a kid as he flies through the air with the greatest of ease.........
Great practice with the manual settings to try and get a decent shot though. I will keep at it. Stubborn girl that I am.