Day 365 - The final photograph

The final photograph of my 365-day journey. I wanted it to be a great one. And it is.

It's me. In front of the "Welcome to Fredericton" sign on Lincoln Road out toward the airport. I'm taking one of those ridiculous photos where you hold the camera out as far away from yourself as you can, pointing at you, and press the shutter release, hoping the framing captures what you want in the shot. Everybody does them.

And I think it's the perfect end for this adventure in photography. I think we've had a little of everything, from the stunningly beautiful to the trite and silly, in this year of photos, everything except a photo of me.

So here I am. A little out of focus. My nose strangely crooked (who would have known), my double chins completely hidden. The sign in behind but, importantly, not quite fully shown just as I didn't quite fully show you all of Fredericton over the past year. Still, I think I captured enough of it that you have a good idea what it's like.

I've really enjoyed bringing this blog to you, adding a photograph (and sometimes two or three) each day, with an explanation of where and how the shot was taken. I've pushed myself and also stretched the capabilities of my simple Olympus camera but, looking back on the year, I think we both did pretty well.

I admit, however, that I approach this final post with some small measure of relief as well. It's hard work finding a new and interesting photo every day and even more work to write the text portions of each entry. I have spent most of my lunch hours out and about with the camera and have enjoyed doing it. But I'm also looking forward to waking up tomorrow morning knowing there is no pressure on me to take a photograph.

I think I will simply leave this blog up as is. I don't think "Blogger" will remove it any time soon. And I may just create a new blog upon which to post photos in the future. But, if I do so, it will simply be a once-in-a-while proposition.

So thanks to everyone who has visited this blog over the past 365 days, for taking the time to click one of the reaction buttons at the bottom of each entry or even to post a comment. I've enjoyed all of the responses and interest. Take good care and, if you get the chance, come to Fredericton one day to see all this in person.

Day 364 - Lying in wait

One last image of Marlee Marie, this one taken Christmas Eve as she surveyed the presents under the tree.

The Olympus sat on its tripod, with the aperture at f8 and the shutter at about 1 second, thanks to the light coming from the tree's lights and other lamps in the living room.

That's how still Marlee will lie when she smells food, such as the (human) treats hidden in the stocking with the reindeer on it that is just inches from her nose. It's like she's not even breathing. Don't worry: the stocking found a new home on a bookshelf moments later.

Day 363 - In search of Willie O'Ree

An interesting, though not entirely successful, experiment in sports photography. I was at Willie O'Ree Place (see lower photo) in Fredericton's north side today for the public free skate and I took the opportunity to try to get some shots of skaters and hockey players.

The challenge I faced was that the lighting was too dim to take traditional photographs yet too light to make slow-shutter shots worthwhile. Even with the aperture as tight as it could go (f8), I still could only slow the shutter to about two seconds, which is nowhere near slow enough to create interesting movement images.

So I was surprised and pleased to find the top photograph: the unmoving elements (net, ice, boards and stands) in perfect focus; the goaltender fairly crisp as well; and the two other hockey players reduced to red and green ghosts in front of the goalie. It could be a lot better, I know, with less space between the goalie and the net, a little more definition on the two other skaters, a little more contrast overall. But still it's not bad. An interesting attempt with decent results.

Day 362 - Another happy photographic accident

Add this one to the list of photographs that, at first glance, seem not to have turned out but then, when you look at them more closely, you find that they are better than you could ever have imagined (or planned).

This is Emily. She's skating at the Lady Beaverbrook Rink during one of its daily free skates. There's not much light. Emily is moving pretty quick. And the Olympus is having a mess of trouble adjusting for it all. I set it at the slowest shutter speed that wouldn't show the shake in my hand (1/60th of a second) and opened the aperture up as far as it would go.

It's a recipe for disaster and that's what, at first glance, I thought I had gotten, even after I worked on the picture in iPhoto. Emily is not in focus (the guy in the coat behind her is, however), the contrast is terrible, and there still isn't enough light. I was ready to discard it.

Then I looked at her face. The concentration on it. The peaceful concentration on the act of skating. And I realised that the fuzziness of the image, the low contrast and the darkness all add rather than detract from the effect of the shot. So I kept it. I showed it to Emily and asked her permission to post it here.

"As long as you don't mind me copying it onto my Facebook page," she said. No problem, Emily. Enjoy. And thanks for being a part of another happy photographic accident.