Project 52 of 2012 | Week 4

Chantelle McMillan 2012

This was a pretty slow week for me.  The weather has been dull and gray (except for yesterday, that is) and on Wednesday, I got a pretty bad case of vertigo that left me feeling pretty crappy for a couple of days.  I did go outside and grab some photos, though.  Of the ones I took, this is my favorite.

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I call this Waiting for Warmth.

Unfortunately, this week I do not have any honorable mention photos to post.  That should tell you how little I did this week with my photography.  I’m hoping next week will be different!

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Project 52 of 2012 | Week 3

Chantelle McMillan 2012

This week definitely went to the birds.  As I explained a few days ago, we have had cardinals inhabiting one of the trees in our yard.  So, needless to say, my camera was equipped with the zoom lens and I was outside trying to get bird photos all week.

That being said, this is my photo for week 3:

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I call this one Birdie Brunch.

This week’s Honorable Mentions:

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Good Morning

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At Rest

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Alone

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To Crop, or Not to Crop—That is the Question

There is a tree in my front yard, that for the past few days, has been a feeding ground for cardinals.  It’s pretty neat, really.  At any point during the day there are anywhere between 6 and 12 (male and female) cardinals feasting on the berries from this tree.  I snapped this photo on Saturday morning:

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So, I’ve been outdoors several times this week snappin the birdies.  This afternoon, I took some photos from my living room window.  My favorite being this one:

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PROS:

Tree bokeh in the background.  Love it.

The textured look (not added by me).

Webby looking branches.

CONS:

Itty bitty birdie

I experimented with a couple of different crops:

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Good, but the bird still is kind of small…

 

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This image ended up being my favorite.  (I also got some good advice on the subject).

As you can see, cropping the photo greatly improves the image.  It still has all the things I like about the original, but the bird is obviously a lot bigger and the the photo has a better composition.

I still really like the original, but I think that the cropped image takes the cake.  In my opinion, cropping is one of the easiest ways to improve an image (if done correctly).

So, next time you’re editing an image, try a crop!  You may be surprised what it can do for your photo!

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Project 52 of 2012 | Week 2

Chantelle McMillan 2012

This week I took a lot of great photos!  I really had a hard time choosing the “best” one for this week’s photo.

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In the end, I chose this one of Emma entitled Snow Day.

Every week I’ll also post some of my other favorites.  This will be my Honorable Mention Section.

This week’s Honorable Mention’s are as follows:

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Bare

 

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Winter Sunrise

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Winter Sunset

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Snow Day {Taylor}

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Nermal

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Paper Mama Photo Challenge | Favorite Photo of 2011

The Paper Mama

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One of my favorite photos of 2011 is this one of Taylor.  The look on her face is priceless!

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I ♥ Faces | Best Face Photo from 2011

I ♥ Faces

Best Face Photo from 2011.

I took tons of photos in 2011, but one of my favorites is this one:

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This little guy was 6 months old when I took this photo back in September.  He had just learned to sit up, so we had to act fast!  The expression on his face is so sweet!

Check out I ♥ Faces to see all this week’s entries!

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Project 52 of 2012 | Week 1

On January 1 of 2010, I started a 365 photography project, which entailed taking a photo a day for an entire year.  On December 31 of 2010, I successfully completed that project.

In 2011, I took a break.  No special projects, just photographing when I felt like it.  Now it’s 2012, and I wanted to do another project, but one that was a little more lenient than a 365.  So, I decided to do a Project 52 this year.  One photo a week for a year. 

Starting with this post and continuing every Saturday throughout the year, I will post my favorite photo from the week.  I even made a cute little button for all my posts:

Chantelle McMillan 2012

Clicking the button will take you to my 2012: 52 Weeks set on Flickr.

Here is my photo for Week 1!

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Rock On!

Join me here every Saturday for my weekly photos!!  2012 is going to rock!

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2011 in Photos

A sampling of my 2011 using only photos.  Enjoy!

JANUARY

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FEBRUARY

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5465308530_4322011456_b183494_10150144329490020_503225019_8461755_159574_n

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MARCH

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5541725894_fefbed8b77_b184343_10150159901245020_503225019_8606438_2077531_n

189194_10150160872830020_503225019_8616714_776382_n185777_10150159925980020_503225019_8606746_5406739_n

5562680039_57cd49f29c_b183364_10150159945715020_503225019_8607022_8252682_n

5565685141_a63e76fc08_b185735_10150159904750020_503225019_8606470_6979189_n

APRIL

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MAY

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JUNE

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5885004848_3639582f72_b5885004442_8f099ac64e_b251207_10150281012030020_503225019_9439977_3690674_n

JULY

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AUGUST

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6041074350_70c9497614_b317387_10150347037345020_503225019_10078786_7315686_n

SEPTEMBER

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287075_10150383983180020_503225019_10353879_373838176_o317244_10150360359375020_503225019_10208520_3133609_n

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OCTOBER

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NOVEMBER

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DECEMBER

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Best wishes for an amazing 2012!!

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We Wish You a Merry Christmas

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And a Happy New Year!

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A New Friend

Taylor may not like our cat Nermal too much, but she is enthralled with her toy cat.

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Love her so much!

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