I decided to go in a different direction with my 2014 photo project. As it turns out, trying to take a picture with my Canon DSLR and 50mm lens every single day was exhausting and stressful.  So I decided to modify my 2014 photo project. For the remaining months I am going to give myself mini-projects to complete.

For March, I decided to focus on portraits/headshots. Here is my attempt at shooting portraits (and self-portraits) in the park.

I need to come up with a new project for April... still brainstorming as of now though! I guess it will have to be a surprise. ;)

Enjoy!

Most people I know have a pretty strong opinion about birthdays. They either love them, or hate them, or pretend to not care about them.  I'm calling your bluff: I believe everyone cares a little bit, but keeping our expectations low is an easy way to reduce the risk of feeling disappointed.  

Many of my friends are experiencing their 30th birthday this year (2013-2014 "school year"), and I have seen mixed opinions regarding this landmark number.  Some folks approach the date with extreme trepidation and distrust in our advancing age.  Other folks choose to drink the day into submission, an attempt to coerce the brain into blocking out the day completely from their memory. And finally, some people are excited for the big day, the moment we celebrate 30 years on this planet. And my opinion is that each birthday should be celebrated, for not everyone is as lucky as we are to make it this far.
 
So that being said, I am definitely claiming allegiance to the celebratory group of people. I am a Taurus, you see, and naturally the bull wants to face the day head on.  So here we go...

The Challenge:
Complete 30 new experiences within the 30 days leading up to my 30th birthday.  Attempt to complete one new thing per day.

Start Date:
Friday, March 28, 2014

Finish Date:
Saturday, April 26, 2014

The List: 

1.    Say "yes" to everything for one full day (Friday 3/28)

2.    Climb something new outside (Saturday 3/29)

3.    Eat an entire raw jalapeño (Sunday 3/30)

4.    Watch a movie that I haven’t seen before from the AFI 100 Greatest Films list (Monday 3/31)

5.    Throughout the day, keep a list of things I'm grateful for (Tuesday 4/1)

6.    Create my own mandala (Wednesday 4/2)

7.    Go one full day without sugar and caffeine (Thursday 4/3)

8.    Ride a mechanical bull (Friday 4/4)

9.    Get CPR/First Aid Certified (Saturday 4/5)

10.  Play with a pig  (Sunday 4/6)

11.  Wake up an hour early for work, see what happens (Monday 4/7) 

12.  Do a handstand for 5 seconds (Tuesday 4/8)

13.  Lead a 5.11a inside (Wednesday 4/9)

14.  Watch 5 new a TED talks (Thursday 4/10)

15.  Get a hot dog from Pink’s in Hollywood (Friday 4/11)

16.  Go one full day off the grid: no phone, iPad, computer, or TV (Saturday 4/12)

17.  Run a 5K (Sunday 4/13)

18.  Cook something from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Monday 4/14)

19.  Finish reading a book that I had started (Tuesday 4/15)

20.  Take a beginner ballet class (Wednesday 4/16)

21.  Clean out closet, donate anything I haven't worn in the past year to charity (Thursday 4/17)

22.  Try Ethiopian food (Friday 4/18)

23.  Throw/host a murder mystery party (Saturday 4/19)

24.  Go on a new hike (Sunday 4/20)

25.  Get into the Pacific Ocean - eek! (Monday 4/21)

26.  Choose a stranger’s Kickstarter campaign to donate to (Tuesday 4/22)

27.  Go to a museum I've never been to before (Wednesday 4/23)

28.  Play the lottery (Thursday 4/24)

29.  Write a letter to my 40-yr-old self (Friday 4/25)

30.  Celebrate my birthday at Disneyland (Saturday 4/26)

February came and went SO quickly. Within that time frame though, I managed to take just short of 1,400 photos. I don't even know how I had the time. A lot of them are crap --- MOST of them are crap. But that is why this is a learning process.

The first thought I had during this month was that I failed on my goal to only use photos taken within my apartment once a week. Didn't happen. It's just so much easier at the end of the day to capture some action in the comfort of my own home than to venture out into the rest of the world. However, in the end I only missed three days, so I am still very proud of my overall effort. Two of those days I willfully decided not to take pictures. One day I simply forgot.

On a more positive note, I found that I exclusively worked in Tv, Av, or M mode. Yay, me!! This was the number one point of my photo project: to learn how to use my camera.

My next thought was that I realized I want to start using my tripod more and to go out on planned "photo shoots".  Meaning, I want to take my tripod to the park and do some self-portraits or headshots for my boyfriend. Meaning I want to utilize my tripod so that I can more effectively take pictures outside at night/in the dark - virtually impossible to do handheld. I would like to try that that a couple times in March.

Finally, I have decided that I would like to add a lens to my collection. All the pictures you see below are taking with the 50mm lens that I received for Christmas. I also have the original 28-80mm lens that came with my OLD Canon Rebel film SLR.  Finally, I have a really old 80-300mm that is not great quality. I have it if I need it but use it sparingly. I am starting to feel limited with the lenses I have available and feel that the next logical step would be a wide angle lens.  After a little research, I have narrowed my selection down to the Canon 10-22mm. For now it will remain on my wish list, but I think this is a feasible purchase for 2014.

Anyway, here are the final pictures from February 2014.  Enjoy!