Count the ways

Numbers are everywhere in the city, but this theme turned out to be a challenge. First, most numbers I came across were addresses, and I didn't want to end up with nine photos that looked the same. It was hard to find other examples of numbers that also still had interesting subject matter around them. This led to the second problem. A lot of great Instagram feeds I had seen featuring numbers, and which inspired this theme, are close-up shots of numbers. See @roadtrip_newengland's #countingboston hashtag. Their photos make the number the main subject (not to mention they're posting in numerical order!), but I realized early on that I wanted photos that still show a sense of place, or a street scene. Those two ideas don't really go together.

This is evident in the three different photos I took of numbers on T trains. I kept looking for the right composition, and ended up with the one showing the widest view because it matched the others in the theme best. But I think I like the close-up one the most, on the left. It's just more visually graphic. If only there were more people visible in the window, then maybe it would have the right human element that the others do.

Anyway, I spent a lot of time walking the city looking for just the right numbers, which doesn't make for a bad summertime activity. I definitely have more leftovers (photos I took and didn't end up using) than I've had for any theme in a while. Most of my themes don't really focus on small objects, with the exception of Summer Still-life, so I guess that might be why this didn't come as naturally. Hope you still enjoy this set!

Red Round Two

This is the second time I've done the color red as a theme, and the first time I've repeated a theme. But the last time I chose red, it was December 2014, so most of the photos had a definite holiday look to them. This time I thought it would be more of a challenge to try seeking out red subjects in more everyday places and things, without the benefit of a lot of holiday decorations.

I really like this group of photos. Now that it's summer, the colors really pop. I'll admit it's not that hard to find red in a city with the Sox. But I tried to find a few other, less obvious shots as well, and once again stumbled upon some great finds, like the scooter and the chairs. This group also includes two photos from our recent trip to Sydney and Hong Kong. I have yet to put most of my travel photos online, and since I use my Instagram account just for this theme project, I haven't posted them there either. From time to time I have great photos that don't fit the current theme I'm on, so I don't post them on Instagram, which sometimes I regret. This was a small way to get at least two in there. I promise there are more to come!

In the black (and white)

After doing several color themes, this time the challenge was to find photos that lacked color. I sought out subjects in black and white, meaning these images are technically in color, and I didn't actually grayscale them in the editing process. It wasn't easy, especially since I like wider compositions more than details and close-up viewpoints, and it's hard to find that much black and white naturally. A few of these photos do have a touch of color, but in most cases I thought it helped emphasize the monotone nature of the rest of the image. I did lower the saturation in editing and faded the blacks a bit, but that's been the style I've been gravitating toward lately with all my photos, not just this group.

I think there are stronger, bolder examples of black and white subject matter out there, and I hope to build on this set in the future. The inspiration for this theme came from a postcard my aunt found of black and white images from around New York City. It's a great example to strive for, both photographically and with the hope of sending my photos further out into the world one day.

Shape up

So, I'm a little behind on my posts, both on Instagram and here. I blame it on a certain very cute (but very time-consuming) puppy. But now that we are settling into a schedule, and the weather is a lot more accommodating, I'm trying to get back into photographing on a regular basis. This theme, geometry, really helped get me back in the flow. It's a subject matter I already gravitate towards, and there's a lot of geometry out in the wild. The hardest part was trying to maintain variety. I could have easily posted photos of just lines and squares, but worked to find other shapes. These ended up having more color, shapes and interesting perspectives than I expected when I started out. Here's to more steady progress going forward!

Slow and simple

I thought I'd start off the new year with a new theme about simplifying the things around me: minimalism. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans. While you could argue that the snow blankets everything in a minimal, mono-chromatic palette, it's also made my photo hunts nearly impossible. With the bitter cold and foot after foot of snow, it's hard to walk around on my lunch breaks and take long strolls home from work. It's just one of the man frustrations resulting from this winter's snowmageddon. So here I am in March without a completed theme.

I also had a tough time with this theme because I wanted to make it unique from other themes. But a lot of my compositions or subject matter were really similar to past photos with shadows, geometric lines, single colors, etc. It was difficult to find and post photos that just expressed minimalism. It's also not what I gravitate toward. So between the weather and not finding photos I was happy with, I decided to end the theme with six images instead of my normal nine. I still like this group, and my favorite of course is the snow shot. Just can't escape it!