A year with my camera

This week I signed up for a year long course entitled "A Year with my Camera". It's going to be challenging following along with this course while juggling work, vacation and other responsibilities but I thought it's a good way to learn new things.  The first challenge (they called it pre-course) material was to take 30 photograph's.  It's a lot of photo's but they don't need to be completed before the course is started.

The photo's must be centered around the following:

1. Fill the Frame with colour
2. Things in three's
3. Black and White
4. Taken at midday
5. Abstract
6. Snails eye view
7. Reflection
8. Lit by window
9. Older than me
10. Food
11. Shadows
12. Plain background
13. Balance
14. Urban
15. Extreme Edit
16. Eye catching
17. Behind the scenes
18. Pattern
19. Wildlife
20. Break the rule of 1/3's
21. Just 2 colours
22. Move the camera
23. Self Portrait
24. Movement
25. Stripes
26. Weather
27. Silhouette
28. Depth
29. Vintage
30. Texture

I completed a few of the photo's.  I guess I'll be busy over the next while getting them done.

6.  Snails Eye View

15. Extreme Edit

3. Black and White

5. Abstrac

                        

23. Self Portrait

7. Reflection

16.  Eye Catching

9. Older than me

19. Wildlife

#21 Just 2 colours

24. Movement

26. Weather

30.  Texture

A few others that I took while I was out yesterday.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

This morning our alarm went off just before 5:00 a.m.  Ralph and I wanted to go the St. Lawrence Market and also take some photo's of the beautiful tree's downtown with their lights shining brightly. It was a cold morning and we made extra sure to be dressed warmly.  We were downtown by 6:00 a.m. and parked near the Eaton Centre and started walking towards the market.  First we checked out the tree by City Hall but sadly the lights weren't turned on.  Not too worry as there were plenty to be seen as we walked south along Bay Street.

This tree looked almost perfect!!

Inside BCE place.  I loved the lights handing from the ceiling.

A Christmas ball chandelier hanging in BCE Place.

So beautiful!!

Picking up the groceries

Gifted musician playing Christmas music

I asked if I could photograph him and he was happy to oblige!!

Everyone is getting into the Christmas spirit

My most favourite building in all of Toronto

Beautiful Christmas balls.

Pigeons keeping warm on the sewer grates.

Very real looking Christmas display.

Adventures downtown

Yesterday Ralph and I went downtown.  He was meeting a friend for lunch so I tagged along and did some exploring.   It was busy in the city.  Crazy busy actually with people attempting to finish their Christmas shopping.  Thankfully we are done so we weren't into the craziness of all the people trying to get their last minute gifts.

I decided to go and explore the Christmas Market by City Hall.  I'd seen it a couple of times as I passed by on may way to an appointment. It intrigued me with all the little wooden shacks that were set up.  Great I thought!!  I anticipated handmade crafts celebrating the Christmas season.  I was sadly disappointed.  I was glad that Ralph was having lunch.  It wasn't anything like the Distillery District.  Half of the "shacks" were closed (I guess because it's the end of the Christmas rush) and there wasn't anything really that interesting.  Instead I browsed around for a short while and then took a nice walk down in the "lanes".

Poaiing in front to the Christmas tree in the Eaton Centre.

The tree at City Hall

A Merry Go Round I front of City Hall

I loved the graphics on this food truck!!

The painting on the back of the food truck looked 3 dimensional

March of the Snowmen

Earlier this year, I purchased a craft magazine that had these cute "salt and pepper shaker" snowmen in them.  What a great way to repurpose old shakers I thought.  In my travels, I have been picking up these shakers at 2nd hand shops.  I was surprised at how difficult it was to find them.  I guess there are others that had the same idea that I did.

When time permitted I molded a head for them from modelling clay and baked "carrot" noses in my oven.   It was fun.  Decorating them is a job seeing different characters come from each one.

I now have my snowmen on my sideboard in the kitchen making the room a little more festive for the winter season.