Images from the month of May, 2008. For each day in the month, I will take at least one photograph. Some days, I will take more photographs than others but I will only add one new image to this gallery for each day of the month. This is part of my image a day project for 2008.
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dream hat photography > First, let me clear some old business from yesterday, I struggled with what was something that was funny in my head but it wasn’t at all possible for me to translate it into the daily photo album. In a nutshell, I had a photo of a frog and another photo with canoes on a trailer. For some reason it made me think of “The Muppet Movie” and the scene early in the movie with Kermit in the boat in the pond. I think it was when he was singing “Rainbow Connection” and maybe Fozzie was in the boat too. Anyway, however funny it was to me, my photos had no element of that scene beyond boats and a frog. I tried, believe me, several different angles, it just wasn’t going to get there, not even close. So hopefully that clears that up, the two photos responsible are in the Bonus Tracks gallery now so you can see how much it would have failed. Now for today’s picture which was shot this morning. I might as well confess to you, we are sharing photos and things about our lives. It’s time I told you about my addiction. You have to understand I was raised in an agricultural area with farms all over the surrounding area. Like a lot of kids from my generation that lived in the Southeastern United States, we spent most of the summer months outside playing, coming inside mainly for meals. Our water breaks would be from the hose in the yard, which as anyone that had drank water from a hose in hot weather will tell you, let it run a little before you drink because the water sitting in the hose can be pretty dang hot. Anyway most of our meals included generous portions of fresh vegetables. At the time, I assumed that everybody ate that way because everybody that I knew ate that way. I know, I am wasting time, avoiding the addiction confession. Be patient, I am trying to give you some context. I couldn’t begin to estimate how many peas I have shelled, how many butterbeans I have shelled, or how many ears of corn I have shucked but it would be a healthy number. I have two older sisters and a younger brother. My sisters and I would have to finish whatever chores we were assigned before we could go out and play. So if there were peas to shell and other kids from the neighborhood came over, if they were in a hurry to play, they were likely to end up with a bowl of peas to shell to help things move along. Why so much shelling and shucking you may ask. Obviously the growing season was limited, part of what were had was cooked and eaten then and part of it was “put up” for the winter months. I don’t know what they call it elsewhere, but “putting up” vegetables was a way of saying that they would be prepared for the freezer and eaten in the off season. Quit pushing, I am getting to the addiction part. You needed more background. Tomatoes, there I said it. I have an addiction for farm/garden fresh tomatoes. Every Saturday morning, this time of year, I will go to downtown Birmingham to Pepper Place Saturday Market. Farmers and their families will come into town, setup their fruits and vegetables and sell them between 7 am and noon. There are crafts, coffee stands, and food places to buy muffins and other breakfast fare. There is also live music on several porches that surround the area. I would miss something if I tried to list all of the fruits and vegetables available during the warm months. Today was going to be a hot one so I took my camera with me when I left to go to Pepper Place this morning. My photo for today is from Birmingham Botanical Gardens and was taken on my way home. I was a little later than I had planned because when I got to Pepper Place, an older lady had fallen in the parking lot, her bag of vegetables had thrown off her balance. She had fallen on her left side, her husband was with her but he is blind. Eventually I called 911, which I had never done before, the paramedics came and took her to the hospital, I am pretty sure she had some broken bones. One of the people there took custody of her vegetables and followed them to the hospital to keep the vegetables from spoiling. iTunes song for today is by The Be Good Tanyas and is titled "Scattered Leaves" from the album "Hello Love".
dream hat photography > This photo had a longer caption but it didn’t survive to be shared. Well, to be honest there were several drafts. For a lot of reasons, they have all been discarded. Today’s photo is in black & white, no color, not even muted tones. Going with the flow may seem easy but watch out for the undertow and riptides. ***edited caption - ok - i tried several funny drafts but none of them translated well - should have added that to the caption, sorry for the confusion, it was late
dream hat photography > You guys are great. Thanks for all of the positive reinforcement on my photos. Today finds me back on what is now familiar territory with another flower. I never think of myself as someone that photographs flowers. I don’t even know why I photograph them. Well, that’s not exactly true; I photograph flowers and plants because I find them visually pleasing for some reason. They pose nicely too. If you are someone that uses layers and Photoshop CS3, converting your background layer to a Smart Object is a good idea. It basically builds in a layer mask and if you choose to apply filters, it allows you to turn them off and on as well as go back and adjust them or anything else at any point, even after you have saved. It’s pretty cool. Tonight’s iTunes selection is a little song by Amos Lee on his self titled album. The song is “Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight” – the whole album is great, I recommend it if you are looking for something pleasant.
dream hat photography > For those of you secretly thinking that I am just a one-trick pony, I bring you something different today. Yes, I can photograph more than flowers and water. Sorry if it seems to any of you that I am in a rut. To be honest, I have gone through several phases already over the course of 2008 with my subjects and my approach to shooting. This month is the first month I have begun to feel a certain comfort level. I am not saying that I have started to feel complacent. In fact I am very far from feeling that way. I still question my shots every day and I still question my skill as a photographer every day. In fact, it still seems strange to refer to myself as a photographer. I love photography and feel like it has been a great addition to my life experience but I am not sure what line you have to cross to call yourself a photographer. Anyway, back to my original point, today’s photo is obviously not a flower or water. it is in fact a bird. The shot was taken at the Birmingham Zoo and I really didn’t think it would turn out well enough to share because I had to take it through the glass (which was very smudgy) and the lighting was poor. Birds can be interesting; I have noticed a number of you have birds in your daily photos. One thing that stays in the back of my mind when I look at birds, especially exotic birds, is that they are probably one of the closest living relatives to dinosaurs. It is easy to think lizard, but I think birds are considered closely related in some areas. Feel free to contradict me; I am by no means an expert on birds or dinosaurs. Before I post my iTunes choice of the day, John reached back to a Harry Nillson song yesterday. Nice choice, he was a unique artist with an amazing vocal range. So John, I see your Nillson and raise you a Roy Orbison. This song is taken from a special concert he performed late in his career with many of the current greats. It took place in September 1987 and his band that night included Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and Jackson Browne. Backup vocalists included k.d. lang, Jennifer Warnes, and Bonnie Raitt. There isn’t a bad track on the album but I chose one of his classics, “Pretty Woman”. If you ever get a chance to see the video, Bruce Springsteen had a ball on this song if I remember correctly. The album is titled “Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night”.
dream hat photography > We had a rainstorm this afternoon. I waited it out until it was only a drizzle then went out to shoot armed with my new waterproof cover for my camera and a rain poncho for me. I like shooting after a rain and it was nearing sunset. The light had a nice quality. I ended up with several shots I like and had a tough time choosing. I am not saying that I had great shots, I am just saying I had shots I liked, and your mileage may vary. It’s all subjective. So this was my choice. Hopefully it works for you too. If not, maybe another shot on another day will do it for you. This is kind of a ride along thing anyway, so just ride along and don’t mess with the music on the iPod or complain about the volume. Sometimes it needs to be a little loud for emphasis. Tonight’s iPod selection is from John Mayer on “The Village Sessions” album. This is a song I like a lot, “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room”. If you like John Mayer and don’t have “The Village Sessions” album, I highly recommend it, the arrangements are outstanding.
dream hat photography > May 2008 photo
dream hat photography > The truth of the matter is that I was lazy about taking photographs today. I only went as far as my front yard. There are a few young zinnias by the front door. If you want, we could pretend that it was just a challenge to see what I could shoot within a few feet of the front door. It doesn’t matter, I basically took the easy way out but at least I shot something. You may have noticed, but I am behind on looking at all of your galleries. I apologize for my slacking. It seems like every night, by the time I am finished processing images and uploading the daily photo, it is later than I thought.
dream hat photography > Today’s photo is more about trying a different technique with shooting a subject. It isn’t a replacement for what I have been doing the past few months but is more a different perspective for how I approach my subject. I have shot single or limited subjects in some of my other daily photos but for me it isn’t as much about limiting the subject as it was my mindset about how I wanted to try and capture the scene. So many days if I have an environment that offers a wide variety of subjects I will shoot a few images on one subject then move to the next subject. The idea being that out of a vast number of pictures that cover a lot of subjects, something should be worthy of sharing. I can’t say it has been a bad approach and I learn something from shooting a variety of scenes. But this is more about being more in tune with what I am trying to shoot and what I am trying to capture. Today I decided to go to the Aldridge Botanical Gardens (huge shock, right?) and concentrate on just shooting the little stream that runs into the lake. My general approach to shooting the stream was to work it like a crime scene. Not really, I have no idea how that would work but it was my little phrase in my head. It just simply reminded me to concentrate on really looking at the subject and trying to shoot it at different focal lengths, different exposures, and different perspectives. Hopefully it would help me learn a little more about shooting similar scenes in the future and would result in a good shot for the day. Whether I achieved the second goal is up for interpretation but I did feel like I gained some knowledge on ways to shoot scenes like this. Today’s iTunes selection is from the “Sam’s Town” album by The Killers. The song is titled “When You Were Young”. I like lyrics and my favorite lines from this song are: “They say the devil’s water, it ain’t so sweet You don’t have to drink right now But you can dip your feet Every once in a little while”
dream hat photography > Late this afternoon, I was back at the botanical gardens again. There are so many different things to shoot there. It is so peaceful, and so beautiful. It started out like most any late spring afternoon in this area with some clouds and a chance of a late afternoon shower. I was out in a wooded area of the gardens when the afternoon shower hit. There was a covered area near the trail so I went there to wait out the shower. Since I was in a covered area I could still shoot some things nearby. The rain kept falling so I decided to pack up and make my way back to the entrance. Walking in the rain wasn’t bad and my camera was protected in my backpack. Along the way back I passed another covered area and noticed the cactus in bloom. I am a big fan of water droplets on plants and flowers. Today’s photo is of the flowers on the cactus. There was still a light rain falling but it didn’t interfere with my photograph. I took a few shots from the covered area, then packed up again. I have some other shots I will probably post later. I played with trying to get some photographs of water splashes and used my flash to help. I took quite a few and only one of the shots was anywhere close to what I wanted. It was a good experiment though and will be helpful the next time I have a similar opportunity. Today’s iTunes selection is from the past. Some songs and albums stand the test of time pretty well. Good music is good music no matter when it is released. For me personally, a lot of artists will have a lot of albums but there will often be one of theirs that will be my personal favorite and stand way above the rest of their work. For David Bowie “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” holds that spot for me in his body of work. Today’s song from that album is “Suffragette City” and is taken from the 30th Anniversary Edition of the album. I don’t own any other David Bowie albums but in my personal opinion, none of his other work holds a candle to this album.
The truth of the matter is that I was lazy about taking photographs today. I only went as far as my front yard. There are a few young zinnias by the front door. If you want, we could pretend that it was just a challenge to see what I could shoot within a few feet of the front door. It doesn’t matter, I basically took the easy way out but at least I shot something.

You may have noticed, but I am behind on looking at all of your galleries. I apologize for my slacking. It seems like every night, by the time I am finished processing images and uploading the daily photo, it is later than I thought.
> The truth of the matter is that I was lazy about taking photographs today. I only went as far as my front yard. There are a few young zinnias by the front door. If you want, we could pretend that it was just a challenge to see what I could shoot within a few feet of the front door. It doesn’t matter, I basically took the easy way out but at least I shot something. You may have noticed, but I am behind on looking at all of your galleries. I apologize for my slacking. It seems like every night, by the time I am finished processing images and uploading the daily photo, it is later than I thought.
The truth of the matter is that I was lazy about taking photographs today. I only went as far as my front yard. There are a few young zinnias by the front door. If you want, we could pretend that it was just a challenge to see what I could shoot within a few feet of the front door. It doesn’t matter, I basically took the easy way out but at least I shot something.

You may have noticed, but I am behind on looking at all of your galleries. I apologize for my slacking. It seems like every night, by the time I am finished processing images and uploading the daily photo, it is later than I thought.
Gallery pages:  1  2  3  4  >  
Buy:
this photo buy this photo
multiple photos buy multiple photos | view cart view cart
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