Roth 365x7 - The Third Odyssey

Each and every day there are things in our lives that are worth noticing and worth remembering.

This is how I started this project 7 years ago on the first post of this blog. Through 2008 I managed to take a picture every day. One of the things I learned by doing this is that some days there are lots of things to see and remember, and some days not so much. This was a lesson that was reinforced when I started a second attempt in December 2010, and is a big reason why that attempt ended after 145 days.

Since then I have been sporadically posting pictures from the archive. While this allows me to be more selective in what I post, it provides no motivation to shoot, and thus no motivation to notice or remember - which was the point of this.

What I needed was a more balanced approach that would give me motivation, but also flexibility to let some days go by without being forced to post subpar pictures of colanders or salmon. That is how the idea of a 365x7 was born. Instead of having to take one good picture everyday, I must now take seven good pictures every seven days.

To be honest, I am already worried about accomplishing this challenge. The dreary weeks of winter still stretch out ahead. The routines chaos of life is already returning after a nice holiday respite. Even at this moment I wonder what seven good pictures I can take this week. But then I remind myself that the opportunities are there, it is just a matter of seeing them. And, it is supposed to be hard - that is why it  is called a challenge.

Day 43- Smoke4 - 23 Jan 2011

Luckily the AFC Championship Game did not hold my interest, because while it was on I decided to try something I've wanted to do for a while: photograph smoke. I'd read a bit on how to best do this, but it still took quite a few attempts to get anything decent.

My technique in a nutshell was to use an ingot as the source of the smoke since it gave a nice steady supply along with an aromatic wood scent. The room itself was fairly dark so I could control the lighting. I shined a bright flashlight from one direction and positioned the wireless flash pointing in from the opposite side.

Then it was just a matter of manually focusing on the smoke while following the smoke with the camera (which was on a tripod), while also pointing the flashlight. The final work was done in Lightroom where I used a graduated filter to modify the exposure and the color.

Even once I got the hang of it there were many many attempts that went right to the trash for each one that I saved. I processed about a dozen, and wound up with six worth sharing. Here are the other five - please click through to see them bigger.

Day 37 - Put a Cork In It - 17 Jan 2011

It is rare that a wine stopper gets long term usage in our house, but we stopped this bottle of Lobo Loco more than a week ago, and still have yet to restart it. Crazy, I know. At least it provided me with a bottle topped with a spiral, which I have had success with in the past

Day 27 - Under The Table and Dreaming - 7 Jan 2011

This is another instance when I used the first Roth365 as inspiration. For this shot I actully went all the back to Day 1 of first photo odyssey. I'm starting to find that it is a fun challenge within a challenge to reshoots the same things but in new ways. Perspective changes over the years, so why not?

New Name - Same Great Taste

You may have noticed that this blog is not called A Keeper Today today. From hence forth, the name is Roth 365. (Yes, I realize there are 366 days this year - just liked Roth 365 better)

The mission, however, remains the same. Each and every day I will take a picture worth sharing.

Tomorrow

Each and every day there are things in our lives that are worth noticing and worth remembering. Too often, these things are overlooked because our attention is focused elsewhere.

The purpose of this project is to help me get better at seeing these wonderful treasures, and at capturing images of them. To do this, I will take a picture each and every day, no matter what, no excuses. These pictures must meet a certain quality threshold set by me - thus the reason it is called A Keeper Today - and not just A Photo Today.

I hope you come along with me on this journey through 2008 - through my lens.