Thanks! And yes, I have the same problem here... with my wife I usually have to wait (or keep shooting) until after she stops making the "picture taking" smile/pose and relaxes, then laughs or smiles for real, as in this example. What you don't see is leading up to his there was a succession of about a dozen shots of her turning, making goofy faces, half-smiling, or squinting/blinking

P.S. Word to the wise: dogs or cats make decent portrait practice models

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500px | flickr

“The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.” -- Dorothea Lange

Good suggestion...if only I weren't allergic. I've tried with our fish, but the glare from the aquarium is a constant problem...and when I take them out, they refuse to stop flopping around.

NOTE: The story above about flopping fish is written as humor and does not reflect any actual events. Please do not report me to PETA or the ASPCA. No fish were harmed in the writing of this forum post.

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Sarcasm is my default tone, so please consider that before taking offense to the preceding message.

Criticism (no matter how harsh) is welcomed of ANY and ALL images I post.

Jay... Nice work, man!

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Don

Thanks!

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500px | flickr

“The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.” -- Dorothea Lange

Today's shot was literally waiting for me on the sidewalk in front of my house this morning:



E-PL1 with Lentar 35mm f/2.8

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Sarcasm is my default tone, so please consider that before taking offense to the preceding message.

Criticism (no matter how harsh) is welcomed of ANY and ALL images I post.

Nice shot... the bokeh on that actually reminded me of motion blur in the background, which somehow was very fitting with a shot of a snail in transit.

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500px | flickr

“The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.” -- Dorothea Lange

I am loving seeing what folks are doing. I find myself looking at peoples work and thinking "gotta get out there and make some images". Thanks everyone for the inspiration.

I agree completely. I'm really glad that you put this "challenge" together and that I decided to join you. I'm taking my camera with me more, definitely shooting more and looking at the world in a slightly different way.

It's also pushed me to experiment more with post-processing. A few days ago I took a few shots in the morning, but didn't really have anything that I thought was good. I got busy and didn't pick up my camera for the rest of the day. The next morning I was going to update my site and I thought perhaps I'd have to write that day off as a miss. But I pulled up the 20 or so images I had to see if I couldn't find a usable shot. As I started editing the images a bit and looking closer, I ended up with four or five images that I found that I liked -- it was one of the harder times I've had in choosing a single "image of the day." What I learned from that is that even if an image doesn't grab me SOOC, I may be able to salvage something from it or turn it into something else.

BTW, that ladybug shot is awesome!

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Sarcasm is my default tone, so please consider that before taking offense to the preceding message.

Criticism (no matter how harsh) is welcomed of ANY and ALL images I post.

Here's a couple for today of a Hibiscus bloom. It's been raining off and on all day and when I went looking for a subject, the extreme color caught my eye along with the raindrops balanced beautifully on the petals. I had a hard time deciding which composition to post so I'm posting two... anyone have a preference? I have my own preference but I'm curious to hear other feedback.

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500px | flickr

“The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.” -- Dorothea Lange

Those are gorgeous