Photo Friday: New Projects

I would say that Photo Friday is back, but it never went away. Every Friday, last year, with my Black and White Project, was a Photo Friday. It just had a different title.

And no text.

Because my Black and White Project is done, thankfully, I can't help but think about 2019 and wonder about my next photo project.

I say "thankfully" with regards to last year's project because about halfway through it, I lost interest. Maybe my disinterest showed: many of the photos in that project weren't inspired or inspiring. When I set out on the project, I had intended to capture images purely with a 35mm camera, an old digital point-and-shoot camera, and, on occasion, my smartphone. I wasn't going to use my D-SLR for the project.

But there were some images that I captured with my D-SLR that, when I performed post-processing and applied black-and-white effects, I thought that those images could work with my project. There are about three or four images in that project that were shot with my Nikon.

When I ran out of film with the Ricoh camera that I borrowed from my friend, Stuart, I happened to be with him in Montreal. I retrieved the roll of film from the camera, handed his camera back with my thanks, and continued on our photo walk with my Nikon.

Just as Stu's camera was now out of film, my interest in my project was also done. I continued, nevertheless, waiting for the photos from the roll to be processed but relying more on my smartphone to capture images and relying on the 35mm prints to fill out the final weeks of the project.

There were months where I had gone without shooting pictures for the project because I already had images lined up. I'd often forget I even had a project.

I'm not doing that again.

So here I am, in a new year, and I have a couple of ideas for a new project. I have an orchid that DW purchased a year ago, which we watched flourish over 2018. I captured several images of it throughout the year, one being added to my Black and White Project.

At its height of productivity, 23 flowers bloomed on it. In October, as some of its flowers began withering and dying, I could see what appeared to be tiny nodes appearing on its branches. By the beginning of December, all the flowers were gone and the nodes were turning into buds.

I may do a weekly photo journal of the development of these buds and the growth cycle of the orchid. Already, I've added a photo, taken on New Year's Day, to Instagram, where I plan to limit this project.

I'm also going to do a variation of my POTD project from two years ago, but because of my mobility issues, where I can only get outdoors if the weather is favourable to peg legs, I'm going to look through the photos that I'm able to shoot between Saturdays and Thursdays, and post my favourite one on each Photo Friday.

It's my Photo of the Week project.

This week, on January 2, I ventured outside for the first day in several. The holidays made me very lazy and the weather didn't help, and so I was looking forward to returning to the office after a 12-day absence.

On my way home, clouds were starting to work their way over the city but there was still some light making its way through. As I drove over the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge, back into Ottawa, I looked to the east, along the Ottawa River, and saw that the Rideau Falls were being illuminated by the sinking sun. An orange glow was casting itself over the landscape.

Despite the frigid temperature, I decided that this would be one of my few opportunities to get out with my camera, so I made the brief detour on my journey home.

Next week, I'm hoping to get out to where a pair of snowy owls have been sighted over the past few weeks. I'm also attending a photo shoot and will plan on making more detours in my travels between home and office.

Happy Friday!