Week 52 - Creative: Self Portrait

December 23, 2018 (357/365) #dogwood52 #dogwoodweek52

"Look out 'cause here I come; And I'm marching on to the beat I drum;

I'm not scared to be seen; I make no apologies, this is me!" - The Greatest Showman

[This year it's in a creative category, so be creative. When this category comes up, you really have room to express yourself. You can interpret the assignment literally or figuratively. Unlike the other categories, the idea of this category is to let your artistic impression shine.] This is it! This is me!

Week 51 - Technical: Exposure Compensation

December 17, 2018 (351/365)

"Stars of heaven, clear and bright, Shine upon this Christmas light" - Timothy Dudley-Smith #dogwood52 #dogwoodweek51

Week 50 - Composition: Golden Ratio

(344/365) Glitter Gold Latte at Goddess and the Baker

“When life gives you Monday, dip it in glitter and sparkle all day.” - Ella Woodward

Often called Fibonacci, the spiral leads the viewers eye to the subject, compose your image using the Golden Ratio. #dogwood52 #dogwoodweek50

Week 49 - Vision: Look Back

December 5, 2018 (339/365)

[We need to look back to see how far we've come. If you were Captain Ahab, which skill/week would be your whale? Post a comparison.] 

When I look back on this year's #Dogwood52 Challenge, I think my two weakest weeks were Week 2 - Composition: Color Harmony (since there isn't much color in Wisconsin in January and because I'm not a fan of saturated color in my images) and Week 6 - Alternating Rhythms (I love the photo of Piper running through the fresh snow and the shadows cast by the bare trees, but I don't think that this picture really met the challenge). So I looked way back to this photo taken on trip to San Sebastián/Donostia, Spain. I love the symmetry and and the colors of this building in Constitución Plaza. The grey and yellow are opposites on the color wheel and thus fulfill Week 2's challenge, while the repetition of numbered windows, open and closed shutters, and wrought iron railings against the white washed walls creates a pleasing alternating rhythm...Though, if I'm honest, I really chose this photo because it reminds me of an Advent calendar. #dogwoodweek49

Week 48 - Creative: Split Tones

December 1, 2018 (335/365) • Last year's technical, is this year's creative...

"Shadow is a colour as light is, but less brilliant; light and shadow are only the relation of two tones." - Paul Cezanne

Black and White November is over and color will once again feature prominently in my December pictures — after today, that is! This week’s #dogwood52 prompt is actually a great transition from the previous thirty monochromatic images to the final thirty full color photos in this year’s #Project365.

Split Toning is an effect which has its origins in film. It involves tinting the highlights in an image one color and the shadows another color. For best results, photographers often start with a black and white image and use opposite colors for each, such as yellow and blue, green and magenta, etc. for the highlights and shadows. I used yellow for the faded hydrangea petals and blue for the shadows in the snow. I like how this effect illustrates the brilliance of a sunny winter day.

Week 47 - Technical: Step Back

November 20, 2018 (324/365) 

"Those who want to be serious photographers, you're really going to have to edit your work. 

To stop and look at your work is the most important thing you can do." - Annie Leibovitz

[Edit your image to where you think it's perfect and let it sit for two days. Then return to it and see if it works.] #dogwood52 #dogwoodweek47

Week 46 - Composition: Golden Triangles

November 12, 2018 (316/365)

"An artist is a person who lives in the triangle which remains after the angle which we may call common sense has been removed from this four-cornered world." - Soseki Natsume #dogwood52 #dogwoodweek46

Golden Triangle: A diagonal line divides the frame from corner to corner, two more lines are added from the other corners, intersecting the diagonal line.

Week 45 - Vision: Show Half

November 6, 2018 (310/365)

"Freedom was a thing that shifted as you looked at it..." - Colson Whitehead #dogwood52 #dogwoodweek45

Week 44 - Wildcard: October in Pictures

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” - Anne of Green Gables #dogwood52 #dogwoodweek44

Week 43 - Creative: Song

October 21, 2018 (294/365) • Week 43: Create a photo from the title of a song

"The long and winding road..." - The Beatles (Jens Jensen Road, Door County) #dogwood52 #dogwoodweek43

Week 42 - Technical: Shutter Drag

October 17, 2018 (290/365) • Fly Like a Beagle

Week 42: Dragging the shutter to balance fill light with ambient light or to add motion-blur  #dogwood52 #dogwoodweek42

Week 41 - Composition: Rule of Odds

October 7, 2018 (280/365) • Week 41: Rule of Odds #dogwood52 #dogwoodweek41

"...the muted sounds, the shroud of grey, and the silence that comes with fog." ~ Om Malik 

Week 40 - Vision: Classic Novel

October 3, 2018 (276/365) • Week 40 - Vision: Classic Novel #dogwood52 #dogwoodweek40

“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. 

It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning-- 

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Week 39 - Creative: Abstract

September 24, 2018 (267/365)

"There is no abstract art. You must always start with something..." ~ Pablo Picasso

Week 39: Photograph a common object in an abstract manner. 

#dogwoodweek39, #dogwood52, #dogwood2018 #domke #doorsopenmilwaukee

Week 38 - Technical: Focus Stacking

September 16, 2018 (259/365) • Week 38 - Technical: Focus Stacking

"Clarity affords focus." ~ Thomas Leonard #dogwoodweek38, #dogwood52, #dogwood2018 🐸

Week 37 - Composition: Eye Lines

September 12, 2018 (255/365) • #dogwoodweek37, #dogwood52, #dogwood2018

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." ~ Marcel Proust

[Eyes draw attention to certain parts of the frame, your subject will direct your audience's eye. 

Where is your subject looking? What are they seeing or not seeing?]

Week 36 - Vision: Ordinary

September 2, 2018 (245/365) • Week 36 - Vision: Find beauty in the ordinary

"A smile is happiness you'll find right under your nose." ~ Tom Wilson 

#dogwoodweek36, #dogwood52, #dogwood2018 #llamaphotobomb

Week 35 - Creative: Loneliness

August 29, 2018 (241/365) 

"One is the loneliest number..." ~ Harry Nilsson #dogwoodweek35, #dogwood52, #dogwood2018

Week 34 - Technical: The Wild Side

August 20, 2018 (232/365) • Week 34 - Technical: The Wild Side #dogwoodweek34, #dogwood52, #dogwood2018

“We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. 

We can be free! We can learn to fly!” ~ Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

[Capturing a captivating wildlife photograph requires knowledge of your camera settings and the behavior of the animal. Capture a compelling wildlife photograph that has proper subject alignment (e.g., no "bird butts") and exposure. For an easy introduction, urban critters (e.g., squirrels) are easy targets. For an advanced challenge, a bird in flight could be considered.]

Week 33 - Composition: Figure to Ground

August 12, 2018 (224/365) •  "Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!" - Dom Pérignon

Week 33 - Composition: Figure to Ground #dogwoodweek33, #dogwood52, #dogwood2018

[Figure to Ground is designed to make the subject stand out. Light on dark, dark on light.]