Week In The Life™ 2014 | Monday Words & Photos

Ah, Mondays.

My first thought tonight, as I sit down to write about the day and work through the photos, is that I'm thankful.

I'm thankful for a million different things but one of the big things today is simply the ability to capture pieces of my life through my lens.

It's a simple thing that I sometimes take for granted as I get caught up in this or that. I love being able to use my camera to tell the stories of our lives.

Before I share my photos for today I've got some general observations on the process:

1. One of my favorite things to do with this project is go through the photos at the end of the day. I love seeing what went right (in terms of captures) and what didn't quite go right. Ha. When I go through my photos I know without a doubt that I won't use more than one shot of the same thing. I delete the ones I will not be using.

2. There were some things I tried to capture today that just didn't come out right. For example, getting Anna to school. Almost all were blurry - too blurry to use. I made a note to myself to capture more of that process tomorrow.

3. I definitely don't try to capture every little detail of the day. I took more photos today with people in the shot vs. photos without people. As you'll see, I took a lot of self-timer shots.

4. I'm really conscious about light and the way things are lit/where light sources are coming from. I'm on the look out for interesting light and I'm really enjoying playing around with getting my camera to do what I want it to do. This project encourages me to experiment and I like that.

5. I also liked thinking through the lens of story today as well. I didn't feel as frantic as I sometimes do and I was less lax than usual in terms of writing down stuff as it was happening.

MONDAY PHOTOS & STORIES

About 200 with my Canon 5DMKII (24-70 lens) + about 25 with my iPhone

Today began with my alarm at 5am. I took the shot at the top of the post holding out my Canon 5D and praying I didn't drop it on my head. Grabbing my phone is often the first thing I do since it's my alarm and as I was reading over some of my early morning emails I was thinking about how the iPhone was so bright in a very dark room and wondered if I could use it to light my face. I got up out of bed, grabbed my camera, got back into bed and took a couple shots (not using the timer, just holding it out and clicking the button).

Ah, yeah.

And hey, when you're the only one in the house you gotta make it happen for yourself.

I used "Monday Photos" word art from my Daily Photos & Stories package.

The story of my morning today is that I wanted to get up earlier than the kids. I like that quiet time. It's a bit earlier than normal because when I'm doing this project I often need a bit more time to get my other projects done.

And did I say I like the quiet time?

The story of Anna's morning, which began about 6:40am, is that she found Hannah Montana on Netflix.

This school year I'm doing things a bit different in the morning. Simon, as he gets older, needs a bit more sleep. I'm letting him sleep in while Anna gets up and dressed and I get her to school. By the time I'm back Simon is up and has made himself breakfast and is dressed and ready for the day.

Did you read what I wrote above about not getting any decent shots of getting Anna to school. I kinda like the motion and movement in this one.

The story of today includes notes-to-self.

I took a bunch of shots in the car, telling the story of the time I spend driving the kids to and from school. For these shots I set the camera on the dashboard and turn on the timer.

I get what I get.

The story of today includes a boy who might have slept in a little later than he was supposed to but pulled it all together and out the door on time.

The story of today includes a stop at the grocery story after getting the kids to school.

That would be a self-timer self-portrait in the grocery store. I set the camera on the floor and hit the button and walked over to grab the Teriyaki sauce from the shelf.

And one in the parking lot.

I like the experimentation of these shots. They aren't perfectly composed. They don't have a perfect focal point. But they show pieces of my day.

The story of today includes the fact that I spent all my working hours sitting right here.

Except when I went downstairs for lunch.

And when I took a iPhone selfie after putting on my hat.

The story of today includes no shower (at least at the time of typing this up).

And the story of today wouldn't be complete without mentioning that Katie is gone this week as she spends time with her family awaiting the arrival of her first niece. Katie rocks with babies. That's going to be one lucky baby to have her for an Auntie.

The story of today includes a kid who loves when I pick him up from school. Big, full smile.

The story of today includes a kid who loves when I pick her up from school.

In her case it's actually the after-care at school - she loves it and asks to go every day.

The story of today includes an effort to get the three of us together in a shot. Fun counts.

Anna introducing Simon to Hannah Montana.

Seriously.

The story of today includes picking up Simon's new glasses. First pair.

The story of today includes boxes piled in the garage.

The story of today includes grass that's still green and leaves that are falling.

The story of today includes this cat, George Washington Edwards.

The story of today includes this Dad, who came to pick up the kids to take them to dinner with his parents to celebrate his Dad's birthday.

The story of today includes this guy, who came over to have sushi with me and then make cookies.

We both ate the sushi. I made the cookies.

The story of today includes a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors for who gets to sleep in my bed with me tonight. He won. She gets tomorrow night.

The story of today includes the bedtime prayer, Anna counting to 100, and Simon reading to me from Harry Potter.

Both are timer shots I set up myself by placing my camera on a shelf.

LENS OF JOY

Want to learn more about looking through the lens? Join me for Lens Of Joy.

Designed with the storyteller in mind, Lens Of Joy is a 4-week photography workshop that covers processes related to capturing life through the lens of your camera. I'll walk you through my personal workflow from picking up the camera, looking through the lens, establishing the story, experiencing the moment, composing, uploading, organizing, editing, printing and pairing the end result with words to tell a more complete story.

Get the full details here.

SHARE A LINK TO YOUR BLOG

I'd love to have you share a link to your MONDAY words and photos below. Please link directly to your post vs. a general blog link. In addition you're invited to come over to the free Week In The Life™ Community Gallery & Message Board.