January 12, 2014 366 Project. Over a Year Later.

     After the last post of 2012, I took a what felt like my first breath of the year, then another and another . . .and pretty soon 2013 was gone. As I sit in front of this blank page remembering both the excitement and daily drudgery of the "366 Project", I am at a loss trying to recall the significant pictures that I shot of 2013. Nothing really jumps out and screams "look at me!".
   2013 found me in a couple of photography classes at the local college. I met some great people and learned how good Lightroom is as an editing/workflow software. But I felt as if I were in a shooting slump even as I was surrounded by a class full of talented photographers. 2013 did not see any of my big "Drives". I stayed close to home. Wondering now, which comes first, the excitement for the drive or does the drive generate the excitement? I want the excitement back and I want to share that excitement!
     So what's next? No project that is so much calendar driven. but even as I say that, there is a realization that expectations of others is a good motivator to create. Whatever I do, I know the '366 Project" is no longer the correct location to present whatever comes next. I have always linked every post of this site to my Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/jay.baum.photography ) so a lot of comments were made on FB rather than through the blog. It was very late into 366 that I realized how difficult it was to post comments to the blog site. I will keep this page alive because I feel as if it still has a story to tell. I will use this site to announce whatever my new path will be. Whatever the path there will be pictures. So in conclusion, below are some pictures from what feels like the creatively off year of 2013. Here's to 2014!

 

April 18. Flower at Dusk.

April 18. Flower at Dusk.

March 31. Drink Cooler in Black & White.

 

March 31. Drink Cooler in Black & White.



March 31. Night Time in the City.

 

 

 

February 22. Dead Willow Tree.

 

February 22. Dead Willow Tree.

February 22. Bird & Broken Window.

 

February Twenty Second. Bird & Broken Window. There is a sparrow nesting inside the shop where I work. She uses a missing window pane to come and go.

3486.6 Miles. Texas-Florida-Illinois-Texas.

 

A long drive. Short version. Leave Texas and drive 1038 miles to Jacksonville, Florida to visit my dad, my brother and his family. Mostly just visited, but managed to squeeze in two hours or so of shooting with my brother. Some wonderful wildlife shots had me wishing for faster and better quality long glass.Good visit, then I left for Illinois, 1052 miles. The weather radar showed I was headed for a wall of severe storms in Georgia. The storms did not disappoint. I missed running into a tornado in Adairville, Georgia by fifteen or twenty minutes. I was just east of Adairville on Interstate 75 when high winds forced me and three semis to leave the highway. The trucks drove on away down the side road but I stopped just off of the interstate at a small group of buildings. The tornado sirens went off while I waited but I never did see a funnel cloud. http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/tornado-hits-adairsville-ga-31612245.html#crsl=%252Fvideo%252Fus-15749625%252Ftornado-hits-adairsville-ga-31612245.html. I drove into Adairville from the north side of town until I could see the road was blocked by emergency crews. The storm delayed me by over two hours as I repeatedly tried to find a way through storm damaged towns only to be turned back by blocked roads. I could have driven around the damage but did not want to hinder rescue crews in any way. Then on to Bloomington, Illinois to visit my sister and her family. A short busy visit allowed me to watch my niece Mia compete in two games for her high school basketball team and also catch my nephew Mitch compete at hurdles and high jump for his college team. My sister and I managed to take a half day photo drive which included a visit to a closed insane asylum and it's graveyard. I had a good visit, then it was off to Texas 1000+ miles. I dropped my nephew off at Washington University in St. Lousis on my way. This trip was about family but it also had a little adventure and I grabbed a few pictures along the way. All in all, a great trip. Thank you to my family for opening your homes and making time for me. Total mileage for trip including photo drives and detours for storm. 3486.6 miles.

 

 

 

 

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

Mount Nebo State Park, Arkansas. December 2012

I concluded the 366 Project on top of a snow covered mountain in Arkansas. I had the good fortune to share a cabin with some wonderful people. It was a great and relaxing trip. The mountain was in thick fog almost the entire time we were up there. The fog gave the woods a magical somewhat eerie quality. The fog made for some tough shooting with it's soft focus and low lighting but that did not stop me from shooting hundreds of exposures.

I am happy the 366 Project is over but I do feel a sense of loss at it's conclusion. I have taken a break from both the blog and shooting since the trip. I am going to keep the blog and continue to post pictures and commentary but it will no longer be driven by the calender. I am looking for balance in my life. I want to devote more time to writing and maybe even take a few creative writing courses, I want to take more big drives and less of the few hundred mile trips. I want to be a better friend to the people around me and spend less time alone. And I want to become a better photographer and take my pictures to another level. I invite all of you to keep traveling with me but I can not tell you where we are going or when we will get there. Below are some pictures from the Mount Nebo trip. http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/mountnebo/