366/366 - "Check!"

(F/8, 75mm, 1/160 sec, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

Last year about this time I was trying to decide whether this was the year I would check "Do a 365 Project" off of my bucket list.  As you can tell I decided to take on this project in 2012 and I am officially done.  I wanted to do this to learn different aspects of photography and improve my skills, such as lighting and post processing.  I still have much to learn but I can honestly say that I have learned more than I could have imagined as this past year unfolded.

Over this past year I have taken 4987 photographs, which means I averaged about 14 photos per day.  I would like to give a big thanks to everyone for all their support throughout this year. An even bigger thanks to Jim for some of his guest posts, pushing me to be more creative, and helping me throughout the year learning Lightroom and Photoshop. I utilized Jim's 365 Project from 2009 for inspiration and ideas when I was too tired to think. Lastly, a big shout out to Sue, Jonah, and Harper for their patience and being my subjects when I was out of ideas.

Over this past week I have reviewed all of my posts and it is quite amazing, uncanny actually, as I recall each photograph and what was happening on that day.  Some days were good and some not so good, and all those memories come flooding back. There were passings, relocations, weddings, family get togethers, vacations, holidays, and everything in between.

So the photo for today is my final self portrait.  I have done three of these on days 122, 244, and now 366.  

I hope everyone has enjoyed this as much as I did.  I won’t be posting on this blog anymore, so if you would like to continue to follow me or my future projects, then you should check out the links below. See you around the interwebs.

Twitter - @CyclePA11

Google+ - John Carenbauer

My Personal Blog - Other Stuff (This will probably get renamed soon, stay tuned) 

Professional Site - Pavé Photography

Professional Blog - Pavé Photography Blog

365/366 - "365"

(F/8, 17mm, 3 Exposures, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

So I have had this idea in my head for a few weeks and if this was a normal 365 Project it would be the last photo of the year.  However, since this is a leap year there will be one more photograph.  For this photograph I took three separate shots and merged them together in Photoshop.  Jonah thought it was really funny that he is now a triplet.  One more to go!

364/366 - "Small Town Saturday Night"

(F/8, 17mm, 3 Exposures, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

Based on my last two photos you probably thought I was going to do something related to the number three.  Well, you would have been right, but dad was in a car accident yesterday.  I spent most of the day at the hospital hanging out with him, talking and watching football.  When I got home it was dark and I decided to grab my camera and do some long exposure photographs of Oakmont.  This one is my favorite.  I took this from the Allegheny River Boulevard sidewalk by the clock tower looking towards Allegheny River Avenue.  Only two photos to go!

363/366 - "Four"

(F/4, 67mm, 1/15 sec, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

My first visit to Calvary Camp was Family Camp I in 2002.  This is when the cabins were the old style that you see in the photo.  Sue and her family have stayed in cabin #4 every family camp session they have attended.  During the years after 2002, camp started a project to replace the cabins with a more modern style.  The year that cabin #4 was set to be retired, I requested that Tim send the cabin number to me.  He did and I had it framed along with a photo that Sue had of the old cabin line.  It is hanging in our house as a reminder of the old cabin and all the good times that were had.  Since the rebuilding of all the cabins they renumbered them and now we stay in #14.

362/366 - "Five"

(F/8, 24mm & 100mm, 1/200 sec, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

The photo for today is actually inspired by Jim's 365 Project he did a few years back (Jim's 365th Day Photo Link).  His last photo for his project was a self portrait of him leaning against the dice.  Counting this photo there are five photos left for the year, so the #5 is in white and the red numbers are my countdown.  

To achieve this look I took a macro photo of the dice, and then a portrait of Jonah reaching up to touch the top of the "pretend" dice.  After I had the two photos, I merged them in Photoshop and shrunk Jonah down to size.  He actually thinks the dice are giant since he is the same size.

361/366 - "Snow Day"

(F/11, 17mm, 3 Exposures, ISO 100, Canon 5D Mk II)

On our way home from West Virginia today it started to snow.  When we finally arrived home it started getting really bad out and several roads were being closed.  Jonah and I went out and cleared the driveway and front sidewalks.  After we were done, I ran out with a tripod and setup in the middle of the road to take multiple exposures for the HDR image.

360/366 - "Family Photo Time"

(F/8, 55mm, 1/160, ISO 800, Canon 5D Mk II)

(F/8, 58mm, 1/160, ISO 800, Canon 5D Mk II)

(F/8, 35mm, 1/125, ISO 800, Canon 5D Mk II)

Every year after we finish Christmas morning at our house with the kids, we hop in the car and head to my mom's house for the rest of the day.  I am the oldest of 14, and days like Christmas, when we are pretty much all together,  get very chaotic.  We are generally never all in the same place at the same time and this year was no exception.  However, we did have record turnout 11 of 14 were there and we decided we had to take family photos.  The top photo is mom and Gary, with all the kids.  The middle photo is the out-laws (significant others), and the final photo is all of the grandkids.  Missing from the top photo are Pete, Anna, and Josh.  Missing from the middle photo are Dejan's wife (Ivana), Pete's girlfriend (Ivana), Anna's boyfriend (Jimmy), and Josh's wife (April).  There are three missing in the last photo, Layla (Josh's daughter), Devin (Chili's son), and Logan (Zach's son).  I think I captured that correctly and if I did't I will update it once someone corrects me.  The day was total chaos and a blast catching up with everyone.