“The Year of Charlie Brown”

NaBloPoMo 2014: Chuck at the Disco (working with light)

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"Chuck at the Disco"


Tonight I’m taking a break from the nature photos to share a photography assignment from earlier this year. In looking through all of my photos recent nature photos my mind wandered to the light and how I should be working with it.

Tonight’s photo is both homework assignment and part of the yearlong One Object Photo project I read about on The Photoblographer.

Charlie Brown Tangled in Lights (strobe lights) was a great idea offered by a friend that never really panned out. I like the light in this photo so I kept it but the original concept was Chuck at the Disco with me capturing the strobe lights in my photos but I could never make that happen. I’m not sure if you need a fog machine to somehow make the strobes visible but working with extremely short and extremely long exposures and everything in between I never did capture the strobe lights in the manner in which I envisioned this series of photos. Like I said, I like the light in this photo so it made this cut.

The Year of Charlie Brown — Will You Be My Valentine?

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Will you be my Valentine?

I didn’t bring my camera with me to Walmart today, but I did bring Charlie Brown and my iPhone. No photography techniques were practiced today, just getting used to taking CB with me everywhere and not feeling uncomfortable taking photos in unusual places. I struggle with this. Do any of you feel uncomfortable or have a hard time taking photos in restaurants or supermarkets or other unusual places to be taking photos? Do any of you have any advice on how to overcome this?

Overcoming my feeling of embarrassment at taking photos everywhere I go will definitely be part of my One Object Challenge this year.

xo xo

~ Carol Anne

The Year of Charlie Brown — Day 2

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Charlie Brown Playing in the Snow

7 inches of snow fell in South Jersey between early evening Thursday, January 2 and the morning of Friday, January 3. Temps were in the teens when we went out to dig the car out and clear the walkway.

I wanted to work on taking photos with backlight and catchlights but as I mentioned earlier it was in the teens when I was out taking photos and I’m a complete wuss when it comes to being cold, CB doesn’t exactly have eyes that reflect sunlight, and the sun was just finally appearing from behind the clouds as the storm was passing and the skies were finally clearing when I was out taking photos this morning. The snow isn’t going anywhere any time soon, or at least until Sunday, so I’m hoping to try for a few more snowy CB photos before the rain and ice come on Sunday.

xo xo

~ Carol Anne

Charlie Brown Playing in the Snow

The Year of Charlie Brown — Day 1

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Charlie Brown on the kitchen counter right before midnight, January 1, 2014.

I think I am going to take Soapboxville in a more whimsical direction in 2014. On December 12, 2013 I found out that I am 2 years with no evidence of the cancer returning so I think it’s time to focus on fun and frivolity for a while. Oh, I will still tell my truths and chronicle my journey, but I think for at least this new year I will focus on the things that make me happy, the things that interest me, and the things that make me laugh.

On New Year’s Eve The Phoblographer posted a blog titled 5 Photography Challenges for the New Year and I was inspired. All five challenges are great and I’d love to take on the film challenge but that would require a new camera, buying film on a regular basis, and also having to pay to have that film developed on a regular basis, and that is just not in this year’s budget.

I chose the One Object Challenge, for one year I will have fun taking photos of Charlie Brown on a regular basis in a variety of settings to improve my creativity. At first I thought I’d go to Toys R Us today and buy a little monster or a little robot to photograph, but as luck would have it I didn’t make it there today and so I thought that I’d have to start this project over the weekend but I hit on a little inspiration while cleaning up the kitchen and pantry tonight. I had my Peanuts Nativity Set on my kitchen counter and as I was picking it up to put it away for another year Charlie Brown looked at me and said, “Pick me, pick me,” and so I did. I must I must confess I was torn between Charlie Brown and Linus, as I too had a blankie, but Charlie Brown eventually won out.

*** Linus may get his own photo shoots at some point during the year ***

So welcome to The Year of Charlie Brown, follow our adventures as Charlie Brown and my camera accompany me everywhere I go for 365 days.

xo xo

~ Carol Anne