Nick 365
With the start of the new year, I have decided to make an attempt at my own Project 365. This gallery will exhibit a photograph per day for the next year. The photos will be randomly inspired with varying techniques. My hopes are this will be a fun experience that will broaden my creativity and allow me to learn more to help enhance my photography skills. Hope you enjoy!
222/365 - August 14, 2012 - Laces Up
With football season only a couple of weeks away, I grabbed a close up of a football under my lights. I fitted my 24-105mm lens with a +4 macro filter to get in nice and tight.
221/365 - August 13, 2012 - Vallarta Memories
Since I am on the anniversary kick, I snapped a shot of one of the souvenirs we brought back from our honeymoon to Puerto Vallarta.
220/365 - August 12, 2012 - Six Years Ago
Today will be the first I day I have cheated in my 365 project. However, given then occasion and the fact I am the one setting the rules, I decided to post one of our wedding day shots. I didn't think I had aged all that much since then, but this photo definitely shows a younger Nick. Lisa on the other hand, she is just hot today as she was then. Happy Anniversary, Lisa!
219/365 - August 11, 2012 - Wedding Gifts
On an evening where I was trying to draw some type of inspiration for a photo, I thought about what Lisa and I were doing on this day 6 years ago. That's when it hit me what I could photograph. I went scavenging through our closets (without Lisa's knowing) and found the gifts we gave each other after our rehearsal dinner before parting ways for the night. I tried to do something creative with my lights, etc. in the garage, but it didn't turn out as well as I would have liked.
218/365 - August 10, 2012 - Anniversary Date Night
With our wedding anniversary coming up on Sunday, Lisa and I were able to pawn the kids off on my parents for the night. With the kids out of our hair, we caught a movie. To my surprise, Lisa picked a movie that wasn't a chick flick. She's such a good wife!
217/365 - August 9, 2012 - Another August Sunset
Crazy week has produced a lot of last minute shots. Tonight's sunset was one of those shots. Hopefully things will settle down soon so I can refocus on some better shots.
216/365 - August 8, 2012 - OneLife Halls
Tonight was the first worship service at our church's new Halls location http://www.onelifeknox.com. It was a great night to celebrate what God is doing in our church and in our family. If the celebration wasn't enough, Lisa surrendered her life to Christ tonight!
215/365 - August 7, 2012 - One-third Full
Tonight I joined up with my family to celebrate my grandfather's birthday at Texas Roadhouse. My goal was to get a photo with him in it, but with my phone camera in hand, I just couldn't get a photo that wasn't blurry due to the low light conditions. Instead, I decided to use a shot of a almost empty/partially full glass of Coca-Cola on our table for my subject.
214/365 - August 6, 2012 - The House That Neyland Built
I actually had a chance to venture out with the camera tonight, albeit with the kids in tow. With football season around the corner, the Vols were on my mind while listening to John & Jimmy on 99.1. So naturally, I drove by the stadium and captured this shot of the west sideline skybox structure.
213/365 - August 5, 2012 - Thirsty Nate
Nate has decided recently that he loves Lisa's Diet Coke. This shot proves it after a Sunday afternoon stop by Sonic to grab a treat.
212/365 - August 4, 2012 - Take Out
Another busy day equated to another day without much motivation for a photo. This was taken with my phone camera while eating Chinese take out for dinner.
211/365 - August 3, 2012 - Ominous Clouds
Prior to heading back to the church to help with the stage another night, I had to run an errand for Lisa. On my way to the store, I made a quick detour through the Brickey Elementary School parking lot and captured this shot of an adjacent farm.
210/365 - August 2, 2012 - Work In-Progress
Tonight I spent the evening at our church's new location that will open later this month in Halls helping build the stage platform that will be in the auditorium. So far, portions of the left and middle sections are complete.
209/365 - August 1, 2012 - Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day
Today's Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day really generated a ton of business at the new location on Emory Road. The photo really doesn't do it justice, but the traffic waiting to enter the parking lot from the turn lane was at least 20 cars deep. Cars snaked around the parking lot just waiting on the drive-thru. If you look really close, there is also a line of customers out the front door on the sidewalk. I guess it's pretty obvious how East Tennessee feels about the comments made by Chick-Fil-A's president a week or so back...
208/365 - July 31, 2012 - Sitting on My Ball
Since I captured a shot of Nate last night, I decided to even the score and get a shot of Anna tonight. We spent some time playing in the backyard. I captured this one as she was sitting on a ball on her trampoline.
207/365 - July 30, 2012 - Bath Time
Tonight I endured another night of the kids all to myself. It also coincided with bath night. With my creative slump still in tow, I took the easy way out and captured a shot of Nate in the tub.
206/365 - July 29, 2012 - Opening Ceremony Delayed
Since we had plans Friday night, we made sure to record the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics so we could catch the highlights later on in the weekend. We spent the evening watching the majority of it. Prior to wrapping up the recording, I frantically realized I had not captured any photos. Since I had very little inspiration, I captured a shot of the various flags on display on the television just after the raising of the Olympic flag.
205/365 - July 28, 2012 - Watch Dog
I spent the better part of the day tending to my smoker. The smell of hickory smoked pork enticed Brady into lying along side the smoker to keep any would be intruders away. Dinner later in the evening was well worth the wait.
204/365 - July 27, 2012 - Big Stone Gap
Today on the way up to Pikeville, KY to perform a foundation review for a new hotel that I performed the structural design, I couldn't help but stop at this overlook just east of Big Stone Gap, VA on US 23. This valley with the mountainous surrounding was a very majestic sight. The picture doesn't do it justice.
203/365 - July 26, 2012 - Happy Birthday Nana
Today was my mom's birthday. Our family got together for an impromptu cookout that my dad pulled together as a surprise for my mom.
202/365 - July 25, 2012 - Mr. Cookie Jar
Another difficult night trying to find some motivation resulted in me lying around on the floor. I came up with this shot of one of the many toys lying around.
201/365 - July 24, 2012 - Two Ducks
Tonight I had to get the kids out of the house to drop something off to Lisa at a consignment sale she was setup at in Karns. On the way back home, I made a lengthy detour out to the Solway area. I made a quick stop at the fishing pier on Melton Hill Lake just off of Edgemoor Road. I stalked a group of ducks for a bit, and this was what I come up with.
200/365 - July 23, 2012 - Day Two Hundred
Today I added another milestone shot to the project. Since I captured the number 100 on Day 100, I thought it would be appropriate to capture 200 on Day 200. I captured this shot on West Jackson Avenue in the Old City. What's interesting about this shot is I unknowingly took a photo of this building already on Day 78 ("Best Part of the Meal"), but of course did not notice the address until today.
199/365 - July 22, 2012 - Stainless Steel Controls
Another evening of scrambling for a shot let me to the back deck were I took this shot of my grill's burner controls. I thought the very shallow DOF gave this some interest.
198/365 - July 21, 2012 - Smoked Pork
Today I finally found some time to utilize my Father's Day gift. Lisa and the kids got me a smoker so I can try to learn to make us some good barbecue. My first attempt was to smoke a pork shoulder, Eastern North Carolina style. It's probably a little sacrilegious for an East Tennessee native to start out with the vinegar based ENC style, but I have grown to prefer this style over the past couple of years. It turned out pretty good, but it could have been a little more tender and maybe a little less spicy. At least everyone's sinuses were much clearer after dinner.
197/365 - July 20, 2012 - Anderson County Alternative School
This afternoon I got to leave the office early to make a site visit to the new Anderson County Alternative School in Clinton. Friday afternoons and site visits are always good, as my office concentration after lunch is definitely lacking. This shot is of the exterior of the school, which hopefully is still on schedule to open up in less than a month.
196/365 - July 19, 2012 - Kickoff Tickets
Our UT vs. NC State tickets came in the mail today. With no other motivation in sight, my photo is of the tickets. I sure hope my first trip to the Georgia Dome isn't disappointing.
195/365 - July 18, 2012 - Watts Bar Cooling Towers
Today I had to make another site visit to Rhea County High School to inspect a CMU wall that was bent 4' out of plum due to a severe thunderstorm a week or so back. Since the visible progress wasn't much from my last photo, I decided to do something different today. On my way back to Knoxville, I passed by the Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant. With it being a fairly nice day, I decided to stop and grab a shot or two.
194/365 - July 17, 2012 - Summer Sunset
This evening was spent at our church's new Halls location, which is set to open in August. We were helping finish up some painting, etc. On my way home, I kind of panicked when I realized I had not gotten my shot yet. As luck would have it, the sunset was really colorful tonight as we got home. So my job was actually quite easy as you can see.
193/365 - July 16, 2012 - Sterchi and Commerce
Today was our first day back from our Texas trip. Feeling somewhat motivated today, I ventured downtown on my way home while Lisa was out at her parents picking up the kids. This shot is taken on the northern end of Gay Street, which has recently been updated into a really nice part of downtown. The two buildings are the Sterchi and Commerce Buildings.
192/365 - July 15, 2012 - Welcome Back to Tennessee
Today was spent on the road home from Dallas back to Knoxville. My primary object all day was to drive, so my photo naturally had to come from the drive. I had just stopped in West Memphis for gas and decided to grab the camera in hopes of getting the shot you see as we crossed the Mississippi River on I-40 heading back into Tennessee. Not bad for one hand on the wheel and the other on the camera.
191/365 - July 14, 2012 - Me and Lisa
It only took half the year, but I finally got a shot of me and Lisa that wasn't trumped by another shot of the day. This shot was taken at the end of Premier Designs National Rally in Fort Worth. Today was patriotic day at the rally, hence why Lisa and I look like an American flag.
190/365 - July 13, 2012 - New Jewelry
Since my day was tied up at the Fort Worth Convention Center, I didn't get the opportunity to do much exploring. Instead, I spent a couple of hours taking photos of the new Premier Designs jewelry collection for Lisa to use for promoting the new line. This is one of a couple hundred shots that I captured.
189/365 - July 12, 2012 - Bass Hall
Today after lunch, Lisa dismissed me from attending the afternoon session of the rally to allow me to do some sight seeing in downtown Fort Worth. Unfortunately it was a fairly hot day, and I was dressed in pants and a collared shirt with my backpack full of camera and rally gear, so needless to say, it wasn't as pleasant as I would have hoped. Regardless, I spent roughly 2 hours roaming the streets seeing what Fort Worth had to offer. This shot was taken on the west corner of Bass Hall, which is the Performing Arts center downtown.
188/365 - July 11, 2012 - Dealey Plaza
On our first full day in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the Premier Jewelry National Rally, Lisa and I ventured into Dallas for dinner and some sight seeing. After a delicious steak at Hoffbrau Steaks, we walked over to Dealey Plaza to view some history. For those who don't quite get the significance, this is the infamous site of JFK's assassination. In this shot, I am standing at the corner of Elm and Houston Streets, which is the last corner the motorcade made prior to heading down Elm Street. The grassy knoll is in the background.
187/365 - Memphis Barbecue - July 10, 2012
On our way to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, we passed through Memphis around 2:00. Being that Lisa and I are both barbecue lovers, we made it a point to stop and grab a bite at a local barbecue joint to satisfy our fix. Our original intent was to stop by Charles Vargos' Rendezvous, but it didn't open up until dinner time. After various online reviews, we settled on Corky's. We definitely were not disappointed with out stop.
186/365 - Running Out of Time - July 9, 2012
Today's shot is truly a last minute shot before the clock struck midnight. On a day that was spent working, taking the kids to my in-laws and packing for our Dallas trip tomorrow, I just did not have anytime for any kind of creative shot on the day. By far not my best...
185/365 - Door of Yesteryear - July 8, 2012
On my way home from my parents', I made a quick stop in Clinton to get my photo of the day. This shot is of an old set of doors on the side of one of the antique shops just off of Market Street.
184/365 - Morning Coffee - July 7, 2012
As I embark on the second half of my project, I start it in a similar fashion to how I started the project, with a cup of coffee. I did not have this intention with the start of the day, but after seeing the shadow my coffee cup produced on our counter top while fixing breakfast for the kids, I couldn't resist grabbing the camera.
183/365 - July 6, 2012 - Tipping Point
Today is the halfway point of my project. To commemorate the occasion, I tried to come up with something related to halfway, 50%, etc. What I came up with is a tipping point. This road sign is placed at a really steep, abrupt railroad crossing in Powell. Hard to believe the year is already half over. I have thoroughly enjoyed the first half and am looking forward to the second half of the project.
182/365 - July 5, 2012 - TV Time
On an evening with very little inspiration, I began shooting outside, trying to get a shot of the trees bending over due to the wind gusts ahead of a severe thunderstorm coming into the area. After coming back inside, I couldn't help take a shot of Lisa and the kids on the couch watching the TV.
181/365 - July 4, 2012 - Fourth Fireworks
For the first time in about 5 years, I stayed out late enough on the 4th to enjoy a fireworks display in my hometown of Lake City. Of course, I took the opportunity to capture some shots of the fireworks.
180/365 - July 3, 2012 - Andy Griffith
After hearing the news that Andy Griffith passed away today, I tried to think of something to shoot that paid tribute to him and Mayberry. The Andy Griffith show is one show that I always enjoy watching, and I rarely pass the opportunity to watch a rerun when it is on television. I decided to take a photo of my revolver and a single bullet, which is all Andy allowed Barney to carry in his deputy duties.
179/365 - July 2, 2012 - Closing Time
I spent a portion of the evening in the kitchen doing the dishes. Lisa had some friends visit over the weekend, and they really put away the wine. This shot is of the glasses drying out on the counter after washing them.
178/365 - July 1, 2012 - Playing in the Heat
On another sweltering day in the Knoxville area, Nate sneaked out the back door while Brady was outside decorating the yard. Nate found the playset we bought about a week ago that has yet to be set up completely to play on.
177/365 - June 30, 2012 - Grotto Falls
On a record breaking heat day in East Tennessee (Knoxville broke the all-time record with a high of 105 degrees), my brother and I decided to head to the Smokies to do some hiking and photography. We settled on Grotto Falls for our destination, which is only a 1.5 mile hike in from the trailhead. We spent several patient hours at the falls due to the amount of people visiting. This is a close up of the top of the falls.
176/365 - June 29, 2012 - Heat Wave
Today was the second day in a row that Knoxville has made it into triple digits for the high temperature. We broke a daily record yesterday and flirted with the all-time Knoxville high today. Tomorrow's forecast is for 106, which would shatter it.
175/365 - June 28, 2012 - Wine, Attention!
Not real sure why I was motivated to align a few bottles of wine on the counter for today's shot, but this is what I came up with. Believe or not, no bottles were harmed in this photo.