Project 365: Christmas Cheer and the Return of Inspiration

It’s a Christmas miracle! (Okay, maybe not so much a miracle, as a really nice Christmas treat.) Slogging through much of the last couple of weeks of the 365 project, I’d realized that I was enduring it rather than enjoying it. But my 12 Hours of Christmas photo project reawakened the joy of picture-taking for me, and I am once again enthralled with the hunt for the photo of the day. Good thing, too, because there’s only a little more than three weeks left in my year!

Maybe I’m feeling rejuvenated because I’ve starting taking pictures of some of my favourite subjects again this week. Old barns, for example. (And old barns in TtV are like faves on top of faves!)

And you know I am fascinated by hands and feet. This is my father-in-law’s hard-worked hand being held up for a tentative high-five from Lucas. As is often the case, not quite the image I was going for but I like it nonetheless.

Sometimes, the photo of the day presents itself and begs to be photographed. Although, when the boys came in and excitedly told me they’d made a snowman (their first on their own!) I have to say I expected something a little, erm, taller. Don’t you love the look of self-satisfaction on their faces, though?

Tristan didn’t actually lose his tooth playing hockey, but when my father-in-law mentioned a similar picture taken by a relative, I knew exactly how I wanted to make this one up. A quintessentially Canadian image, I think!

“Mom, could you get me another spoon? This one doesn’t seem to be working very well.”

By the 23rd of December, I realized that the entire Christmas season had almost passed by, and I had taken hardly any of the warm, brightly-coloured images that I’d been anticipating throughout my 365 project. (I think that’s part of the reason why I was inspired to do the 12 hours of Christmas project, and I’m so happy I did!) Also, I think by the time I took this on the Eve of Christmas Eve, I’d reached that Christmas tipping point where the stress was pretty much gone and I was simply excited about Christmas.

I was delighted when the Karma group on Flickr, with more than 13,000 members, chose this as the Photo of the Day for December 24. What a nice honour!

And finally, although I liked all of the images from my Christmas hourly photo project, I think this one best captures the day.

As I type, the ice is building up outside from freezing rain. I can’t wait to get out and play with my camera. Taking pictures is suddenly a treat instead of a chore again. Hooray!

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