Forty Days 'til Life Begins (and so it begins!)

  • Thread starter Thread starter dlh
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Thanks Snap Happy. Maybe Santa took the carrot to give to the Easter Bunny :)
 
Great photos, well done. I love this thread and have no fear of turning 40 it's great! :D

Happy Christmas to you :cool:
 
That little offering exudes the warm cosy feeling that we all aspire to at this time of the year.....nice one there Darren and happy Christmas

Bob
 
It is finally Xmas - that shot sums up how I expect Xmas to be - warm, cosy any baubles giving off light and colour.

Nice one.
 
wibbly said:
Great photos, well done. I love this thread and have no fear of turning 40 it's great! :D
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Thanks Wibbly. No fear of turning 40, just disappointed I've got nothing to show for it. Got another 40 to make up for it though with luck :)

Canon Bob said:
That little offering exudes the warm cosy feeling that we all aspire to at this time of the year.....nice one there Darren and happy Christmas
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Thanks Bob, certainly have preferred the cosy indoors for the last week. Have a good day.

Meeten said:
It is finally Xmas - that shot sums up how I expect Xmas to be - warm, cosy any baubles giving off light and colour.

Nice one.
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Thanks Meeten. Almost how I feel today, apart from my baubles not giving off light and colour :D
 
My Christmas is over. Little one has been dropped back to her mum and now I can just have a long weekend and maybe even get some fresh air!

Managed to miss the frenzy that was the present opening with the camera after we got to Nanny's house, niece and nephew made sure to get things going as soon as we walked in the door.

Managed to have a second of calm as my niece decides that her Christmas present wasn't quite up to standard and gives me the stare. Probably the one moment all day where she wasn't grizzling :)

 
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Don't know if I've had too much caffeine today but shaking like hell trying to take this. Once again using the reversed 50mm without a reversing ring. Maybe a 100mm macro should be on my shopping list to make it easier.

Yes, again it's a bit of a filler. Look out for something better tomorrow.

The most important button of the 21st Century (so far).


 
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As usual I made it to the the Mud Race far too late. This girl had the right idea though.



A few more shots here.
 
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After yesterday's venture into the public domain left my head full of things I wanted to do, today my head is a complete blank.

Like a bean, what am I now?


 
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Pleased to see you are still there with your project Darren, just had a quick look back, the 5p, Jack Daniels, and the Christmas Eve pic stand out for me, oh and the feet:)

Keep it up, I will remind myself to pop in now and again.
 
Meeten said:
is there any toast under those beans?
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I was all out of bread so it's just a pile of beans :D

Galaxy66 said:
Pleased to see you are still there with your project Darren, just had a quick look back, the 5p, Jack Daniels, and the Christmas Eve pic stand out for me, oh and the feet:)

Keep it up, I will remind myself to pop in now and again.
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Thanks Mal. Was hoping to get out more to address my lack of confidence in doing it in public but it's not working out that way. Another two weeks to go yet so still time I guess :)
 
For a while I never had the courage to take shots in public, thinking that folk would be looking at me, maybe someone in the crowd knew more than me about photography than I did and was thinking "what a plonker" :), but then after a bit of encouragement on here I just went out and did it, now I have no fear of taking shots in crowds or candids at all.....not that I am any good at them:D. It's just breaking that barrier of being self concious in public, just get out there and tell yourself no one is looking at you and take a load of shots and you will feel a lot better for it:thumbs:.
 
ditto - used to feel self concious about having my camera out in public, but I started with taking pics of friends when they came up to visit and we were outdoors. It's a case of getting over the barrier first.

Now, I don't give a hoot what others think.

That's a good thing, as the results are never as good as I think they should be!!

Get over the barrier!!!
 
And I tell myself the same thing every time I go out and never believe it :lol:

Thanks for the encouragement guys.

Work is dead today so have decided to take the rest of the week off and try and get out there before the end of the year. Of course it's likely to either pour with rain or snow by then, but the thought is there :D
 
It's wet and windy and I'm so looking forward to two days off regardless :)

Long gone are my days of burning the candle at both ends. An afternoon nap, a remote control and a blanket to snuggle up under are are more than enough for me.

 
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Thanks Snap Happy :)

Today's is a little more reflective of my year. Just some of the leftover medication from the last year. Some of which helped and some of which helped put me in hospital for one of my four visits.

 
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Two thirds of the way through so not much more to inflict on everyone.

Planning to start the new year with a good list of things to achieve.

 
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This 40 is going really well, Darren. I'm loving your photos - they're varied, interesting and well-conceived and executed. It's hard to pick out an odd one, but 'Santa's Coming' is so atmospheric I can feel the warmth in it. :clap::clap: Oh, and Burning the Candle at both ends made me smile.

But a special 'well done' for the mud race shot. You were out there, taking candid shots in a large crowd. Brilliant! :thumbs:

I really hope 2010 will be a better year for you. Cheers,

Jean
 
dlh said:
It's wet and windy and I'm so looking forward to two days off regardless :)

Long gone are my days of burning the candle at both ends. An afternoon nap, a remote control and a blanket to snuggle up under are are more than enough for me.

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Liking this post Darren:thumbs:
 
Jean - I can't say I felt particularly comfortable being out there, but it was a start and can only get better if and when I get out and try it again. As to the rest, there are some I'm happy with and some I'm annoyed with but my finger is now getting some exercise again :)

Mal - It's not really a wall-hanger, but it's definitely one of the few I'm most happy with.

Thanks to you both for popping by.
 
Nice pics i like the candle and santa's coming.

The bean one reminds me of a jigsaw i did years ago with the same picture on the back rotated that took me months to do.
 
Thanks Kapawayna. That jigsaw sounds like a nightmare, was much easier with real beans :)
 
AlexW said:
Keep it up Darren, it's going well. Particularly like the trollies and the notice board.
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Thanks Alex. Only 14 to go and then I can just worry about the weekly 52 :)
 
Thought I'd brave the cold and as it's a brand new year I braved the high street as well today. Of course if I'd realised noone was going to be there and most of the shops were closed I might have waited until tomorrow instead.

Took one shot of an older couple (well their backs as they were looking at a map) which is worse than this one. But I spotted these two bikes on the way back to the car. Apologies for the poor background but I left it at f/8 for some reason so added a bit of vignette to hide some of the background detail. Planning to try again tomorrow when everyone is about.


 
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I was going to go back to town today. Then I changed my mind and thought I'd go back and take a look at a landscape I might have spotted. Then I fell asleep and by the time I woke up the sky was overcast and the light flat and horrible.

So I ended up staying in and giving this a go.

 
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dlh said:
Two thirds of the way through so not much more to inflict on everyone.

Planning to start the new year with a good list of things to achieve.

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SCARY! You're nothing if not ambitious mate, fair play to you! Though I have to say that if you're not God or His Son you may be asking too much of your mere human self. Just to pick on one of your wishes - you can never know if you are or have been a good father until it's too late. There is no training for fatherhood, unlike photography at which you ARE good, fatherhood is something you attempt with optimism at best. Trying to be good at something that only your grown up child can quantify is laudable but your child/ren will appreciate YOUR hapiness far more in the long run.

Stop me if I'm boring you.

And I enjoy your images enormously as always.

Best wishes,
Nick
 
Thanks for your comments and kind words Nick.

I guess happiness is the goal in the end. I've spent 8 years having to be a part time dad and just haven't yet adjusted to that fact. It's hard to guage what I'm getting right and wrong. I can only pray I'm a better person than the opinion I hold of myself :)
 
dlh said:
Thanks for your comments and kind words Nick.

I guess happiness is the goal in the end. I've spent 8 years having to be a part time dad and just haven't yet adjusted to that fact. It's hard to guage what I'm getting right and wrong. I can only pray I'm a better person than the opinion I hold of myself :)
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Yeah, it's hard to know how you're doing when it's part time, almost remote fatherhood. Actually as I've already said, it's hard to know until it's too late anyway. However what I've found is that my kids really appreciate the fact that I tried, that's all that seems to matter to them as far as I can make out. It's a fact that they expected far less of me that I did of myself.

I'm awestruck by the fact that my kids want me to be happy every bit as much as I want them to. It seems youth is not so careless afterall.

There's just too much to learn.....
 
I feel guilty and proud that she tries to cheer me up on the rare occasions I slip and show it. Kids surprise and delight :)

Tonight I'm feeling rough as houses. Back to the sofa in a moment to channel hop or hit the laptop, but felt I had to put something up. Apologies for my nose :D

 
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Just finished looking through your entire thread - you have some really good photos in here :) Some of the ones I like best are the ones of your niece, the trollies, and the candle burning at both ends.

Well done for sticking to this so far, hopefully you'll feel a little more confident in your photo taking abilities by the end of it! I started my 365 a few days ago, and I'm already struggling for ideas so don't worry if you are. I'd imagine it's pretty much impossible for everyone to feel motivated enough to think of something spectacular and creative to photograph every day :)

Keep up the good work :thumbs:
 
Nice pictures....inspiring...love the trolley's too....good luck for 2010 and keep going these are really good....your cork board looked like a beach at first to me....too me a moment to realise it wasn't!
 
Snap_Happy said:
Scary... ;)
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Even worse when it's the first face you have to see every morning :eek:

OptimusBri said:
Just finished looking through your entire thread - you have some really good photos in here :) Some of the ones I like best are the ones of your niece, the trollies, and the candle burning at both ends.
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Thanks for taking the time to look through them all. Thank god I'm only doing 40. You're either brave or mad to attempt a 365 but best of luck to you :thumbs:

rellik666 said:
Nice pictures....inspiring...love the trolley's too....good luck for 2010 and keep going these are really good....your cork board looked like a beach at first to me....too me a moment to realise it wasn't!
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Thank you for looking through. It's good to know others appreciate what I've done, makes it all worthwhile :clap:

Thanks to everyone who's taken the time to look and/or comment so far. You'll be pleased to know there are only 10 left to go ;)
 
Still feeling like death today so haven't ventured far from the sofa. When I haven't been napping I watched this and munched some life-giving chocolate.

Dr Horrible is a must see for any Joss Whedon fan, be it buffy, Angel, Firefly or Dollhouse. You can see it for free at www.drhorrible.com. And of course it has the wonderful Felicia Day (www.watchtheguild.com) to brighten up anyone's day.

Back to the sofa I go :(

 
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All I can say (apart from very nice set of pics) is that I feel your pain my friend. Although not a dad, I have struggled for many years with a complete lack of self estime, confidence, break ups, losing everything, in fact you name it I've had it! It takes a huge amount of effort to keep going, I know that. But you have to, because deep down you know for sure you're a good person but you just don't think it. Time is a great healer, and the power of your photos can almost be a therapy, well that's how I see them.

Keep working on it, there is a message in them all that eases the pain.

Sorry if it's a bit deep, but had to be said!
 
danelectro said:
Sorry if it's a bit deep, but had to be said!
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Thanks for your post and for liking the photos.

Every day I tell myself "I know that my life so far has not been that bad". Some of the posts made in this thread already have shown how lucky I really am. Unfortunately my mantra hasn't stopped me feeling that I should have done so much more with my life so far, that's the problem with having such high expectations of yourself and not living up to them. Or just having that little bit of optimism and getting kicked in the teeth because of it. And I know that's a very cynical thought to have, without a little optimism or a goal in our lives then what is the point?

I'm approaching mid-life thinking now that what has happened in the past doesn't matter. It's a clean slate. I've had my crises (plural) already and now it's time to start living. I shall do rather than don't. Life begins and all that. And if it doesn't then there is always the next one :)
 
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