I've decided on a project!

Well, blog friends I've finally decided what on a project for the year...well a little over a year. I've decided to take a box of 64 count crayons and be inspired! I have a few friends going on the journey with me, at one point in time we all shared our hometown, now some are still there and others are scattered across the map. So we've started a blog to track our journey, you can learn more about the project and journey here:

So even though my journey is going to total 64 weeks, I plan on linking up with the flickr group m3b p52, a project 52 group started by Darcy @ My 3 Boybarians, also the host of Sweet Shot Tuesdays. You can read more about Darcy's Project52 here:

I chose project52/project64 because I wanted a yearlong project that would allow me to continue to participate in all the lovely photo assignments and my own projects I have going on. I wanted something that was achievable...I didn't want to find myself disappointed in myself if I failed 100 days down the road. I wanted something that wouldn't be come task like and monotonous, I wanted something that kept me shooting not dreading getting a shoot for the day. Something I could focus on perfecting my skills, giving me time to set up shots and take my time. Not finding myself at the end of the day scrambling for a subject to shoot with no light!

Speaking of no light, last night is a perfect example of why I wanted to do a less demanding project. Although, I was able to get some great shots with no natural night. It was just the situation of me at a deadline needing to make a decision. I didn't want to feel this way for 365 days! Once a week is good enough for me! So, my pictures...the following pictures were taken with completely artificial light, no beautiful natural light streaming through the windows, no flash...just a lamp, white foam board and a homemade reflector.

Here's the set-up I used ( I took these this morning after I decided I wanted to share it with you)

This is my homemade reflector, I made it out of foam core board and a crinkled up emergency blanket you can find in the camping section. It was very noisy project, but these reflectors work quite well. I have one that is on white foam board, I use the white side when I need subtle reflection and I have one on black foam board, which comes in handy if you need to get rid of some light or just block light. 

This is my mini set-up that I used to take the pictures below, of course it was completely dark outside when I took them, so the only light sources I used were the lamp you see here and the light from the ceiling fan. I just used the reflector to add more light from the lamp to my subject.

Again all artificial light, but no flash...I used my 35mm lens switching between f/3 and f/4, ISO 200, I think the big key here was that I set my own white balance, instead of using a preset WB or auto WB.  

I did the same to all the pics on PSE, I added a little contrast, a little deep pop and the I added a denim vintage color effect to it. Just some slight tweaking, the light and white balance were unchanged in post-processing 

 I'm really excited about this project, just look at all those colors!

BTW I'm linking this picture up at Sweet Shot Tuesdays over at My3Boybarians! I was pretty proud of

myself for getting a great artificially lit picture!

Hope you have a colorful week!

Brooke