About My Project

The 52-Week Project in Perspective – 2014

I’ve never had so much fun starting – and completing – a project, such as the 365-day project I did last year (2013). But committing to a daily project is hard work, considering life is well, kind of chaotic, eh? So I couldn’t just ditch the project and decided I could change it to a weekly project instead. That’s much more workable! This also allows me to share with you my “normal” non-mystery photography more frequently. Alas, everywhere I go, everything I see, is just waiting for me to discover its hidden beauty and occasional treasure. You just have to look!

The 365-Day Project in Perspective – 2013

The concept is simple: to post a photograph daily for 365 days, but not just any photograph, instead, macro photographs. And not just macro photographs, but to create images of ordinary objects that no longer look familiar to you, the reader. When you look at these pictures, you think, “what is it?!?”

Merge these funky photographs with some quotes, some writing, a little poetry, sometimes a little humor, and the “What Is It?!? A 365-Day Project in Perspective” blog was born.

The idea was the inspiration from Noah Scalin’s book, “365: A Daily Creativity Journal: Make Something Every Day and Change Your Life!  Besides the premise of doing something creative for 365 days (and creating this blog as suggested), that’s about all I managed to follow from this book. But that’s me. I have never kept the lines inside of the box. I’m the one that colors outside the lines, makes my own pattern, and meanders down a different road. I love to explore!

But I needed something to corral my creative energy and this book was exactly the tool I needed to start my latest adventure. See, one of my problems is I like to do everythingcreative, that means I’ve drawn, painted, carved, tie-dyed, crocheted, sewed, ceramics, pottery, origami, jewelry, macrame, celtic art, scrapbooking, mosaics, just to name a few … see, I could probably tell you what I haven’t done, that list would be shorter! Unfortunately, I start many, many projects but rarely finish one. So I thought maybe I can start this project and actually see it to its end.

My premise is you can take these ordinary objects, and by looking at them differently, whether at a different angle, upside down, sideways, and really close up, your perspective changes. Take this object out of context and suddenly you don’t know what it is anymore! What looks like a zipper, a tool, or a grater is really an earring. The picture that looks like foam on a latte, cinnamon on whipped cream, an orange, foam at the beach, or the inside of a shell is actually a gemstone. The thing that looks like a gemstone? It’s really an ice cube.

So I invite you to join “What Is It?!?” A 365-Day Project in Perspective.” and peruse my daily mystery “what is it?!?” picture. Each day I post a new, wacky photograph, in addition to a “What Was That?!? Yesterday’s Picture” section, where I give you the answer for the previous day’s image. Sometimes I even post another picture to show you a different perspective of the same object.

You can play along! My hope is this blog continues to grow and becomes interactive. Because I bet your perspective will change once you look at something differently.

“What Is It?!?” Take a look and tell me your perspective.

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This picture is one of the first what is it?!? images I posted on Facebook, challenging my friends to guess the subject. Snake? Nope. Leaf? Nope. Moldy food? Nope.

Bark. It’s just bark. 🙂

About Me

Gosh, it’s hard to describe yourself when there are so many details! Where do I start? Well, naturally, I’m a photographer. I’ve been capturing images ever since I was a teenager. My favorite earliest picture is of the Roman Aquaduct running through Segovia, Spain, looking at an angle down into the streets. Another is capturing the clouds at the top of Mt. Haleakala in Hawaii as we drove down the mountain. This was back in the film days, I didn’t know I had captured those clouds until I got the film back.

My favorite form of photography is landscape and macro images, usually of flowers, insects, whatever happens to grab my attention. But I also love taking pictures of kids, especially my own son and my nieces and nephews. I hate those staged faked smiles, I try to capture their personalities instead, make them forget I’m behind the camera and just let them be them.

I’m a first-time blogger and two months into this venture, I have to say this has been one of the most gratifying projects I’ve ever taken on. I am constantly inspired by other blogger’s creative endeavors and get “tickled pink” when I see I’ve had visitors from all over the world. My mother always told us that an education doesn’t just involve schooling, it involves traveling and learning other cultures, other ways. Here I don’t even have to leave my seat sometimes. But I will say traveling is the best education. I’m lucky to have been many places but still have many more to go.

I’m an explorer. A life learner. A student of everything. I love learning new things, taking on new challenges, and sharing my love for art with others. I believe you can find things you never noticed just by looking closely – or at a different angle – or upside down – however you look at things, you can change your perception. I find beauty in just about everything.

I cannot live without my coffee (the sweet elixir of life!), my family, and friends. Now off to create that next wacky image … 🙂

Thanks for visiting!

Schelley