Pieces of Me I & II - # - Elaine Heasley Photography

April 13, 2007 - April 13, 2008
Welcome to my photo journal! I began this on April 13, 2007, and for a little over 6 months I endeavored to take a self-portait each day. (I was inspired by Andi at DGrin who has completed a full year of her own amazing portrait-a-day project.) As of October 18, 2007, I decided to continue my photo journal for another 6 months by posting a picture each day that may include me, or may not! It was Pieces of Me, Part II.
Part III covered April 14, 2008 - April 13, 2009.
PS - My definition of a day is the hours I spend awake, even if that means my day ends into the next day. Sometimes my shots are taken after midnight, but I still count it for the previous day if I had not gone to bed yet. :)
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e-heasley > Friday, April 13, 2007

With great trepidation, I'm posting my first self-portrait...
So, here I am! Still hidden, yet hoping to emerge...tentative and doubtful I can really do this, yet optimistic...feeling challenged, yet praying I can overcome!

This gallery is for my self-portrait-a-day project, being done with the purpose and hope of improving my photography skills and creativity, facing my fear of my own self-image, being real, and capturing the now! (I've been inspired by Andi at DGrin who has her own amazing portrait-a-day project well under way.)
I've always wished I was better at keeping a journal. Doing it this way means I get to stretch my brain creatively while developing an interest, and I get to share a little bit with people I rarely see or get to talk to. I would also like to capture time and memories for my family. I often ask myself, what would I want my son to know or remember about me and his family? Is there a way to capture that in a photo? How can I show him what's important? This has led to some deeper introspection...am I actually living out what I think is important?
My hope, for me, is that this project will be a journey in reflection, a course in vulnerability, a pathway for sharing, a catalyst for growth. My hope, for you, is that you will take some enjoyment and encouragment from viewing these...pieces of me.

e-heasley > Saturday, April 14, 2007

Today, we dug in the dirt in our yard...and came across tons of earthworms! I don't remember the last time I've held an earthworm. As my son says, "It tickles!"

I really enjoy doing yard work...making a space look beautiful, watching things grow and change, keeping the weeds at bay. It's good therapy! I should be a very balanced, healthy person by the time our yard is done...I have A LOT of therapy to get through! :)

e-heasley > Sunday, April 15, 2007

Yes, I know...this looks like it's got to be a mistake! :) Well, I am in there, and my son is performing a "tornado" for me and the camera! He has taken quite an interest in this self-portrait thing, very curious about how I'm managing to get pictures with me in them. Even better when it can be both of us! Since I had a hard time figuring out what to shoot today (and it's only day 3!), I didn't end up with many to choose from. This one was the most fun for me and my son, so there you have it!

Today's sermon at church was entitled "Life's Too Short to Play it Safe." I'm praying that this project will enable me to live-out that principle.

Whew! Barely got that done before it becomes tomorrow!

e-heasley > Monday, April 16, 2007

Date night with my hubby! We went to one of those discount movie theaters where you can order dinner to eat while you watch. We saw Night at the Museum, which was good for some laughs. The theater/restaurant/hotel/day spa/frisbee golf course location is a unique, historical place with pretty grounds. I would like to come back here and shoot some more pictures. This photo didn't turn out quite as I'd hoped, so maybe I'll try again another day! The date was great, however! :)

e-heasley > Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Well, I figured I'd better get it over with...showing my face, that is! :)
Whew...that wasn't so bad! :)

e-heasley > Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Today is definitely a hot-cocoa day! (Can you spot us in the tea kettle?) It's a stay-in-the-house, play-games, do-laundry, drink-cocoa sort of day. I'm glad, because I'm tired today!
We are looking forward to work-and-play-in-the-yard, drink-lemonade, splash-in-the-pool, sit-around-the-outdoor-fire sort of days! Soon, we hope!

e-heasley > Thursday, April 19, 2007

This project has given me new awareness of the common phrase "one day at a time." It feels good to have set out to be disciplined about something each and every day, and now to have reached one week! I hope and pray that I'm able to continue this and that the discipline gained in this area will spread to other areas of my life.

I saw the idea for this photo on a couple other sites (including Andi's - link above). I took a picture of my family of three this evening, but didn't like how fluffy I looked! I wandered out behind the house, enjoying the actual sunshine we got today, when this shot presented itself. I liked the longer look here! :)

e-heasley > Friday, April 20, 2007

We finally had some sun today, after what has felt like two weeks of cold and rain (actually just off and on showers). I knew tonight would be a good night for a fire, so I waited to take this shot. My son had already eaten his roasted marshmallows, so he was messing around with his new shovel. :)

e-heasley > Saturday, April 21, 2007

Why does one take a picture of one's feet??? When one gets a pedicure! :) Somehow I managed to bung up my right big toe before I walked in the door at home. Guess I just don't do this often enough to know how to keep them looking nice!
Today I got to treat myself to a pedicure and a manicure and...an eyebrow waxing! Never done that one before...it wasn't a big deal, but I was kinda sad I relinquished my status of never having my eyebrows waxed! (As weird as that sounds...) I guess I needed it, as my technician was the one that brought it up and said I looked "soo much better!" :) Hehehe!
I guess the fact that we're going to California next week has inspired all this spring grooming. I got a hair cut this week, too! Maybe all this looking at myself through the camera is doing me some good! :)

e-heasley > Sunday, April 22, 2007

Sunday night is popcorn night! Always has been...always will be! :)

e-heasley > Monday, April 23, 2007

Today, my life seemed to revolve around the kleenex box. No crying involved...just lots of...well, you know. Trying to get over a cold the day before leaving on vacation is not fun. Neither is it fun to be attempting to clean house and pack while constantly being interrupted by a call from...the kleenex box! My poor son bore some of my grumpiness today. Sigh...
Well, tomorrow is another day...a vacation day! I will throw off my pity party and be thankful!
How appropriate, today, that these words from Lamentations 3:22-23 came to mind...
"...his [the Lord's] compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

As I'm sitting here writing this, my new camera neck strap arrived! Yay!!! Just in time for vacation! :)

As I won't be able to edit and post pictures while on vacation, this will be my last post for awhile...probably until at least May 5. I plan on taking pics each day while away, so I'll have a bunch to add when we're back.

Thanks for all your support!

e-heasley > Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Here we are...all packed up and ready to head to California!

The funny thing is...right after this was taken, and my camera gear was safely packed in the car, we discovered that the car battery was quite dead! Ha! What a way to start off a road-trip, huh?! It seems that with all the packing going on that day, with car doors being opened and shut...and left open again, the inside lights were on long enough to drain all the power. So...what to do? The van could not be taken out of park, so it couldn't be pushed out of the garage into a better jumper-cable position. That meant we had to move our bikes and mower and some other stuff out of the way so our Beetle could at least partially fit into the garage next to the van. Then we had to daisy-chain two sets of jumper cables together in order to reach from the Beetle to the van. What a fiasco! Ah well...it worked and we were off!

e-heasley > Wednesday, April 25, 2007

No, I'm not actually in this picture. OK...OK...so I'm cheating a bit for our vacation pics. Doing a self-portrait while on a road trip just didn't work out so well! I think my brain was fried from just attempting to take some decent shots of our various locations. So, I'm taking the liberty of posting one of my favorite pics of the day instead. :)

This one came at the end of a long day spent in the car. We got to San Francisco at about 7:30 pm. After getting some mediocre shots of the Golden Gate Bridge, I caught this one of City Hall through the windshield on our way to our hotel. Considering the conditions, I was pleased with how it turned out!

To see more pics from our vacation, go to Out and About> California Trip.

e-heasley > Thursday, April 26, 2007

Alamo Square and the Painted Ladies...Postcard Row. This was one of the last shots of a beautiful and fun day spent in San Francisco. I would love to go back and see more in this city.

By the way...this is one of the most photographed spots in San Francisco. It's been in a few movies, too.

To see more from San Francisco, go to Out and About> California Trip> San Francisco.

e-heasley > Friday, April 27, 2007

Note the notepad..."I am so tired!"

Today started out with us leaving San Francisco at 7:10 am and heading south on 101. We decided to just drive Hwy 101 all the way down to LA, rather than cutting over to I-5. It was a beauitful day and the drive was lovely. We stopped at Pismo Beach for a brief walk on the beach. We were making great time on the road.
And then we hit Santa Barbara at about 3:30 or so...on a Friday afternoon. One word...traffic. Oh, but it wasn't so bad. We got through town and thought we would be able to reach Loma Linda in time for dinner at a reasonable hour.
What were we thinking?? We hit the outskirts of LA at around 4:30 pm. Good grief. When we left San Fran this morning, we left earlier than our usual 8 am so we could avoid some traffic there. We didn't have any trouble, especially as we were headed south. If we had known what time this would have put us in LA, we may not have been so happy to leave at that time.
Our progress came to a grinding hault and it took us nearly 4 hours to drive about 75 miles. That's slower than 20 mph, folks! We got grumpier by the minute and don't understand how anyone does that on a daily basis. Unbelievable.
We finally reached Loma Linda at about 8 pm and met up with my dad, who has been undergoing prostate cancer treatments at the university hospital there. At least there was some happiness at the end of the day to counter balance all the traffic weariness.

Getting this pic at our hotel was the only clicking I managed to get done today...a day in the car.

Friday, April 13, 2007

With great trepidation, I'm posting my first self-portrait...
So, here I am! Still hidden, yet hoping to emerge...tentative and doubtful I can really do this, yet optimistic...feeling challenged, yet praying I can overcome!

This gallery is for my self-portrait-a-day project, being done with the purpose and hope of improving my photography skills and creativity, facing my fear of my own self-image, being real, and capturing the now! (I've been inspired by Andi at DGrin who has her own amazing portrait-a-day project well under way.)

I've always wished I was better at keeping a journal. Doing it this way means I get to stretch my brain creatively while developing an interest, and I get to share a little bit with people I rarely see or get to talk to. I would also like to capture time and memories for my family. I often ask myself, what would I want my son to know or remember about me and his family? Is there a way to capture that in a photo? How can I show him what's important? This has led to some deeper introspection...am I actually living out what I think is important?

My hope, for me, is that this project will be a journey in reflection, a course in vulnerability, a pathway for sharing, a catalyst for growth. My hope, for you, is that you will take some enjoyment and encouragment from viewing these...pieces of me.