Aloha Hawaii

Travel photography has always been my favourite type of photography (although photographing little ones is now a close second). New sights, colours, architecture, food, landscapes and people offer endless subjects for photos. So it was no surprise that I took over a thousand pictures on our recent trip to the Hawaiian islands of Kauai and Maui. But since no one (not even my super supportive and always interested parents) wants to look through a thousand pictures, I had to narrow them down to the best of the bunch.

While paring down photos to a more manageable set is never my favourite task, I find the following tips helpful to keep in mind:

1. Keep a sufficient mix to tell the story of your trip (e.g. culture, landscape, architecture, places you stayed, etc). 
2. Even though a photo might not be technically perfect, it's a keeper if it captures a unique moment or makes you remember something truly special.
3. There is no need to have 29 different photos of the same beautiful sunset (...or building or flower, etc.). Pick a couple of the best and move on.
4. Less is often more when posting photos online, printing or showing to friends and family. Review, delete the weakest photos and flag your favourites. Repeat. And repeat again. And yet again.

Take a look at my Hawaiian favourites!

31 photos in 31 days

Way way back in March (it seems like so long ago now that the nice weather has finally arrived) I was a feeling a little low on photography inspiration. I needed a project. I had seen Project 365s online where you take a photo every day for a year. But that seemed a little daunting so instead I embarked on Project 31.

So how did it go?  I liked that it challenged me to find something interesting in the everyday and ordinary, like on March 9 when at the end of a picture-less day I ended up taking an interesting, abstract shot of my neighbour's Christmas lights (yes, Christmas lights in March). I liked that it gave me lots and lots of practice to improve my photography skills. I liked having an excuse to take my camera to places I might not normally have (see my friend's birthday on March 28). And finally as much as I like taking pictures of babies, it was a nice change to photograph non-moving subjects (like walls) that don't care how many photos you take.

But like any challenge it wasn't all roses. There were days when I just didn't know what to shoot and ended up taking a boring picture of my house (see March 17). I also found myself constantly considering if something would make a good photo, which meant I felt guilty when I saw something interesting and wasn't shooting. All in all I did breathe a sigh of relief when I realized it April 1. 

Which brings me to the final question: did I succeed in taking a picture every day? Those who skipped ahead to the pictures below might already see that one photo is missing. On March 8, I forgot to take a picture with my DSLR but I did have my husband's iPhone. He later lost his phone (and all his photos!), so March 8 just wasn't meant to be and this post should really be titled 30 photos in 31 days.