DailyDocNov2012: 2012

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Nov 30 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: Snuggle pile! We let the kids stay up late to watch Harriet the Spy. Jake and I were giggling at all of the similarities between Harriet and Eliza-- they make the same facial expressions when they are mad. Hah!

What you can take from this:

Sometimes, you have to hold that camera phone out in front of you and hope for the best.
Your subjects don't have to be looking at the camera! We're watching a movie in this photo, so that's where our eyes are.

This is my unplanned documentation for the day. This workshop is about documenting what matters to you, so I'm documenting what inspires me. If you get stuck, try documenting something from the Daily Doc | Nov 2012 handout. It has 30 prompts to use if you get stuck documenting. I'm tackling all the prompts month AND doing unplanned daily documentation.

If you documented today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 30 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: A crowd of people.
Photo:

Words: The (free!) company gym on Jake's work campus is always packed. I'm amazed at how committed to health the company is. I feel a little awkward in the crowd, because I don't know what I'm doing on a lot of the machines, but no one is judgmental at all (no one cares what I'm doing, even if I look like a dork!) For some reason, the lap lanes are never crowded, though, thank goodness!

Here's what you can take from this:

I didn't actually get a photo of the crowd (how awkward would it be to take a picture of strangers at the gym?!?!), but the journaling focuses on the crowd. Remember, all of the prompts are open to interpretation. They're supposed to help, not hinder.
I've said before that being a hardcore documenter requires a lifestyle change that results in people sometimes looking at you strangely. And this is never more true than when you go around taking pictures of your feet everyday. I'm to the point past caring, but I will say that everyone who has asked about why I'm doing it seems to think it's a pretty cool concept.

This is my documentation from the Daily Doc | Nov 2012 handout. It has 30 prompts to use if you get stuck documenting. I'm tackling all of these this month AND doing unplanned daily documentation. I printed out the prompts (pages 2-4 of the handout) and I'm highlighting them to cross them off as I go. I'm not doing them in order; I'm using them as they make sense for me.

If you did documentation from the handout today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Friday, November 30, 2012

Nov 29 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: We make artsy people.

What you can take from this:

I'm copying this photo and the words directly from Instagram. I love using Instagram as a fast and easy in-the-moment way to document.
I probably have thousands of pictures that are sort of like this. I love getting photos of what both of my kids are doing at the same time. Jonas making noise and Eliza making art: that's typical. I love seeing reoccurring themes pop up throughout my albums. Everyday stuff like this might seem mundane to you, but each moment captured is a little different and the culmination of all of those moments is amazing.

If you documented today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Nov 29 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: Seasonal produce
Photo:

Words: Honeycrisp apples are amazing. They're sweet as candy and are perfect for dipping at parties, as they don't oxidize quickly. Unfortunately, they're only in season a few weeks out of the year. Maybe they taste that much more delicious because they're seasonal.

Here's what you can take from this:

Again, this isn't what I was thinking I would do for this prompt. I thought I'd get a pretty shot of tons of produce at the grocery store or farmer's market, but it never happened. So I picked my favorite seasonal food from my refrigerator instead.
Position yourself near a window inside to get great natural light. So that the light wasn't patched, I picked a spot in a shadow.

If you did documentation from the handout today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 28 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: 'Tis the season for burning the midnight oil to fill record bookend orders. Today was pretty Etsy-centric: This morning Jonas and I bought 100 boxes. I worked on customer service, pulling products, organizing inventory, and printing orders during Jonas's nap. Mom came over to watch the kids so I could fill orders and run a typewriter to UPS. And as soon as the kids went to bed, I made, tagged, bought postage for, wrote handwritten messages for, and packed 20 bookend orders. (Jake usually is in on this too, but he's doing a crazy side project again.) All this so I can put the shop on the back burner tomorrow to focus on my chat at Big Picture Classes and sending out the info for the new and sparkly Daily Doc December 2012 website! Ahhhh!

What you can take from this:

This photo is grainy because my ISO was at 1600. Even though this was in a low light setting, I could have lowered the ISO to improve the quality, since the risk of blurring was lower because the subject (me) wasn't moving much and the camera was stable (I set it on my piano and put on the self timer).
I have trouble remembering to photograph myself working, and work is one of the things I include least in my life documentation. This is partly because I get in the zone when I'm working, partly because there are some things I can't take photos of (certain parts of Jake's office, for instance, or the methods we use to make some of our products), and partly because there are so many cute photos of our kids that it seems less important to document work. But jobs change drastically over the years, even if you're at the same one, so it's really important to get in your process / routine / feelings about it while the memories are fresh! I'm actually planning on going back and documenting some of Jake's and my early jobs in January.
Use your words to document what the photo doesn't capture. The photo is centered around me, working, and my focus. It doesn't really represent the chaos. If it were zoomed out, you'd see stacks of built boxes, album covers all over the floor, random stacks of random things... Because the photo doesn't cover all of that (I only took the time to take one photo), the words fill in the gaps.

If you documented today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Nov 28 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: A store's window display
Photo:

Words: I love that the box company we use for our Etsy shop has Scribe graffiti on its walls and sliding door! It's a beautiful little secret tucked in an ally.

Here's what you can take from this:

As with a lot of the prompts, I went a different direction with this than I thought I would. We live by a lot of stores with neat window displays, so I thought I'd capture a holiday display. But I went to pick up a 100 boxes today and realized that this totally counts.
The people at the box company looked at me like I was crazy for taking this photo. That's the price you pay as a life documenter. You get used to it. Or, at least, I have.

If you did documentation from the handout today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Nov 27 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Doing math with the help of Harry Potter legos.

Words: Eliza was a natural at the smaller addition, but now that most of the answers are in the teens (and, I suspect, it's harder to use her fingers), math homework is taking a little more time. Tonight, she worked on addition and Jake helped her by giving her the Harry Potter Lego characters to use as counters for problems she was getting stuck on. She also practiced counting by twos, fives, and tens verbally. That's is WAY harder in French, because the upper numbers are a little complicated. 70 is soixante-dix (sixty-ten), 80 is quatre-vingts (four-twenties), 90 is quatre-vingt-dix (four-twenties-ten). I had to look it up to help her because I always had trouble with it when I was taking French. Très compliqué!

What you can take from this:

If you have kids, document what they're learning. I like to record what Eliza is doing well in and what she had to spend more time developing. It's so cool to see how she progresses.
Have I mentioned that I love that cameras have phones? There's no way I'd have been able to get this picture if I had stopped to get our DSLR. Even though the quality stinks, I'm grateful for Instagrams.

If you documented today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 27 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: The hygiene products you use
Photo:

Words: Right now I use:
-Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Oil Shampoo and Conditioner
-Neutrogena Face Scrub
-Bath & Body Works Shower Gel (various scents; not flowery stuff)
-Mitchum Power Gel Deodorant
-Crest Toothpaste
-Oral-B Floss

Here's what you can take from this:

Journaling doesn't have to be in sentences. Lists are great too! I could expand on this by writing about why I choose these products, or talk a little bit about what's NOT there (make-up, moisturizers, shaving cream), but I went for the most simple route.
I got the idea for the photo set-up from Jen's Instagram feed (@hclappy). She did a his/hers version on the counter! Awesome.
Some of the things on the handout are photos that might happen naturally, but I like that some of the photos, like this one, are deliberate and planned. I love that mix, and love that the handout is getting me to document stuff that I wouldn't otherwise document (even though I wrote it!).

If you did documentation from the handout today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 26 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: Today was my last full day with Jessica. We took it easy, hung out at my house, took an unsuccessful walk to Half Price Books (Jonas threw a huge fit there, which is unlike him), played outside with Jonas and Leia, and cooked a delicious lunch. We did some hanging out with Eliza, Jessica read a lot of Harvey's Walking Dead graphic novels, and I tried to catch up on work. When Jake got home, Jessica and I went to the gym to swim. I tried to teach Jessica a few strokes, but it didn't really work too well. I tried to swim a mile, but the pool closed when I was right at 3/4 of a mile. So we finished up on the ellipticals. We came back, helped Jake get the kids in bed, and cooked dinner together. Then the three of us snuggled up and watched a whole lot of Breaking Bad. I wish every day could be like this.

What you can take from this:

Get your subject comfortable by joking around an creating a lighthearted photography environment. You'll get much more natural looking smiles!
I love listing out what I did in a day. This day seemed totally uneventful (even lazy), but it feels full when it's all listed out like that!

If you documented today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 26 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: Shopping bags
Photo:

Words: Supporting handmade on Cyber Monday!

Here's what you can take from this:

I totally intended to take pictures of grocery bags for the week when I wrote this prompt, but I decided to expand the idea of "shopping bag" to include the "shopping bag" of things I've been buying on Etsy. Supporting other independent artsits is really important to my family, so I love that this screenshot captures part of that.
I've said this before, but a few words will do it sometimes. I can expand this idea later and document our whole shopping ethos, but for now this'll do. I consider this documentation part of a larger story.

If you did documentation from the handout today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 25 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: I had to pack a million orders from Black Friday weekend, so Jessica and Jake played pente (after building a mountain of boxes).

What you can take from this:

Take a lot of quick photos so you have some to choose from. For his event, I took photos from each person's perspective (one from behind Jake and one from behind Jessica), a close up of the board, and I decided that this one told the story best, but I can always use the others as supporting photos if I wish. (I deleted the ones with embarrassing faces and the blurry ones.)
This has been a crazy busy week for me. It's been a constant string of get togethers with family and friends, Jessica stayed with us for a week, Jonas has been especially full of mischief, I started doing Elise Blaha Cripe's Mile a Day, an ebook I contributed to (Project Dig Deep ) came out, and my shop had its crazy holiday sale weekend. Ah! But I still have taken the time to document at least twice a day! Writing these posts takes about five times as long as the actual documentation. If I can do it NOW, you can too! (P.S. This paragraph is really good documentation, too. I'll be adding it into my Project Life album!)

If you documented today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 25 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: A friend or family member's home.
Photo:

Words: I love Jake's grandparent's house. They've lived there forever, and it's really hard to imagine that they raised 10 kids in that house (where did they put them?!?). It's homey and cosy. I think that the coolest thing is the basement, where Grandma Anderson's bakery is. There are tons of freezers, industrial ovens, and industrial mixers. It's where all of the magic happens. (Her cinnamon rolls might be the most delicious thing ever.)

Here's what you can take from this:

Take a photo on the inside or outside of the home. This photo would have been way cooler if Jake's grandparents were actually in it, so maybe you could try to also get the residents in the shot!
Even though the picture is of a bird feeder and the back porch of the house, I wrote about the house as a whole and the basement specifically. Think of the photo as a visual aid. You don't have to write about what's going on in a photo specifically.

If you did documentation from the handout today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Monday, November 26, 2012

Nov 24 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: Another night filled with friends! We spent the whole day with Paul and Jessica, and Harvey came over at night too. Jonas LOVES having everyone here (Eliza is still at Tim & Rita's).

What you can take from this:

I take a lot more "when you're not looking" candid shots than I do portraits, but I love getting the posed smiley pictures too, especially when it's documenting relationships. Jonas will love having a photo with his Uncle Harvey when he's big!
With my best friend staying with us for the week, I haven't had as much time for documenting. I didn't list everything that we did in the day, though I might go back and fill that in later, but just giving the day a rough outline of who was where when will help me fill in the gaps if I decide to do so.

If you documented today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Nov 24 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: A house or building you love in your town.
Photo:

Words: I love the Kansas City skyline. It's not on purpose, but whenever we're driving back home, there's an unofficial moment of silence to take in the beauty of downtown as we approach (especially at night). I love Kansas City's art, difference in textures, and gargantuan skyscrapers. They make me feel small. I remember looking at the city lustfully from the Kansas side of the river in high school, and I felt like the city was my escape then. I'm so grateful that I get to live here, in the middle of my happy place.

Here's what you can take from this:

I wrote the words for this prompt today, but I took the photo a few weeks ago. Don't feel like you have to use these prompts to document today. If they inspire you to document stories from the past or remind you of a photo you've already taken, go with it.
Instead of talking about a particular building, which is what I was initially going to do, I decided to widen the scope of the prompt and write about the meaning of my city's skyline to me. Don't be afraid to change the prompts to make them work for you: they're a jumping off point, after all.

If you did documentation from the handout today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 23 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: I love that having Jessica here means that we get to see people we love everyday! Last night Paul, Steve, and Michelle came over and stayed until around 4 o'clock (Paul slept over). It got so late that Jake and I rock-paper-scissored who had to go to bed early and wake up with Jonas in the morning (I lost and went to bed around 3:30). Late nights talking with friends are the best.

What you can take from this:

I love getting casual shots of our friends standing / sitting around talkign. The only thing that would have made this better would have been Jake getting in the photo, but setting up the tripod seemed like too much work at 2:30 AM.
I see a lot of people only documenting their family lives. Document what you do with your friends too! I love seeing how our relationships with our friends develop and deepen over time.

If you documented today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Friday, November 23, 2012

Nov 23 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: Something sporty.
Photo:

Words: At the Anderson party, there was plenty of basketball, washers, tree-climbing, and football watching. Jonas was in sports heaven. (Ball! Ball! Ball!)

Here's what you can take from this:

When your family or friends get together, do you play or watch sports? How do sports play into your leisure?
Action shots are my favorite. If you're shooting in manual, make sure to have a fast shutter speed for action shots (around 1/200 or faster). Less light is let in with a fast shutter speed, so you might have to compensate with a higher ISO.

If you did documentation from the handout today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 22 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: Thanksgiving Part II was at Grandma & Grandpa Anderson's. We took a big family photo (though this isn't everyone; a lot of people didn't come and a lot came after the photo was taken), which was a lot of fun. Jonas wanted to run away until Corbin got him to happily sing out, "Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!" the whole time. We talked and played and ran for hours!

What you can take from this:

My husband Jake took this photo by sitting the camera on the porch and setting up the self-timer. He took a few that are better, but I like this one because he's in the photo too. It's a little hard to round everyone up, but big family photos are so awesome. Consider trying to take one the next time your family is all together.
To get everyone in the photo, we used a park-style bench. Some are sitting on the seats of the bench, some are on the table, and some are standing around it. You want to try to layer people upwards in large shots, otherwise you'll end up with too much white space at the top and bottom of the photo.
Jake took this photo because we wanted to get everyone in before some family members had to leave, but those harsh shadows would have been gone from the photos if we had waited a few hours. The light and time of day is very important.

If you documented today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 22 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: A meal or a set table.
Photo:

Words: Thanksgiving Part I was at Poppy's. Grandpa Ray and Beth both ended up being sick, so it was just Brad (who deep fried the turkey), Nathan, Mom (who did gravy and stuffing), Taylor, Poppy (mashed potatoes), Bev (rolls and pies: pumpkin and pecan), Jessica, Eliza, Jonas, Jake, and me (brussels sprouts, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies). We got our food buffet style and talked about our lives, shopping, politics, history and books. Oh, and the food was ridiculously amazing. I love my family.

Here's what you can take from this:

If your family does a pot-luck style big meal, it's fun to list who made what.
This photo could have been a million times better, but who has time to find the perfect shot when all that deliciousness is waiting? Our camera was set up so that there's a lot of boca, or blurring of everything in the photo but the focal point. Usually that's really good, because it makes the focal point so clear. But in this photo, it would have been better for the photo to be more flat with no blurring so you could see the whole meal and the people in line clearly.

If you did documentation from the handout today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 21 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: Eliza's best friend Nani came over to play for the whole morning. They miss each other so much (they aren't in the same class this year). They spent the whole time in fancy dresses, played board games, ate cookies and hot chocolate, were bugged by Jonas, talked non-stop, and used their imaginations. They were so good at working out what to do democratically. When Allison came to get Nani, it was hard for Eliza to let her go. She went a little crazy trying to haggle us into letting them stay together!

What you can take from this:

I skipped a few days posting here (my best friend from out of town is staying with us and Thanksgiving was CRAZY!), so I'm just making it up back to back. If you start to feel "behind", you can do what I'm doing, which is "making up" the documentation in one day (I already took the photos, but you can also "make up" by just taking more later if you skipped a few days). You can also just skip the days. Or you can move on and try to go back to days you missed later. It's all about documenting your life; not adding stress!
If you have kids, make sure to get photos of their friends. I wish I had photos of my childhood friends! Also, make sure to get permission from those kids' parents before those photos go anywhere near the Internet.

If you documented today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Nov 21 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: Your current obsession.
Photo:

Words: I am so in love with Project Life. I might end up with 4 albums this year. I'm going a little crazy.

Here's what you can take from this:

Document your hobbies. They're part of you too! You can even document your documenting (Inception!).

If you did documentation from the handout today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Nov 20 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: Jessica is here!!!

What you can take from this:

Getting your thoughts down on paper (or screen) as soon as possible is your best bet. But, living life is also more important than documenting it! On crazy action-packed days, I take as many pictures as I can, jot down a few notes, and trust myself to remember enough to write down later.
The subjects in your photo don't always have to be looking at you. This photo shows the relationship between my best friend Jessica and Jonas way better than it would have if they had both been looking at the lens.

If you documented today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 20 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: Your morning cup.
Photo:

Words: I start off pretty much every day with a cup of coffee. It's sort of an or-else situation. I'm not very pleasant without my morning cup. These days, my morning cup is drip coffee with freshly ground Free Trade Organic Espresso Blend from Trader Joe's. I love that it's dark enough to allow me to pretty much make it a cafe au lait (I like a lot of milk), but it's not bitter, so there's no need for sugar. It does annoy me to no end that it's called espresso, though. Espresso doesn't have anything to do with the type of bean or darkness of roast: espresso is finely ground coffee made with pressurized nearly boiling water. Misnamed things annoy me. (Don't even get me started on Starbucks calling their carmel vanilla lattes "carmel macchiatos". Or gas stations calling whatever that is a cappuccino.) As you can see, I'm pretty snooty about coffee. And I miss walking over to the coffeeshop everyday to spend my morning cup with people who were even more serious about it than I am.

Here's what you can take from this:

Your face doesn't have to be in the photo! Your hands or feet or other extremities can capture you well, too.
For hand shots, hand over the camera to someone else or use your camera's self-timer.
Let your writing take you where ever. I ended up babbling up there, but I can always clean that paragraph up later to make it into a more solid piece of writing.I can also expand it to talk about my relationship with coffee over all: how I started drinking it when I was 7, what working in a coffeeshop was like, going to coffeehouses to see concerts as a teen, hanging out in the coffeeshop across the street from us when we lived in a loft, my favorite in-walking-distance coffeeshop now, etc. See if there's any documentation you've done so far that could use some expanding.

If you did documentation from the handout today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Monday, November 19, 2012

Nov 19 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: I broke the flipper, threw it away and forgot to buy a new one. Oops! Jake had to use his mad flipping-in-the-air skills to make the pancakes tonight.

What you can take from this:

I take the same photos over and over, and they're still interesting to me. There are a LOT of pictures of my family members cooking, because it's something we do everyday. Writing this, I realize that I do need to get more photos of me cooking, as I'm the head chef round these parts.
Document mistakes too. Forgetting to buy something we need is SO TOTALLY ME. I forget ingredients to dinners and Jake has to run and get them in the middle of me making it, or we need a supply to start a project and I'll think we have it (but we don't). This is the absentminded professor portion of my personality, and I want to get in my faults too. Because they're part of what makes me so quirky. What little mistakes do you make so often that they're part of who you are?

If you documented today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 19 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: An expression of love.
Photo:

Words: Jonas is so sweet. He loves giving kisses. He'll even pull your head in if you're not responsive to his kissing noises! He loves smooshing his little face into us, and I have to say it's one of the best feelings in the world to get a big expression of toddler love.

Here's what you can take from this:

Sometimes capturing cute everyday occurrences takes a little prompting. Jonas was giving out tons of kisses to Jake, but of course he was done by the time I grabbed the camera. We had to ask him to give Dad more kisses and Jake had to pout a little bit. Not every captured moment has to be spontaneous to be genuine.
Try to capture your feelings about the expression of love!

If you did documentation from the handout today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Pre-Registration for Daily Doc | December 2012 Now Open!

Daily Doc Dec 2012 Pre-Registration Now Open!

The pre-registration for the December Edition of Daily Doc is now open! As a reward for all of your hard work documenting in November, you get a secret 50% off coupon code for the workshop that is ONLY AVAILABLE to participants in the November edition of the workshop! Enter the coupon code NovDoc at checkout.

Nov 18 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: Today Jake took senior photos for his sister Savannah today.

What you can take from this:

Have your subject lean against something to make them more comfortable.
Sometimes it's worth a short trip for a portrait session. We find neat backgrounds around or house all of the time, but Jake likes to go to a scenic near-by park to get really pretty photos. Scout out good areas to take portraits near you!
It's fine if you don't have much to say about a photo. I'll probably just include a caption that says "Savannah's senior pictures" in my printed documentation.

If you documented today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 18 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: A self-portrait or portrait of a family member.
Photo:

Words: Every month, Jake takes a portrait of me with the books I read in the past month. We just got around to taking my October Reads photo today, so I'm gearing up to write my review blog post.

P.S. It bothers me a little that I read a few ebooks this month and can't add them to the stack. I secretly love how impressive they all look together. I'm seriously proud of my mad reading skills.

Here's what you can take from this:

Don't worry about who takes the portrait. Use this prompt to improve your portraiture skills, or focus on capturing something about yourself, a friend, or a family member that you want to make sure is documented.
Try to focus on what the person looks like everyday. There's no need to get fancy and fussied up for a great portrait.

If you did documentation from the handout today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Nov 17 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

I made a pizza peel! (Well, mostly Poppy made it.)

Words: Today I went over to Poppy's and we made a pizza peel. Jake and I have been making tons of homemade pizzas lately, and Jake and I wanted a peel so we can slide the built pizzas onto our pre-heated stone. We looked them up, and they average $30-$40. Yikes! I thought, hey, we can make that!

Poppy had the wood all glued together before I got there (he used maple and held the planks together with wood glue and biscuits). He had already been sanding for about 45 minutes before I arrived too.

I picked up the sander and worked on it, then Poppy drew on the curves with his homemade giant protractor (so impressed that he can calculate the arc of a curve to scale from a random picture of a pizza peel I found on the Internet). He showed me how to cut out the basic shape using a jig saw (always cut on the outside of the line!) and it took me a minute to get the hang of it. I told him that I sounded like a teenager learning to drive a car. Then more sanding, a trip through the router cutter to curve the sides, and a lot more sanding. We used the belt sander to even out the sides, then poppy used a hand held sander to flatten the sides out. We sloped the end so pizzas will slide off, then MORE sanding (with different sand paper weights) until it was perfectly smooth.

We're using this one as a template. Two more coming soon!

What you can take from this:

Hand over the camera (or camera phone)! My grandpa took this one.
I'll do a full blog post about making these sometime soon, so writing out the process for myself will help me to remember for the step-by-step later. I can also go back for reference for next time, when I'm doing more of the steps by myself.
Document new hobbies. Someday, maybe I'll be amazing at woodworking. Even though this project is utilitarian and not completely awing, it will be really interesting to see the early projects later on. The process of learning is worth documenting.

If you documented today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 17 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: Something cultural
Photo:

Words: Tiffany and Burt came over tonight. We had homemade pizza, Tiffany brought cake, and we had a good time sitting around talking and gossiping.

Of course, at some point, the media had to come out. Jake was showing Tiffany and Burt some of his photo editing tricks. The laptop or iPad makes an appearance pretty much every time we hang out with our friends: we love showing stuff off and so do they. Whether it's personal projects or funny You Tube videos, the Internet has very much become a part of our friendship bonding.

This is part of the culture of my generation. The Internet has changed our lives and relationships so much; I can only imagine how different our kid's lives will be because of it as well.

Here's what you can take from this:

You can think of culture in terms of your national culture, your generation's culture, your ethnic culture, or a sub-culture you belong to.
Our friends know that there's pretty much a photo toll now when we hang out with them. Make sure you're taking photos of the special people in your life: not just your immediate family.

If you did documentation from the today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Nov 16 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: I love walking into a room and catching these two snuggling. Eliza does the good big sister thing and watches Yo Gabba Gabba just so she can soak up the Jonas snuggles, even though she'd much rather be watching H2O.

What you can take from this:

You don't always have to just photograph yourself or your family doing something. Document the lazy, hanging out around home stuff too.
One of the thing that shows love in a family is sacrifices for other's joy, and even though letting her little brother watch something when she's rather be watching something else is a very teeny little sacrifice, I still want to document things like this to show what an awesome big sister Eliza is. What little sacrifices do your friends or family make for each other?

If you documented today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 16 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: A night out
Photo(s):

Words: Tonight Harvey and I went to see the Dropkick Murpheys, the Mahones, and Teenage Bottlerocket. It's hard to explain why getting good-naturedly shoved for three hours, pressed into some stranger's sweaty body, with music pounding so loud that you can feel the bass vibrating through your bones, is amazing. It's liberating. It's exhilarating. And, strange as it sounds, it's relaxing. (It's pretty hard for me to let loose in general.)

Dropkick played an amazing 90 minute set. They really know how to get you moving, working the crowd and constantly changing places to make sure that you could see everyone in the band no matter where you were in the crowd (for the record, we were front and slightly stage left, two to three people back). They know just where to place the softer songs to give the crowd a bit of a break (I refuse to admit that I'm getting old; but I needed it). I love that their choruses have the whole crowd yelling right along with them (though my voice was already pretty much gone, so there wasn't a lot of yelling for me). They played the Worker's Song before the encore, so I forgot trying to save my voice and yelled right along.

Afterwards Harv and I walked over to Chubby's and had dinner and caught up with each other's lives. Pretty much the perfect bro's night.

Here's what you can take from this:

Always make sure photography is allowed before taking photos at an event, and never use flash.
When I go places I'm sure to be unable to take good photos (movies, concerts, plays), I love getting pictures of signs or posters. (It's even better to get a photo of a person you went with or yourself in front of that sign or poster.)
Documentation isn't just photos and words. Include memorabilia too, either physically, by taking a photo, or by scanning it. When I document this, I'll include my ticket and a flier.
I'll admit to being kind of stuck with the writing for this one. One of the things I love most about concerts is that they get my constantly over-thinking / narrating my own life head to shush for a bit so I can just enjoy it. So I started writing with "It's hard to explain" and it flowed from there.

If you did documentation from the handout today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Nov 15 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Had a great time with this dude. #latergram

Words: Tonight Harvey and I went to a Dropkick Murphys show. It's been a long time since we've done anything just the two of us. Though I really love doing things with all four of us, concerts are more fun without Lisa and Jake (they don't exactly love getting shoved). I'm covered in bruises, but we were three people back, got to sing into the mic, Al Barr. There's no one I'd have rather been with.

What you can take from this:

This photo, which I took with my horrible phone, is dark. But believe me, it looks WAY better than it would have if I used flash. I'll probably lighten it up in Photoshop before I print.
When you're writing, think about what makes doing something with a specific person special.

If you documented today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 15 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: Your means of transportation
Photo:

Words: For everything we do that envolves leaving Midtown (buying groceries at Trader Joe's, visiting our family members, Jake's office) we have our new-to-us Lincoln. Jake also has the scooter for close by runs on nice days. But for everything else during the day, it's Jonas and me and the stroller. I love that we live in a location where we're plopped down in the middle of most of the things we could need: food, a coffeeshop, a hardware store, a post office and a library, bunches of bookstores, clothing stores, specialty shops. Mostly Jonas and I take walks for the fun of it, but today we walked to get the few grocery items we couldn't pick up at Trader Joe's for chili. One of the main influences on our house location was all of the great stuff in walking distance.

Here's what you can take from this:

I took the photo for yesterday's unplanned documentation just a few moments after taking this photo. There are usually multiple stories you can tell from any given event.
Look down. I know you probably need another hipster photo of feet like you need a hole in the head, but I wanted to take a picture of my feet pounding the pavement with the stroller because this is precisely my view on walks.
If you have multiple transportation options, write about when you use each.

If you did documentation from the handout today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Nov 14 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: Jonas and I walked to get a cup of coffee today and then to the grocery store while Eliza was at the movies with Poppy. Jonas loves the coffeeshop, and he's very serious about his "coffee" (hot chocolate).

What you can take from this:

Get on their level. To get really great photography shots, you kind of have to be an acrobat. I bent down to Jonas's eye level to take this picture.
Keep the words simple by listing out what you did. I also included a cute anecdote about Jonas calling his hot chocolate "coffee".

If you documented today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 14 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: A collection
Photo:

Words: Jonas is a collector of "B"s. What are "B"s? It's what he calls blankets. He'll shout the letter at any old blanket, but a "B" has to be special to make it into his I-want-this-when-I'm-upset, I-need-this-to-go-to-sleep, Hey-give-that-back-it's-mine-but-we-can-share collection. He's not discriminating about color (he's commandeered most of Eliza's baby blankets and her baby quilt). All he requires is awesome texture. He likes 'em silky, fuzzy, fleecy, velvety, and soft. I'm glad he collects them, because that means that any "B" will do. If we loose one, it won't be the end of the world (which is certainly not how I felt about my "blankie" when I was little).

Here's what you can take from this:

To make a collection, you only need three like items. Even if you're not a hoarding collector like me (we've got TONS of collections going in my house), then you still have a collection. (Maybe it's something like nail polish, tools, action figures, books, shoes, exotic spices, or scrapbooking supplies?) You can document an intentional collection, or an unintentional collection (which is the route I went).
Try photographing the collector with the collection.
I've blogged about a few of my family's collections, if you need more inspiration.
Try describing where the collection came from and the criteria an item must meet before it fits into the collection.

If you did unplanned documentation today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Nov 13 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: We got a new lens today! (17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM) It's the same lens we rented for Harvey and Lisa's wedding last year, and we're so so happy to have it. No more standing on chairs to take photos of layouts! No more getting in weird and awkward positions because we can't get far enough away from the subject! Hooray! We bought the lens for about half price from Jake's friend Qian, who is an amazing photographer. He upgraded his camera body, and the benefit trickled down to us in a major way.

What you can take from this:

Get a photo of you taking photos! Most of us have multiple ways of capturing photos: use your phone, a point-and-shoot, or the camera on your computer to take a picture of you doing your shutterbug thing! If you're in this workshop, documenting through photography is probably a major part of what you do.
Make sure to write about your friends and coworkers. They're part of your story too!

If you documented today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 13 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: Something musical
Photo:

Words: We love listening to music on records. Our record collection has been growing exponentially, and we've got a really eclectic mix. My main passion is collecting punk records, but we've got musicals, comedy, classical, pop, folk rock, and hip hop too. My favorite this past year has been Dubussy's Clair de Lune piano recital by Philippe Entremont. I haven't been able to find a digital or CD copy anywhere, so I really want to get an adapter to record our records digitally, just so our friends and family members can have a copy (they love it). It's the most soothing album I've ever heard.

Here's what you can take from this:

Try a bunch of different angles and ways of cropping the picture until you find the shot that most interests you.
Start general and then get specific. I started out talking about record collecting as a whole, then narrowed down to my favorite record right now.

If you did documentation inspired by the handout for today, post a link to it in the comments section! If you're following along but aren't sharing your documentation online, let us know how it's going! P.S. Sorry this is late in posting; I had it scheduled on the wrong day!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Nov 12 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: Tonight our cousin Emily came over for a little bit of help with her economics course. Man, it felt good to use my social sciences brain. We worked on GDP, Real GDP, inflation, and CPI. I brushed up a tiny bit with one of my old college textbooks before she came (so glad Jake and I kept most of those), but I was happy to find that I remembered most of it (even though economics is my least favorite of the social sciences). Emily feels prepared for her quiz tomorrow and got a good chunk of her big project done!

What you can take from this:

Hand the camera over! Sometimes, to get portraits including myself, I use my camera's self timer. But if it's way easier to ask someone to take the photo for you (my husband Jake is a better photographer than I am, anyway).
Write about using your strengths to help someone else. We have tons of helping interactions, and you may not even realize that you are aiding someone with your brilliant talents! This is a great thing to record about YOU.

If you did unplanned documentation today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 12 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: Where messes collect
Photo(s):

Words: No matter how often we pick it up, the island / butcher block in our kitchen always collects messes. Jonas's high chair tray, coupons, grocery lists, magazines, papers from Eliza's school, random kitchen things, stuff that needs to be put away... it collectes messes always.

Here's what you can take from this:

Don't feel that you can't take pictures in your home because it's not Apartment Therapy worthy! Our house is always a mess, but that doesn't stop me from clicking away. That's real life, too.
Use the photo as a jumping off point for the words. Instead of listing the things that constitute the mess that are in the photo, I listed the sort of things that are usually in that spot.

If you did unplanned documentation today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Nov 11 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: Today was a sick day.

What you can take from this:

I could have taken a photo of myself looking like hell to represent today's sick day, but a candle, Shakespeare, and Dayquil before a bath just about covers it too. And now there's not a picture of Zombie Megan floating around the Internet. But seriously, a great way to document being sick is to focus on what makes you feel better when you are sick: medicine, tissues, soup, home remedies, hot tea with milk and honey (my favorite), warm socks, etc.
A few words will do it some days. Try simple journaling starting with "Today is" or "Today was". It can be as easy as "Today was a good day." or "Today sucked." It can be a good starter to a paragraph too: "Today was amazing. We went to visit Aunt Millie by the beach. The air was heavy with humidity, but the cool water made up for it. We spotted seagulls..." or whatever.

If you did unplanned documentation today, post a link to it in the comments section!

Nov 11 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: A delicious meal
Photo(s):

Words: Confession: I've always wanted to make a real Thanksgiving dinner all by my lonesome. But we don't have smaller, intimate family Thanksgiving dinner. We've got SEVERAL giant extended family parties, and we're usually shuffling between as many of them as possible so we can see as many people as possible, reading the Real Story of Thanksgiving chapter from Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong in the car as we go because, you know, we're those people. Usually my greatest contribution to the whole big family pot-luck dinners is homemade cranberry sauce, or maybe mashed potatoes, because those things will be pretty much fine in the car as we shuffle from place to place.

So cooking Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving is not in the cards for me. This year I'm planning on maybe trying it after Thanksgiving (but I'll buy all of the food during the week of Thanksgiving, while it's cheapest). And I plan on doing it from scratch. But I wanted the food already this week and it's been a miserably stressful week... so I went semi-homemade with it. I'll call this a practice run. And guys, it was delicious.

I just thought I'd let you know about how I whipped this together in about an hour and a half, in case you are the one cooking on the big day and don't want any stress. For the dinner, I used the cooking directions from Rachel Ray's Cherry Chipotle Turkey Breast. The flavoring on the recipe was more adventurous than I was looking for, but I needed the cooking directions. I kept everything in the recipe but the cherries and the chipotle, and I subbed them with some fresh sage from our front yard. Oh, and I subbed the chicken stock for turkey stock, because I found some at Trader Joe's. I also really appreciated the tip from Ms. Ray to use skinned carrots in the bottom of the pan if you don't have a roasting rack to mimic the effects of a roasting rack. It did, the turkey was amazing and juicy, and the carrots were amazing too. I'm also really excited about this whole turkey breast thing in general. It was $7.00 and fed six people! Can't beat that. (Though, without all of the sides, it wouldn't stretch that far.)

I then rounded out the meal with mostly pre-made stuff: Trader Joe's boxed cornbread stuffing* (SO GOOD), Ocean Spray canned cranberry sauce (not as good as homemade, but better than expected), and pre-made turkey gravy (to which we added the drippings from the turkey breast). I also whipped up some mashed potatoes (the secret ingredient is a bit of sour cream), and sautéed some brussels sprouts (olive oil + salt + pepper + a bit of parmesan cheese at the end on medium heat until they're browned).

*The cornbread required a lower temperature in the oven than the turkey, so I just put it in with the turkey on the bottom rack with less time, and that worked out fine.

It was pretty easy, considering, and I'm super happy about it. But I'm a little embarrassed to say that, even though fakesgiving dinner with my mom and sister was fun, I really did it all so that I could eat a Turkey Sandwich with a Moist Maker inspired by this bit from Friends. I always make Thanksgiving leftover sandwiches, but what's on them varies. This one had turkey, carrots, the moist maker (extra bread in the middle soaked in gravy), stuffing, and cranberry sauce (which I use like a condiment). It's a good think this takes so much work to make, because otherwise I'd eat an unhealthy amount of them.

Here's what you can take from this:

I had a lot to say about this documentation, so I used it as a blog post; one of the many ways you can use your documentation! Notice that my writing is different when I know I'm going to use it for a blog post rather than for scrapbooking: there are MORE words, links, and extra info that I think readers might like to know.
These handout photos so far have all been taken the day before they post, but these ones were taken last Thursday and Friday. I took photos yesterday I could have used just as easily, but I'm using these to illustrate a principal that kept my husband and I going through our 365 last year: don't stop if you forget to take a photo one day. Skip it and move on, take two photos the next day, or use an extra photo you used a few days ago. This is about capturing life, not about rules.
Taking appetizing photos of food is not easy, let me tell you. But after months of taking photos of almost every dinner I eat for my Savory Sunday blog series, I've figured out the best two places for light in my kitchen for after the sun has set (the first photo) and when it's still shining (the second photo). Practice taking photos in different areas of your living space until you find the "sweet spots" for great light.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Nov 10 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: This week has been insane. Jake took a side job doing database web development for a project management company. It's an emergency project, which means he's basically doing something alone in 5 days that should be done by a team over a period of months. He's seriously a rock star for being capable of completing this project, and man is it worth it.

But.

Getting it done has sucked for all of us. Jake's been staying up into the wee AM hours every night, even though he has to go into the office every morning. He took a day off from the office this week and worked for 18 straight hours. He stays late after work to get some of this done in the quiet, and then works on it again as soon as he gets home.

It's killing him, and it's no picnic for me either. I forget how much our teamwork is important to my sanity. Jonas is such an exhausting toddler, he and Eliza have been bickering more than usual, we've been couch potatoes more than usual, and I have way less patience that normal. Everyone's more irritated and snappy, but we're all trying to pull together even though we're exhausted. Eliza has been such a great help!

I'm thankful for this side job of Jake's, but I'll be so glad when it's over. Hopefully it's tomorrow. Because I'm starting to get sick (sore, swollen throat), and I can't imagine being sick on top of all of this.

What you can take from this:

I love getting shots from over people's shoulders so I can get peak at what they're working on (though I purposely made sure that the screen in this photo was too bright for you to see what's on there).
When you're going through a stressful time, think about the positives and the negatives of the situation. There are REALLY big positives in my journaling: it documents my husband Jake's ninja skills and the excitement of extra money coming in. But it's coming at a price, and I wrote about that too.
A lot of people forget to document work and money making ventures, but both are an important part of how you live and an interesting look into the time period we're in right now!

Nov 10 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: A sunrise or a sunset
Photo:

Words: I don't set out to sit and watch many sunrises or sunsets, but I always pause to appreciate them when I happen to catch them. I love waking up during sunrises to a wonderful pink glow and the faint outlines of clouds, which look so much like a painting that I expect cherubs to hop out of them at any minute, outside of my bedroom window. Sunsets are trickier, as our horizon has been defeated not by pirates of the new age, as Mr. Jack Johnson has suggested, but by mostly trees (and the buildings directly across the street from us).

Here's what you can take from this:

Taking pictures when you're subject is light itself is no easy feat. Taking pictures of sunsets and sunrises is a good way to learn to play with the settings on your camera, though. I took this photo at a low exposure, which allowed me to capture the pink light, but also silhouetted the trees and the foreground of the photo. I also snapped a few at a high exposure. In those photos, the cars and street and building could be seen, but the color of the sunset wasn't visible: it was just a bright light. Don't have time for a sunset or sunrise? Try taking pictures of a candle or a lamp.
Instead of focusing on a particular sunrise, I wrote about how sunrises and sunsets fit into my life in general. I love that I could tell multiple stories with each photo: I could have described the moment I took the picture, I could have talked about the sunsets my now-husband and I used to watch during our courtship, I could have written about the unwritten importance of sunsets to us while on vacation (because they represent relaxing, for some reason), I could have written about the importance to stop and take in beauty in the world as it comes. Write about what inspires you at the time, but don't feel limited to one story. In fact, I might go write about those sunset dates right now.
I incorporated lyrics from a Jack Johnson song into my journaling, because that song always pops into my head when something is blocking the horizon. The words you write don't always have to be your own; if someone says it better, let them say it fore you (but, of course, give credit where credit is due).

Friday, November 9, 2012

Nov 9 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: After a few super cold weeks, we've been having wonderful warm weather. That means the kids and I have been spending a lot more time outside. I hate that it's getting dark so soon, though. It really puts a damper on the playing, as we don't have a light in our backyard (we should probably get on that).

What you can take from this:

I mentioned before that I hate using flash (I prefer natural light, or, if there's no natural light, ambiant light from lamps and light fixtures). Flash makes people and things look unnatural and is the cause of many-a red eye in photos. So I stay clear. Sometimes, however, it's use flash or take no photo. You need light to take a photo, and, as is the theme of this workshop it seems, I'd rather capture the memory with a so-so picture than skip the photo because it can't turn out amazing.
The words are all about how my family's routine is dependent on weather and light. We do very different things when it gets dark much later or when it's very cold or hot outside. Consider documenting how nature effects your life.

Nov 9 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: What you see on a walk
Photo:

Words: One of the prettiest things we see when we take walks is the Guardian Angels Cathedral in our neighborhood. I love the architecture, and I love that we can hear the bells from our house.

Here's what you can take from this:

The landscape around you is always changing. Some of the buildings in our neighborhood have been there a hundred years and will stand for a hundred more, some could be torn down tomorrow. Don't forget to document the things you see in your environment everyday, because you'll never know if it will be there in the future (or when you'll move).
Don't just focus on the visual with your words. What does your walk smell like? What does it sound like? I love this building because of the way it looks, but I also love the music of the bells.

Nov 8 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: Eliza is so good about doing her homework. She does it on Tuesdays (words of the week) and Thursdays (math). Tonight she was working on l'additions. She wanted to finish outside so she could be with Joans and me: I love that we all want to share the same space almost all of the time.

She did great on this particular homework. She had to re-try on three problems (all dealing with bigger numbers) and re-wrote a lot of her backwards numbers. Great job, E!

What you can take from this:

Step back to get the setting of the photo. I could have taken a close-up of Eliza or one over her shoulder,but this photo tells three stories instead of one: one about homework, one about us liking to be together, and one about where we live. Zooming in gives focus to your story; zooming out expands it.
Sometimes journaling can be a sort of love letter. These words document E's routine and this event, but they also show her that I'm proud of her. Add in a few sentences to let someone know how you feel!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Back in a Jiffy

There's been an Internet outage in my area, so I'm just popping in using the 4G on my phone to say that I'll have to push back tonight and tomorrow's documentation shares until tomorrow afternoon. That's the price of sharing as I go, I guess! Now would be a good time to comment with any questions or to share how you're progressing! -Megan

Nov 8 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: Someone Reading
Photo:

Jonas promises this will be the last one. #welovebooks

Words: Reading is super important in our family, and today was an especially full-of-books day. This morning, I finished off the book I've been reading while snuggling Jonas (who was watching Sesame Street). I also read a few chapters of a new book while taking a bubble bath and I'll read a few more as soon as I'm done with this post before declaring lights out

Jonas kept bringing me books and books and books this afternoon, so we read about ten before naptime (and another three or four before bedtime). This is an abnormal amount for him; he usually doesn't want to stay still through several books. His favorites right now have animals or pages of pictures with corresponding words so he can learn the words for the pictures. (He loves pointing to the pictures and having me read the captions over and over.)

It was also a big book day for Eliza, because her Book in the Bag is due back tomorrow and we hadn't filled out the form or finished all of the books. Instead of sending some of them back unread, she read to me while I cooked and then I read the remanding two to her. One of them was French, and I read in French and she corrected my pronunciation / translated the bits I didn't know. We also read a lot of books from our house this week. We're making some serious progress on Harry Potter 5! I love that we swap from her reading to me to me reading to her. It's our bonding just mom and Eliza time (though Jonas was climbing on us for a bit of the reading time tonight).

Here's what you can take from this:

Don't limit yourself! If you need more than one photo to represent your story; go for it!
This is some seriously long journaling for a few Instagram photos. Make sure to get in the values and routines that are important to you and/or your family!
Consider doing a take on the prompt for multiple people. This prompt was "someone reading", but I really covered reading for three different members of my family. It can be fun to compare / contrast!
This journaling is really random / stream of consciousness and doesn't flow well. I'll probably clean it up a bit before it reaches its final destination, but it's the getting it down that matters. Try just writing whatever comes to you and worry about it sounding nice later. Think of it like taking a picture now and editing it later! Sure, it can be easier to get it perfect on the first shot, but that's not always the realistic option, right?