throwing waffles

Way back in January, I started a new photo project for the new year (because sixty-four colors and my third year of Project 365 weren’t enough, simultaneously): Scavenger Hunt 101. When Pookie and Schnookie suggested it, I was really skeptical. There were a lot of items on this list (a child crying, someone meditating or praying, a public display of affection… I could go on) that really didn’t inspire me at all. But I went for it anyway, and carried the master list, written in a notebook, in my bag all year. I’m really glad that I did this, now that it’s over. It got me shooting things I probably wouldn’t care so much about normally, and it really challenged me to think outside the box for some of the more pesky scavenger hunt items. I thought it would be fun to feature a few of my favorite shots from the whole set, which you can see over here, in order.

#2, the home of a non-human creature.

#6, winter.

#15, a toy.

#23, a flower.

#45, a fish.

#49, your favorite color.

#79, an exotic animal.

#80, your favorite shade-tree.

#84, the place where you eat most of your meals.

#86, a shadow.

#93, a train.

#101, a self-portrait.

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted a roundup of photos from the archives that match the week’s color for sixty-four colors. I think it’s mostly because there are so many crayons that are so similar, and I may have already posted old shots for those colors. Either way, this week’s color was red, and you know I have a lot of that. The first shot was this week’s photo, and the rest are old favorites.

Blue is, as one of the original crayon colors, perhaps not as flashy as some of the newer additions. But it’s a classic, and I was surprised at how much true blue I found in my archives. I just love the richness of a real royal blue, maybe because you don’t find it too often. I just couldn’t leave any of these out, especially since the last one is from Shea Stadium back in 2006.

So today I finished my third year of Project 365, and it is SO exciting. It’s been a mostly awesome year (with a few stumbles along the way), and finishing the project on such a high note is a definite plus. But it’s always fun to go back through the year, and I wanted to share some of my favorite photos from the past year.

Orange is and has almost always been my one true favorite color. I flirt with other favorite colors but when it comes down to it? I’m all about orange. Which is why I was surprised not only at how few photos I found in my archives last week when orange came up for sixty-four colors, but also how it wasn’t really jumping out at me in the wild. I still love every one of these shots, though, and think they make a pretty nice set together. (Also, as I’m looking back at what I got during red orange week, that explains why I couldn’t find as many true orange shots in the archives!)

Oh, brown. You don’t have a fancy-sounding name as so many of the other crayons, and you’re tricky to photograph just like the purples. Way back when we did sepia and I compared it to brown, I intended to post a shot of the color of my hair for this week’s shot.. but when it came down to it I just… didn’t. So you’ll just have to trust me that this mug is perfectly brown in person.

White was this week’s color for sixty-four colors, and admittedly, I was a little hesitant at the beginning of the week. It took an impromptu trip to the boardwalk in Asbury Park to spark my creative juices, but then, I always love taking pictures there. (Although I’m beginning to fear that I’ll soon reach the limit and have taken pictures of everything interesting there… but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.) And then I found so many cool shots for white in my archives that I couldn’t limit it to just a few. Or maybe the shots of snowy winters are especially charming just because it’s the middle of August.

Sky blue was a fun one, and not just because the crayon isn’t as much like the color of the actual sky as you’d expect. Some of the archive shots are film ones, which fits in neatly with my recent obsession with film, too.

Goldenrod is a funny color, because the crayon itself looks all boring and drab and dull… but then you color with it and it’s one of the cheeriest yellows out there. And yellow is one of my favorite colors to look for in the wild, even better that I already had sunflowers sitting on my dining room table when I found out this week’s color. It’s just happy, heart of the summer stuff. Which is always, always a good thing.

I was awfully excited while I was in New York City a few weekends ago, because I got a secret sneak preview of the week’s color because I was, you know, standing next to Jodi as she took her photo of the plum-colored door in Soho. I was also a bit reluctant, because the purple crayon weeks in sixty-four colors can be frustrating, especially when it comes to getting a photo that looks on the internet like it does in real life. And then  I found several instances of plum in real life during our birthday adventures after all. Shows you how much I know!