Project 365 – Week 1

January 10, 2010 5:27 pm

I have had SO much fun this week with my 365 challenge. I started off the week at the California Academy of Sciences, taking a photo of my very first stranger for the 100 Strangers challenge (something I will be keeping up with all year), and wrapped it up with good friends and delicious pizza. I’ve been enjoying the challenge of discovering new things to photograph and new ways to take pictures. I can already tell that this year is going to make me stretch myself as a photographer to learn new skills and techniques for getting the photos I want. I think a tripod is going to have to be acquired pretty soon too.

January 2, 2010 - Ian

This is photo 1/100 of my 100 Strangers project.

Ian works at the Academy of Sciences in the Tidepool area, and was nice enough to be my first 100 Strangers subject. We got to talking because I was afraid to touch the starfish, but the little kid next to me was all about it. Ian told me that if the kid could do it, I could too.
And thus I struck up a conversation with him about abalone. He told me that abalone get a new hole (which they stick their grabbers through to get food) in their shell each year, so you can tell roughly how old an abalone is judging by the number of holes.
January 3, 2010 - Manuel
This is photo 2/100 of my 100 Strangers project.
Manuel is a surfer who lives in the Mission District in San Francisco. He’s been surfing since he was 13, and said that the conditions today weren’t great (too cold), but since this was the warmest it will be today, he went for it anyway. Manuel is originally from El Salvador but hasn’t been back since moving to the US. He told me that he wasn’t very photogenic, but was gracious enough to let me take his photo anyway.
San Francisco – Ocean Beach at Judah.
January 4, 2010 - Three Chairs
I took this photo this morning at the SAY offices. These chairs are in the hallway of the counseling offices. I suppose they’re a little zen or something.
I love the colors and the whimsy of the child’s chairs sitting on a coffee table underneath a photo of spices.
January 5, 2010 - Goodbye Christmas
Today we bid adieu to our beloved Christmas tree.
January 6, 2009 - Rahm the cat

I was setting up to use my yoga mat as the background of an entirely different photo when Rahm jumped onto the chair and made herself at home. I’m sure there will be at least a few more photos pf Rahm the cat in my 365 collection, and I had intended to save her for later, but she was too pretty to ignore today!

On a side note, her new favorite thing it to play fetch. She taught herself the game, and likes to drop her toy mouse right next to me and wait for me to throw it across the room.

January 7, 2010 - Leaf Print

I wandered outside this morning in search of a photo opportunity in the backyard. What I found was this awesome leaf print in the patio.

January 8, 2010 - Leah

This is photo 3/100 of my 100 Strangers project.

When I stopped by the candlelight peace vigil in Courthouse Square this evening I met Leah and her mom. I loved Leah with the candle, and I’m really glad that she (and her mom) allowed me to take her portrait.

January 9, 2010 - Joey

Ben, Mike and I went to see Avatar today at the IMAX in Emeryville and Joey came to meet us for the movie.

Afterwards, we went down to Zachary’s Pizza and had the best deep dish pizza I have ever had. We got the veggie pizza and it came with a whole wheat crust, broccoli, zucchini, squash, corn, onions, and mushrooms and it was delicious!

While we were waiting for our pizza we sat outside of a cafe that was closing up for the night and watched the passers-by. We even saw one little kid walk by with a manta ray stuffed animal and the boys decided that it was the dumbest possible animal to choose to make a stuffed version of, but I thought it was adorable.

All in all, a great day with great friends.

Project 365 – January 1, 2010

January 2, 2010 12:59 am

I’m celebrating the turn of the new year with a photo project. I will be taking (at least) one photo a day, every day for the next year.

I’m planning on doing a weekly round-up here on caitlinchilds.com, but I’m kicking the challenge off with my photo from today.
January 1, 2010 - Sara

Sara Sanger of The New Trust, performing at the Phoenix Theater, 01/01/2010

The Winchester Mystery House

December 14, 2009 6:42 pm

Mike and I went to the Winchester Mystery House yesterday (henceforth called the Winchester House because calling it mysterious is stupid) and had a great time sneaking what photos we could! We tried not to go in with too many expectations, and since neither of us were expecting to tour a house filled with ghosts and spooky noises, I think we enjoyed it a lot more than the yelp reviewers. The house itself was actually smaller than I had imagined, most of the rooms are really quite small, and while it’s not as “mysterious” as hyped, it’s still a great old building with some very cool architectural details. Worth visiting if you’re into Victorian architecture or kitschy tourist activities (which I SO am!).

Henry's Patent Rifle: The Most Effective Weapon in the World

The most epic advertisement ever: A resolute man, armed with one of these Rifles, particularly if on horseback, CANNOT BE CAPTURED.

The Winchester House

The Winchester House

Tiffany Glass at the Winchester House

Unused Tiffany Glass Windows

Glass Window with Spider Web Pattern

Spiderweb Glass Window with 13 Jewels

A Day at the Pumpkin Patch with Rigel, Akasha and Spencer

December 7, 2009 1:48 am

Way back in October, Rigel, Spencer and I took Akasha to a Pumpkin Patch to pick out our Halloween pumpkins. Being a whole year older than our last visit, Akasha was much more involved in the choosing of pumpkins.

A Day at the Pumpkin Patch (1 of 10)

Rigel and Akasha

A Day at the Pumpkin Patch (3 of 10)

Akasha Found her Pumpkin!

Orange and Cranberry Buttermilk scones

November 18, 2009 7:07 pm

It’s been a little over a month and a half since my coworker Jason came into work and shot himself. I’m still really mad at him, and I still have random flashbacks to those intense moments. I know I will never forget that day, and I don’t know if I will ever be able to forgive Jason, or even think kindly of him, but what I can do is remember one of the things we did bond over and that is scones. Jason was a great scone baker and I loved talking to him about the delicious scones he brought in from time to time. The recipe is below.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks cold, unsalted butter
1 cup buttermilk
grated zest from one orange
1 cup dried cranberries
parchment paper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425º F

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda & salt in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Add butter and work with pastry blender until mixture resembles rough cornmeal. Add zest, cranberries, and buttermilk, stirring just until liquid is distributed (do not over-mix!)

Make a ball out of your dough and place it onto a lightly floured surface. Press dough down in a rough circle about 1/2″ high. Cut into triangular pieces and place them onto your parchment paper covered cookie sheet. Brush with melted butter.

Bake at 425º for 10-12 minutes.