Winter Photography Pin-Spiration

        Winter is easily the toughest season for photography, especially if you live somewhere with winters like Minnesota. Everything is the same color (or lack thereof. Everything is white and brown). And don't even get me started on how it's too cold out to take pictures for more than ten minutes. (or five! or two!) So far we had been blessed with an unseasonably warm and pretty much snowless December, but as of yesterday I'll bet you the snow has settled in until mid-March. And I need to figure out how to do photography with it. 

           Of course, I usually like to work with color much more than this. But sometimes winter colors are my only option- so I turned to pinterest, just like I turn to pinterest for everything else, for some inspiration on how to get pretty pictures in the winter.

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Christmas Wishlist

        Wishlists. Always loads of fun. It's a little late for a Christmas wish list, it being Christmas Eve and all, but they're so much work to put together with all the hyperlinks and the game of Tetris that is creating the image that I didn't really have time until now anyway. So, here's what I've got my eye on this year:

Haribo gummies // All the kinds. Always.

Lush Space Girl Bath Bomb // I've never gotten anything from Lush before but people keep raving about their bath bombs and I've seen gorgeous pictures of this one on tumblr!

Slouch Socks // I will never have enough socks.

Sweet Tea iPhone Case // All my phone cases are cracking so I'm in the market for a new one, and this is gorgeous, to say the least.

Nikon D7000 // Okay, I'm already 90% sure I'm getting this one to replace my old D3000 and I am SO. EXCITED.

Nikon Remote // I realized the other day how much better my self-portraits are when they're in perfect focus, and that's where this remote will come in handy!

Cable Turtleneck // I'm so happy turtlenecks are back in style. They're so comfy. 

Star Front/Back Earrings // I just love earrings. Especially these earrings.

Monogram Crest Journal // I've been looking for a journal with blank pages (as opposed to lined). Now IF ONLY THEY MADE A LETTER Z VERSION, SEEING AS THEY MAKE MOST OTHER LETTERS.

Holga Lens & Filter Turret for Nikon // I've had my eye on this forever, mostly for the kaleidoscope filter.

The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman // I'll probably just check this one out from the library, but I'm definitely interested in reading this book. It's a plain little love story that takes place right around where I live. 

Afternoon

        It definitely doesn't look or feel like a typical Minnesota December. The snow is gone and has been replaced by light rain and the grass had barely browned. We've had barely two days of sun this month, which usually bothers me but today the neighborhood was so moody and beautiful. The weather made me feel alive. 

        I went out to a local coffee shop with my sister and our friend, who of course scorned and rolled their eyes at all the pictures I took of the food, but it was totally worth it; coffee shop photoshoots are my dream. We then walked around the neighborhood and I kept marveling at the moody lighting and taking as many pictures as I could. I'm very proud of the images that resulted from the day. (And yes, this was in the afternoon- it was this dark by 4:00 PM. Shoutout to 45 degrees north).

Photos Every Day

Last year, I tried doing a 365 project. If you're unfamiliar with that, it's a project where you take a photo every day for a year. Some people say they don't like the idea because inspiration shouldn't be forced, but often my photos aren't very thought out anyway and the 100 or so days I got through last time really did help me improve my photography. 

So, I'm at it again! Hopefully I'll be able to get through the year this time. I'm eleven days in now, and here are some of the best photos from the project so far. Enjoy!