Well, it’s that time of year again, where I scramble, hem and haw my way through a decision of whether or not to participate in the Nester’s 31 Days of Change blog challenge. In past years, I only got half way through the 31 days before something else took my attention. Well, this year to keep with tradition, because it takes two years to make a tradition dontchaknow, I’ll attempt to partake in the joy (or misery) of blogging for 31 days straight about one particular topic. Will I complete the 31 days this year? Will it really make a change in my life and possibly someone else’s? I can’t answer that just yet, but let’s hope.

In the past two years I’ve participated, I blogged about Thrifting and was entirely too hopeful last year and documented a series on Getting it Done, yes, I see the irony in that one. But this year, will be the year I FINALLY blog for 31 days straight, no breaks, no excuses, and no whining. Actually, I can’t guarantee the no whining, it’s really what I do best.

Now, you probably want to know what I’ll be jabbering on about for the next 31 days. I’ve given it some thought, what would be fun, interesting, and relevant to myself and my readers?  What won’t bore me to no end, and what won’t stress me out? Remember this is supposed to  be fun, darn it!  So, I decided to explore shooting.

No, not that kind of shooting! I’m not a member of the NRA, and don’t have one of those fancy purses that can cleverly conceal a weapon, unless we’re talking about my trusty Canon. I bring that puppy with me pretty much everywhere. Which is why I decided to focus this month of change on seeing things differently through the lens. Specifcally, the 50mm lens, or as I like to call it the Nifty Fifty. Because really, it is pretty nifty.  But I’ll get into all the nifty-ness of the fifty in a later post.

Let’s get into the point of this little series shall we? Over the month of October, I plan to explore all the great shots that can be accomplished by using the 50mm lens. Granted, there will be other photo ops during this month that will require me to use other lenses (i.e. vacation!), but for the purpose of this series I plan to devote all my posts to photos taken with my trusty nifty fifty. I’ve found that over the past few months I’ve become a little lazy when it comes to shooting, relying heavily on auto focus and not worrying too much about composition and what not. Hopefully, by the end of this month I’ll have honed in my skills, and become more artistic in the way I shoot and even in the way that I view the world around me. So, look forward to a photo or a series of photos everyday, sometimes it might just be dog picture, or I might share a tip or trick I’ve discovered along the way.

After having said all that, I should warn anyone who has been brave enough to visit my blog sweet blog, I am not a professional photographer. The tips and photos I have chosen to share are simply things I have found to be helpful or beautiful. They may not be correct in the technical sense, but they are appealing to me.

Now, won’t you join me as I try to see things differently through the lens?