A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

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Photo Blogging Challenge: October 2015’s theme is …

october 2015

When you get older in life, it seems like things just move by awful quickly.

It seems like yesterday that we were covered in snow and it was January. The challenge was still going and then … it’s October.

Say what?

Before we know it, it will be 2016!

Depending where you live, the current season is probably producing some fall colors. In my area, it’s not too bad, but the colors so far are not as vibrant as I would like to see. Maybe with the recent rain, that will switch.

I can hope, anyway.

But now we’ve put another month of the challenge in the books and hopefully you’ve had the chance to go around and read other people’s blogs. If so, did they make you happy? They should have!

Now we shall move on! October is upon us and we must keep the themes coming!

The theme is below. But before we get to that … let me remind you of some important items:

  • I set up a Facebook group for those who are interested. Reminders and maybe some discussions or other things can be done there.
  • If you haven’t already, attempt to check out everybody’s posts and consider commenting. These challenges are great for personal growth, but it’s also nice to be interactive with all the others in the challenge! That’s one of the best parts of this challenge — interacting and seeing other people’s work! And remember — I am in the challenge, too. Though I have the linkup, it’s nice to see what people think of those shots, too. I try and re-visit people’s posts a few weeks later, though, and it’s disheartning to see that they’ve only received a few comments. I know it can be hard sometimes, but do your best to actually visit and comment instead of just linking up.

Before we hit up this month’s theme, for new people, allow me to refresh the rules a bit.

Here’s how it will work.

  • On the first of each month (or close to it), I’ll have a blog post here with the theme for the month.
  • Over the course of the month, participants will take photos with their interpretation of the theme. On the last day of the month (or close to it), participants should  publish their blog post, which will include five photos from the month. (please don’t recycle photos from the past … the idea is to hopefully challenge you to go out and take new photos each month to interpret the theme). And please only use photos you took.
  • I’ll have a link-up thing at the end of my post so people can come and post the links to their posts so, hopefully, everybody can go go check out and comment on other posts.

There is no rule on equipment or anything. Use a cell phone. Use film. Use a point-and-shoot. Use a DSLR. It doesn’t matter. Just make sure you publish your blog post on the last day of each month, come here and link up.

It’s simple!

Your blog posts can be as simple or as in-depth as you want. I’ll likely talk a little about each photo. But if all you want to do is post photos, feel free. The idea of this is to give a small challenge and give everybody a chance to express themselves with photography, participate in a challenge and have something to blog about.

That’s it. Easy, right? So join in! Help us continue to grow this challenge by telling fellow bloggers/photographers about the challenge and hopefully it can become a great monthly thing!

For those still with me, this month’s theme is: Closeup. Interpret as you see fit. Have fun with this theme. There could be some great things you can do with it.

Let’s see what you have for this one! And let’s see if we can get some others interested in joining us! Pass along the word!

Please make sure your blog post publishes Friday, October 30. Then come back here and link up.

If you think you are going to take part in this, drop a comment below so we can see who all might be trying to tackle this challenge!

History of the challenge (past month’s themes – links to see everybody else’s posts are at the end of the linked post):

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Photo Blogging Challenge (September 2015): Happy

What makes you happy?

In this world, the way it is, sometimes it’s not easy to always be happy. Life isn’t an easy place to be, that’s for sure. So, sometimes, that happy feeling is hard.

For me, I try my best to be as happy as possible as much as I can. I know it’s hard sometimes, but I always figure what is making one unhappy is relative. I always look back at 2 1/2 years of unemployment and then see where I am now and know I am in a much better place.

Do you know what makes you happy?

It’s honestly not easy for me to put into words or photography. Certain things make me smile. Some things make me happy in odd ways. I love the smell of fresh cut grass or seeing a pristine look to a baseball field. That makes me happy. A great beer. Sitting on a beach. Naps. Cranking out a few solid blog posts. A baseball game that doesn’t even reach the two-hour mark. My nephew Cameron. A crazy and loud crowd at an independent wrestling show or two wrestlers working their tails off to entertain said crowd. Seeing family do well at things.

There’s probably quite a bit more.

Happy is a feeling everybody should experience as often as possible. Do what you can to have that feeling whenever possible. Always remember that things could (usually) be worse.

As Bobby McFerrin once said — Don’t worry … be happy!

My five are below! I had hoped for some photos of the changing season, but I couldn’t get anything vibrant enough, so I had to make due with some extra “people” shots. I look forward to seeing how other people interpreted this theme!

1. Fun

I must say, Cameron is growing up fast. It makes me happy to see him grow and develop. This was a day I got to stop by and see him and he was having a lot of fun on the swing. Seems like he can do it for hours!

Swinging!

Swinging!

2. Undefeated

It’s nice to see family members be successful as they take steps in life. My niece Nicole is in her first year of college and playing soccer. She’s starting and has done very well on her undefeated and nationally ranked team.

Chasing down the ball.

Chasing down the ball.

3. Teeth

Cameron is really growing and developing. He loves apples, as you can see here. He crunches away at one as his father (my brother) looks on.

Mmmm apple.

Mmmm apple.

4. Success

Several years ago, I got back into watching independent wrestling — mainly as something interesting to photograph. Over the past few years, I’ve had the chance to become friends with several of those involved. One of them is Sean Carr, an incredibly gifted and humble athlete. Over the years, I’ve had the chance to watch him get better and put on some amazing matches. On Monday, in front of his hometown, he won the championship of one of the finest promotions in the country. It was pretty awesome to watch. 

The new champ!

The new champ!

5. All smiles

Here’s Cameron. His smiles are infectious! 

Happy.

Happy.

That’s my five and now it’s your turn!

If you took part in this month’s challenge, make sure to link up below. And for those of you who participated, make sure you try and get to other people’s blogs and comment (here, too!). Let’s continue to grow this challenge and have a strong community. Come back and check out the others who link later on, too!

Also, don’t forget to get back here tomorrow, October 1, to see the theme for October!

NOTE: I set up a Facebook group for those who participate in the challenge and are interested. I’ll post any announcements there and hopefully it can be a place where things are discussed and some interaction etc. You can access it here.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Photo Blogging Challenge: September 2015’s theme is …

september 2015

And just like that … another month has come and gone.

September. Already.

On the bright side, it’s my birthday month. On the flip side of that, birthdays don’t matter much to me! It’s only a number I’ve always said.

Still, it’s another year in the books, so I may as well get out and take some photos, eh? Hopefully, I’ll bring you all along with the challenge, too!

After last month where it seemed like people didn’t like or want that theme, we’ll try and make this one a little more open in the hopes that we get some people back into it. I miss many of the people who haven’t been around for a bit, so hopefully we’ll get some of them back!

Anyway, let’s move on!

The theme is below. But before we get to that … let me remind you of some important items:

  • I set up a Facebook group for those who are interested. Reminders and maybe some discussions or other things can be done there.
  • If you haven’t already, attempt to check out everybody’s posts and consider commenting. These challenges are great for personal growth, but it’s also nice to be interactive with all the others in the challenge! That’s one of the best parts of this challenge — interacting and seeing other people’s work! And remember — I am in the challenge, too. Though I have the linkup, it’s nice to see what people think of those shots, too. I try and re-visit people’s posts a few weeks later, though, and it’s disheartning to see that they’ve only received a few comments. I know it can be hard sometimes, but do your best to actually visit and comment instead of just linking up.

Before we hit up this month’s theme, for new people, allow me to refresh the rules a bit.

Here’s how it will work.

  • On the first of each month (or close to it), I’ll have a blog post here with the theme for the month.
  • Over the course of the month, participants will take photos with their interpretation of the theme. On the last day of the month (or close to it), participants should  publish their blog post, which will include five photos from the month. (please don’t recycle photos from the past … the idea is to hopefully challenge you to go out and take new photos each month to interpret the theme). And please only use photos you took.
  • I’ll have a link-up thing at the end of my post so people can come and post the links to their posts so, hopefully, everybody can go go check out and comment on other posts.

There is no rule on equipment or anything. Use a cell phone. Use film. Use a point-and-shoot. Use a DSLR. It doesn’t matter. Just make sure you publish your blog post on the last day of each month, come here and link up.

It’s simple!

Your blog posts can be as simple or as in-depth as you want. I’ll likely talk a little about each photo. But if all you want to do is post photos, feel free. The idea of this is to give a small challenge and give everybody a chance to express themselves with photography, participate in a challenge and have something to blog about.

That’s it. Easy, right? So join in! Help us continue to grow this challenge by telling fellow bloggers/photographers about the challenge and hopefully it can become a great monthly thing!

For those still with me, this month’s theme is: Happy. Interpret as you see fit. What makes you happy? Do you see happiness? Have fun with this theme!

Let’s see what you have for this one! And let’s see if we can get some others interested in joining us! Pass along the word!

Please make sure your blog post publishes Wednesday, September 30. Then come back here and link up.

If you think you are going to take part in this, drop a comment below so we can see who all might be trying to tackle this challenge!

History of the challenge (past month’s themes – links to see everybody else’s posts are at the end of the linked post):

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Photo Blogging Challenge (August 2015): Rule of thirds

It’s that time of the month, isn’t it?

I’m not sure about all of you, but this theme really gave me fits. I am not sure why as it was one I was looking forward to doing.

It might be because I tend to break most photography “rules.” It could also be because I was traveling a bit this month and when I was taking photos, I didn’t think “rule of thirds!”

Either way, I ended up with five that I like.

I know I am really interested in seeing what everybody else came up with for this theme!

On another note, the fall is coming up and I’m hoping we can get the participation up in the group again. It was going well for a while, then it kind of slowed. Is it the themes? Something else? If you all have any ideas for themes, please shoot me an e-mail and I can add the themes to ones I am considering for the future!

Anyway, back to the rule of thirds. My five are below!

1. King of the jungle

This is an interpretation of the rule, as I am using the lion’s head as the part that counts. Yes, his body is across most of the image, but you get the idea. This was from the Pittsburgh Zoo.

Good to be king.

Good to be king.

2. Here fishy fishy … 

During the trip to Seattle, I had the chance to visit Pike Market. And, the famous fish tossing was one of those things I got to see. This is the one guy making a catch as it came from the right. 

Catch!

Catch!

3. Baseball

This summer has been a season of baseball for me. I’ve been to more than 25 games in 22 (professional) different stadiums. It’s been a hell of a lot of fun. So I kind of set this photo up as part of it. I might make this my computer wallpaper! 

Play ball!

Play ball!

4. Gone fishing

A lot of our streams and rivers in our area have public access areas to fish. 

Fish on!

Fish on!

5. Road of caution

Also in my area are many roads like this — seasonal access. The issue is that many of them may not get worked on in the winter, but they also aren’t really worked on in the other months. This road wouldn’t be fun to travel on in most vehicles!

Travel with caution!

Travel with caution!

Bonus! 

OK, this isn’t the rule of thirds … but far be it from me to not include a shot of Cameron for my monthly post! This was at a family dinner celebrating my one brother hitting the big 5-0. Cam is growing up fast!

Time to color!

Time to color!

That’s my five and now it’s your turn!

If you took part in this month’s challenge, make sure to link up below. And for those of you who participated, make sure you try and get to other people’s blogs and comment (here, too!). Let’s continue to grow this challenge and have a strong community. Come back and check out the others who link later on, too!

Also, don’t forget to get back here tomorrow, September 1, to see the theme for September!

NOTE: I set up a Facebook group for those who participate in the challenge and are interested. I’ll post any announcements there and hopefully it can be a place where things are discussed and some interaction etc. You can access it here.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Photo Blogging Challenge: August 2015’s theme is …

august 2015

OK, can somebody tell me where this summer has gone? Is it really August? Already? 

Holy cow. 

That means a new month and a new theme! 

I haven’t had the chance to comment on everybody’s posts from July, but I took a quick look at everything and love what people came up with for Patriotic. Looks like the past few months we’ve gone down in participation, though, so hopefully that’s just because of how busy the summer has been and maybe it will pick back up. 

Still, we move along!

And with August here, it’s time to come up with something different as it is every month. 

The theme is below. But before we get to that … let me remind you of some important items:

  • I set up a Facebook group for those who are interested. Reminders and maybe some discussions or other things can be done there.
  • If you haven’t already, attempt to check out everybody’s posts and consider commenting. These challenges are great for personal growth, but it’s also nice to be interactive with all the others in the challenge! That’s one of the best parts of this challenge — interacting and seeing other people’s work! And remember — I am in the challenge, too. Though I have the linkup, it’s nice to see what people think of those shots, too. I try and re-visit people’s posts a few weeks later, though, and it’s disheartning to see that they’ve only received a few comments. I know it can be hard sometimes, but do your best to actually visit and comment instead of just linking up.

Before we hit up this month’s theme, for new people, allow me to refresh the rules a bit.

Here’s how it will work.

  • On the first of each month (or close to it), I’ll have a blog post here with the theme for the month.
  • Over the course of the month, participants will take photos with their interpretation of the theme. On the last day of the month (or close to it), participants should  publish their blog post, which will include five photos from the month. (please don’t recycle photos from the past … the idea is to hopefully challenge you to go out and take new photos each month to interpret the theme). And please only use photos you took.
  • I’ll have a link-up thing at the end of my post so people can come and post the links to their posts so, hopefully, everybody can go go check out and comment on other posts.

There is no rule on equipment or anything. Use a cell phone. Use film. Use a point-and-shoot. Use a DSLR. It doesn’t matter. Just make sure you publish your blog post on the last day of each month, come here and link up.

It’s simple!

Your blog posts can be as simple or as in-depth as you want. I’ll likely talk a little about each photo. But if all you want to do is post photos, feel free. The idea of this is to give a small challenge and give everybody a chance to express themselves with photography, participate in a challenge and have something to blog about.

That’s it. Easy, right? So join in! Help us continue to grow this challenge by telling fellow bloggers/photographers about the challenge and hopefully it can become a great monthly thing!

For those still with me, this month’s theme is: Rule of Thirds. I’ve wanted to use this theme for a while. We are going to hit on a photo “rule” for this one. If you need a quick refresher, check out this site. Hopefully this will be a fun month for this one.

Let’s see what you have for this one! And let’s see if we can get some others interested in joining us! Pass along the word!

Please make sure your blog post publishes Monday, August 31. Then come back here and link up.

If you think you are going to take part in this, drop a comment below so we can see who all might be trying to tackle this challenge!

History of the challenge (past month’s themes – links to see everybody else’s posts are at the end of the linked post):

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!