A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

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Photo Blogging Challenge (January 2015): Games

(Note: There is no Snapshot Saturday this week because it falls on the final day of the month, so the day for the Photo Blogging Challenge. Snapshot Saturday will return next week!)

I had a lot of fun with this month’s theme.

Originally, my plan had been to showcase a bigger project I am working on about board games, but though I love a lot of the photos I’ve taken for that, I think five board game images for this challenge wouldn’t be what I was hoping for.

So, I’ve gone in a mixed bag direction. Some were taken with a rented lens (a 100mm macro, which was awesome), and others with my own lenses.

I have some board game items and a few other things I think work within the theme. I’m also, thankfully, sticking to my guns to do this challenge mostly with my main camera in 2015, and trying to avoid the phone unless necessary or if a theme dictates.

I also look forward to seeing what people came up with for this theme!

Without further ado, here are my five for the month.

1. Roll the dice

As part of my board game project, this was an image I knew I wanted to capture. I love how this one came out. I probably could have done this post fully on dice images I took, but I wanted to be diverse!

Roll 'em!

Roll ’em!

2. Pieces

Many board games have items like this – small blocks, Meeples, or different pieces that are usually colorful. The newer board games have some amazing pieces to them.

Colorful pieces.

Colorful pieces.

3. New toy

I got this new toy for my nephew. It’s kind of a game because it shakes and the mini pieces inside go back and forth. He seemed to enjoy the rattle part, as well as the mirror. I loved how this image came out, despite being a little soft.

Small hands.

Small hands.

4. Geocaching

This is one my favorite game/hobbies. I don’t believe it to be a sport as many people call it, rather it’s a game and one I truly enjoy. This is actually a cache I have hidden that I took some snaps of when I had a rented lens.

Finding the cache.

Finding the cache.

5. Pop ‘em out

One thing about many board games is all of the items you have to pop out. This is one I got for Christmas, Le Havre, before I started punching out everything.

Punch out time!

Punch out time!

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, February 1, to see the theme for February! Remember, in March, we celebrate our second anniversary! Is there anybody (besides me) who hasn’t missed a month?

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: January 2015’s theme is…

january 2015

Happy New Year!

It’s my hope you all have a fun and safe New Year’s Eve and here’s to great photos and fun in 2015. Make it a great year and enjoy life! And, hopefully, you will keep with this challenge and maybe we’ll attract some new participants! I had thought we were going to get a bunch for December, but it doesn’t seem to have worked out.

For those of you reading this, if you did December’s challenge, there’s still time to link up in yesterday’s post. For those who did, make sure you go back and check other people’s posts and hopefully drop them a comment or two. I’ll be looking through all of the links this weekend and look forward to seeing the images.

Anyway…

January 2015 is here and it’s time for a new theme. I’ll be interested, as always, so see how people interpret this. There are so many ways to go, so it will be fun to see. I hope you enjoy the theme.

Thank you to all who have been participating in this challenge. I truly do have a blast with it and it’s fun to do this with some like-minded photo bloggers.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention the writing challenge I am hosting through the month of January. You can see the dates and themes for the 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge by clicking here.

Anyway, back to the task at hand and before we get to the actual theme…

As a reminder of a few things, 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!

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: Games. I’ll be excited to see what people can come up with. I’m already thinking!

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 Saturday, January 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!

Photo Blogging Challenge (Dec. 2014): ‘Tis the Season

‘Tis the season!

Indeed it is! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! It’s been pretty good on this end, despite my camera faltering and me deciding to dive in and get a new camera for myself.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

And then I almost forgot today’s date and was about to post Part 2 of my year in review (which will now be on Jan. 1). Thankfully, I looked at the blog planner and was holy cow!

So this month’s theme was ‘Tis the Season. I am looking forward to seeing everybody’s links and posts. I think this theme has the chance to be really good and I had heard many new people talking about joining, so hopefully we get a bunch.

No matter what you celebrate or don’t, this theme was very open-ended. I went a little more traditional in a sense and like the images I chose. I hope you do as well.

Remember to link up and then try and comment on other people’s blogs to keep this community fun!

Without anymore blabbing, here’s my five.

1. Winter

In the Northeast, ‘Tis the Season for snow. Well, sometimes. We had a green Christmas with temps in the high 40s… but a week or so earlier, we had snow.

Brrrr!

Brrrr!

2. Mmmm…

What is this season without awesome food… such as these bacon-wrapped scallops?

Yes, they were awesome!

Yes, they were awesome!

3. A new chair

Cameron seemed OK with just sitting on the presents.

8A6A0474

Chilling.

 4. Open it!

Cam didn’t really get into the opening, but he did make an attempt a few times. Next year!

Open!

Open!

5. Tasty!

‘Tis the season for some fine spirits!

8A6A0516

Happy holidays!

That’s my five for the month. And, now it’s your turn.

If you took part this month, make sure you link up below. And for those who participated, make sure you try and get to other people’s blogs and comment and visit so we can continue to grow this challenge (even here)! Don’t forget, too, to come back and visit tomorrow, December 31 and see the theme for January!

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: December 2014’s theme is…

december2014

For those of us dealing with it, the winter is here.

And that signifies a great season — the holiday season. No matter what you celebrate, this really is a wonderful time of the year. And that also means, so many opportunities for photographs!

This theme is pretty easy, which is good. I want people to enjoy time with friends and family this month. But don’t forget about us! Tell your blogging friends about this challenge and let’s see if we can grow some. I know some of the themes are tough and the numbers dwindle, but if we keep getting people involved, we’re bound to grow!

The theme is below, as always. And I hope you all enjoy it. The part about this theme that I like is that you can make it as easy or as in-depth as you want and it can be interpreted many different ways.

Before we get to the actual theme…

As a reminder of a few things, 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!

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: ‘Tis the Season. I’ll be excited to see what people can come up with. I’m already thinking!

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 Tuesday, December 30.

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):

 

1

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

PBC (November 2014): Where the streets have no name

Who comes up with these themes?

Oh… right.

Well, I had grand thoughts for this theme myself. And in the end, I failed miserably. So much so that I had to scramble on Thanksgiving Day to finish up some photos. You see, the thoughts I had were fine… but with a packed month and me losing my mind.

Where the streets have no name. Really? What was I thinking?

Still, I actually like what I came up with. I went on a walk with my niece and we came up with some ideas together and i like the direction this all went. That being said, I’d rather not wait until the last second again!

Needless to say, another month is down and I am truly excited to see what people had to come up with for this one. December’s theme will be much easier, I assure you. And I’ve heard from several people who seem like they are ready to join up, so that’s a good thing.

I’m also going to do my best to reach out to some who have participated in the past and see if they might want to join in this month. That theme will be unveiled Monday, so make sure you come back and see. Or watch the Facebook group and I’ll try and remember to update that on time!

Anyway, enough rambling. It’s time for me to share my five images. Let’s see if I can do anything with this one a last-second rush!

1. Snowy Street 

Thought the street may have a name, when it’s snowy and such, sometimes it’s easy to miss names with the peacefulness this brings.

IMG_4011

2. Traveling along

The lines of major roads can quickly make you forget the road on which you are traveling.

IMG_4018

3. Stop. Continue.

One way. Or stop? Or both.

IMG_4058

4. Named

The street has a name… but if you aren’t paying attention, you might miss where you need to go with the snow.

IMG_4044

5. Follow the street

You may not know the street you are on, but know a curve is coming.

IMG_4036

That’s my five for the month. And, now it’s your turn.

If you took part this month, make sure you link up below. And for those who participated, make sure you try and get to other people’s blogs and comment and visit so we can continue to grow this challenge. Don’t forget, too, to come back and visit on Monday, December 1 and see the theme for December!

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!