Maybe I'll Keep It

Last night my family and I took a walk at Hahamongna as dusk began to infiltrate the park. I decided not to bring a camera but of course I didn't leave my phone behind and Hello, my name is Petrea and I am a photography addict.

I'll soon be trading in my primeval iPhone for a new model. But I kind of like these photos of the women runners from (I assume) Occidental College, with NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in the background.

As thy sky darkened, the poor old phone camera kept its (digital) shutter open longer. That made the runners more blurry and JPL more glowy.

Theme Day: Photo of the Year 2010

City Daily Photo bloggers share a theme day the first of every month, and the first of the year we like to bring out our proudest moments. This is my favorite shot of last year, posted September 22nd: the Occidental College men's cross country runners at Hahamongna Watershed Park. They remind me of Pheidippides, or maybe just Greek gods. I love the sunset catching the dust at their heels.

Today also marks three years of daily blogging for me. There was a time this year when I thought I might not continue. After all, a daily blog is a big commitment. But the rewards are so many that I think I can keep going for a while longer. Thank you all so much for visiting. I appreciate each and every comment, each and every follower, each and every day.

Happy New Year!

City Daily Photo is now 1326 blogs worldwide, with new blogs joining every month. Today you'll see the best of last year, so I highly recommend you click here and visit some!

The Rose Parade streams live here:
http://www.ktla.com/entertainment/roseparade/livevideo/

The Occidental Runners

This picture is my favorite of all the photos I've taken. I took it last year at about this time at Hahamongna Watershed Park when the Occidental cross country team was using the trails for practice. I remember the moment: I saw how perfect the light was, heard the young men coming, aimed my camera and snapped when they galloped around the bend, kicking up the dust.

I wasn't going to post this shot. I was going to enter it in contests or sell it to a magazine. (Still might do that, who knows? Still might crop it some more. Might not.) I did enter it in one contest. It didn't place.

Then I got busy and a year went by (whoosh!) and yesterday the Occidental runners were at Hahamongna again. They were young and serious. They ran hard. But they weren't the same. The light was different. I was different, too.

I could come to conclusions about this
(a photo is an unrepeatable moment)
(art is meant to be shared, not hoarded)
(I'm not objective)

but I'd rather hear your ideas. Have you got something you're keeping, waiting for the right moment to show it? A secret? A surprise? A recipe? A work of art?

Update: checked out the info on the photo. I shot it in September of 2008. I've been holding onto it for two years, not one. Jeez.