The Toy Camera Project was a subset of a 100 – Day Project inspired by fellow Skill Share instructor, Rich Armstrong. I embarked on a 100-day journey to get out with my camera and shoot every day. The purpose was to become motivated again as a photographer. Whether inside the house or on a neighborhood walk, I committed to myself that I would shoot photos every day.

As the 100 – Day project progressed, rather than taking my DSLR to local parks or a nearby wildlife preserve, I began taking a small point-and-shoot camera with me on afternoon walks through the neighborhood. Somehow taking the DSLR felt too complicated, and I love my Nikon D7500! Even pulling out my smartphone as a camera was a bother since I needed to go the extra step to input a password everytime I wanted to take a photo. The simplicity of shooting with a point-and-shoot felt refreshing.

The photos that follow were shot over a period of eight weeks. There were more but I felt that these are the best of the collection. Each was shot using a “toy camera” setting on the point-and-shoot, hence the name of the project. I made it a point to look at everyday things with a sense of wonder. This took effort. Lots of it. This was akin to attaching jumper cables to my creative self. No matter how silly, I shot the image. Sometimes the result wasn’t worth copying from the SD card to the computer, but others were good. It is my hope that something I share will benefit the reader.

Without further ado, I present “The Toy Camera Project.”

I had often thought that the pattern of the tiles on my bathroom wall resembled a frog. This was the first photo of the Toy Camera Project. The Toy Camera Project - image 1 - student project This image looked both silly and creepy when I first pulled it out of camera. The grout lines make it look like the frog has a silly facial expression and the texture of the tile provided a curved 3D look which I enhanced by adding a heavy vignette. Looking at it again….maybe this is Jabba the Hutt?

The Toy Camera Project - image 2 - student project

Crosshairs is about finding something to look forward to. Things were
opening up where I live and something that resembled “normal” was
returning. I shot this image as a result of looking straight down on a can of
hairspray. The can was sitting on the grout lines of the sink countertop.
I moved the can to center it on the intersection of two grout lines. Three
concentric circles reminded me a gunsite. In order to hit a target one must be
focused and line up the crosshairs. Crosshairs is also about reflection of what is really of value.

The Toy Camera Project - image 3 - student project

On a cold dreary and windy day I did not feel motivated to go out to shoot. The wall light caught my attention. One light dispels darkness. Light and dark cannot co-exist. I processed this image purposely with lots of grain to so that it looks gritty. Sometimes finding energy and purpose is a monumental task and one light, one moment, or one person can spark the light that helps you take one more step. One Single Light is about hope. Knowing the sun will come out after a storm is motivation to keep moving forward.

The Toy Camera Project - image 4 - student project

The inspiration for Spiral came from a shipping tube and a
small rubber ball. As I looked into the tube, I noticed that the
spiral seam gently curved down toward the bottom. Just for fun,
I placed a rubber ball at the bottom of the tube. The ball has a
pair of big eyes which made me laugh to look in the tube and
see those silly eyes staring back. The story of this image is the
tube starts out light, spirals to dark then light and laughter return.
It’s good to find something silly or funny each day.
The photo was taken with flash then processed with intentional
grain to tell a story of progress. The image tells a story of
starting out feeling good, then life happens and when it all looks
grim something silly or funny happens that bounces you back
up to rise above the challenges.

The Toy Camera Project - image 5 - student project

Street Sheep or Imperial Walker was inspired by an oil spot. During a walk one afternoon I happened to look down at the street where I noticed a large oil stain from a car that had sat there. The pattern of oil along with the cracks in the asphalt created the image of a sheep. Or the Imperial Walker. Either way, this made me smile. Processing involved darkening the oil stain and placing a moderate vignette to center frame the subject. I also used the clone tool to remove gravel.

The Toy Camera Project - image 6 - student project

Not far from the oil stain in the image above there was another oil stain and a construction paint marker. I saw the yellow paint marker as a rocket and the oil stain the exhaust, hence, Jet Propulsion. Minimal processing: brought up the highlights and luminosity of yellow to enhance the paint marker, then added a frame using heavy vignette.

The Toy Camera Project - image 7 - student project

Continuing the Sci-Fi theme, More Than Meets the Eye could easily be a landscape from a distant planet. In reality, it is a block wall with very rough mortar lines that have oozed and dripped as the wall was built. With the late afternoon sun casting strong shadows I shot the image zoomed in and pointed low. In processing I rotated the image 90 degrees and boosted yellows and orange.

The Toy Camera Project - image 8 - student project
This final image was shot on the last day of my 100 -Day project. Both the overall project and the “Toy Camera Project” drew to a close. I call this one Ladder to Hope because the shadows cast across this palm frond look like a ladder that ascends toward the sky. Even though there are tangled branches at the top, signifying that we all face struggles and challenges, the gaps that let in light and the blue sky visible through the tangled branches gives encouragement to keep moving forward.

If you have comments or questions, please post
them in the discussion or message me.

All the best in your photography journey.

Sheila Foraker

Learn Skills - Make Better Photos

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