Number Three-Hundred-And-Sixty-Six: The End

Well, this is the end! The final piece in my year-long project: Art On My iPhone. It's been so much fun doing this every day. I admit there were some days where I was a bit hard-pressed to come up with something that I felt was good enough for an entry but those days were surprisingly few. I am so thankful that I have this collection of images to look back on. So many wonderful moments from the last year have been preserved in such a meaningful way.

I'm very happy that I didn't miss a day. If I had it wouldn't have been the end of the world but it meant a lot to me to prove I had the dedication and discipline to see this through. Maybe I'm crazy but I'm already mulling over another project I can do in the future!

Anyhow; today's entry is something I've been planning since pretty much the first day of the project. I thought it would be fitting to make an image using all of the images from the project in a mosaic. What I did was look through all of the entries and pick the one with the most diverse range of colour (which I deemed to be Day 153,) then used Photo Mosaica to use every image over the last 365 days to create this photo mosaic. Please make sure to click on this one to see it at full size or you really won't get the full effect.

I'll be making another post in the next day or so about the future of Art On My iPhone. It's going to be continuing in a slightly different incarnation so check back!

Number Three-Hundred-And-Sixty-Five: About To Take Flight

Here it is. The 365th entry! I wasn't sure I'd be able to take a photo today that I thought was worthy of my project anniversary entry (I know I'll be doing a 366th entry tomorrow but I already have that one more or less ready to go and today's was still up in the air.) Then as I was walking home from dropping Essie off at daycare I looked up and saw a mourning dove (my favourite kind of bird) perched on some telephone wires. I stopped and took one shot and before I could get another similar one the dove flew away.

I hoped the picture would be good enough and after playing around with it I got what I consider the perfect 365th piece for Art On My iPhone. My favourite bird and one of my favourite themes for a picture or painting; black wires against the blue sky. A blue sky full of endless possibilities!

I took the photo with Camera+, cropped it and used the Sunset filter from the Scenes menu. Then I imported it into Adobe Photoshop Express where I used the Reduce Noise function on it a couple of times to give it a painted look.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Sixty-Four: Hot Tomato

Taking this picture in my mom's garden today took me right back to last year at this time right after I'd gotten my iPhone and was experimenting with the camera on it quite a lot. The weather, the late fruit growing back there like crazy, playing with my nutty kid in the backyard; all of it. It's been quite a year and tomorrow is day 365 of this project! I will be doing a bonus Day 366 entry, though, since this was a leap year.

I love how red-hot fiery this tomato looks, as if it's filled up with lava and is ready to burst.

I took the photo with Camera+, cropped it and used the Clarity filter from the Scenes menu.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Sixty-Three: Illegal To Own Brightly Coloured Balloons

I blew up these balloons for Essie yesterday and this morning I was admiring how nice their colours looked in the morning sun. I held them like a bouquet and snapped a few shots of them. Unfortunately they came out kind of grainy and no amount of messing around with various post-processing apps satisfied me until I saw how they looked in the Ansel preview when I had Camera+ open. I loved it. They were originally metallic pink, purple and yellow but I think this monochrome look is fantastic.

I took the photo with Camera+, cropped it and used the Ansel filter from Effects.

P.S. The title is yet another reference to I Don't Want To Go To Toronto; a fabulous song by Radio Free Vestibule.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Sixty-Two: Welcome Autumn

My mom got another pot of autumnal-looking flowers for the front yard and I didn't notice them until after a rainstorm the other day. I love raindrops on flower petals (in case you hadn't noticed) and couldn't resist this shot.

I took the picture with Camera+ and cropped it a bit, then used the Shade filter from the Effects menu.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Sixty-One: Look At The Birdie!

I love taking pictures with my iPhone. AOMi has proven that fairly undeniably, I think. My one great sadness is that taking real detailed bird photos is pretty impossible. I've tried. Maybe there is a bird whisperer out there taking gorgeous bird photos with their iPhone but I don't want to know about them. I dislike them. Oh, for an iPhone with zoom! I have been considering taking up bird watching and would love to be able to get beautiful bird shots. Maybe someday when I have a real camera!

Anyhow, I made do today with this plastic raven/crow that I picked up at the dollar store. It's not the same, though. sigh

I took the shot with Camera+ and imported it into Snapseed where I cropped it and used a Black And White filter on it.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Sixty: Arrangement Of Ball And Flower By Three Year Old

Essie, like any other three-year-old, always seems to have a few special little items of the moment. Unlike Kitty, her constant companion, these are things that are in vogue for a few days and then just as suddenly set aside. For a few days last week it was this Temari inspired ball* I'd made for her a couple of years ago and a bright orange fabric flower from a string of flowers her grandma had bought for her. She set them on a chair on the front step for safekeeping and I liked their bright colours in the sunshine.

I took the picture with Camera+, then imported it into Snapseed where I straightened it and cropped it.

*The orange string on the ball is actually a loop so that she can fling the ball around by it if she wants to.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Fifty-Nine: It's What's Inside That Counts

The apples on the tree in the backyard were bigger and nicer looking this year. Essie was so, so tempted to eat them but if you cut them open they're brown on the inside. Sad, because they look so good. It's been raining a lot over the last few days and yesterday I got this shot of one sitting in the grass all spangled with raindrops. I love how there's a little pool of water in its stem dimple.

I took the shot with Camera+ then imported it into Snapseed where I cropped it then used the Drama filter on it.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Fifty-Eight: Dragonfly Away

I took this photo yesterday while watching Essie play in the front yard. I turned my head and saw this dragonfly perched on the edge of one of the chairs. I very slowly turned on my phone, unlocked it, opened the camera app and approached, all the while hoping and praying that it wouldn't fly away. I got one shot, then he just disappeared. Gone. So this was the one picture I got of him and thankfully it turned out OK.

I took the picture with Camera+, cropped it, used the Clarity filter from the Scenes menu and the Shade filter from Effects.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Fifty-Seven: Mushroom Mushroom!

Essie and I were outside a lot today and during one of our excursions I noticed what I thought was a plastic lid or cup of some kind growing by the neighbour's fence in our driveway. I went to see what it was and discovered that it wasn't garbage; it was something much more unappealing. A mushroom!

I took the picture with Camera+, cropped it and used the Shade filter from the Effects menu.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Fifty-Six: Fruitless

Today I heard an ungodly noise outside so ran and looked out the window to see that the city workers had come to cut down my neighbour's tree! Seconds later she Facebooked me to ask if I was aware that it was coming down and there was much excitement.

I've posted about this tree before. I called it The Poop Tree and often made fun of it for its pooplike growths. Well, imagine my surprise when Kristen informed me that one of the workers told her it was a cherry tree and the poops were actually an affliction called Black Knot! Poor Poop Tree. I feel so badly for having mocked it when all along it just wanted to be a sweet cherry tree.

I walked over and took a few shots with Camera+ of the stump that was left when the workers cleared out. I like the shape that is left and though I was pleased with the pictures they weren't quite good enough, so I ran one of them through Corel's Paint It! Now on the Oil setting and absolutely loved the result.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Fifty-Five: Presentation Is Everything

As I mentioned on Day 353 one of Essie's favourite foods is mango. That shot showed what it looks like in the bowl after I've cut it all up. I used to just hack away at the skin then carve pieces off of it like a savage, resulting in slimy hands and a bowl full of kind of mushy chunks. So I looked up the proper way and now I cut up mango like a boss.

I took the picture with Camera+, cropped it, used the Shade filter from the Scenes menu and the Faded filter (at 50%) from Effects. I took the picture in the kitchen under a regular lightbulb so these managed to more or less correct the colour and lighting.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Fifty-Four: Idyllic

I took Essie into the backyard to pick raspberries this evening and she got distracted by the bean plants in her grandma's garden. I chilled out in a lawn chair and just admired her and the evening sun behind her. I love this shot. It just embodies everything about how wonderful my mom's backyard is for Essie to play in every day and how this past year of AOMi has turned into a fantastic trove of picture memories for me to hold on to.

I took the shot with Camera+, cropped it and used the Flash filter from the Scenes menu.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Fifty-Three: Yellow Light

Essie will eat an entire mango in one sitting and it's usually a good go-to breakfast for her that I know she'll eat. She loves her mango. I don't like them but I know a lot of people treat them like the fruit of the gods and Essie certainly does. I liked the way the sun was shining into the bowl this morning before she started in on it.

I took the shot with Camera+ and cropped it to a square.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Fifty-Two: Not A Grasshopper To Be Seen

Here is something I posted to Facebook yesterday: "Essie found a half-eaten apple from the tree in the backyard and showed it to me. I told her that maybe a bunny ate it and she got upset and very strident about the fact that rabbits only eat carrots, MOMMY. So I suggested a squirrel might have chewed it but DUH, squirrels eat acorns. So I gave up and said maybe a horse came and ate it and now she is all pleased that there was a horse in the backyard."

After that conversation Essie chucked the apple to the side of the driveway and forgot all about it and today I noticed it sitting there with all these ants going to town on it. Happy, happy ants. I also like how the apple has a bit of a heart shape.

I took the picture with Camera+, cropped it and used the Flash filter on it.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Fifty-One: Clear Crystal White

Essie really loves flowers and plants and trees and foliage in general, and the other day she pointed out these teensy little four-petaled flowers in my mom's front garden to me. I hadn't noticed them before but she asked me to take some pictures. I managed to include the little plant identification card in this one and liked the look of it all.

I took the picture with Camera+ and cropped it, then used the Shade filter from Effects.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Fifty: Old Lace

I walked past the rosebush at the side of the house today not really expecting to take any pictures of the roses but this one caught my eye. It really reminded me of antique lace, still with all its petals intact but browned and frayed around the edges. It was a little poignant and I couldn't help but capture it.

I took the photo with Camera+ and cropped it a bit.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Forty-Nine: Wood, Wind and Water

Here are three scenes from our trip to Battersea Beach over the weekend. I admired the scenery there and took quite a few shots. These three were my favourites but I wasn't quite sure that any of them were strong enough to warrant an entry alone. Together, though, I think they give a good sense of just how lovely it was there. I especially liked the rings and lines of colour in the birch bark although it looks like someone did take it off in sheets for their own personal use.

I took the pictures with Camera+ and cropped each of them. Then I combined them in a triptych using Diptic.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Forty-Eight: Artistic Genius

This is the most special Art On My iPhone entry yet! It's the first actual realistic representational drawing Essie has ever done (that I'm aware of!) She's accidentally made some shapes like a banana or bird that form out of random scribbles but this time I had parked her at the kitchen table with a pen and paper while I made her a snack. A minute later she said, "Look what I drew," so I came over and she had drawn a head with two eyes and a mouth! I was flabbergasted. She quickly added hair and a nose and a mustache (even though it was supposed to be a drawing of me [reminder to self: check upper lip in mirror later]) and a necklace as well.

I love this drawing. It's very special and we'll keep it forever.

I took the photo with Camera+. I cropped it and used the faded filter on it since it was pretty grainy and dark in the dim kitchen light.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Forty-Seven: Meeting Boodle

One more beach picture of Essie and Rowan messing around in the water. I liked this one for the bright orange and blues. Essie's playing with an old ripped-up discarded pool noodle that was left on the sand and she got so attached to it that we brought it home. I told her what it was called but she refers to it as her 'boodle', which is adorable enough that I have no intention of correcting her.

I took the shot with Camera+ and used the Clarity filter from the Scenes menu.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Forty-Six: Feeling Beachy

Essie was supposed to go to a birthday party today and I'd been pretty excited about her going. Today came, though, and she was… well… not in a state which made going to a party a good idea. We've both been fighting off a virus and today she was cranky, tantrum-y and whiny with a runny nose. Her appetite was OK, and she wanted to play but I did not want her to have a meltdown over not getting any presents in front of 40 strangers. So instead we made a late afternoon trip to Battersea beach with her cousins to do something interesting and fun.

Essie enjoyed the heck out of that even if she was runny-nosed and had a huge tantrum when it was time to leave. I loved this shot of her and her cousins (who didn't bring bathing suits but couldn't resist the water.)

I took the shot with Camera+ and used the Clarity filter from the Scenes menu.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Forty-Five: Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

I took this picture yesterday on the 401 during our trip back home from Toronto. I try to stay alert for picture opportunities during these drives and it's very seldom that I don't come home with something I want to use here or on Facebook. This giant roll of whatever-it-is caught our eyes with all the massive chains holding it in place.

I took the picture with Camera+, cropped it and used the Clarity filter from the Scenes menu and the Magic Hour filter from Effects. After that I wanted to straighten it so imported it into Snapseed where I did that.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Forty-Four: Evil Eye

We rented a Dodge Dart this weekend since we had to make a trip up to Toronto today to get Essie's new orthotics for her flat little feet. The foot doctor had to check her feet and how they sat and all that so they couldn't just mail them. ANYHOW, we spent a lot of time in that car today and while we were stopped for gas I took this shot of one of the overhead lights at the top of the windshield. I liked how it looked like an alien eye after I rotated it.

I took the shot with Camera+, rotated it, cropped it, used the Clarity filter from the Scenes menu and the XPRO C-41 filter from Effects.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Forty-Three: Rose Hips

I didn't really notice the rose hips last year but this year they're kind of weirding me out. I'd heard the term 'rose hip' and just kind of figured it was an herb that was named after roses… or something. I didn't know that roses make fruit! It's a good weird. I like learning stuff like this. My favourite thing about them, though, is how spidery and strange they look after the roses are gone.

I took the picture with Camera+, cropped it and used the Backlit filter from the Scenes menu.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Forty-Two: Story Time

I took this picture a few days ago under the oak tree in the front yard. Essie is very good at playing alone, always making up songs and stories and dances and games and keeping herself pretty well amused. This day, though, she asked me to come sit under the tree with her so I could hear a story. I brought a chair over and she perched on this large stone, an apple from the backyard in her hand. She asked me if I was ready and then began: "Once upon a time there was a shark…"

It was the best story I've ever heard.

I took the picture with Camera+, cropped it, used the Shade filter from the Scenes menu and the Nostalgia filter from Effects.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Forty-One: Humble Beginnings

Today's image is kind of weird, from start to finish. It started out as a picture of some paper towel on which my mother was drying out coffee grounds for her garden. I liked how the coffee soaked out in concentric rings on the towel, but the grounds piled in the middle just kept looking like dirt or… well, coffee grounds.

I took the picture with Camera+ but then imported it into Adobe Photoshop Express where first I cropped it, then then inverted the colour and then applied the Rainbow filter. I liked how inverting the colour made it end up looking like something on the cellular level.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Forty: Puffy The Third

The puffy thing returns! My mom's Alpine Clematis has been featured before on Day Fifty-Two and Day One-Hundred-And-Forty-Five but I think this is my favourite shot. I'm really happy with the focus and detail and colour.

I used Camera+ to take the picture. I cropped it slightly and used the Shade filter from the Scenes menu.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Thirty-Nine: Wild Child

Essie has discovered a little bower under the blackberry bushes and loves to crouch in there and play. I would have been thrilled with something like that as a kid so seeing her do this makes my heart melt. Here she is, looking like a little wild creature in the leaves.

I took the picture with Camera+, cropped it a little, used the Shade filter from the Scenes menu and the Fashion filter from Effects.

Number Three-Hundred-And-Thirty-Eight: Irresistible

Another flower! But sometimes you're just walking home from dropping your kid off at daycare and you and your niece happen by someone's yard and you notice all the black-eyed Susans and various other fiery autumnal-looking flowers and have to stop and take pictures because really; there's no other choice.

I had no other choice. Look at these colours! Look at how beautiful!

I took the shot with Camera+. I didn't crop it or use any filters because I was very happy with it as is.