… and I was one of the survivors! (I have a t-shirt to prove it). Yes, I made a photo for every one of the 52 weeks of the #dogwood52 photo challenge. It’s been one of the longest projects, work or otherwise, that I’ve ever done… talk about commitment. But it’s also been fun, and I connected with a lot of people on Facebook. Here are the last 12 weeks.

Week 41 Landscape: Get High

Week 41 Landscape: Get High

Gettin’ high in High Park

This is a zoom burst photo, done by zooming in while the shutter is open. One thing about this 52 week project… you get time to try a lot of different techniques.

Week 42 Artistic: Minimalist

Week 42 Artistic: Minimalist

I’d been thinking of getting a sailboat photo all year, ever since the Len Van Bruggen course I took in the Spring. This is a composite image, where the boat is out of focus – to show mystery more than motion.

Week 43 Portrait: The Elderly

Week 43 Portrait: The Elderly

Photo walk on Spadina.

Week 44 Landscape: A Tree

Week 44 Landscape: A Tree

… through a windshield

Week 45 Artistic: Nostalgic

Week 45 Artistic: Nostalgic

Hutches Diner at Hamilton Beach

Week 46 Portrait: Backlit

Week 46 Portrait: Backlit – Donna

At Blue Mountain

Week 47 Landscape: Abandoned

Week 47 Landscape: Abandoned

The “Wayside Lunch”, in the industrial north-east end of Hamilton, Ontario, was still open about 2 years ago, when I first visited. The place had a very nostalgic 50’s/60’s diner feel.

The owner told me that they’ve made some movies and TV series in her diner. For these films, the name was changed to “Wayside Diner”. The TV series is called “Hemlock Grove”, about vampires and the movie is called “Regression”, apparently about a satanic cult. Hmmm, doesn’t my hometown sound like fun?

Week 48 Artistic: Bokeh

Week 48 Artistic: Bokeh

Mysterious bird feeder at John and Trish’s cottage near Bala. Bokeh (pronounced “bouquet”) is when the foreground and/or background is out of focus.

Week 49 Portrait: Dancing

Week 49 Portrait: Dancing  –  Sydney in a mystical dance dream world.

I made the photo of Sydney at home in her exercise room using rear-curtain flash to try to show some movement. Rear-curtain flash seems to be a hit and miss thing with me – was very difficult to get the effect I wanted. The room, of course, had all kinds of junk that I had to remove and then add the mystical layers. I think I was was definitely influenced by the art show I recently saw at the AGO – Mystical Landscapes: Masterpieces from Monet, Van Gogh & More.

Week 50 Landscape Symmetrical

Week 50 Landscape Symmetrical – The Marilyn Monroe Towers

Several times a week, on my way to the fitness centre, I get a spectacular view of these towers. Trying to get outside the box again, I thought of Andy Warhol ‘s artistic representation.

They’ve got her sky-high curves and international admirers. This pair of voluptuous Mississauga, Ontario condo towers is in league with Hollywood’s most famous blonde — as well as the world’s best new skyscrapers.

Week 51 Artistic : Art… So Meta

Week 51 Artistic: Meta Art

There was a lot of confusion and many questions about this challenge on the Facebook Chatter page. There didn’t seem to be a clear explanation about “meta art photography” in Google either, so I just decided to go with a photo of art.

I went to the art gallery and found some great photos on the wall. But, I’m mainly a street photographer, so I always try to get people in my shots. I happened to find a couple of guys looking at a pair of very erotic looking photos on the wall. In my mind, this is meta art.

The photos on the wall are self portraits by Talia Chetrit, an American photographer who was a runner-up in the AIMIA | AGO Photography Prize, 2016, sponsored by The Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.

Week 52 Portrait: Another Selfie

Week 52 Portrait: Another Selfie

As opposed to week 1, I wanted to get more serious about this one. So I setup a DIY home studio, with a black cloth background. Week 1 was a high-key selfie; I wanted week 52 to be a low-key shot. Lighting was a problem, as I don’t really have good studio lights, just 1 flash, the window and a desk lamp, but I didn’t break the camera, so this will do.

Everybody at #dogwood52 is excited about finishing this project and it looks like there’ll be a version 2.0 for 2017, which is being promised to be more advanced. This is fabulous free education on Facebook! So next year, I’ll probably be annoying you with more blogging. 😀

Thank-you Dale Foshe

See also 1st 10 weeks, next 10, next 10, next 10.

[Click on any photo for slideshow]