2012 in pictures

I started my photo blog in mid-January 2012 because I wanted to give the 365-day project (366 as 2012 was a leap year) a try. It is now the beginning of 2013 and I am 14 days away from completing it. Go me! Of course, not all of the photos have been super interesting. I admit there were days when I just couldn’t find anything fun to photograph, so I just took a pictures of something random that was around me. Yet, I enjoyed the process of keeping an eye out on peculiar things to photograph, noticing minor details that I would not have seen if I weren’t paying attention, and recording the tidbits of my life as it flashes in front of my eyes. Now, I like to go back on any given day of the year and see what I saw that day, reading the comments that accompany the imagery.

I will now share with you one photo from each month that has never been posted on this blog (some travel photos have been used for both blogs), along with the description that I wrote for that day and my comments now that the entire year is almost over.

January 27, 2012 – Rainbow in Cherbourg: “Cherbourg is really a lovely little place, and I stepped out at the perfect time to catch this rainbow at the port. Not only do you see its reflection in the water, if you look carefully, there is a faint secondary rainbow above it, to its right. I’ve never seen such a big, majestic rainbow before. What a sight!”

Comments: Come to think of it, Cherbourg is probably the only placed I “travelled” to that I didn’t write about. And I don’t want to write about it, even though I’ve been there TWICE. The circumstances under which I went to that place are too much burden on my heart and mind.

February 23, 2012 – Ladybug: “I passed by the same place I was at 3 months ago, and decided to see if that ladybug was still on that same branch. It was. Okay, maybe not the same ladybug and the same branch, but it was certainly the exact same location. Sometimes I wonder if this ladybug ever moves…hmm. No DSLR this time, and the macro on my Canon didn’t capture the tiny thing so well, but the manual focus came in handy at the perfect time – it worked like magic!”

Comments: I love macro photography, and even now that I have Mr.Nikon back, its macro function still doesn’t beat the one on my Canon PowerShot SX130 point-and-shoot. Oh, and Louvain-la-Neuve is an awesome place to photograph nature 😉

March 21, 2012 – Show: “So yes, the “Midi-Minuit de la Jongle’Rue” art festival is taking place in Louvain-la-Neuve today. When I got off work, there was a show happening at the Grand Place. The show seemed to really appeal to little kids, as they seemed quite amused by the performers. Lots of people were out and about, enjoying the outdoor show in the gorgeous sun.”

Comments: I love this picture for so many reasons – the goofy look on the performer’s face, the kids in the background, the photographer in the front, and most of all, the fact that this shot wasn’t planned…it just worked out. Even though Louvain-la-Neuve is such a small place, there is always something happening, somewhere.

April 03, 2012 – Rays: “Rays of sunlight crept through the clouds near Palais de Justice as I was walking home. First day back in Bordeaux, and it was a cloudy and slightly chilly day. It seems like everywhere I go, I bring the typical Belgian weather along with me.”

Comments: I remember it rained for two or three weeks non-stop in Bordeaux in April 2012, just when I returned from Belgium. I had begun to think that I brought back the Belgian weather with me. Certainly a bit depressing for springtime 😦

May 16, 2012 – Web: “Saw this spider web hanging from a tree on the way to the bus stop and quickly snapped a photo. It’s half covered by the shadow of the tree, but it’s there!”

Comments: Florence’s comment to this photo was something like, “Eww, what if you didn’t see it and walked into it?” I actually hadn’t considered that possibility; the spider web was just so huge that I assumed it was impossible NOT to see it. Oh, the wonders of nature!

June 20, 2012 – Warning: “A few things have changed at the lab in Louvain-la-Neuve since I was first here two and a half months ago. There is a new coffee machine in the kitchen, and these two new signs above the sink. I bet they’re very effective!”

Comments: Ha! Now here’s a nice welcome back sign when I returned to my lab in Belgium for the summer. People in my labs are quite creative and amusing, I gotta say. It’s little things like this (and this, as an added bonus) that make days at work more delightful and interesting.

July 20 – Morning dew: “Drops of rain rest on a leaf on a fresh Friday morning, like lost pearls that fell from the sky.”

Comments: Okay I admit I got the title from Morning Dew by Bad Lip Reading. But…this is beautiful, isn’t it? Rain does bring with it lovely surprises 😉

August 08, 2012 – Spider web: “Fresh, crystal-clear drops of rain on a spiralling spider web. I didn’t notice the spider in the picture until after it was taken ;)”

Comments: Yet another spider web in my daily encounters, this one after the rain – what else do you expect in Belgium? I was only trying to photograph the raindrops on the seemingly spiralling web formation, and I’m glad I noticed the spider after the picture was taken. If I saw it beforehand, I would have probably jumped and left right away 😛

September 22, 2012 – Flaming sky: “I looked out the window during my layover in Montreal on the way back to Europe from Toronto. It was around sunset, and it was raining lightly, but the rain wasn’t able to cover the flaming colour of the sky that was burning in a distance. It was almost as if the aircraft had been set on fire…”

Comments: This was my first layover where I didn’t have to get out of the plane. Speaking of setting on fire…it’s more like set fire to the rain?

October 27, 2012 – Transporting samples: “I have to transport about 160 samples from Louvain-la-Neuve to Bordeaux, and the moon cake box, which I didn’t throw away, is the perfect size for the job! The sample containers fit so well in the box and I was able to arrange all of my samples neatly without making a big mess. Au revoir, Belgium, see you next year!”

Comments: On Facebook, I actually posted a detailed procedure explaining how to transport the samples. Seems like it’s patentable…thank goodness for moon cake boxes!

(1) Get samples.
(2) Arrange samples neatly in metal moon cake box, leaving room for toxic tube which has been sealed and wrapped tightly.
(3) Parafilm the heck out of the box.
(4) Wrap box with 2+ layers of aluminum foil.
(5) Go.
(6) As soon as arriving in Bordeaux, dash to lab and put samples in glove box.

Well, that worked out nicely…

November 09, 2012 – Victoire: “Bordeaux has the most awesome cloud formations. Almost every day I see something quite unique. On my way to the Chinese grocery store, I passed by Place de la Victoire, pictured above. Large, smoky clouds loomed above the city as if foreshadowing an impending doom.”

Comments: Perhaps the feeling of impending doom was foreshadowing the end of the world…which never happened.

December 23, 2012 – Girl and cat: “Not sure when I started to like cats, but there’s something about that look in their eyes that makes them so badass. “Mess with me if you dare,” they seem to say. Today I spent a good ten minutes admiring this beautiful cat, and a girl approached to pat it. Seeing that the cat remained indifferent, the girl’s mother said, “Il doit être habitué” (“He must be used to it.”)”

Comments: Cats are just so charming.

So, with two weeks left until the 366th day, I have to decide whether I want to continue posting a picture a day, or just let it end for the moment. It certainly has been a lot of fun, but very challenging at times as well. Then again, since I didn’t explicitly state that the blog was made for the 366-day project, I had the intention of making it a continuous project even from the very beginning. So we’ll see… 😉