H as in...

Heated toilet paper. Sounds indulgent, right? But that's what you get when the temperature drops and the toilet paper holder is located above a baseboard heater.

The baseboard heaters in each room are set to 50 degrees and for the most part that's low enough to keep them from coming on, but the tiles in the bathroom seem to drop the temperature enough for the heater to kick on in there. This results in thermals rising up and warming the paper.

I'd never previously imagined heated toilet paper, but I've gotta say it doesn't suck.

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G Photos

G is for Gullah (who am I Sue Grafton?).

Here, Joseph Blake performs at Boone Hall's Gullah Theater at Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, S.C. Joseph is an original Gullah descendant from Red Top near John's Island, S.C., and has been entertaining audiences for almost a decade with presentations that bring the Gullah Culture to life. Boone Hall Plantation is the only plantation in the S.C. Lowcountry to present a live presentation of this unique culture adapted by African slaves.

Boone Hall was a fun place to visit and I got a lot of great G photos there. It helped me get jump started back into photography after taking a bit of an extended hiatus.

I hope you all haven't let my photographic lassitude slow you down. Can't wait to catch up with what you've been shooting.

On to H!

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Sorry for the Absence

I must apologize to A to Z Photo followers for my extended absence from the Web.

To get straight to it, I was laid off the day after I returned from Texas and have been figuring out my future for the past month. But no worries, everything has worked out for the best and I am working on getting A to Z Photo back on the road and along with some other photo projects.

I appreciate everyone's participation so far and I encourage you to be thinking about your G Photos. I'll let you know when G Photos will be posted.

F Photo

I'm so happy to be in Texas for Fourth of July weekend. My sister, brother-in-law and the kids went to the annual Fourth of July fireworks show Saturday night and I got a lot of photos (not all of them winners, but fun to take nonetheless.

It's been good to be here spending time with my family and friends, whom I don't see as often as I'd like. I'm glad I took enough time off to be able to see everyone and not feel like I have to cram so many things into a short period of time.

My trip started off with a Flight, which included many opportunities for 'F' photos. Flying, frost, flight food, etc. Thought of Cozyflier while taking these. Not as cool as having your own plane, but I have to admit it was one of the better flights (or pair of flights) I've had in years.

And of course Fourth of July is full of 'F' photo possibilities. We went to what is billed as one of the top Fourth of July parades in the nation.

I hope you enjoy these pics. I have some more, but as my sis mentioned on her blog, I took some Family photos on Film, so I still have to get them developed.

I had fun this week. Can't wait to see what you've shot.

On to G!

E Photo

Say hello to Mr. Earthworm.

I dumped a bucket of water out in the backyard and noticed a ton of earthworms coming up out of the ground. So I ran and grabbed my camera to shoot some pics. They were kind of neat.

I'm looking forward to F photos. I'm leaving for Texas on Wednesday and I'm already thinking of Fourth of July and 100 degree Fahrenheit photos.

Hope you're having fun shooting.

E Photos Are Coming

Sorry for not having my E Photos posted this morning.

I'm going out of town later this week so I had kind of a crazy weekend trying to get things squared away at the house and get two weeks ahead on my work so I can take the time off.

I'll admit that photography hasn't been at the top of my list this past week, but I did manage to find inspiration in a most unusual place.

I'll get my photos posted some time today, I hope.

Can't wait to see what you all found for E.

Where do You Go for Inspiration for Your Photography?

A photographer friend of mine came over this afternoon and shared an e-mail with me from Digital Photography School, which offers a weekly newsletter with photography tips.

It's a pretty nice site. I found this article where a forum member asks:

"What happens when you run out of ideas, or just hit a mental brick wall for things to take pictures of? How do you get back into it?
How do you find things that you haven’t photographed 1,000 times before?"

Want to know the answers she received? Go here to see some of the responses and maybe you'll find some inspiration.

I also came across this article, which had a lot of fun pictures.

Happy shooting!

D Photo

One of my favorite drinks in the world is a cold Dr. Pepper. I think I used to be addicted to it, but I've weaned myself off of its 23 flavors. Somewhat.

Sometimes it's what really hits the spot. I stopped at the convenience store down the street earlier this week to pick this one up. I was shocked that a 12-ounce can of soda cost me 85 cents. What happened to 50-cent sodas?

What do people call sodas where you live? Cola? Pop?

I grew up in Texas where everyone said coke. Someone would ask, "Do you want a coke?" and the proper response was "What kind?" Coke referred to all carbonated cola drinks--Sprite, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, etc.--not just Coca-Cola.

When I lived in Colorado, many people called cokes pop. I realized then I can't stand the sound of someone asking for a "pop."

I'm looking forward to seeing what you've come up with for D. Moving on to E next week. How about a picture of an elephant? How about an ermine, elk, exclamation or energy?

We shall see.

What a week

This has been one of the craziest weeks I've had in a long time. Well, maybe not crazy, but busy for sure.

I kicked off last weekend with a bathroom/laundry room tiling job that pretty much took all week. I still have some touch up work to do, but I'm through with most of the crawling around on the ground. That project took much longer (4 or 5 days longer) than I anticipated. On top of that I still had my my job to do.

I say all that to say I didn't do much picture taking this week. I also haven't had time to check out your photos, but I appreciate everyone who's been shooting and posting photos.

Anyway, I do have a couple of photos to post up tomorrow. Hopefully this week I'll also have some time to put together a gallery of the photos all of you have been taking.

Good luck and happy shooting.

C Photo

I've seen this truck several times and always get a chuckle out of the license plate.

52 Clix

Need some more ideas to get your creativity going?

Check out 52 Clix's photo assignments for this week.

Laundry http://www.52clix.com/clixie_submit.php?id=217
Out of Focus http://www.52clix.com/clixie_submit.php?id=218
Conundrum http://www.52clix.com/clixie_submit.php?id=216

B Photo

How about a beautiful bald eagle?

This is Spirit Augustus from Balsam Mountain Preserve Nature Center. Sexy, isn't she?

What did you come up with for 'B'?

Worldwide Photo Walk

I just came across this and it sounds really cool.

It's Scott Kelby's Second Annual Photo Walk.

You can check out the video, but basically it looks like a group of people meet up July 18 in a town near them and then spread out around town shooting photos for the day. Then they meet up later in the day to share what they've shot before going home to upload them to the Web. The walk leader selects the best photo from his/her town for Kelby to select a grand prize winner.

It looks like someone nearby in Clyde, N.C. is setting up a walk. I'm surprised no one in Asheville has set one up yet. I'll have to let Ash know.

Do you have one near you? Would this be something you'd participate in? I think it sounds like fun.

Are You Noticing

...that you're looking at objects a little differently now?

Do you look at something and sort of stop and say, "Hey, that starts with an 'A' (or 'B' or whatever)? I am. It's kind of funny. I've got letters running through my head all day.

Right now I've got this silly song stuck in my head that I heard ages ago. It's a parody of The Association's "Windy" that's called "Aunt Bea." I can't recall the whole song, but the part that's playing over and over in my noggin goes: "Everyone knows it's Aunt Bea. Bea-Bea-Bea-Bea."

I'm enjoying everyone's posts and I'm looking forward to many more. Keep shooting and keep being creative.

Thanks for the Participation

As I commented on Marit's site, I think having other people participate with A to Z will keep me snapping if for no other reason than to see what others have shot.

Moving on to B this week. I saw a lot of things last week I'd like to shoot for B, particularly bridges and beer. Actually, as this photo blog goes along you'll probably see many beer photos.

For some reason I like taking pictures of beers. I've shot many a beer with my cell phone while sitting at a bar. I just like the way they look. Can't explain it. If I ever had a show at a gallery, it would probably be beer-themed.

Anyway, thanks for participating with me. Keep your eyes out for the Bs this week, and it's not too late to post an 'A' photo.

Have fun.

A Photo

I told you it was a sign!

So I was just driving down the street about a block from my house when I spotted this sign in front of a shop. I don't know how long it's been there, but I'd never noticed it before this past week.

I know it's nothing dramatic or beautiful, but I think it's significant. Signs are important, as my sister recently pointed out in one of her posts.

I'm not one who looks for signs, or presages, to tell me that what I'm doing is the right or wrong thing, but when I saw this sign I felt it was telling me that this photoblog just might be the inspiration I was seeking.

Now it's your turn. If you'd like to share a photo, post a link in the comments section. I can't wait to see what you've done.

Ready for My First Photo

It's almost time for A to Z Photo Blog's first post, and I've got to say... I'm a little disappointed in myself.

Well, maybe disappointed isn't the right word, but my photos show that I'm a little out of practice. I feel like I've lost some of my creativity. But I guess that's the point. I needed to start somewhere.

Hopefully as the weeks go by I'll feel more creative and have more variety in my photos. I have to say that the first photo I'll post tomorrow is a sign that I'm doing something right by starting this photo challenge.

Anyway, I look forward most to seeing what others have shot this week. Remember to post a link in the comments section of my A photo when you get a chance.

New Photo Blog to Launch

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Attention photographers: Have you lost your focus? Has the flow of your creative juices come to a full f-stop?

A new photo blog hopes to inspire photographers and get them clicking away again. A to Z Photo Blog is the creation of Andre Rodriguez, staff writer and photographer of the Asheville Citizen-Times.

"As a professional writer and photographer sometimes I find that when I'm away from work I've exhausted my creativity," Andre said. "I've found it hard to keep myself inspired and motivated to shoot photos for myself.

"I searched the Internet for Web sites with weekly or even monthly photo assignments to try and spark a creative revival," he continued. "The revival came, but not in the way I was expecting."

After coming across many, many photo assignment Web sites that hadn't been updated in months--some which hadn't been updated in more than a year--Andre came up with an easy way to "assign" photos every week.

Beginning the week of May 25, Andre will begin looking for photo opportunities beginning with the letter "A." He will select his best/favorite photo from the week and post it the following Monday at A to Z Photo. The following week's assignment will be to look for photo opportunities beginning with the letter "B" and so on week-by-week, letter-by-letter through the alphabet.

Andre encourages all photographers--pros and hobbyists--particularly all those who have had a little trouble staying motivated to shoot more personal photos, to take part in A to Z Photo Blog.

Visit the site June 1 to see Andre's first photo and--if you'd like--submit a link in the comments to your photo of the week posted on your blog or photo sharing site.

Contact Andre Rodriguez at atozphotoblog@yahoo.com for more information.