Oh yes, I have fallen off of the Project 365 wagon. I admit it. I embrace it. It started last week when I was sick and all around feeling crappy. Even though the weather was gorgeous, I just needed sleep. That was one day. Then, you know what happens when you get out of the habit. It spirals out of control. Of course I have taken photos since last week (I really don't stop). I just haven't been truly designating a photo of the day.

But today I was inspired by this recent Photofocus post by Scott Bourne.

I took a walk at lunch today with my trusty point and shoot, and I passed by this image:

That's right, I kept walkin'. Then I thought about Mr. Bourne's post. I passed this tree up because I have seen photos similar to this, but have never actually thought about making an image of a defaced tree (personally, I think it's kind of mean to the tree), and I probably would have just kept walking if not for the post--I already had a photo for today.

Has this photo changed my life to the effect Mr. Bourne's bird photo changed his? Doubtful.

But it reminded me that as photographers, we tell a story (at least try to). This image holds the mystery of J + J. Who were they...Young lovers walking along suburban path? Or were they an older couple celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary? Perhaps a young girl J with a huge crush on J, carving her wishes in bark?

I composed this shot like so because I liked the green foliage (desaturated just a bit in Lightroom 2) in contrast to the white trunk of the tree, as well as the contrast in textures. The area was shaded by said tree, so the light is ambient. When taking this photo, I thought of it as B&W, but it didn't work out when actually post processing it.

Thanks for stopping by!