365 days later

On September 24, 2010, I officially finished a year of taking pictures. I can  hardly believe it.

The whole thing started out with an email from January to our group of photo friends. She asked if anyone was interested in a 365 days project -- taking a picture a day for an entire year. At the time I was on my Ireland/England trip for two weeks, so I was already taking a bazillion pictures a day. What was 351 more days? Right.

Anyhow, my first picture started with a bang, although a little foggy. The Cliffs of Mohr:



Things got pretty eclectic from there. Over the year, I've taken a picture of a complete stranger in the parking lot at Walmart, a minor celebrity (Anna Olsen), and too many pictures of my family to count. I've taken pictures of toys, tea cups, flowers, footwear, and food. I've also documented injuries, surgeries, and sickness.

Through the whole year, I've been posting my pictures publicly on flickr, which then show up in facebook. So, I've gotten some lovely comments along the way, and a few people "in real life" talking to me about photography when I least expected it. It's been a great learning experience, on the taking side and the developing side (Adobe Lightroom is the best software program EVAH!).

Lessons learned?

• Have a camera with you all the time. My cameraphone got me through many days. I even took to  driving to and from work with the camera in the trunk. 
• It's not the camera, it's the photographer (although good lenses really help).
• A piece of white bristol board and a willing assistant are a photographer's best friend.
• (Almost) anything can be a picture with the right composition.
• You've got to work at inspiration. Some days it just doesn't come to you, so you're sitting there taking pictures of marbles 
• I heart Adobe Lightroom.

The only bump over the 365 days, which I discovered on the last Friday of my project, is that I missed ONE DAY! I couldn't believe it, but April 3rd has no picture. I'm pretty sure I actually took one as it was Easter weekend, but somehow it either didn't get off my camera, or I accidentally deleted it. I have to say I was pretty upset when I figured this out. So, I vented to my photo friends and they basically kicked me in the butt -- what's one day in 365? I kept at it, which is what counts.

Oddly enough, the only day I really felt a lot of pressure to take a "perfect" shot was the last day. What should I do to end it all? I was talking to A. at work, and she nailed it for me. Self-portrait. So, here's the shot, me holding a mirror, standing next to my back patio window where I've taken many, many shots over the year, happy to be done.