Quick Background
I don’t make resolutions, rather I pick a hobby to pursue for one year. I’ve made bread, written haiku, picked up fly fishing and Mexican cooking. In 2010 I decided to take one picture a day, one I would put a bit of thought and effort into, and publish the results to this blog.
The Point
I’ll not be posting to wnf365 any more, but I so appreciate those that followed me this year. Please keep/start watching wordsnamesfaces for updates on my second year of 365 photos (lego man! or me!), photos of a suburban life, the occasional haiku, and updates of my 2011 hobby: learning how to play a guitar and performing one original song in front of an audience.
A Bit More
The 365 photo-project was, I thought, a simple enough task that often took more time than I imagined. Between my full-time work-at-home job, keeping up with two kids and a wife, friends and bills and chores, a lawn, a handful of trees and neighbors, and countless other whatevers - I never imagined how many days I would simply forget to pick up the camera, until it was bedtime, I was exhausted, and needed to find something of interest to photograph in a dark and quiet house.
Mostly Just For Me
In the end, when I look back at these pictures - the “getting through” days and the days I got a shot I’m proud of - I have a visual diary that lets me remember the days of 2010. And that, really, is the point of the yearly hobby.
Did I Learn Anything?
I wouldn’t say my photographs have improved much over the past year. Nah - I would say that. I just don’t know that I’ve been able to fully apply what I’ve learned into dramatically better photos. Does that make any sense? Anyway, here are my biggest take-away lessons:
- White balance matters
- A tripod is useful
- Remember to always check your settings (that 1600 ISO worked last night in the basement, but kinda sucks for this morning’s sunrise)
- The importance of taking a few moments to see what’s in the viewfinder before hitting the shutter
- The need for a photograph to tell a story (…to find the point of any production, really, has always been a struggle)
My Advice to You?
If you are thinking of 365 project, here’s my advice for the first year:
- Pick a theme: Carry an object with you, and make that your focus for the year. i.e., a toy, a household object, or you. When the clock is ticking down to midnight, you won’t be searching for a subject
- Pick a platform: I hosted my photos on Flickr and Tumblr. Pick one platform, to limit your maintenance time. You can always reference your Flickr account in your blog.
- Keep on top of posting: My max was seven day’s worth of photos. Remember you have to review the photos you took, perform any post-processing, uploading, tagging, commenting, etc. It’s a fifteen minute daily task that can turn in to hours if you let your back-log grow too large.
