Wednesday, September 1, 2010

My Project 365 Do Over

In the beginning of the summer, I started a Project 365 on Flickr. If you're not familiar with what that is, it's basically a photography project in which you challenge yourself to shoot and post one photograph every day for 365 days straight. Completing a Project 365 is also on my list of 101 Things to do in 1001 Days.

My teenage daughter and I started it together on her last day of school back in June. We thought it would be a fun project to do together and we'd be able to keep tabs on each other's progress. Well, it is fun... it was fun... when I actually did it, anyway. More on that in a minute.

My daughter is doing brilliantly with her project--both in her commitment and in her composition. I think she has some serious photography skills for someone who has only been behind the lens for a little over five months. She's very creative and takes some really amazing and beautiful photos--especially portraits. Really. See for yourself.

I, on the other hand, have pretty much failed on my first attempt at the project. I did okay with the first couple of weeks--18 days to be exact, but then fell behind in uploading my photos. Then I started to miss days without even picking up my camera, and soon I was so far behind that I lost hope of ever catching up. At first I tried to deny that I quit, because I never actually decided to quit, but the evidence was pretty clear that I had... whether I intended to or not. So I'm starting over and today is day one of my new Project 365.



This is my first photograph in my new project. A stack of books on a bedside table is such a welcoming, comforting sight.

You can visit my photostream HERE. Let me know if you're on flickr, too!

Wish me luck---I need as much as I can get! ;)

Do you like photography? What is your favorite subject to photograph?

I imagine most people take the most pictures of their friends and family. I do that, too, but also take a lot of photos of plants, bugs, animals and scenery in general. I also take a lot of photos of food with the intention of sharing recipes on the blog, but I never seem to get around to posting them!



18 comments:

  1. Wow, seriously, you both have tons of talents... but I'm impressed with your daughter, Christine. Those pics look so professional!!

    I'm looking forward to your new pics :)

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  2. Aren't her photos so amazing? I'm so proud of her... just imagine how much better she'll be with more experience and as she learns more about all the different lenses and settings on her camera!

    Thanks for taking the time to look at our flickr accounts, nath! =)

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  3. Beautiful photos, Christine. I'm on Flickr too - here's the link.

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  4. You both have such touching and lovely photos! As you know I take photos almost daily. I take them of our cats, anything in nature that catches my eye, my children and I even sneak one of Chris in there every now and then. *g* I really like the photo you've shared today, but I think my favorite is the first you have, of the long and winding road. It's beautiful.
    I may try your challenge, unofficially. *g*

    Have a wonderful day.

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  5. I agree that you are both very talented, but I'm very, very impressed with your daughter's photography--holy wow, woman!

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  6. Beautiful pictures. I've never heard of a Project 365, but I think that's a fantastic idea. I'll have to think of a project on that same level for me to do. I do like photography. I prefer black and white photos the most. I can't wait to see what you have planned for tomorrow.

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  7. Wow that is a wonderful idea. I love it! But I can imagine that it's easy to fall behind. I will cross all my fingers for you.
    And I love the pics by the way. I wish I would be better at taking pics but mine are rather "shaky". LOL

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  8. OH my my...whatta lovely picture, that blown pages. How did you do you that? That's amazing! But hey, sorry to say this, I seem to like your daughter's pictures more...hehe. Seriously, I like the blood picture, the solo's, mostly the macro's, she has an eye for great things behind that tiny lense. I hope you continue to stay beside her, supporting her, encouraging her to keep taking such vivid images. One day she'll be famous!

    What a great hobby. I haven't touched my dslr since December. Mostly because of scheduling conflicts, I couldn't find time to take pictures and also because it's too heavy to carry. I got a backup point and shoot Canon's powershot sx210 IS just recently and so far I'm lovin` it. I just need to keep my focus on photography, specially with the autumn colors, soon.... Good luck with your new project. I look forward to seeing more of images you take.

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  9. I appreciate all of you taking the time to click over and browse through both my and my daughter's flickr accounts. I just knew you would all go crazy over my daughter's photography. I passed on all of your lovely compliments to her and she was so pleased. So thank you. =)

    Jace :
    I see we are now contacts on Flickr. =)

    Brandy :
    I loved that first photo of my first attempt at the Project back in June. I had taken Maria out to this field at 5:30 am on the last day of school so she could get her first Project 365 shot and while I loved that composition, I didn't think it would be right to have the same first shot, so later that morning when I was on my bike, I took the one you mentioned with my iPhone during my ride! I was happy the way it turned out.. especially given it was taken with a phone! LOL!

    I'd love for you to do the challenge with me!! You could also do it on Flickr, and to preserve the privacy of your family, make it specific and just do nature shots or cat shots. Let me know if you do it. :)

    azteclady :
    I know. My daughter is just blowing me away with her photography.

    firepages:
    Project365 IS a great idea! You should definitely do one! I think it'll be more fun to have a group do this challenge together. We can check up on each other often to stay motivated and even get inspiration from each other! Do it!!!! .... but no pressure. ^_^

    Susi:
    Hey there! Thanks so much for visiting--we haven't crossed paths in a while. It's so good to "see" you! :)

    It is very easy to fall behind. I couldn't believe I fell behind in less than three weeks. This time, while I am going to do my best to take a photo every day, I will allow myself several days to get them uploaded. Maybe I'll upload once a week or something. That will alleviate some of the pressure, I think.

    I'll tell you a little hint... several of my lenses have "image stabilization" meaning that just when I focus and get ready to shoot, the camera stabilizes the image so the "shaking" from being handheld is minimized. This is especially helpful with macro shots.

    Natalie:
    It's my latest In Death book that's just opened flat since the binding is so worn (used book) and the pages fan out like that. :)

    I am most definitely supporting and encouraging her hobby... as is my husband. He's the one who has loved photography since he was maybe 8 or 10 years old and got Maria and I hooked by giving us our own {used} cameras. We now have quite a few lenses to swap between us, too.

    I have a pocket camera for my purse too... it's a Panasonic Lumix and I love it. But nothing beats the Canon digital SLR.

    We should meet at the park in a few weeks when the leaves start to change color for a nature walk and photo shoot!

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  10. @Christine Yea, life was a bit stressful in the last few months for me. But I have 2 weeks vacay now so I ventured through greader and you can't believe how much I missed visiting all the blogs.

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  11. Susi:
    I'm sorry to hear you had a stressful few months, but hopefully you'll be able to relax and regroup with a two week vacation. I miss a lot of stuff on blogs just in a matter of several days, let alone weeks or months! The beauty of this online community, though, is that all you have to do is start posting and commenting again and you're brought up to speed rather quickly.

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  12. So true. One of the many things I love about blogging.
    Take care!

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  13. I may do that, but will probably have Chris check out Flickr for me. *g* I do have a question. I'm thinking of begging for a Macro lens for our Anniversary. How much do you think I'd use it? *g*
    That picture I like of yours is from a phone? Awesome! I really, really do like that picture. It kinda makes me think of the Robert Burns poem of the Road Not Taken.

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  14. Christine, your daughter has talent. Really! Those are some great shots!

    I love your book shot and I'm so glad that you didn't give up and started over again. :D I love photography, but have no talent... I prefer sketching. ;P

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  15. Good luck, as for your daughter the photos are wonderful. I love her eye and how she can capture food (like marshmellows or strawberries), running kids. I also love her artistic sense of human like the fly away photo. Congratulations on raising such a talented individual.

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  16. Brandy, I'm sorry it took my awhile to answer your question about the macro lens. I meant to ask my husband for advice for you, but then I forgot and now he's not home. Ack! I will say that the macro is great for taking close up photos of bugs, plants and foods. Or I guess anything you want to see up close like that. Mine is a 60mm macro lens, but I might be inclined to first recommend that you get what the photo people call a "nifty fifty" lens. It's a fixed 50mm lens and very versatile. It's the lens my teen prefers, especially for portraits. I'll email you after I've consulted with my husband. In the meantime, google "nifty fifty" and see what people are saying. What lens do you use now?

    Hils, Thanks! She definitely has talent. I'd like to say I taught her everything she knows, but well... not really. LOL. I just gave her a little tutorial on using the AV mode. She just took off on her own after that.

    polwig, thanks so much for taking the time to look at my daughter's photos and for the very lovely compliments. She is really loving the photography. It's a joy to see her developing this hobby like she is.

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  17. Yay! I'm glad you're back at it! That photo is just lovely. And I've so enjoyed glancing through your daughter's photos every so often. There's a lot of talent in your family! :D

    And you know how much fun I've been having with the food pron photos. ;)

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  18. Very lovely photos! You have a talent for this!!!

    I'm just ordinary photographer. We have a basic camera and I take photos when we have celebrations or go to a holiday. I usually take just plain old simple ordinary photos, but now I managed to take a few really lovely photos on that London trip I mentioned (out of those over 600 photos I took).

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