What I Learned From Doing a 365

First of all, I learned that not everyone know what "doing a 365" is. It is posting a Photo a Day for 365 days, generally started at the beginning of a year by faithfully shooting a worthwhile image every single day and getting it posted somewhere for people to follow. I had planned to post it in this blog...I discovered Facebook was an easier avenue and provided me daily feedback. And I am so grateful to my loyal fans. Thank God for that feedback!!!! I was often surprised at which photos got a lot of "likes" and which ones seemed to get very little response.  One of my biggest challenges is always "selecting" what is worthwhile and what is not.  For example, I had a lot of fun with bubbles last year, but even today could not select which of these is my favorite bubble image.

 

Doing the 365 made me explore new avenues to get creative. I played with smoke and fire and drips – things I had always thought about but never before had made the effort.  

 

I spent a lot of time with my macro lens and learned about macro tubes which are inexpensive and really allow you to get in close to your subject. I learned that putting a flower on a black background makes it pop and showing the detail on intricate flowers is difficult to capture but a lot of fun to master. However, flowers seemed to get the fewest "likes."

Poinsettia

Passion Flower

Fuschia

 What did get an enormous amount of "likes" was these doors. Evidently, doors really speak to people.

I was blessed to have my grandchildren every Wednesday, who provided me with the perfect models, but showed me that children are not easy to capture.

The always entertaining Charlotte.

Mr Nate, also known around here as "BamBam"

I didn't have Walt every Wed. but I couldn't leave him out of 2013's favorite captures.

And I managed to get some new favorites of my own,the one below that I shot 50 miles north of NYC on a crystal clear but bruttaly cold day.  I like the dichotomy of the sun bleached chairs in the foreground, the fierce waves in the middle, and the magical city in the background. I also have a wonderful memory of my mother, brother and sister braving the cold with me in the spot, understanding that I simply needed to get a "photo of the day."

Other favorites include figuring out how to get the bokeh right behind Santa, light painting with my husband in our backyard ("hurry up - I need a picure!"),  and the headlight on an old-fashioned car after the rain in the early morning, "just because."  Some pictures just speak to you for no known reason.  Others because of the time and emotions that were going on when it was captured. But all photographs evoke emotions for me.

 

Looking over the images I posted each day in 2013, I am reminded of the wonderful friends and family who posed for me, the moments shared, the experiences I encountered. It really was a great experience. Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled not to have to download and edit when I came home from a shoot last night, in order to have something to post.  But I do see how I grew as a photographer and how I have all sorts of new images to show with pride and all kinds of new memories of another pretty good year behind me. 

One of my very favorite images from last year was of this guy, who helps me find my picture, supports me in the endeavor and sits patiently waiting while I chase my dream.

 

If you'd like to see the entire year's postings, go to: Photo A Day

PS My New Year's Resolution after writing this post is to get more organized and name images more clearly so that they are easier to locate!