365 (Part Deux)

So. Back again to blog. I guess that is a good thing. A few thoughts about some stuff I am working on today. I still have a ton of backlog images to edit, but I am getting there. I am on pace to get the Face Off photos up by Friday, so hold on for that.

I started a 365 project last year doing a self portrait every day for a whole year. It was pretty intense and crazy. I did a ton of work and it was hard to take a photo every day, but I learned a lot. I got a lot of guff from people, mainly in jest, but things such as, "Someone is a little vain eh?". Part of it was that I had seen other people do that, so I thought, heck, I can do that (not really thinking that about having 365 photos of me). In the process of shooting that whole series though I had some fantastic shots and some not so fantastic shots.

i.e.

bad

good

The most amazing thing though, is that when you force your self to take a photo of the same subject for an extended period of time you need to find new ways to present the material or it will just get boring. To present the material in a new way, I needed to learn new techniques that would help me achieve the image that I had in my head.

I am doing a new 365 project, which you can check out at my Flickr site, and already I am much more impressed with the photos that I am taking. In about a year and a half I learned how to use lights, tons of post processing tricks and tips, and many things about actually using my camera. You can do a 365 project and learn nothing other then how to sit still (2190 days) or be consistent, but if you push yourself to get out of your comfort zone and learn a little bit, in a year you will be in a much better place creatively. You have to sift through a lot of dirt and mud to find gold. Here are a few examples of my new 365 that you can check out at my Flickr site.