Goal #49: 365 Day Photo Project Complete!

When I stop to think about it, our lives have been all kinds of crazy over the last year.  We packed up and moved across the country–we said “goodbye” to the East Coast and “hello!” to the Rocky Mountains.  We left old jobs and started  new ones.  We found a new apartment.  We house trained our dog Berkeley.  We celebrated another amazing year of marriage (twice!).

Photographically I’ve moved in leaps and bounds.  It seems crazy that just over a year ago I photographed my first wedding, decided that I was passionate about wedding photography, and dreamed up starting my own business.  Since then I’ve created my webpage, committed to blogging regularly, stretched myself to meet other photographers (both one-on-one and by attending local groups), worked on my portfolio, and attended in- person and online workshops.  Its tough work starting a business in this economy, but I’m putting 110% effort into it.

In the last year I’ve also completed a major project, my 365 Day Photo Project (goal #49 on my 101 Goals in 1001 Days list).  Way back in August 2011 I tossed around the idea of the project to Heather over late night appetizers and drinks at Applebees.  If I really wanted to make my photography dreams a reality, I needed a challenge–a platform that would allow me to experiment, learn, and share my results with people.  I needed something that held me accountable and allowed me to refine my craft before I had clients who relied on me.

And so, with a bit of apprehension and much excitement, I began.

For 365 days (give or take a few), I looked for opportuinties, good light, and interesting subjects to photograph.  I’d often get lovingly exasperated looks from Heather when I pulled out my camera at the laundromat or over dinner at a restaurant, but I was always searching for photos that I thought looked good, could be used to help build my portfolio, and might entertain others.   I worked on my manual exposure, I flip-flopped back and forth on my preference for Aperature Priority, and I attempted to utilize flash.  Landing a job at the Denver Botanic Gardens in March was a blessing because it gave me amazing material to work with on an almost daily basis.

I will admit that there were a few ‘failure’ days; days when I didn’t remember to bring my camera, or my battery was unexpectedly dead and I didn’t have a way to charge it.  My project is probably more accurately called the “345 Day Photo Project”, but regardless of the exact number of days, for one year I was constantly thinking about photogrpahy and looking at the world around me in a new way.

I think the project served its purpose and has helped me to grow exponentially as a photographer.  I hope you’ve enjoyed following along with me.

Here’s to another 365 Days of amazing photography!