365 Retrospective

At some point today, I'll snap, select, and post my very last photo for Project 365, something I began on July 1 last year after watching and enjoying Marc doing the same.

I'm definitely glad to be done.  There were waves along the way that were very difficult.  Some days just aren't photo-worthy, and you have to come up with something.  That's a good challenge, but there were definitely moments where it felt like a totally pointless burden.  And it's hard to capture exactly why simply needing to take a photo could be such a challenge.  You certainly don't feel like that in the beginning of your year.  And really, it's not hard.  But the photo (ideally) needs to be good.  (Many of mine certainly weren't --but that's also what it's all about.)  And I felt the need to mix it up.  And I felt the need to keep challenging myself.  Perhaps that's why it got hardest right near the end.  Not in-the-last-few-weeks end.  But like a month ago or 6 weeks ago.  The end was in sight, but by no means near.  I'd taken the easy photos (of the cats, of foods, out our window) too many times already.  And like I said, some days it just doesn't happen.  The urge to cash it in was strong, but when you've come that far....

The last month or so got a lot easier.  I could taste the end.  The weather has been good so I've been out more.  And I started to get excited about being done.

In the end, I'm really glad I did it.  I learned a lot about photography, mostly just through looking at other's photos in Flickr photo pools and stuff.  I think I took some cool shots that I never would have taken otherwise.  I got in the habit of taking my camera almost everywhere I go, which I doubt I'd ever have done otherwise.  And there are definitely times I've been glad to have a camera.  You never know when something funny or beautiful or magical will happen to you suddenly, and having a camera to capture it is so enjoyable.  And perhaps this will sound like the easy stretch at the end of the experience, but yes, I do think I've learned to look at my world around me in its relationship to art.  It's not everywhere.  I won't say that.  But I do think it's in more places than we might notice, were we not primed to take it in and document it.

So I won't continue 365 for another year.  But I will keep carrying my camera, and continuing to learn how to take better photos, to capture that rare unexpected moment or that random form of art.  But I'm excited now to leave the pressure and responsibility behind.  (It's like graduating!)  And I've come to really like Flickr.  Mostly I've held back from posting anything other than my 365 photos on there.  But now I'm excited to post photos that wouldn't otherwise make the cut (remember, it had been ONE a day).  And sets for trips and other things like that.

So if you've been following my photo journey at all, keep peeking in.  It's another form of community --John-Patrick says his set functions like a blog, since his blog is only about cooking and his photos are about cooking as well as the other things in his life.  (And he's in the midst of 365, too.  He's done later this year.) 

I'm excited to use mine that way, too.  But will I have a photo for every day any longer?  Nope.  And that freedom not only feels good, but it also feels earned.  Like resting after a hard workout.  So today, I'm on my final sprint into the finish.  Feels good to be (almost) done!