15 posts tagged “photos”
We've been eating some really good tacos lately:
I've chosen and posted early today. My time outside the apartment today didn't present anything interesting, so I knew my last shot was, fittingly, going to be an around-the-apartment, find-something-to-shoot photo. Just the kind of day where it can feel tough. And just the right way to finish, I think.
This is a small dried flower that we have in our kitchen, in our chopstick container.
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!
ALMOST DONE with Project 365!
Over the past year, I've become immersed in something I used to avoid --photo sharing online. There had been no real reason to not do it before now, probably just a lack of motivation combined with the time and energy it can take.
But I began Project 365 on July 1 of last year, taking and posting a photo per day. That's been fun, and challenging. At times it's a chore, and lately I have been feeling a REAL lack of inspiration. (But because I'm the type of person who rarely quits, no matter how beneficial quitting can be, I'm plodding ahead. That's another post.)
But alongside Project 365, I've occasionally posted photos of good times with friends, trips we've taken, or other random things. So, point is, I'm a lot more of a photo poster than I was even a year ago.
All in all it's been fun. But there are some downsides. Namely, creeps who troll for photos to supplement their fetishes. How do I know? Flickr keeps stats on your photos, and tracks all-time views.
And so, I bring you Photo Sharing Gone Creepy:
1. Easily my most-viewed photo is from the San Diego Zoo on our road trip last summer, a photo John-Patrick took of me next to a rhino in heat:
2. OK, so hints of bestiality aside, here is another example of Photo Sharing Gone Creepy: I only tag my photos occasionally. And actually, the photo above is NOT tagged, and I hate to imagine what would happen if it were. But some are, like this one for example:
3. The third and final exhibit in Photo Sharing Gone Creepy comes from a very recent photo. Bee slept in a little later than me recently, and I was struck by how silly his feet looked peeking out from the comforter, so I took a photo. And like the photo above, it's not a good photo, with good framing, lighting, or composition. Just, you know, a photo:
Some photos that I think are quite lovely, interesting, or even horrifying don't get many views, even when I post them to a photo pool. But random, poor-quality photos of shoes and feet and rhino penis... well, those are my most popular shots.
It's sort of disheartening.
And yes, I've tagged this post "perverts".
It's Self-Portrait Thursday.
NO! I just finished a theme week for my Project 365. About a week ago, I was really struggling with my photos for 365. I was staying indoors working constantly, it was grey and bleak out, and for the very first time, 365 was seeming like a major chore.
I had seen others do theme weeks, and it was always an idea I'd kept in my head for when the going got tough. So last Wednesday, I did my first shot for a theme that I also felt spoke to my feelings of frustration at the time, Self-Portraits from a Typical Week. This was an added challenge because I almost always hate photos of myself.
I loved the first one, and actually blogged on the theme here.
From there, it was very much downhill. I kind of had fun on Day Three, as we had a LOT of snow, and it was seriously a TRUDGE to school that day. And then that night... I lost my camera. Well, not LOST. As someone grabbed it for me and I knew that basically right away. But I didn't get it back until yesterday. So I had to complete the week's project with iSight or John-Patrick's camera. The results were very much sub-par, and I had basically given up by Day Seven.
So it was crummy. But it had an unexpected upside: Yesterday, when I was no longer doing the theme week, I took so much joy in taking any photo I wanted yesterday. Here was the winner:
Self-Portrait Thursday? I say no.
Took some cool pictures of our window last night:
... days that is.
Here is the current set in thumbnail and detail.
Since my last self-reflection at the halfway point, I've done a few things differently. Probably the most significant and most helpful has been joining a few Flickr groups, all suggested by Marc and all devoted to 365. This has helped me not only get some good feedback on my shots, but also has allowed me to see what good photos really look like! Although like most things in life my photo-taking skills slipped a little during the holidays, I think I'm developing a better eye, and I know I've taken some shots that were better than before. At halfway my goal was to "take more pictures that don't stink", and on the whole I think I've done that! I had some particularly good ones in early December, I think, and mid-November.
Here is Photo #200!
One hundred sixty five (actually one hundred sixty six thanks to February 29th) to go!
So next month I'm participating in a panel on nonviolence, with my friend Monica, here at our school. It's being organized by students, and they're putting together a program for the events (this is actually part of a semester-long-series). We were asked to provide a photo, so yesterday I began digging through my photos to see which one I should submit. Along the way, I found many that I should NOT submit. I couldn't resist putting them into a folder.
It's here.
Now if I could only choose one that IS appropriate!
What's the best photo you took this year? Show and tell!
Here are my favorites from my Project 365 series, which is already halfway complete in the next few days! I had planned a post about my changing relationship to photo-taking, so consider this a warm-up! Click any to enlarge.
