Project 365 Ends

June 2, 2016 - 366 days since I started my Project 365 and 10,001 daily photographs. At this time, I have completed both.

Henri Cartier-Bresson stated: “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.”  I have now taken over 16,500 photographs. However, Henri was using film, I am using digital and it doesn't take long to build the count. So perhaps it is now the first 100,000 photographs.

I find my craft is still improving but more importantly I observer and anticipate more, whether I am looking through a viewfinder or just walking about. I have learned not only about the mechanics of taking photographs but also how light strikes objects and to see the color, see quality and direction of light, notice the shadows and contrast, see texture, lines, forms, shapes, see the details - all of which creates the final composition.

At this time, I don't think I am going to continue with another Project 365. I will continue photography, for now is the time to take this forward and expand my skills and transform from recording what's in front of me to recording what's on my mind, to tell a story. I may still post blogs, but perhaps more on a theme or story basis, such as my most recent Macro post and album.

Oh, my favorite picture?  "The one I’m going to take tomorrow." – Imogen Cunningham

What was your favorite? Here is a link to all of my Project 365 pictures - Link. If you find one you like, share it with someone or just reflect on what it means to you.

Stay tuned - and thank you for taking the time to read my posts and view my photographs.

My Favorite Picture

Why? It is like my photography hobby, I am seeing the world in a different light.

Just one more Picture

Number 366.

Last photo of my Project 365 (this was a Leap Year). Most of my early Project photos were around this fountain taken with my iPhone, it just made sense to take this final picture of the fountain with my iPhone.

I hope you have enjoyed at least some of these pictures.

Day 366 - The Fountain - Last picture of Project 365

May 2016 - 10,001 DP

May 2016 - Days Photographed to Date: 365

What - 365 Days? Where has time gone?
I think I will take one more picture.
Stay Tuned.

Link to the monthly Flickr Album to see all of the daily pictures and quotes. There are viewing controls in the upper right hand corner that you can use to see a slide show.

As always, feel free to subscribe to updates - insert your e-email address into the 'Follow By Email' box on the right hand side of the blog. Or just let me know and I will add you to the subscription. You can opt out anytime!

Collage and photo of the month are below:

May 2016 Collage

Photo of the Month - May 26, 2016

Film and Digital - Night and Day

Remember film? I do. In looking back - I think shooting film gave perspective and focus when taking a picture because you only had one or two shots to get it right - or close to right. In the digital world, you can take all the shots you desire and they are easy to edit to get it right - or close to right.

One feature that still amazes me is vast and explorable capability of the digital world, especially with ISO capabilities of 6400 and greater. Take a look at the pictures below taken inside of an auditorium in the middle of the afternoon. The top picture replicates the best you could do back in film days using ISO 1000 film, 1/30th of a second, F3.5 and no flash. You can barely see the single light bulb lighting the auditorium. The bottom picture is taken using the automatic setting of a digital camera with ISO 6400, ¼ of second, digital stabilization, F3.5 and no flash. The difference is Night and Day.

Take your digital camera and start exploring its limits.

Film Night - ISO 1000, F3.5 1/30 Second

Digital Day - ISO 6400, F3.5, ¼ Second

April 2016 - 10,001 DP

April 2016 - Days Photographed to Date: 334

As I type the word 'April' in the title of this month's blog and calculate the days photographed to date, I realize that my Project 365 will come to a completion in 31 more day. It has been interesting to say the least. I am not for sure if I will continue with a daily photograph, I am still mulling that over.  What do you think?

Link to the monthly Flickr Album to see all of the daily pictures and quotes. There are viewing controls in the upper right hand corner that you can use to see a slide show.

As always, feel free to subscribe to updates - insert your e-email address into the 'Follow By Email' box on the right hand side of the blog. Or just let me know and I will add you to the subscription. You can opt out anytime!

Collage and photo of the month are below:

April 2016 Collage

Photo of the Month - April 25, 2016

Shooting Macro

One of my new toys is a 100mm f/2.8 macro lens with 1:1 macro ratio capability - meaning subjects can appear life-size in close-up images. All I can say is WOW - getting this close to your subject really opens your eyes to details we don't normally see.

See examples below and more macro shots on my FLICKR page.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/134837325@N04/albums/72157667622223911

Enjoy

This flower is about ½ inch in diameter.

Typical Dandelion with Friends

March 2016 - 10,001 DP

March 2016 - Days Photographed to Date: 304

Finally, posting March. Seems like I had more 'empty' calendar slots than I thought. Taking pictures is now the easier part - collecting and posting takes a while longer.

Link to the monthly Flickr Album to see all of the daily pictures and quotes. There are viewing controls in the upper right hand corner that you can use to see a slide show.

As always, feel free to subscribe to updates - insert your e-email address into the 'Follow By Email' box on the right hand side of the blog. Or just let me know and I will add you to the subscription. You can opt out anytime!

Collage and photo of the month are below:

March 2016 Collage

Photo of the Month: March 8, 2016

Shooting the Moon

First picture of the moon was March 23, 1839 by John Draper. (Link)

Here are a few of mine.

Look Close - you may find Jupiter

A Smokin' Moon on a Smokey Day

February 2016 - 10,001 DP

February 2016 - Days Photographed to date: 273

February seemed like a long month - it was a day longer this year. More and more pictures taken using the new camera - can you tell the difference?

Link to the monthly Flickr Album to see all of the daily pictures and quotes. There are viewing controls in the upper right hand corner that you can use to see a slide show.

I will be dropping the YouTube Slide Show feature, the majority of viewers user the Flickr Album to review the pictures.

As always, feel free to subscribe to updates - insert your e-email address into the 'Follow By Email' box on the right hand side of the blog. Or just let me know and I will add you to the subscription. You can opt out anytime!

Summary and photo of the month are below

February 2016 Collage 

Photo of the Month: February 9, 2016

10,001 Pictures

When I started down this path of 10,001 Daily Pictures, I thought "Golly! That is a lot of pictures, I may never reach that!". True, I may never reach a picture a day for a lifetime, but reaching 10,001 pictures ended up being a no brainer. Since June 1, 2015, I have reached and exceeded taking 10,000 pictures.

Of course, one has to take in consideration if you put a phone on burst mode, that can easily rip of 20 to 40 pictures really fast. If you take multiple shots trying to get a better angle and/or light on a subject, you can easily take 10 to 20 pictures. I probably took 50 pictures yesterday taking photographs of birds and the moon; only one bird ended being in the 'Daily Pictures'.

Digital cameras have made this possible. If this was back in the days of film, I would not be doing a photo a day project especially with the development cycle that can be measured in days or weeks and cost of film!

I am not saying that you become a better photographer because you have a digital camera, you just have a great opportunity for more practice! And we all know that more practice will land your pictures in Carnegie Hall, well, maybe on Flickr :-)

(Link to Flickr Photos)

Go take some pictures today, I will.

January 2016 - 10,001 DP

January 2016 - Days Photographed to date: 244

Happy New Year!!
(Although a month late).

Link to the monthly Flickr Album to see all of the daily pictures and quotes. There are viewing controls in the upper right hand corner that you can use to see a slide show.

or

Link to Slide Show (YouTube)

Which ones do you like?

As always, feel free to subscribe to updates - insert your e-email address into the 'Follow By Email' box on the right hand side of the blog. You can opt out anytime!

Summary and photo of the month are below

January Collage - Best of the Month

Photo of the Month: January 10, 2016

Moving to a 'Real Camera'

The iPhone has been a really nice camera, however, throughout using the iPhone as my primary and only camera for six months I am finding limitations. Thus enters a new digital mirrorless camera, aka MILC - Mirrorless Interchangeable-Lens Camera. An MILC is similar to a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera, but has an electronic or rangefinder type of viewfinder in place of the mirror and pentaprism that gives the MILC a more compact design. In most respects, they're extremely similar: with only a few exceptions, most mirrorless cameras these days are built around the same sized sensors as DSLRs, increasingly have similar lenses available, and can offer the same image quality. If you are curious, refer to this LINK for more information. The camera in use is a Sony A6000 and a variety of lenses, including lens from my antique 35MM film camera through use of an adapter.

As an example, these are two shots taken with the mirrorless digital camera that would be almost impossible using an iPhone camera or other cell phone cameras that do not handle the zoom or depth of field needed for these images. Look for these and others in the January Monthly Photos.

New Year Resolutions

What are my New Year Resolutions? I am keeping it simple.

1. Post at least 365 days of photos - that is until June 1, 2016 - then take a sanity check.
2. Start exploring beyond the iPhone as camera. I will still use the iPhone for most photos since it is the 'camera' that is with me most of the time. However, I acquired a digital mirrorless camera (APS-C sensor) and will start including pictures in my daily photos. Stay tuned.