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The new year is 11 days old and if you take a picture, it'll last longer - I promise. In fact, take 365 (Or 354 now, I guess) and it'll feel like a lovely, photographed eternity. Go on. Do it.
I am, of course, completely biased. It is the rare, rare day that I don't shoot at least one photograph, even if it's just with my (sadly not iphone-quality) cell phone. There is much grumbling from my nearest and dearest about "that blahblahblah camera again" but guess who's SUPER popular when it comes time to get shots of, oh, just about anything, because guess who always has the camera when you need the camera??? And honestly, as much as I'm needled, I make no apologies. Since I started taking photographs seriously about four years ago, it's become part of my life and my most essential way of documenting it. I still write, and I'll never stop. I still blog. I'm a Twitter fiend who never posts TwitPics. But when it comes down to it, my photo archive is my yearly record, the story of where I go, who I'm with, and for the most part, what I do, and I'm really, really glad that I have it.
The newish year is a fantastic time to get on board with any of the number of online photo and other visual art challenges out there. Time being the funny, ephemeral thing it is, there's still something about the turning of the Gregorian calendar that suggests new beginnings, new leaves turned, plans reconfigured, what have you. And while I think there's no day like, well, any day to start or keep on taking great pictures, if the new year gives some necessary structure, go on and rock it out.
My photo-taking started out rather inauspiciously this year, I admit.
What can I say? I was a little glad to see 2008 go, and besides I'm turning into everyone's mother, so that naturally leads to static shots of the television. I had big plans to get onboard with a photo challenge or two right out of the gate, but a serious personal crisis had my attentions elsewhere.
Now? I'm ready to roll. I started with Flickr, which, I admit, is my destination number one for groups of like-minded souls and online photo projects. I've belonged to - and completely flaked on - Project 365 for a while now. Taylor McKnight, the 25-year-old also behind the popular Hype Machine music blog welcomes 2009 contributors. Guidelines?
1. Please post no more than one photo representing each day. Regardless if you take 3 or 30 or 300 photos in a single day, each photo you post must have been taken on a different day.
2. Backlogs are acceptable, as long as #1 is satisfied, but please be considerate. You can only upload 3 photos a day
3. Optional: Tag your photos with project365
Photojojo - claiming to find the best DIY photo projects, tips and gear - ran a tutorial by McKnight called "Project 365: How to Take a Photo a Day and See Your Life in a Whole New Way." He gives some great advice for the daily project:
Taking a photo a day is a big undertaking with big payoffs. Here are just a few reasons why you should consider doing it:
* Imagine being able to look back at any day of your year and recall what you did, who you met, what you learned... (Often we find it hard to remember what we did just yesterday or even last night, let alone a whole year ago!)
* Your year-long photo album will be an amazing way to document your travels and accomplishments, your haircuts and relationships. Time moves surprisingly fast.
* Taking a photo a day will make you a better photographer. Using your camera every day will help you learn its limits. You will get better at composing your shots, you'll start to care about lighting, and you'll become more creative with your photography when you're forced to come up with something new every single day.
365 Days is another daily photo Flickr group, this one with a singular focus: you. Each photo must be of you, some representation thereof, taken by you, with a self-timer or without. There are more
