Doing a 365

dave66

At the end of 2010 in a fit of madness I decided to undertake a Project 365 during 2011. I'm please (and somewhat proud) to say that I completed the project.

For posterity I decided to create a book of the project using Blurb and published it at the end of January, if you fancy a look it's here on Blurb it seems that the book was noticed by the US camera retailer Abe's of Maine as they contacted me and asked me to a guest writer for their newsletter and blog, which I was told is circulated to 300,000 subscribers.

I agreed to do an article and decided to base it on my experiences of doing a 365. If you are contemplating a 365 I guess it might be of interest, the article has now been published by Abe's and can be found here

PS: The only connection I have with Abe's is that I wrote this article, I haven't been paid for the article, I also haven't ever purchased anything from Abe's and I'm in no way endorsing their products/services.

pete4130

I think, for me 365's are unintersting. It's like you said in your article that sometimes you click to just keep going.

Thats the problem with a lot of them. There are photos in there taken just to fill that day. These are the boring, uninteresting photos of anything that happens to be nearby to fill the requirement for that day and the reason why I find 365's uninspiring. I'd rather shoot 1 good image a year than 365 mediocre images.

They are a personal project that mean more to the person that shot them than anyone else.

pullandbang

You have to admire anyone who starts and completes the 365. There are a lot more starters than there are finishers. Ok some of the shots taken will be below par as they are taken in desperation just to have a shot - hence shots of big toes taken at 11.55pm. However, it doesn't take away from the dedication needed to see the project through and as a body of work it's something you can be proud of.

humberklog

I like the ones packed to the gills of ennui. They show more. 365's aintrigue me. Congrats and a big glass of Chateauneuf de Pape to you sir.

Rainbowsend

Congratulations on finishing your project, I have just finished looking through
your book, and really enjoyed the pictures, especially as some are familiar as I live not to far from Bray. I can applaud you for your commitment as I am one of the many many people that thought it would be good fun to do a "photo a day" but soon discovered that it was in fact hard work and I didnt stay till the bitter end!

dave66

pete4130 wrote: »

I think, for me 365's are unintersting. It's like you said in your article that sometimes you click to just keep going.

Thats the problem with a lot of them. There are photos in there taken just to fill that day. These are the boring, uninteresting photos of anything that happens to be nearby to fill the requirement for that day and the reason why I find 365's uninspiring. I'd rather shoot 1 good image a year than 365 mediocre images.

They are a personal project that mean more to the person that shot them than anyone else.

Pete,

A 365 is what you make it, it can strip you bare at times and if you are serious about it there is most definitely a mental/emotional element to it. For some their intention is to have a very personal project and for those people if that's their aim and the complete it, then they have succeeded.

I'm certainly not trying to convince anyone to do a 365, part of the reason I chose to write the article is to try let people see there is more to it than first appears. Personally (and for me that's what counts) I got a lot from the project, it opened up a whole new style of photography to me. As I said I'm not happy with all my shots, but who is (even if they're not doing a 365) but there are some shots in there that I am very pleased with and somewhat proud of.

I guess part of the process is answering the question, do you take photos for the praise of others or for your own enjoyment?

jonniebgood1

dave66 wrote: »

I guess part of the process is answering the question, do you take photos for the praise of others or for your own enjoyment?

Well done- interesting explanations and some good photos that would have been missed if you didnt undertake this.

My main two high level goals were to improve my photography and to learn new things. http://cameras.abesofmaine.com/learning_center/david_f?l=SELLUP

It seems your goals were achieved.

kelly1

Well done, nice selection of shots.