Posts Tagged photo of the day

Did you know was a Project 365 dropout?

It’s true. I started my first daily photo project mid-August 2009 and by October I found myself struggling to keep up. After 60 some odd days, I was done posting daily, and by day 76 I realized that catching up on 20 missed days was just not going to happen.

I was kind of on a “time to change my life” kick, and was looking for self improvement projects. I had already begun working out and losing weight, and I decided I would pick up photography full time and futher develop my skills. Inspired by a couple of photography tweets that had this crazy hashtag #project365, I knew I had to check it out. By the end of the week I had combed through hundreds of people’s projects, thousands of photos, from iphone pictures to amatuers to professional photographers. I was hooked, in, ready to go, excited… worried about the committment, but pumped.

So what happened? I’d like to think it was a combination of things: Not anticipating time commitments, travel interference, trouble keeping track of days because I started mid-month, not having a systematic way of storing and sharing my photos, not having a group of peers to encourage and support me, and many others. It was a daunting list and in the end I had to give it up… for THAT attempt.

You may be wondering why I’m sharing this with you now? The truth is, I gave up on my project 365 last year, but in no way did I fail. Finished or not, I accomplished more than just starting a photography project – I reignited a passion in life that I had neglected. Not only that, but I now have 76 gorgeous photos for my portfolio that I would never have had, had I not tried at all. I also ended up learning from my previous attempt, and am now on day 155 of THIS year’s project (and going full steam ahead with no plans on stopping).

My challenge to you? Challenge yourself. You don’t have to take up a photo a day, or even a week. Just get out there and make pictures, write stories, draw, create! Failure only comes when you do not try.

Below I’ve picked out my top 10 favorite photos from last year’s “failed project365″. As you can see, it was anything but!

[If you'd like to see all my daily photo pictures, you can check them out on my Project365 Flickr set.]

1. A quick cigarette fix waiting for the band to take stage:

2. Downtown Orlando skyline in black and white:

3. Miami Vice in Orlando:

4. Rescue me:

5. Like a rock:

6. Liquor City in all it’s glory:

7. A girl and her camera:

8. Tampa theater, revamped but still old school:

9. A shot in the dark, downtown Tampa Bay:

10. My new pet, Spike: