Recap: A 365 Project

by Dotti

Have you ever done … are you now doing … have you/are you contemplating a 365 Project?

A year ago in this space, I shared with you my intention to begin a 365 Project on July 1, my second but not done consecutively. Today I’m happy to report to you that I have done 364 of those photos. The final photo will be taken on the same day that you read this post, June 30.

Today I want to share with you some observations and some tips that I learned along the way as well as some of my favorite photos. There are so many more I could have shared but I restrained myself.

I strongly suggest that you keep your photos in one place, either in an album in your personal Flickr photostream, or a dedicated folder in your ‘Pictures’ file on your computer/backup drive, whatever system you use. It makes it a lot easier to troll back through the memories of your year.

I also documented my photos on my personal blog, Camper. This is not necessary unless you just want to do it. I actually found that it limited some of the things I would like to have posted on some days, the photos and the ideas just didn’t always mesh. So if I do another, I likely won’t document it fully on the blog. If you don’t do a blog, be sure to join some kind of 365 group … it will keep you accountable and that will lead to a greater probability of success.

You should also consider some way of getting these photos off your computer and out into the real world. I think I’m going to do two photo books, one for each six month period.  But get them out where your family and friends can readily see them and so your family will have them in years to come. After all, this is a peek into your heart and mind as well as a collection of memories for them.

Beginning my 365 on July 1 instead of January 1 turned out to be a godsend. In the summer I take a lot of photos; in the winter … it’s much more of a struggle. If I’d just been starting out in January when inspiration seems to ebb, it might have severely dampened my resolve to complete the project. As it was, when winter came along, I was too deeply invested to give up!

Which brings me to another point: don’t expect each and every day to produce a masterpiece. It isn’t going to happen … and that’s okay! After all, this is a collection of photos in this particular time frame of your life. Just as each day in your life isn’t perfect, each photo won’t be either.

When you find yourself looking at a clock that says ‘9 PM’ and you suddenly realize you don’t have your photo yet, get creative. Here’s one example of the results of my 9PM Panic.

What was the most challenging time for me? These last few days! My life became uncharacteristically filled with a series of challenging days and some days … well, see the paragraph above and the photo below.

No matter the quality of your photos, when you troll back through your 365 Project, you’re going to say, ‘Oh! I’d forgotten that day! That was such fun.’ And you’ll be eternally grateful that you have that imperfect photo to remind you that … nothing is ordinary.

 And ... don't be afraid to use your phone camera! There were many days that my iPhone saved my 365 and now I look at those with very warm memories of when and where they were taken.

Am I going to do another 365 Project beginning tomorrow? I think not. But to keep myself engaged in regular photo-taking, I think I will do a weekly mosaic with the highlights of my week. And then, at the end of the year ... make a photo book of that. Because this is my life!

It's your life ... what are you going to do with it?

PS - The Theme for July is Simplicity and you can find more information in the tab above. If there is a better time for 'simplicity' than summer, I don't know when it is. So ... with that thought in mind ....  you'll be seeing a slightly pared down version of FOL for July and August. There will still be beautiful photos and inspiration to share but we will be paring down our posts so you, our valued readers, and those of us who bring you FOL can enjoy some of this easy livin'. Don't miss it!