2009 marks the beginning of my first full year of serious dSLR photography. I picked up my first dSLR camera kit – the Canon Digital Rebel XTi – in April of 2008. Since then I’ve already acquired various new lenses and other essential photo gear. Most recently I upgraded to the Canon 5D Mark II camera body. With a shooting capacity of around 400 RAW images on a 4GB card, the XTi was a great place to start with learning the photography basics. At this point I’ve taken around 5500 shots in less than a full year of shooting and learned a lot of the fundamentals. However, I still have a lot to learn and continue to do so at every opportunity.
The new year presented a perfect opportunity to begin a special photo-a-day project. I decided it would be a great tool to help me continue to develop and push my photography skills in a number of ways. The rules are very simple – shoot at least one photo every day and post it to my gallery. That’s pretty much it. It’s not even necessary that the photo is posted on the same day as it is taken. The only requirement is that there is a picture is shot every single day. It might not get processed and uploaded until several days later. Sometimes life can get in the way of having the access to a computer with an internet connection, time, energy, or any number of other factors that would prevent a photo from being posted on the same day as it is taken.
The requirement to take a shot forces me to take worthwhile photos when I see them even when I might not feel like it, am in a rush or whatever other excuse I might have because I know I need a picture for that day. On the other hand, there are days when I’m completely uninspired or whatever picture I end up taking just isn’t that good and doesn’t leave me much to work with. It also gives me an opportunity to explore different visual styles and post processing techniques since the images aren’t tied to a larger collection that reflects a tighter, more cohesive theme.
Often times the photos are quick shots taken throughout the day rather than seriously dedicated studies. If I see something interesting going to work, going out to lunch, or going home in the evening I’m more inclined to take a quick shot before continuing on my way. As the number of images increase, a picture of my day to day life begins to emerge. Also, finding something unique to photograph in my daily surroundings that I haven’t already shot yet becomes more challenging every day. And challenging myself is one of the big reasons I decided to take on this project. 31 down and 334 to go.