I’ve long wanted to enhance my photography skills. I dabble. One might say I’m a dilettante looking for an opportunity to play with my cameras. I love what photography provides, besides the creative element, it captures a moment in time never to be repeated. Back in the day when I started dinking around with photography, I purchased a Nikon D40X. I took that camera to Europe and took some pretty inspired shots.
I upgraded a couple of years ago to the Nikon D90 and started to figure out the photography thing. Aperture, shutter speed, and f-stop remained a moderate mystery to me but it was fine because I simply used the “P” setting on the camera. The shots improved (the D90 was superior to the D40x) and I slowly began to understand phrases like, a fast lens, depth of field, bokeh and started incorporating techniques to emphasize those concepts. But photography remained just a fringe hobby — well, barely a hobby at all.
Late last year, I heard about a photographic exercise called Project 365. One takes a picture for each day of the year and uploads it to a photo sharing site, in this case Flickr. There is no going on vacation, taking 40 pictures then posting those pictures for the next 40 days — you are required to look for a find an image each and every day of the year. According to participants, the exercise is supposed to improve skills in composition, camera knowledge, and general ability. So, on a whim, I suggested it to a couple of friends, created a group on Flickr and off we went.
About 20 days in, the exercise has taken off with gusto. The group started with about five folk and now consists of 16 people, 10 doing posts on a regular basis. Some of the work included in the group could easily be turned into wall hangings and be the inspiration for decor in many a high-end home. Thus far it has been a fabulous experiment in learning about the nuances of photography. I’ve even managed to snap a couple of solid photos myself. Interested in checking out our group? Click on this link or head over to Flickr and search for Project 365 Circa 2013.