365 photos – halfway point

I just passed the halfway point for my 2007 “365 photos” challenge, where I try to take at least one photo every day for the entire year 2007. I’ve actually been successful in taking a photo per day. Most days, I take many, so the hardest part is picking the “best” photo to represent the day. Other days, I don’t feel like taking a photo, or nothing interesting happens. Those are the hard days. I’ve still managed to take photos on those days, but it’s definitely a challenge.

I’m now up to 183 photos (many of which are only visible online to “friends and family” on Flickr). I’m trying to vary the types of photos I take, both in content and style, to try to stretch a bit. Not sure I’m succeeding in that, but here’s the last few weeks worth of photos:

Why do this? It’s just a bunch of boring photos of daily banality. Well, yeah. And so what? The point is to force myself to shoot more photos, whether I feel like it or not. There are a few reasons to do this, mostly related to practicing the technical stuff involved with taking photographs, so that it just becomes automatic and unthinking. I can now select aperture, exposure, ISO, focal length, etc… without having to actually think about it. I’ve also come to realize that it doesn’t really matter what camera you use – the key is to have a camera ready at hand at all times. I’ve been biking to and from work, and don’t want to lug my big LowePro AW200 backback. I’ve been bringing my little Fujifilm point-and-shoot because it’s small, and I wouldn’t lose too much sleep if it got wrecked. And as a result, it’s always been with me on my bike, and I’ve gotten several great shots I’d have missed otherwise.

I still love the hell out of my XT, and make a point of lugging it around wherever possible. The more I shoot with it, the more I appreciate just how well it works. I occasionally lust after a newer/faster camera, but it would be much more effective to invest in some better lenses (I have about half a dozen on my wish list, ranging from überwide 10-22mm, to überlong 300mm IS, to standard plastic-fantastic…)

Anyway, I’m still having a total blast with the 365photos challenge. I may not be a better photographer, artisitically speaking, but at least I’m getting more proficient, and forcing myself to delve into a bit more creativity.