Lessons learned from my Photo A Day project

I did it! My daily photo project is complete. There were a couple of hiccups (more on that below), but overall, I accomplished my goal, which was to play with and learn more about my camera and photography. I still have a lot to learn about the technical aspects of the camera, but really the only way to learn is to take more photos. I can’t say that I’m a master at my DSLR yet, but I have learned a lot about light this year.

When I first started this project, I really questioned what I had committed myself to. It seemed like such a chore to remember to take a photo. But eventually, I settled into a groove and taking a photo everyday became a habit. I learned a lot about tackling a daily project like this and thought I would pass along some of my experience for anyone looking to do their own Photo A Day / Photo 365 project.

1) Aim to take the photo early in the day (so you won’t forget). The light is usually better in the morning anyway. If something awesome comes along later in the day, great. Take more photos. But don’t wait for something awesome to come along before you pick up the camera.

2) Make it simple. My only self-imposed requirement was to take at least one photo (any photo of any thing) per day. I didn’t put any other stipulations on it. No themes, no content requirements, no requirement to “capture the day’s events.” I’m an overthinker and anything like this would have turned this into a MAJOR time-sucking project for me. I guess just know yourself. If you need inspiration or prompts, great! But for me it would have over-complicated things.

3) People with pets and/or children will find a daily photo challenge easier than those without them. Having willing subjects close at hand makes things simple. Plus it always seems like my daughter is doing something strange and camera-worthy.

4) Have a mental list of things to take a photo of. This goes for everyone (even with those with pets or children). Have a short mental list of inanimate objects you would like to take photos of. For me, I always wanted to photograph the odd assortment of antique doorknobs in my house. (Man, that sounded weird and pretentious. But you get the point.)

For you, maybe it’s flowers from your garden or a collection of milkglass plates or a particular building or bridge that always catches your eye. Just have something on the list for days when inspiration escapes you or nothing interesting comes along. Even with 365 opportunities, I still didn’t get to that bridge. Maybe this spring.

5) Don’t beat yourself up over a mistake. Small confession: I did forget to take a picture a couple of times. Is that scandalous? Not really. Honestly, I made it from January to September before I screwed up, and that’s pretty good! Sorry if you feel deceived because my blog posts didn’t make mention of this. I’m not perfect. I’m not a photojournalist. This project is for myself. I’m not going to think about it too much.

So what did I do to preserve the timeline? I took two photos the next day to fill the gap.

(And to answer a couple of questions that no one asked…)

Would I do it again?

Probably not. It was interesting and I love looking back at all the photos that never would have been taken without the pressure of a project like this. (And yes, there are some clunkers in there too.) I still need to put a photobook together of all 365 photos to make my project truly complete. But I can’t see myself doing a daily photo project like this again (or really, any daily project other than brushing my teeth). Weekly or monthly, maybe, but not right now. The newness of a project really excites me, so I’m looking forward to using the time and mental energy on something else.

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So that’s it! Thanks for following along with me this year. Part of me is going to miss these posts, but I won’t miss the obligation.

Have you ever thought about tackling a daily photo assignment? Was any of this helpful?