2 Years of Daily Photos

Yay! I finished two years!

Today is 2/28/10, which is about as close to 2/29 as you can get in a non-leap year. I started my One/Day Project on 2/29/08, and my plan is to keep going until the next time February 29th comes around in 2012. I might even continue after that, but we’ll see. My life could be completely different in 2 years, you know?

So how many photos is that?
730.

And you take one every single day?
That’s the rule – I have to take one every day, no pulling from the past. Sometimes I’m not able to upload it that same day, but that doesn’t count. See for yourself – if you hover over the photos on SmugMug, you can view the EXIF data, including capture date/time.

So you’ve never missed a day?
Sadly, I did miss one. I was really sick on 8/24/09 and never picked up the camera. Oh well, life moves on.

How often do you use your phone for daily photos?
Since I got my iPhone on 8/30/09, 46% of my photos have been with the iPhone. As Chase Jarvis says, the best camera is the one that’s with you.

Do you edit your photos?
Yes, I edit almost every single one before it gets uploaded. Most of the time the editing is minimal, like doing auto-tone or raising the vibrance/saturation or adding some contrast. Sometimes I take it into Photoshop for more drastic measures, like blending effects or compositing.

How do you keep track of your photos?
Adobe Lightroom. It’s awesome. Not only does it offer a convinient way to catalog all of your photos, it has a ton of easy-to-use editing options so that I rarely have to use Photoshop.

How do you get ideas for photos?
I just keep my eyes open for interesting shots, and I make it a point to go places like the beach. Other times I do pretty elaborate setups in my house. Of course, sometimes I don’t get ideas. These are what we in the daily photo community call ‘desperation shots’ for obvious reasons – you just run around the house looking for something to take a photo of.

Why do you do this?
Um, cause it’s fun? Duh…

What are some of your future plans?
So glad you asked! Here are a few things I want to accomplish in the near future:

• Create Facebook page for jawsnap photography
• Clean up website more – have a unified, slick look
• Try and do more setup photos/videos for my daily photos
• Upload more of my work to iStockphoto
• Do more photo shoots for clients – earn some actual income from this super-expensive hobby
• Gear wishlist
  • 10.5mm fisheye
  • SB-900
  • polarizing and graduated ND filters
  • VR head
  • softbox and light stand

Why don’t you post a few of your favorite photos from Year 2?
OK! Here you go: