My One/Day Project is now 75% done, after 3 years and 1095 photos. It’ll be complete on leap day (February 29th) in 2012. Of course, I might just keep going after that…
Panoramic crop of my final photo in Year 3 - the Santa Monica Pier
Like last year, I wanted to do some reflection on the previous year as well as look forward to Year 4. Since no one has volunteered to interview me, here are some questions I asked myself:
What cameras did you use?
The following charts show the breakdown of camera models used in each year so far.
Of course the camera doesn’t matter – the important thing is having a camera with you that you know how to use. On the other hand, of course it matters – I can do things with my SLR that are impossible on my phone and compacts. Feel free to refute either argument in the comments.
 Year 1 |
 Year 2 |
 Year 3 |
A few things clearly stand out, such as the fact that I primarily use my Nikon D80 and I didn’t own an iPhone in Year 1. When I first started I used my D80 fairly often and carried it around a lot. Now I tend to carry a compact or my phone to be discreet and carry less weight, unless I’m going somewhere specifically to take photos.
The increase in iPhone usage is pretty obvious. I expect that to continue, although I almost certainly won’t continue getting every model that comes out.
Where did you take the photos?
I rarely plan to take a certain photo on a certain day, so many are impromptu photos at or around work. At home, I tend to spend more time setting up the scene and/or lighting it in an interesting way.
I also took some big trips. These trips all have their own galleries separate from my daily photos:
I have a rule regarding daily photos and trips – if the trip is less than 3 days, I generally wait until I’m home to upload photos. If it’s longer, I’ll use the iPhone and upload each day so I don’t get so far behind. The downside is that I have to remember to take iPhone photos and their quality isn’t always up to par. The upside is that I don’t get too far behind and folks can follow along on the trip, sort of.
Do you keep all your photos?
I used to. Not anymore.
I’ve started shooting in RAW all the time, which has started filling up my hard drive pretty quickly compared to JPEG. After shooting, I’ll copy everything through Lightroom and start sorting through them. Usually I’ll end up picking just a handful of photos that are photo-of-the-day candidates and choose from that, and I’ll delete the rest. I figure if the photo is not good enough to even be considered the best of the day, what’s the point in keeping it?
Of course there are exceptions, like vacations, client sessions or times when I’m really ‘on.’ But if I’m just playing around at home and taking a picture of an object and it takes me 10 shots to get it right… what’s the point of keeping the first 9?
For me, the trick is to delete them right away. The longer I keep them, the more I think there is a reason to keep them.
Any plans to get new gear?
Of course, but there’s a slight money problem. Turns out photography gear is really expensive – who knew, right? Here’s a short wish list of relatively affordable items:
- Nikon SB-900
- Panorama head
- Gigapan Epic
- Nikkor VR 105mm f/2.8 IF-ED
- Lensbaby Composer
- Green laser pointer
- Smoke drops
Those last two are for creating effects. I also want lots of lighting gear, but I don’t have the specifics.
I’ve always had it in my head that I will built some equipment myself, but so far that hasn’t happened. The lack of a garage or workshop makes it kind of hard.
What are your favorite photos from Year 3?
What are your goals for Year 4?
As always and in general, I want to improve my skills and technique.
I hope to invest in some lighting gear and practice lighting scenes in creative ways – a 2nd flash unit will help greatly in that endeavor.
I’d like do blog posts instead of setup photos. The posts will include photos of course, but I’ll give more instruction and not try and cram it all into a photo and caption.
I’d love to take more photos of people, but that tends to be out of my comfort zone so it’s kind of tough. Gotta push myself.
Become more involved in the photo community – explore more sites, enter more contests, take more classes, etc. I also want to start actively ‘collecting’ photos and photographers that inspire me, stuff I want to refer back to when I’m feeling uncreative.
Put stuff on Flickr. I hate Flickr, but everyone uses it, so I should get myself out there, right?
Make some money. If you know someone that needs photos, send them my way!
Visit more off-the-map places, get down and dirty. Photos always turn out better when you do that.