Four Years of Daily Photos

Well I’ll be damned. I made it four years! FOUR YEARS of taking and posting a photo every single day. I declare Phase I complete.

I started my One/Day Project on leap day (February 29th) in 2008, so I’m calling the period between leap days Phase I. Hopefully I’ll make it to Phase II. Check back in about four years for that. Better yet, follow along! Year 5 is already a week in.

Daily Diary

Although I’m pretty cautious on personal details, this project is basically a diary by nature. Looking back over a single year is fun, but going back all four years is really crazy. Four years is a long time. We got married, bought a condo and changed jobs. We visited 15 states and 4 countries. We explored 10 National Parks. I say “we” because my wife was with me through all of this. I’m grateful to have her support; I know I can be annoying by taking photos all the time.

States: Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, 
Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, 
North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington

Countries: United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, Mozambique

National Parks: I'll let you figure those out.

I don’t want to get too philosophical, but being able to look back on every single day of your life for that long brings up some interesting thoughts. When I look back on some of the earlier photos, the photo itself brings back strong memories, but everything else about that day is a little fuzzy. It’s like the photo is imprinting itself on my memory, even though the image itself might not be reflective of anything significant. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing, though, because I doubt I’d remember certain things if I didn’t have these photos to look through. That’s why I always link back to the previous years’ photo.

One thing I notice when looking back is how the project has really been a success. I did challenge myself and I have grown as a photographer. My photos are clearly much better than when I started, and that makes me feel quite accomplished.

Charts

Because digital photography is immediate, accessible, and shareable – daily photo projects are possible. With film, slow computers and poor internet, they would not be. You know what else is possible in this great age we live in? Quantifying your life.

Here are some charts showing which cameras I used to take the photos in the One/Day Project.

Here’s the other 3 years, for comparison!

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Next up is a chart for Phase I – all four years – a total of 1462 photos.

Compact cameras include a Canon S95 and SD400. iPhone models include the 3G, 3GS, 4, and 4S.

Clearly I favor the D80, or my ‘big camera’ as it is often referred to. I had my Nikon D80 for nearly a year before I started the One/Day Project, and the fact that it’s lasted this long really speaks to the quality of the equipment. It’s taken some abuse, but it keeps on clicking.

Year 4 Favorites

As in previous years, I picked my top 20 favorites to show you here:

What’s Next?

Year 5 is next. In fact, Year 5 is now – I’m already a week into it as I write this. In other words, I’m continuing the One/Day Project. I find it fulfilling and it’s a pretty ingrained habit; I don’t see any reason to stop.

More people? Sure, I think I’d like to take more photos of people. That’s why I took the Environmental Portraiture class that I just finished. It was a great experience and I learned a ton. I’ll probably try to do more photo shoots, and maybe join some more classes and such.

Getting a new camera is pretty high on my list. My Nikon D80 has be awesome, but it’s really showing its age. In particular, it has terrible high-ISO performance. It’s not something I noticed early on, but now it’s really starting to bug me. The closest replacement to it is the D7000, but that’s already 1.5 years old. I’ll wait for the next thing, and probably get it.

I’d love to make some more money off of this. I have some products I plan to sell on Etsy. I was thinking of making a calendar for the holidays. Maybe even product a book about my 4-year journey. I got all sorts of ideas, but will people actually buy any of them? Who knows. If you know, please tell me.

Alrighty Then

That’s all I got, folks! Thanks for your support! Thanks for checking out my photos!

Tell your friends, buy some prints or digital downloads, and give lots of thumbs ups