365 Community

December 11-17, 2011 Photos of the Week

2011-12-19T03:16:00.000Z

POTW 28th Nov - 4th Dec

2011-12-04T21:36:00.001Z

Here are the photos for this week....
Enjoy the festivities everyone!

POTW 20th-27th Nov

2011-11-28T08:45:00.000Z

Have a good week everyone!

Photos of the week: 6th - 12th November 2011

2011-11-14T18:29:00.001Z

Congratulations to the photographers who took these photos,they were nominated and chosen as our POTW!

POTW Oct 30th - Nov 5th

2011-11-06T10:04:00.001Z

Nice work everyone!

POTW Oct 16-22 2011

2011-10-23T11:18:00.001+01:00

Hope everyone has had a good week and is enjoying the weekend!

Here are this week's photos of the week:

Well done everyone!

Photos of the week - Oct 9th - Oct 15th

2011-10-16T21:42:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to the photographers who took these photos, they were nominated and chosen as our POTW!

Photos of the Week: September 18th to 24th

2011-10-03T05:27:00.002+01:00

Congratulations to the photographers who took these photos, they were nominated and chosen as our POTW!

Photos of the week, 18th - 24th Sept

2011-09-25T11:55:00.003+01:00

Well done all!
Check out their photos in larger size!

Have a good week :-)

Photos of the week 11th - 17th September 2011

2011-09-19T01:21:00.003+01:00

A great selection of photos in the pool again this week. Here are the photos of the week.

Photos of the week: 4th - 10th September 2011

2011-09-14T12:58:00.000+01:00

Lots of great photos in the pool again this week. Here are the photos of the week.

Photos of the Week: August 28 - September 3

2011-09-04T20:23:00.001+01:00

Congratulations to the photographers who took these photos, they were nominated and chosen as the photos of the week!

POTW for August 21 - 27, 2011

2011-08-29T16:04:00.000+01:00

Last throws of summer and kids going back to school (at least for those on the northern hemisphere). Great photos this week in the 365 Community pool!

POTW for August 14 - 20, 2011

2011-08-21T23:47:00.001+01:00

Lots of great photos in the pool again this week. Here are the photos of the week.

Photos of the week, 7th August - 13th August

2011-08-14T10:56:00.003+01:00

Thank you to everyone for contributing to the pool and to those who submitted their nominations this week! Once again, some fabulous images and great variety in your 365 projects!
If you like the images, pay a visit to the photographer's photo-stream and show your support!

Have a good week all :-)

POTW for July 31st - August 6th

2011-08-09T06:07:00.007+01:00

Our photos of the week! They are fabu, be sure to check them out! And of course, since it is me picking... there are four. As always, if you see a photo you really love in the pool, be sure to nominate it in the discussion area of our group. ENJOY your week everyone!

POTW for July 24th to 30th 2011

2011-08-02T18:09:00.002+01:00

Another wonderful week of photos, if you like any of those chosen, be sure to visit the photographers stream and leave a comment, they will be happy you did.

Photos of the Week: July 17-23

2011-07-25T05:15:00.000+01:00

Lots of wonderful photos in the pool this week! Congratulations to the photographers who took the following photos, they were nominated and chosen as this week's Photos of the Week!

Congratulations Smile4Me!Photography!

2011-07-25T04:15:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to Charley who recently finished her lovely and color-filled 365 Project with this photo:

Below is Charley's finisher's interview and two admin faves. Enjoy!

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
At first, I was hoping that maybe one of my photos would be good enough to be 'Explored'...which never happened to my knowledge. But, then it just became the challenge of taking a picture consecutively for 365 days and hoping to learn more about my camera, it's settings and such. I also noticed other contacts that seemed to be enjoying doing so.

I noticed so many members who had several, often hundreds, of comments posted on their pictures and I thought, perhaps, by posting a picture everyday, more would become aware of my photostream and leave the same amount of comments...but this didn't happen either. Shame on me...I guess that keeps me humble, lol..oh well, guess I should just be happy that I have a place to display my work...

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
Improved, but not expert, yet!

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
That I stuck with the project. I thought for sure I would throw in the towel.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
To look outside the box...look at everything in the frame...not just the main subject.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
Hmm..had to think about this one. The only one I could come up with was my picture from day 317 was of a horse named Blue. I had noticed him one day in a fenced off field that I drove by frequently, all alone..and not sure why. The next day, I took my camera an was attempting to get some pictures of him from a distance, when all of a sudden, the owner appears and starts walking toward me. Thinking he was going to run me off, I started to put away my camera. He suddenly motioned for me to come around to the gate and he would let me in for some closeup shots. Ironically, the next day, the horse was gone. Just shows to never pass up an opportunity to take pictures of whatever inspires you and to always have a camera on your person.

What are your future photography plans?
To continue to improve in my skills. I am starting a 52 week project and will continue contributing to other groups I am a member of.

Can you share some of your favorite photos from your project?
There were so many 'favorites' to choose from, but I've narrowed them down to 4-

176/365-I love the reflection in the ornament

219/365-I thought this one was great because the background (scrapbook page) says 'eyecandy' and I taped an eye on a piece of candy..though it was pretty creative.

290/365- Because it's my motto 'Smile4Me!'

Congratulations again! If you have recently completed your 365 project, or you will soon, please contact a 365 admin to find out how to be featured in this blog. :)

Congratulations to Esperantista!

2011-07-18T23:13:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to Esperantista who completed her 365 on 30th June with this photo:

Esperantista kindly agreed to answer our finisher interview questions and share her favourite photos from the project.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I wanted to learn how to use my camera, and I thought it was a good way to start. Taking a look on some other 365's, I admired the way in which photography grows up along the way, so I said... Why not?

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
People usually tell me that my pictures have a positive, creative and romantic feeling. I really don’t know, but maybe it’s true. The most of the times, I like to see the bright side of life.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
I thought it was much more easy! When I started the project I was sure about finishing it, but half way I was without inspiration and I realized that it was really at that moment when the real challenge began.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
Mainly, to be more creative. Before that, I only used to take pictures of the things I saw. I couldn’t think about "creating" a picture. The pressure of having to shoot something different every day, led me to experiment and to create my own situation for taking a picture. And I have do a lot of things for first time, new techniques, self-portraits (I had never done before!), zooming, panning... Moreover, I wanted to learn photoshop, so I followed many tutorials to do cloning or levitation and it has been very funny.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
On days 200, 284 and 340 it happened exactly the same. I was taking a walk on the outskirts of the city, looking for some inspiration, and all three times, in different places, a white horse surprised me coming out from nowhere… I live in a big city, so seeing a horse is very, very strange! And I saw it in three different places and at three different times! Always a lone horse, and always white. I thought it was a sign!

What are your future photography plans?
My plans are to continue learning. The world of photography is infinite, and the more you know, the more you wanna learn. I would like to improve with the use of external flashes, and change to a better camera when I save enough money. The 365 has been the best photography course I’ve ever taken, I admit, but there's a whole world for learning, and I'm just a beginner.

Some of her favourites:

Somewhere in La Mancha 332/365 - The 365 has allowed me to know much more better the place where I live (Spain). Every weekend I tried to go out of the city and discover new places. Probably I wouldn’t do it without the project

Checkpoint 314/365 - I met my life partner on a day 10, and to celebrate that, we have been taking photos of ourselves once a month from the beginning of our relationship. So there are a few truly romantic shots in the project, usually taken on a day 10. Love has made us so :)

Rain 064/365 - Or how to take a different picture in the same street that you see everyday.

Congrats once again to Esperantista! Here are a few admin favourites along with a slideshow of her completed project.

POTW for July 10 - July 16

2011-07-18T15:16:00.000+01:00

Lots of summery imagery (at least in the Northern half of the globe) in the 365 Community pool! Our photos of the week are below. Check out these photographer's streams, you'll be glad you did.

POTW for July 3rd - 9th.

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Lots of fabulous photos in the pool! Our pics for the week. Be sure to check them out!

Photos of the Week for June 26- July 3, 2011

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Congratulations!

POTW for June 12 - June 18 2011

2011-06-21T15:41:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to the photographers who took these fabulous photographs! Be sure to stop by their photo streams, you'll be glad you did.

Photos of the Week for June 5-11

2011-06-13T04:43:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to the photographers who took these fabulous photographs!

POTW for May 29 - June 4 2011

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Hope you all had a fabulous weekend. Yet again, I had a hard time narrowing down the photos of the week to just three.... so we have another four! Be sure to check them out. :)

And as always, if you have a photo that you see in the group pool that you just love, be sure to nominate it !

POTW for May 22 - May 28 2011

2011-05-30T04:53:00.006+01:00

Not unusual for me, but I had a hard time picking just three this week, so I picked four ;) If you like them too, be sure to stop by and say hello on their streams!

And do you have a bunch of favs from the pool this week? Share them with us in the discussion threads!

POTW for May 15 - May 21 2011

2011-05-25T07:31:00.005+01:00

Congratulations to the photographers whose photographs were chosen for this week! Whoot.

And if you see anything that just blows you away in the pool, be sure to nominate it for POTW in the discussion threads!

POTW for May 8 - May 14 2011

2011-05-16T13:16:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to the photographers whose photographs were chosen for this week! Be sure to visit their streams, you'll be glad you did.

POTW for May 1st to 7th 2011

2011-05-09T12:21:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to the photographers who took these wonderful photos!

POTW for April 24-30, 2011

2011-05-02T03:30:00.002+01:00

Congratulations to the photographers who had their beautiful photos nominated and chosen as Photo of the Week.

POTW for April 17 - 23, 2011

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Congratulations to the 365 Community members whose photos were chosen as POTW!
Be sure to stop by these photographer's streams, you'll be glad you did.

POTW for April 10 - 16, 2011

2011-04-18T14:13:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to the 365 Community members whose photos were chosen as POTW!
Be sure to stop by these photographer's streams, you'll be glad you did.

POTW for April 4 -10, 2011

2011-04-11T04:22:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to the 365 Community members whose photos were chosen as POTW!

POTW for March 28- April 3, 2011

2011-04-05T02:04:00.001+01:00

Congratulations everyone on other great week. The following have been selected as our photos of the week. Be sure to stop by these photographer's streams, you'll be glad you did.

Ignition by Serendipities Studio

Sweet Tooth by αlĸαlιne мoυѕe

141: Tree beauty by niseag03

Congratulations to Jsefsnr

2011-03-28T17:26:00.003+01:00

John finished his 365 back at the end of December with this shot

John's 365 was a pleasure to follow with a diverse portfolio of shots. He kindly agreed to answer our finisher interview questions and choose some of his favourites from his project.

1.) What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?

My son is a keen photographer as am I and at the end of 2009 we both purchased Canon 5D mark II cameras. As they are quite complicated we decided to take on a 365 project in order to get to know the cameras. It certainly worked for both of us.

2.) How would you describe your photography in just a few words?

I trained as a photographer in the RAF over 55 years ago and have had an interest ever since.

3.) What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?

I did not think it would be so difficult to work out what to take every day. I am retired and found it difficult but how busy people manage, I have no idea.

4.) What did you learn during the course of your project?

The main thing I learned, apart from the camera workings, was that the most important thing is the idea behind the picture.

5.) Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?

The most popular photo that I took was one highlighted by the Flickr site. It had a lot of hits and people commented about the composition and how I had done well to get a "jogger" in it. It was just luck and taken through the windscreen of my car.

6.) What are your future photography plans?

I wanted a rest before starting another 365 but have started the ODC group which I like. I might start another 365 when I go to South Africa in April.

Some of John's favourites from his 365

Congratulations again to John and I apologise for taking so long to get this written, here are a couple of admin faves, together with a slide-show of his 365.

POTW for March 20th to 26th 2011

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Congratulations everyone on other great week. Be sure to stop by these photographer's streams, you'll be glad you did.

POTW for March 13-19 2011

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Some great submissions for this weeks photos of the week! With longer days coming now for at least the northern hemisphere, it makes things a bit easier with the project. Be sure to stop by these photographer's streams, you'll be glad you did.

Photos of the Week for March 6-12, 2011

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Congratulations to the photographers who took these wonderful photos!

Photos of the Week for February 27- March 5th

2011-03-07T04:01:00.000Z

Congratulations!

POTW for February 20th to 26th

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Another great week of photos, if you like any of those chosen this week, be sure to visit the photographers stream and leave a comment, they will be happy you did.

POTW for February 13-19

2011-02-21T00:52:00.000Z

Check out our picks for photo of the week!

Be sure to check out these photographers streams, you'll be glad you did. If you see photos that you like, be sure to nominate them for photo of the week too!

POTW for February 6th-13th :)

2011-02-14T06:30:00.005Z

Check out our photos of the week!

If you see any photos that you love, be sure to nominate them for POTW!

Will be back here tomorrow with some more Dec 31st finishers. :) ENJOY til then.

POTW for January 30th-February 5th

2011-02-07T04:01:00.001Z

Another wonderful week of photos, congratulations to these photos that were nominated and chosen as POTW!

Congratulations to MarianneLoMonaco!

2011-02-01T12:20:00.000Z

Congratulations to Marianne, who completed her 365 project on December 31 with this photo:

Marianne's project is filled with a variety of color, nature and scenery. Below is her finisher's interview:

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I had seen on flickr that people were titling their photos with numbers; I didn’t understand what it meant and at the time I hadn’t heard of a project365. When I learned about the project it seemed like a fun thing to do and I thought it would be good way to force myself to be creative every day. Also, a few people I knew said they were going to do it, so once I was really sure I would commit I decided that I would go for it too.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
It's about the details, really pretty natural light and blur.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
That people liked my photos. I was really surprised by all the positive feedback that I got right away from people that knew me and from total strangers. I wasn’t expecting it at all. It gave me more confidence and I started to trust my instincts more.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I finally learned how to use my camera. I had my DSLR for under a year before starting my project and I didn't know what I was doing. My old camera was such a jerk, it used to randomly shut off when I’d press the shutter. I also learned a different way of seeing the world. I think there is beauty everywhere, even gross parking lots. I also taught myself how to use Photoshop, before that I was doing easy edits with Picnik.

What are your future photography plans?
Aside from selling prints on Etsy I'm doing a 52 week project. I'm also trying to put together a book of my 365. And I would really like to step out of my comfort zone this year and do more street photography.

Her favorites:

Congrats again to Marianne! Here are a few admin favorites along with a slideshow of her completed project.

POTW for January 23rd to 29th

2011-01-30T20:45:00.005Z

Some great photos again for this week, it was hard to choose three from the wonderful nominations. Well done to Chris Bunda Photography, dhoris and helenogbourn for having their photos chosen this week.

If you like any of those chosen, be sure to visit the photographers stream and leave a comment, they will be happy you did.

congratulations to Michael Hunter

2011-01-27T22:32:00.002Z

Congratulations to Michael, who completed his 365 on December 24th with this interesting portrait

Michael's 365 set is filled with cool portraits, interesting still lifes and technically great shots!

Here is his finisher's interview...

1.) What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I felt I was in a creative rut and wanted to stretch myself. This certainly did the trick.

2.) How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
Artistically speaking, I'd say my photography is light hearted, dorky, no hidden depths - just entertaining. I've been told my style is quite contrasty too...

3.) What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
How much time and effort it would consume! Not just the execution but the creativity side of it. I'd sit there on my couch at night mulling over what to take next... I became obsessed. I also didn't want to copy anyone else's ideas, so the more I looked on flickr the harder that became after a while.

4.) What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learned that I wouldn't be doing this again. Haha.
I learned a lot more about how to use my strobe lights.
I learned that even Zack Arias failed after less than 100 days. Wow!

5.) Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
On day #303, I met up with my old friend Rudi from the UK whom I hadn't seen in over seven years. He was in town working for the Gorillaz as their lighting tech/roadie. I got back stage, met a lot of really fun people and watched the gig from the control desk, stage center. It was an amazing experience but star struck as I was, catching up with Rudi was still the best part of it.

6.) What are your future photography plans?
I'm taking a month off to read some fiction books (I cant multi-task).
After that, I plan to do a couple of collaborations with other flickr people around the globe - all from our respective home countries. I'm sure there'll be many emails and images being transferred back and forth in that time but I am looking forward to the challenge.

His favourites....

I chose this because it actually lead to some real paying work from a Porsche dealership in the bay area.

I chose this because I finally created a black and white shot I was really proud of. Especially the lighting.

I chose this simply because it still makes me laugh to this day ... and thats a good thing, right ?

Congratulations stacy kissel!

2011-01-25T01:32:00.000Z

Congratulations to Stacy, who completed her 365 Project December 31 with this celebration of a photo:

Stacy's photostream is filled with great shots and is well worth a visit. Below is her finisher's interview and her impressive favorites from her year, enjoy!

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I decided to begin the project because I wanted some sort of structure that would make me get better at taking photos. I'm self-taught, and I've found that taking tons of shots is the only way to figure out what works and what doesn't.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
Quirky, inconsistent, selfish.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
Soon after starting the project, I found that I was constantly composing photos in my mind. I began looking at the world differently, always seeking out something interesting for that day's photo. Sometimes I wish I could turn this off, as I get frustrated when I don't have my camera with me or am in a situation where I can't stop and take a photo.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learned that it's possible to take an interesting photo anywhere. No matter where I am, I can find something to shoot.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
See:

Weirdest coincidence ever.

What are your future photography plans?
I've taken a bit of a break lately, but I want to do a relaxed version of a 365 this year. I hope to have at least a couple of photos each week that I'll designate as a photo of the day. During the summer I may try to get back to the one-a-day thing. I hope to start shooting with film a bit more, as I won't have to worry about keeping track of which photos were taken on which days.

Favorites:

Because I like the photo and I hate that I was kicked out of a place where I could have taken so many amazing shots.

Because I love the color and I captured the bird at the perfect instant.
I also remember that I took this after work while waiting to meet friends for beers. I was just wandering around and saw the perfect photo.

This is one of my all-time favorites. Not only do I love how the colors and the lights look, but this was taken on a most excellent night. It was incredibly warm, and I spend the night walking walking all over NYC with one of my favorite people on Earth. We had just walked over the Brooklyn Bridge and back. We than wandered by the river to get shots of the bridge from the side. I didn't mind that there were roaches scurrying around my feet.

Because I don't use my old Polaroids enough.

Best self-portrait ever.

Congratulations to Mark Bonica!

2011-01-24T18:10:00.005Z

Congratulations to Mark who finished his 365 on 31st December with this great self portrait

Mark's 365 has been a pleasure to follow with such a diverse portfolio of shots. He kindly agreed to answer our finisher interview questions and choose some of his favourites from his project.

1.) What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?

I wanted to share something with my wife - a project we could both be involved with - I thought it would give us something to talk about and explore together. Plus, I had purchased my DSLR, but hadn't used it as much as I wanted to. I knew taking a picture a day would force me to learn more about it.

2.) How would you describe your photography in just a few words?

I have been influenced by Henry David Thoreau since I was a young man. Art for me has always been about being awake and appreciating the splendor of the common.

3.) What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?

How important it became to me. We went through a lot of transitions and stress over the course of the year, and it was a rudder in some senses.

4.) What did you learn during the course of your project?

Not surprisingly, I learned how much I had to learn. I learned some of the avenues that I need to travel to become a better visual artist.

5.) Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?

I think my favorite picture of the year was day 134 (link below) when I metro'ed up to Arlington Cemetary and photographed the Old Guard sentry at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It meant a lot to me as a career soldier to try to capture some of the cultural significance of the place.

6.) What are your future photography plans?

I'm hoping to continue to have it be a part of my life, trying to think how I can integrate it into my professional life as well. It's been a great hobby to share with my wife - we talk about it a lot and it's brought us closer.

Some favs:

Arlington shot mentioned above:

My first "explored" - this took a lot of shots to get the timing right. it was a good learning experience getting to understand the relationship between motion and shutter speed.

Jiu-jitsu is an important part of my life - these are some friends working out.

Congratulations again to Mark, here are a couple of admin faves, together with a slide-show of his 365.

Congratulations to JoGo!

2011-01-24T16:50:00.005Z

Congratulations to Jo who finished her 365 on 4th January with this fantastic black and white shot

Jo is a great Flickr contact who is very talented and an inspiration to many. Her photography has gone from strength to strength throughout her 365, as has her processing skills, which are excellent. She has a real talent with textures creating beautiful pieces of art. Jo lives in a very beautiful part of the UK and has many photos of her local area that are awe inspiring.

Here is Jo's finisher interview, which she was kind enough to answer

1.) What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I was inspired to do a 365 after reading a piece on photoblog on how it had helped that person hone their photography skills. I undertook the 365 because I wanted to improve my photography and editing skills and make pictures not just take them.

2.) How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
eeek...my photography in a few words? Still evolving.

3.) What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
All the friends I have made, and hopefully will keep, is what surprised me. I didn't associate Flickr with social networking and while not social networking per se, there is definately a network there, and it can be kind of social, and friendly, and I like it!

4.) What did you learn during the course of your project?
Mainly I learnt to see a picture and compose it where at times in the past it would have gone unnoticed. I've learnt how good DoF and bokeh are, I can work in photoshop much more quickly now, having discovered shortcuts, actions, &layers etc.

5.) Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
My minds gone blank I'm sure if there were I'd remember it :)

6.) What are your future photography plans?
Well, my photography still has a long way to go so I may not do another 365 (unless I change my mind in a few days time) but I will be posting regularly, maybe do a 52 instead, though I can't actually imagine only posting one shot a week...so we'll see!

When asked about her favourites Jo said "It's quite hard to choose any favourites, especially as I don't have a particular style, I chose these 3 water shots, 2 are kind of abstract, 2 are kind of dynamic in movement".

Congrats once again to Jo! Here are three of the admin favourites from the year and a slideshow of her complete 365.

Congratulations to 3Geezy!

2011-01-24T14:26:00.002Z

Congratulations to 3Geezy who finished his 365 on 31st December with this wonderful black & white self portrait

Through his 365 we are given an incite into his life and the area around him, with some lovely colourful shots and some wonderful animal portraits. 3Geezy was kind enough to answer our finishers questions and his answers are below.

1.) What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
My fellow flickr friend John Sigler did 2009 and he was my inspiration. I also have always had a love of photography. I took a class once and decided that self motivation along with an online community would be cool.

2.) How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
Situational Journalism...always have a camera in reach.

3.) What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
What surprised me most was how my family began observing things that would normally pass on by. Many time they would see something tell me, "that's a 365."

4.) What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learned you have to slow down to photograph. You think as you get old you slow down, but you just get busier. Photography makes you have to stop. Stop and observe, if only for a moment. Also, now it is habitual to carry my camera. If I don't I always regret it and am fearful I'll miss some great shot.

5.) Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
I did an extraordinary amount of driving this year. It probably was not wise, but I kept the camera on the seat next to me all the time just in case I saw a spaceship or something. One trip driving from Las Vegas to Reno I spotted an Amish fellow driving a horse drawn wagon heading south. If I did not have the discipline of having a camera at all times I would have missed the shot. It was taken driving on the freeway, but it was pretty impressive.

6.) What are your future photography plans?
I plan on doing the 365 in 2011. I would like to see if I can start setting up some shots...you know planning them instead of capturing them.

Congratulations once again to 3Geezy, here are some of the admin faves and the slideshow of his complete 365.

Congratulations to Olga!

2011-01-24T13:34:00.003Z

Congratulations to Olga who completed her 365 on 31st December with this photo

Olga's stream is full of wonderful variety & creativity. During her 365 amongst the many wonderful photos she has taken there are some very striking self portraits and many fabulous captures of her Weimaraner Trooper.

Olga kindly agreed to answer our finisher interview questions and share some of her favourite shots.

1.) What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?

At some point I realized that time started running faster and faster and I can barely remember what happened 1-2 months ago. It was sad. Then I saw a blog of a person who did 365, and then one of my older flickr contacts decided to do it this year, well, last year. He never finished it but I did! Now I have this visual history of a whole year, plus I learned new tricks and know better how to use my camera.

2.) How would you describe your photography in just a few words?

I love natural lighting and candid portraits. Hope to get more courage to shoot strangers:)

3.) What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?

It's really important to have the support of others going through the same process, and evidently I love this feeling of belonging to a small community, really got attached to my flickr friends:)

4.) What did you learn during the course of your project?

Having to shoot daily really forced me to look at the world around me from different perspectives. I'm more observant of the surrounding area and I think harder about the composition of the photo. Besides, I think I finally learned to use lighting conditions to my advantage.

5.) Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?

At some point I realized that I was chasing a decent size alligator to make him my picture of the day. Crazy.

6.) What are your future photography plans?

52 weeks project is coming! I hope I can focus on quality shots rather than having something for the sake of posting it on time. It's hard to take 365 magnificent photos but I can definitely try to do 52!

Here are a few of her favorite photos from the year:

Congrats again to Olga! Here are three of the admin favourites from the year and a slideshow of her complete 365.

POTW for January 17-22

2011-01-23T22:32:00.001Z

A good start for those that began their projects on January 1. Here are this week's picks for Photo of the Week. Be sure to stop these photographers streams and congratulate them.

Congratulations Phil Roeder!

2011-01-17T03:27:00.000Z

Congratulations to Phil, who completed his 365 Project with this photo:

His set is filled with diverse subjects: interesting portraits, great architectural shots and macros. I enjoyed seeing his use of color and light and his use of creative angles. Phil kindly agreed to answer our finisher's interview questions and share his favorite photos with us. Enjoy!

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
First of all, I’ve had the pleasure of working with a wide variety of professional photographers at different points throughout my career. As an admirer of their work I thought this was a great way to have a better appreciation of what goes into taking and making a good photograph. Secondly, while I originally joined Flickr more nearly five years ago to use primarily as a place to store photos, over time I began to follow more and more the photos of others which made me want to improve my own photos. A 365 project seemed like the best way for me to do so. Finally, as luck would have it, our Canon Powershot died a year ago, so we purchased a Canon EOS XSi and added a couple of lenses; this was a great way to have fun with the new ‘toy.’

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
Unfortunately, I didn’t develop what I’d consider to be my own “style” during the past year. At the same time, I’m now comfortable attempting almost anything. In the end, I guess I am always trying to look at things a little differently. If everyone is looking at something from the front, I want to see it from behind, if everyone is looking at something from the top, I want to get underneath.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
First, actually completing the project. I assumed something – from an emergency to apathy – would have derailed me but, good photos or bad, I kept pushing forward to the end. Second, winning first place in the Still Life category at the Iowa State Fair’s Photograph Salon. It’s a huge photo competition and was a big confidence boost. Finally, while it didn’t involve my own work, the reaction to my father’s photographs from the 1950s that I posted to Flickr; the response was overwhelming as tens of thousands of people viewed and commented on them.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
In my opinion, a 365 project is a better learning experience than any photography class could ever be. It forced me to become more confident with my equipment, with my processing (which is the area I still need to work on the most), and most of all with my own eyes, always on the lookout for something new to shoot. And for me, to do it right, it also meant looking at the work of others, from contacts on Flickr to picking up books to attending galleries to regularly checking photography blogs and web sites.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
What ended up being my favorite photograph of the year (see below) was a complete accident. One summer day, when the temperature was in the mid-90s, I stopped at a downtown fountain hoping to simply get a shot of a water stream in mid-air against a bokeh backdrop. As I was doing that these two young girls and a baby – each in a different colored pastel dress – walked through the background. My first thought was “get out of the way,” but I shot a few frames anyway. When I saw the result later I loved it. The girls were nicely framed under the stream of water and their dresses added just the right, subtle touch of color to the image.

What are your future photography plans?
I suspect that I will post as many photos to Flickr in 2011 as I did during the past year. Rather than a 365 project I am doing a 52-week project for this year, so I can do more of a “best of” photo from the previous week and not feel as pressured to do something each and every day. At the same time, I want to do some documentary-type projects; rather than focusing so much on a single photo for the day do more collections of photos around events or places. In addition, I have some interest in the possibility of an exhibit, and am talking with someone about that, as well as entering a few competitions this year. Finally, I am very interested in doing something more with my father’s photographs and will explore some options.

FAVORITE PHOTOS

3.12.2010

The photo that won First Place in the Still Life category at the Iowa State Fair Photograph Salon, one of the largest competitions in the nation.

7.13.2010

An ‘accidental’ photo that ended up being my favorite of the entire year.

8.14.2010

I loved the expressions, especially the fact that the Grandfather seems to be having more fun than the little boy.

8.21.2010

My favorite attempt at a macro, this one of a spider in its web in front of our home.

Congrtulations Micah Taylor

2011-01-16T23:10:00.002Z

Congratulations to Micah who completed his 365 on December 31st! His final photo was this one

Micah's project was full of amazing portraits and vibrant colours and here are his answers to our finishers questions....

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
2 things: The desire to be a better photographer and to be involved in a community. Anyone can take and post 365 photos but if you don't encourage others and get encouraged by others then a huge opportunity is lost.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
Photos that aspire to tell stories.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
That I could actually be disciplined and that I never lost the love of doing it. It became part of my day, life, and identity and rarely just a check mark on a To-do list,

What did you learn during the course of your project?
That creating art is an art unto itself. We all have the same 24 hours and, for the most part, the same tools and yet the options for creation are limitless.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
Stories, at times, were almost as important as the image itself. One of the best stories came when engorged ticks were falling off our dog and we were finding them around the house. I knew right away what a great photo this would make -
But the best part was the reaction to it. People were totally disgusted but almost equally as enthralled by the image. This solidified the fact that, for me, great images inspire conflict.

What are your future photography plans?
I’m sure I’ll wake up on Jan 1, 2011 and take a picture. But my future photog plans are to solidify my style and to create more orchestrated images that tell greater stories.

Some great shots from Micah's 365

POTW for January 9th - 16th 2011

2011-01-16T22:24:00.002Z

Lots of fun ideas in the pool this week and as ever it is hard to narrow down to pick the potw but here goes....

Congratulations C.Duncan!

2011-01-13T03:02:00.001Z

Congratulations to Caroline! She completed her 365 Project last week with this photo:

Caroline's project is full of color and creativity. She kindly agreed to answer our finisher interview questions and provide her gorgeous collection of favorites. I am excited that she has decided to continue with another Project 365 and I am looking forward to seeing it unfold!

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I bought a Nikon D5000 in October 2009, after having an interest in photography for years. I was a complete newbie to anything beyond point and shoot and found that I wasn’t picking up the camera as much as I’d like to. In January 2010 I made it my new year’s resolution that I’d try to take more photos, and I started going out a lot at the start of the month taking pics.

Poking around Flickr I saw there were lots of people who had started a 365. I really liked the idea of it, so I decided I’d get on board and do one too, a bit more than a week after everyone else had started, as a way of challenging myself to take a photo every day and learn as much as I could about my camera.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
Colourful. Probably saturated. Probably TOO saturated sometimes.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
That I was able to finish and didn’t abandon it half way through!

What did you learn during the course of your project?
So much. So, so much. Mostly about light and composition. A lot about post processing. After I made a mosaic of the entire 365 days, I’ve been studying it, and I can actually pin point the day when a lot of things just “clicked” for me and how my photos changed after that. I’m actually quite ashamed of the photos from the first three months, in hindsight!

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?I took this photo quite quickly one day (so the subject wouldn’t melt) when I was desperate for something to photograph and remembered I had something colourful in the freezer:

www.flickr.com/photos/43968744@N06/4625695237/

It has turned out to be my most “Interesting” photo, according to Flickr’s “Interestingness” and pretty much zero effort went into the shot.

What are your future photography plans?
I feel like I have so much more left to learn, and I’m afraid I’ll get lazy again if I don’t keep taking a photo every day, so I have decided to embark on a second 365 project. I began this one on 1 January 2011 because my inner control freak HATED that my 365 wasn’t a nice, neat, seamless calendar year. So for a bit over a week my two 365 projects had an overlap.

Some of my favourites:

Inspired by a Flickr contact, I got into playing with long exposures a little and I was thrilled by how this one came out:

I got up quite early on the first day of a Queensland holiday to capture this sunrise. Looking at always makes me wish I was still there:

I figured out selective colouring. I don’t read instruction books. If I had I might have worked it out sooner:

This is a photo I took for a Monthly Scavenger Hunt clue. As soon as I saw the straws for sale I knew what I would do with it. I was very pleased the vision in my head came out when I edited the photo.

I love the shadows here and the enthusiasm of my little one:

Congratulations to riekhavoc!

2011-01-13T01:47:00.000Z

Congrats to Kaytee! She completed her 365 project on December 31 with this photo (from Ecuador!):

Kaytee's project is full of images of Philadelphia, her travels around the globe and some activists events. Below is her finisher's interview along with some of her photos.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I'd been using my camera to take decent photos for a few years, but felt like I didn't know how good I could be. I just kept taking the same photos over and over and over again. I wanted to try something that would push me to stretch the limits of my skill set. It worked!

How would you describe your photography in just a few words
Adventurous and occasionally activisty.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
That I did it! Sheesh, I took a photo every day for a whole year. I can see every day of my year, and remember what happened every day. This must be what it feels like to keep a daily diary. Creepy, kind of. But cool... definitely cool.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
Technique-wise, I learned how to use an off-camera flash and other artificial lighting. I'd never really tried that before. For myself, I realized that I can stick with something hard if I really enjoy it, have support, and see the results. Beyond that, I learned that my partner is incredibly creative. He came up with some of the best ideas, like the lego disco dance!

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
Oh gosh, there are so many! But I'll tell this one - I was in Vienna for the International AIDS Conference. My friend Lucky was with me. He's a photographer too. We had gone out at night to the fairground near the conference venue, and we saw this awesome ferris wheel set against a perfect sunset. We both fired off some shots, and when I got back to the hotel, I showed him my results to ask his advice on the photo of the day. He picked this one, because, he said "it's not perfect. so it's perfect." I love that description, and the compliment from a talented photographer.

What are your future photography plans?
I just got a new camera (as a early present for finishing my project), so I'm going to read the manual cover to cover and then wear it out taking a ton of photos. Just like I did my last DSLR. Some will be good, most will be lousy. Hopefully I'll keep learning in the process.

Kaytee's favorites:

Congrats again Kaytee!! Here are the admin favorites along with a slideshow of Kaytee's completed project.

Congratulations pea g.!

2011-01-11T02:14:00.000Z

Yay! Congratulations to Lindsay who completed her 2010 Project 365 with this metaphor of a shot!

It has been a pleasure to follow Lindsay and get to know a little bit about her journey to become a professional photographer. Her stream contains such a wide variety of subjects, beautifully photographed! Below are her answers to our finisher's interview questions, three of her favorite photos and two of mine, and a slideshow of her completed project. Congratulations again to Lindsay!

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
After deciding to make a career in photography, I sought a project that would challenge me to expand my skills and experience on a daily basis. I liked the idea of creating a written and pictorial journal of my day-to-day progress and activities.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
I try to tell a story with each photo.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
I'm not your typical sports nut. As a kid I competed in swimming and gymnastics, but I've never been very coordinated. I often brought books to read in the stands when I went to football and baseball games. Imagine my surprise to discover that I have a passion for sports photography! In 2010, I shot soccer, basketball, lacrosse, softball, baseball, volleyball, and football. I enjoy the thrill of stopping motion, preserving expressions, and capturing action.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
On more than one occasion, I was convinced that I had run out of ideas and subjects, and couldn't possibly imagine coming up with anything new. Many of my ideas were last-minute, and I forced myself to find a creative way to photograph them to avoid a boring snapshot. I didn't realize there were so many hidden gems inside my own home!

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?

I live two hours from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and my goal is to view and photograph the remaining shuttle launches. Without a media pass and an ultra-powerful lens, I knew I wasn't going to get the ideal close-up photo that I envisioned for Atlantis's launch on May 14. The nearby viewing spots are very crowded, and I arrived too late to grab a spot with an unobstructed view. I shuffled through stinky mud in my flip-flops to get to a seat on the wall at the end of a canal. Just before liftoff, crowds of people waded into the water in front of me to get a view of the shuttle. These spectators told the story in my photo that day. The scene presented itself so naturally, and yet I've never seen anything else like it.

What are your future photography plans?
I'm a full-time photographer now. My paid gigs include freelancing for the local newspaper, stock photos, portraits, weddings, and other events. In my spare time, I photograph everything else! I began my second 365 project on 1/1/11, and I can't wait to watch the year unfold!

POTW for January 2-8, 2011

2011-01-10T00:09:00.000Z

It's been fun to see photos from all the new members this week! If you see a photo that you would like to nominate for Photo of the Week, please do so in this thread.

Congratulations to patchworkbunny!

2011-01-09T17:06:00.000Z

Congratulations to Ellie, who finished her second 365 Project on December 31! Yay! Here is the final photo of her 2010 project:

Ellie is one of my flickr heros! Most importantly for her photography, her stream is full of creativity: wonderful self portraits, gorgeous low key shots and dramatic lighting. She combines her unique style with a wide variety of subject matter. In addition Ellie created the 365 Community which has provided so many of its members (myself included) with crucial encouragement and inspiration to complete their own projects. She's created other fun groups as well, including Wall Wednesday and Daily Post. I love reading her descriptions too, they give friendly and interesting glimpses into her life. There's lots of reasons that Ellie's stream is a great place to explore!

Here's Ellie's finisher interview:

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
As many of you know this was my second year. I finished the first on my birthday in November and in the next 2 months I barely picked up my camera. So with the new year looming, I joined the masses and started again.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
Resourceful and random.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
I think doing most of the second year with a DSLR and a 50mm made me realise how cretaive my previous camera had made me. I kinda resorted to lovely f1.4 shots for a lot of days!

What did you learn during the course of your project?
Sadly, the second year wasn't one of much learning. Though now I covet many expensive lenses! I think it was a lesson in determination.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
The story is in the description of this one (which is one of my faves anyway):

What are your future photography plans?
2011 is the year of the archive! After doing 365 for so long I have so many neglected photos in my archives. I'll be doing a non-strict daily post from past photos and a few new ones. I'm definitely not leaving Flickr behind but I think I need a little rest.

Here's some admin faves from patchworkbunny's project and a slideshow of her completed project. Congrats again to Ellie!

Congratulations to pennacook!

2011-01-08T14:54:00.001Z

Congrats to Todd! He completed his (second) 365 project on December 31 with this photo:

Todd's project is filled with landscapes, vibrant color and views of New Hampshire. Below is his finisher's interview along with some of his photos.

What inspired you to begin your 365 project?
I had finished one round already in the previous year, so I thought I could continue growing my skills by doing another 365 project.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
documentary, usually unplanned

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
With this being my second 365, I thought I would have more difficulty finding something for the day’s photo - and looking back - it was easier than I thought it would be.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learned quite a bit over the year. I found I really enjoy TtV (Through the Viewfinder) work for one. I also learned to stick to the simple credo of not worrying. A lot of my first 365 project was the 4pm “panic” because I didn’t have a shot in the can. I relaxed (for the most part) during this year’s project. I also found that I truly learned to ‘see’ a shot. From lighting to composition before pushing the trigger, it seemed more natural this year. I also got back into film, which I had not thought I would do previously.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
One good story would be about my third stranger for the 100 strangers project that I took on. George and I met in April originally and I had mentioned to him about wanting to get his photo. I procrastinated and neglected to get back to him. I saw him in October and knew there was another open studios event that he would be at. He gave me a hard time (jokingly) about not getting his photo. When I met him again at his studio, I got his photo and then we sat down and talked for most of an hour like we were old friends. It was an amazing interaction.

What are your future photography plans?
I will be at least doing a 52 week project, along with trying to continue the 100 strangers project and possibly a few state projects.

My favorites:

A slideshow of the completed project:

Congratulations Tyla'75!

2011-01-07T23:45:00.000Z

Congratulations to Tyla, who has been participating in a 365 Project for the last three years and has just begun her fourth project. Tyla's stream is full of great portraits and self-portraits. Tyla has experimented with lots of different styles of photography and her photos contain beautiful light and color. Her stream is well worth a visit, be sure to check her photos out!

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I started off my original 365 looking for a reason to start shooting and wanting to improve my photography. It's now been three years and I can't believe how much I have learnt.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
I am still looking for my own style but I am more focused on putting emotions and feelings into my photos. Trying to show how I feel.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
I am surprised how much I have learnt in all those years. And the urge to take pictures and share stories is still growing.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I've gone from no idea about Photoshop and cameras to being a confident user of SLR and giving people advice on their gear. There's still a lot to learn though.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
Every photo has a story so it'd be difficult to pick one. A lot of photos from year 3 are full of emotions of heartbreak. It was a difficult year for me.

What are your future photography plans?
I am continuing with my 365 into year 4 and planning on learning more and more about using strobes.

Congrats to dcis_steve!!!

2011-01-05T19:44:00.006Z

A big round of applause to Steve Skinner! Yay. He was also one of our members who finished on Dec 31st.

Browsing through his project you will find fabulous landscape shots, architectural shots, street photography, visit beaches with surfers, seals & birds, enjoy wonderful macro shots of tasty treats and see snip its of their cruise down to Mexico. Oh, and I almost forgot, you will meet his black lab... Bailey!

Below we have featured his answers to our questions, along with some of his favorites from through out the year.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
In 2009 I had watched several photographers go through their 365 projects and was so inspired by their experience that I knew I had to give it a shot. Plus, I really wanted to immerse myself in it and get better, and I couldn't think of a better way.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
Colorful, sometimes unique, with an emphasis on the beauty of the natural world.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
What surprised me the most was how many days there were when I absolutely had no idea on what to shoot.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
My favorite question - because I learned so much.
- Mastery of my equipment
- That prior to my 365 Project, I was not nearly as observant as I thought I was
- Amazing shots often happen when least expected, or in what might seem like the least likely of circumstances
- Having "tunnel vision" on a photo concept is a terrible thing. Some of the best work results from a specific idea that evolves into something different while you're working with it.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
Lots of interesting things happened during my photo project - some funny, some not, but the one that stands out in my mind the most was what happened to me personally on day 5 when I photographed the homeless man at Carlsbad State Beach. steves365.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/day-5-homeless/. It was a deeply felt life lesson for me. The write up on the post from that day says it best.

What are your future photography plans?
I am an enthusiastic hobbyist photographer, and am not interested in turning it into a job. Very soon, I will begin a new photography blog that leverages on the things I learned and enjoyed during the 365 project, but without a scheduled requirement. I like to think it will be a sort of photojournalistic blog of experiences, excursions and beautiful photos.

And a few admin favs. As always.. very hard to narrow it down to just a few!

To see more.. take a peak at his entire project in the slideshow below. And congrats again to Steve!

Congrats to riebhoff!!!

2011-01-05T13:29:00.001Z

Congratulations to Rick! Yay. He finished his project earlier in December. Woo hoo!

And he finished off with this shot. What a fine example in cloning. Wow. How many students do you see?

Since he finished his project, he has been busy getting ready for a show! It is up now through January 16th. So if you are in the Bay Area, be sure to stop by and check it out.

Through his project, we meet his lovely wife and his three daughters. Such cuties. He also gave us an inside peak to some of the Giants games! Yay.

Below he has answered some of our questions and we are featuring some of his top pics from the year.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I took my first photography class about four years ago and in class we watched Jim Brandenburg's "Chased buy the Light". If you have never seen this before, check it out, it's amazing. In it, he took only one shot a day for an entire year. I was really inspired to do something similar at some point and about a year ago I started Googling away, trying to find his work. I stumbled onto the 365 Community blog while searching. After reading and viewing the blog posts of those who had just finished the project, I was completely blown away and started my own 365 a few days later.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
I certainly have not settled on a particular style. I wanted to try everything in this year, TTV, HDR, portraiture, macro, sports photography...I have a solid amount of ADHD and my photostream certainly portrays that...

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
What surprised me the most was the support of the people around me. A 365 project seemed like such a solo journey, but there is no way I would have finished it if not for my wife, who I bugged countless times to help me choose my shot of the day. The Flickr community was just fabulous as well, especially the 365 Community members. Jenny, Susie, Phil and so many others made the journey one that I will not forget. Thanks!

What are your future photography plans?
I actually have a show of my 365 opening on January 2nd. It goes through the 18th at the school I teach at, and I am still nervously excited to put it all together. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area in that time frame and want to check it out, let me know. Other than that, I am contemplating another 365 after the first of the year. I already miss posting to our group, so maybe I will start sooner...

And here are a couple admin favs. :)

Would you like to see more? Check out the link to a selection of his 365 project in the slideshow below.

Congrats to fedora365!!!

2011-01-05T13:16:00.000Z

Whoot. Congratulations to Fedora. She also finished her project on New Year's Eve day. :) What a great day to finish up. Lots of celebrating going on.

And what a ride... through her project we got to know a little more about her, the area where she lives and we got to follow along on her vacations to Germany, Austria and Italy.

Featured below are the answers to our questions and some of her favorites from this past year.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I had seen a couple of 365 projects in flickr, but I started mine because I had purchased a new camera, the Canon Powershot SX200 IS and I really wanted to learn to use it well.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
This one is difficult, my favorite photographs are always on vacation, I love to photograph nature, cities and new places.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
How much I learned about photography in general, about post processing and about using my cam! Also how difficult it was to make a photo everyday(even though it sounds simple, you always want to make something better)
And how many cool people and friends you make here in flickr!

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learned to really use my camera, all the functions, and that makes me very happy. Also, how important it is to always have a camera with me, there are a lot of unique shots to miss if you don´t have one. I learned to look at things differently, and now I try to see the beauty in things. I am in constant search of the sun flare!
I learned about composition, about light in the photos, about angles, post processing, and specially what I like and don’t like in my photos.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
On day 161 we were in a park in London and I saw squirrels nearby. Always wanted to photograph squirrels as they are so cute, of I took lots of photos of one that was close by. Never gave it another thought until I was searching for the photo of the day. I chose one where there was a cute squirrel, and when I showed it to my husband he noticed that that squirrel was a little it too happy with his peanut ; ) Ended up being `censored` ; )

What are your future photography plans?
Even though I really enjoyed this 365 project, it has been exhausting and tiring at times when I had no inspiration at all. That is why I am not going to make another one. But at the same time, I love taking photos and I don’t want to loose the practice. That is why I am thinking of doing a 52 weeks project next year. Still not sure if I am going to make one of self portraits, or one of life in general, or maybe both ; )

Some of her favorites from this past year.
102/365 Pink Skies
This photo was a front page explore and special to me because being under those trees felt magical…

199/365 Blue eyed boy
Love this photo of my husband, specially because his pupil looks like a little heart

268/365 The view from Taormina
Couldn´t help but fall in love with this city in Sicily

295/365 Autum light...
The eternal search for the sun flare.

333/365 Snow in November
Never expected something this beautiful when snow surprised us in November!

Here a few admin pics! Was hard to choose just a couple.

To see more, check out the slideshow here.

Congratulations to Tamarak2010!

2011-01-05T12:30:00.002Z

Congratulations to Tamara who finished her 365 on 31st December with this lovely seasonal shot

Tamara's stream is full of wonderful portraits and shots from her daily life. Tamara kindly provided answers to our interview questions and shared some of her favorite shots.

1) What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I had heard about the 365 Project a number of years ago - here I thought it must have been late in 2007, but it looks like it was in 2006 with this newsletter that I received from Photojojo content.photojojo.com/tutorials/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day/ ...anyway, I tried and failed at one in 2008 and then decided in 2010 to try again...I had always loved the idea of the project and I also knew that one way to expand your style and to learn more about your medium was to practice and make it a part of your life - and what better way to do that with photography than with a Project 365?

2) How would you describe your photography in just a few words?

I tend to lean towards the artsy side of things - I like blur and distortion...but I also like detail. This doesn't mean that I only take artsy shots...but those are the ones that I tend to like best of my photography.

3) What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?

I was happy to find that I grew artistically during the year. I had hoped to learn more technically, but didn't, really - I was surprised by that...maybe in year 2! I shouldn't be surprised by both the findings - they are typical for me - I learned enough technically to grow artistically, but I had thought that I would learn more on the technical side of things.

4) What did you learn during the course of your project?

I honed my 'art of seeing' skills...I allowed myself to push the boundaries and so, like I said before, grew artistically.

5) Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?

Not really...other than the fact that over the year my kids resigned themselves to the fact that their mother "takes pictures of weird stuff...".

6) What are your future photography plans?

Photography has always been a part of my life...when my kids were young and growing, it became more a documentary kind of thing, now I have my first grandchild, so the documenting will continue...but this project has also taught me, or reminded me, of the importance of always having my camera with me, so I will continue to carry it with me - I have also decided to go for a second year, so, for sure I will have camera in hand! I also paint and the practice of 'seeing' helps in that area as well...I used to only have shows of my paintings, now my photography is included as well...so far I have had either shows of my paintings or ones of my photography - I would like to move towards combining the mediums in my shows.

My favorite shots - that is a hard one!

I like that one because it is one of my favorite 'Night Blurs' - this is a way of photographing that I started during this past year and I might not have done that if I hadn't been making myself take a photo a day.

This is another set of photographs I started taking this year...flash photography of flowers at night...

This one may not be one of my best shots, but it is one I like...it is a good example of the main thing that this year has taught me - always have my camera with me!

Congrats again to Tamara! Here are a couple of admin favourites from the year and a slideshow of her complete 365.

Congratulations to Sevenman!

2011-01-05T11:39:00.002Z

Congratulations to Chris who completed his 365 on 31st December with this photo

Chris kindly agreed to answer our finisher interview questions and choose some of his favourites from his project.

1) What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?

I was inspired to start my first 365 project because I'd watched and listened to friends do it, I'd always sort of liked the idea of photography, and doing a 365 Project myself seemed like a good way to do photography. So I bought a point & shoot and started my first 365.

2) How would you describe your photography in just a few words?

One friend has said that I shoot creepy lonely urban stuff in a documentary, photojournalist style. Another friend has noted that I take a lot of pictures that should have people in them but don't. I can't deny either description.

3) What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?

The most surprising thing has been discovering the hard way just how much our eyes and our minds lie to us about what we're seeing and carefully not seeing.

4) What did you learn during the course of your project?

I've learned to look and to see. I've learned that sometimes, taking a camera along doesn't improve the experience. I've learned that if something catches my eye, I should take a picture even if I don't understand what I'm attracted by and I think the picture is bad; even if it is, I can learn from it. I've learned to not blindly trust my camera and that I'm happier if I trust my gut. I've learned that I can't shoot to a theme or a plan and that trying to do so just annoys me.

(I regret the inability to shoot to a theme; I would really like to do a better job of participating in the 365 Community themes, but I am terrible at it.)

Finally, I've learned that I can't predict which of my pictures will resonate with people and which ones won't. Sometimes I can't even predict which one of my pictures I'll like best after a week. It's humbling.

5) Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?

My day 306 picture. One of the things that gets me into semi-trouble when I am off biking on my own is that I am kind of bad at deciding when to turn around to ride back; I keep thinking that I can go on for a bit more, and then a bit more, and this point feels like an arbitrary stopping point so I could go on a bit more, and before I know it I am all the way off in Port Credit at sunset, knowing that I am going to be riding back in the dark most of the way and get home rather late.

I don't regret it in the least on this day, though. Through a combination of circumstances this was the last good weekday bike ride I got in this year, and I knew it would be before I set out; I was leaving work early, the rest of the week was going to have bad weather, and then daylight savings time would turn into standard time and I would lose an hour of evening light.

(That I knew this was basically my last such photo of the year is one reason I gave it the title that I did.)

6) What are your future photography plans?

I'm going to do another year of the 365 project. I won't try to make any resolutions for it, because I've learned better; I'll just take pictures however I feel like it, and hope it works out.

This is four of Chris' favourites from his 365 with his reasons why

A nice example of what I think of my 'typical photograph'

One of my better people photographs and a bike ride picture; I do a lot of bike riding

A picture I am inordinately fond of because I made it work

I am contractually obligated to include a bicycle picture (and the group ride picture doesn't count)

Congrats again to Chris! Here are a couple of admin favourites from the year and a slideshow of his complete 365.

Congratulations Photo Frenzy~!

2011-01-05T02:04:00.001Z

Congratulations to Manda! She completed her 365 Project with this photo:

Manda kindly agreed to answer our finisher interview questions and share her favorite photos from the project. Enjoy!

What inspired you to begin a 365 Project?
I saw other people in the flickr community with #/365 on their pictures and was curious what it was all about. When I found out and saw there was a community dedicated to people participating in the challenge I figured, why not? It was almost a new year when I decided to do it and I planned to start at the beginning of the year and go to the end. I thought the challenge would be a good way to encourage myself to expand my knowledge and creativity in regards to photography. I also wanted to encourage myself to use my camera more.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
I would say I've still got that amateur vibe going on and I definitely lean more towards the natural world and tend to prefer a more natural looking image as well.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
I was surprised with how challenging it actually can be. I found myself a lot of times really thinking hard about what picture I could take today. I didn't think it would be so hard, but I am also not usually the type of person to just take a random shot for the sake of it. I really like my pictures to mean something.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learned that you can't really force yourself to be creative. It was also really hard for me to just take a random picture of something, because it isn't what I usually do. I learned that I should stick to what I'm comfortable photographing.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
There are stories behind a lot of my 365 photographs. Lots of good memories too. One that really stands out as a highlight of the year was taken back in January. I was snowshoeing through the bush with my Dad and we had been seeing a Pileated Woodpecker off and on over the winter in the area. It was our first year to see them so we were pretty thrilled with finding them so frequently. On that particular day we found one on a tree that it really seemed to like and had visited quite often, judging by the amount of holes in it. After taking a few pictures of it from a fair distance away I was able to quietly sneak over till I was about 6 feet from it. Then I just sat in the snow and watched it. It might not be that interesting, but for someone who likes birds, it was really cool to see this large woodpecker just doing what it does. I found out after that Pileated Woodpeckers are usually really hard to approach without them flying off. That just made it even more special to me.

What are your future photography plans?

In the future I don't really have anything special planned. I just want to get out there and get as many great shots as I can. I'm hoping to get some great wildlife and bird photos, but nothing specific. I want to upgrade some of my equipment and generally just have a lot of fun with the whole thing. I think it will work out a lot better now that I'm not forcing myself to photograph something every day.

The first picture I ever took for this challenge is one of my favourites. It is a close up of a patch on the side of my fedora. It isn't really special or perfect by any means, but I just can't help but like it. In a sense I guess it's just a little window open for people to catch a glimpse of who I am.

I like this one for the composition and just the overall way it looks. I think this was back when I first figured out that you could make points of light into bokeh so I was playing around with my fiber optic light. I think this one turned out great.

I like this picture because even in its simplicity it manages to look like more than just a photograph. It looks more like a painting and it seems to almost have an element of light emerging from the darkness. And to think it was just one of those pictures taken because I needed something for that day. This just happened to be what I photographed.

Congratulations 5Mae!

2011-01-05T00:13:00.000Z

Congratulations to Sarah-Mae! She completed her 365 with this exuberant shot!

Her project is filled with fun shots, great portraits and lots of light and color. 5Mae kindly provided answers to our interview questions and shared some of her favorite shots. Enjoy!

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I was inspired to start the project by Dustin Diaz
photography.dustindiaz.com/

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
I don't really know how to describe my photography, Amateur?

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
That it was so hard, and that I finished it!

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learned I can do anything I put my mind to, and how to use my Nikon D3000 (first DSLR)

What are your future photography plans?
I plan to continue learning and post a photo once a week in 2011 (at www.sarah-mae.com and on flickr)

Congratulations ept_0202!I

2011-01-04T01:50:00.001Z

Congratulations to Paige who finished her Project 365 in December with this photo:

Paige's project serves as a lovely glimpse into her world. She describes her project this wayI started a 365 project to see if I could do it (I abandoned an early attempt). I wanted to track my life everyday for one full year. I found the project to sometimes be easy and other times to be tedious - kinda like life. I did the entire project on my point and shoot camera.
I want to keep taking pictures and improve my photography skills. I hope to soon acquire a DLSR and continue to take photos.

Congratulations again to Paige! Here are some of her favorites from her year of photos:

Congratulations to moongipsies!

2011-01-04T01:24:00.000Z

Congratulations to Elaine! She completed her Project 365 this week! Yay! Her photos are beautiful, full of color and light.

Elanie kindly agreed to answer our finisher interview questions and choose some of her favorites from her project. Enjoy!

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
This was actually my second 365 project... because I had so much fun doing the first one and writing/ posting pics on my daily blog (www.moongipsies.blogspot.com)...

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
For me... the saying " The best camera is the one you have with you"... is true. For most of my 365 project this year, my camera was a simple Kodak point and shoot. So I would describe my photography as spontaneous, inspired... and vibrant.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
That I don't do well with themes. For the month of December 2010; I decided to do a theme of "games and toys"... I thought it would be easier to have a set "stock" of subjects. Fail.
Also... I was published several times this year with some of my project photos... something that was a complete (and very pleasant) surprise!

What did you learn during the course of your project?
That is doesn't matter how many megapixels you have... or how many gizmos you have... what's more important is your vision.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
My father became quite ill with cancer during my project this year, and passed away on August 18th. Looking back, it is interesting to see how this deeply effected my photography during that time.

What are your future photography plans?
Starting a third 365 project... continuing my daily blog of photos and writing... and publishing a book!

Congratulations to MeltedMoments!

2011-01-03T20:52:00.005Z

Congratulations to Mel who completed her 365 on 31st December with this photo

Mel's stream is filled with wonderful portraits, especially of her two young daughters and gives anyone visiting her stream an insight into her family life. She kindly agreed to answer our finisher's interview questions.

1) What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I had just finished a photography course and I was looking for something that would inspire me to carry on with my photography. I needed a challenge!

2) How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
I aim to capture memories and record history. I like my photography to make people smile and feel happy.

3) What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
How much it has become part of me. I don't feel like I need to take a perfect shot for the project as my aim was/is to record my year in photographs. I've been amazed at the variety of shots I've been able to take.
I've also surprised myself by committing to another 365 straight after this one has ended. I'm a glutton for punishment, that's for sure!

4) What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learned that even the most simple object or situation can be a photo opportunity. With a 365 project the only rules are the ones that you make yourself.

5) Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
Looking through my photos from the project I realise that I can really remember taking all of them. The ones of my girls hold some special memories and that is precisely why I set out to record my year in the way I did. None of the shots particularly stand out with interesting stories to me, but in saying that I know I have fulfilled my own brief.

6) What are your future photography plans?
I have decided to do another 365 project after encouragement from my friends and family. My brief for the next project will be the same... to record daily life and to capture memories.
I want to carry on making people smile with my photography. If I can do that I will be very happy indeed.

My favourite shots from the project:

Because it is such a true capture of my youngest daughter. Pictures like this help me to see that she is beautiful, even when she is behaving badly!

We had just got back from a stay in hospital with my eldest daughter where she had some horrible tests. I love the look of joy and relief on her face.

This was taken on Remembrance Sunday. My daughter was cradling the poppy and it seemed very poignant.

Congrats again to Mel! Here are a couple of admin favourites from the year and a slideshow of her complete 365.

Congratulations to KatieSh!

2011-01-03T20:18:00.003Z

Congratulations to Katie who completed her 365 on 31st December with this photo

1) What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I was inspired to start the 365 project as I felt I needed something new to get my teeth into. I did a photography course last year, which gave me lots of projects to keep me going, but when that ended I was a bit lost and needed something else to keep me reaching for my camera. I'd seen so many other people on flickr having completed some fab 365s, and thought it'd be a good thing to keep me inspired.

2) How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
I'm not really sure how I'd describe my photography. I think it's definitely got a girly feel - quite light and pink and airy. I don't really think I've found my own style yet, and doing this project has definitely shown me that.

3) What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
The thing that surprised me the most was how really difficult it was to find something interesting to photograph every day (I think I really started to fail with this towards the end). But then, I guess this is what challenges you to be more creative.

4) What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learnt so much during the project it's hard to pin down to one thing. It made me learn more about composition, about light, using filters, everything really.

5) Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
I'm not sure really how interesting it is, but I've still got 2 photos missing on my 365. I think I may have lost them forever as they were taken on my iphone, which I backed up, then sent to be repaired. I can't for the life of me find where they're backed up. I don't think they were particularly good shots, though, anyway!

6) What are your future photography plans?
I'm not sure on future plans. Over the course of the year, I've done my first 3 'shoots' for friends, all of their children. This is something I've really enjoyed, and might be something I plan to take further.

As for my 3 favourites:

Day 17

This is because a group of us had got together to try and raise awareness for Camille's Appeal, a charity set up by a friend of ours whose daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumour last year. We all posted photos on a weekly theme with links to the charity and information about Camille. Camille has since had dramatic surgery which went miraculously well and is awaiting the next stage of her treatment. We've also now put together a 2011 calendar to raise funds for the charity.

Another favourite is this one of my friend's two daughters.

It was a chance capture at a bbq that I just love. They're such gorgeous girls, and their parents loved the picture too.

Finally, a rather self-indulgent favourite:

I've had a tough year personally. I had just had a 10 year relationship end, not through my choosing, and was feeling very lacking in confidence. I've had to learn to love myself a bit this year, and part of that was done through photography. I still hate seeing photos of myself, but I'm quite proud of this one. It's not something I'd ordinarily want anyone to see, but it shows a different side to me, and shows that sometimes I can be a bit sexy. Hopefully, I'll find a bit more confidence and will be a bit happier seeing myself in photos in the future.

Congrats again to Katie! Here are a couple of admin favorites along with a slideshow of her complete project.

Congratulations to amycliff!

2011-01-03T17:20:00.001Z

Congratulations to Amy, who completed her 365 Project on December 31! Yay! Amy's stream is filled with lovely images, beautiful light and color. Her stream is a lovely place to spend some flickr time, go check it out! This is her final celebratory shot of her project and her finisher's interview!

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I had just bought my first DSLR, taken a beginners photography course and wanted to find a way to make sure I didn't let my camera become another cool 'toy' that collected dust. A friend of mine also encouraged me to give it a go and her 365 from the previous year was so inspiring I just couldn't resist the challenge.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
amateur, for fun but hopefully improving. My year 5/6 students would say a lot of food, close ups and too many little kids and babies.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
How challenging it was to be creative every day, that I made it to the end and how inspiring and encouraging my family, friends and other flickr members were. I was also surprised that other people actually looked at my photos.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learnt how to gain better control of my camera and it's various settings and manual operations, that I have a preference for natural light, that my photography weaknesses are things like self portraits and using the flash or shooting in low light, about things like bokeh. I also learnt a lot about myself and what I value by reflecting on what the images meant to me and also a bunch of random facts and pieces of information about different things I photographed.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
One of the most significant photos in my 365 is #188 which is when I found out I was pregnant and is a 365 cheat. I felt like I had waited for so long to be able to take this photo, and I couldn't believe that when it finally happened my camera was out of action being repaired. So I had to keep that little test for a week or so and do a make up shot. It's not the greatest photo but it means so much to me. It captures the memory of a very special moment for my husband and I and the beginning of a huge life changes.

What are your future photography plans?
I plan to take lots of photos of our baby obviously. I'm not going to 365 in 2011 although I'm considering a 52week project instead. I want to continue to force myself to use and further develop my creativity. I want to learn more about getting the lighting and focus right. I'm also interested in learning how to use the photoshop software I have sitting in the cupboard.

#102 -

I never really looked at the little statistics icon until now when I was trying to figure out which photograph others liked or got the most attention. There are no 'explores' in my photostream, I have only a handful of followers and relatively low daily views. However, every little comment and view was always surprising to me and I'm grateful for each and everyone. This was the photo that had the most views I think - not sure why. This was my first and last attempt at using a 'texture'.

#100 -

I guess this is a favourite because it was a milestone and was taken around the same time that I was looking for inspiration and read the comment someone made about 365 projects being as boring as watching grass grow - still makes me laugh. It also reminds me of the inspiration I continually followed from a flickr friend AprilMN.
www.flickr.com/photos/aprilnewmanphotography/ I may not have made it to the end without her.

#19

I love silhouettes. When I look through my 365 as a whole this one always grabs my attention.

#255 -

Cliche I know, but I have a soft spot for hearts and let's face it, many of my 365 photos are cliches or shall we say 'inspired'. Participating in a 365 project has been all about watching and learning from others and trying the things they have shown me.

Here is a slideshow of Amy's completed project. Congratulations again!

Congratulations foshydog!

2011-01-03T16:41:00.000Z

Congratulations to Allan, who finished his 2010 365 Project this week with the following photo!

Allan's stream is filled with great portraits, great bokeh shots and wonderfully lit photos. He kindly agreed to answer our finisher's interview questions with great responses and wonderful photos from his project. Congratulations again Allan!

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I was ultimately inspired by watching other 365’ers during the 2009 year. I started following Ed McGowan (isayx3) and was really amazed at his ability to produce such great photos each and everyday. From there I started to dig into the 365 and find all sorts of other people doing it. Being able to document one whole year of my life was a driving factor in my decision as well. The thought of being to look back at each photo and know what was going on that day was something that I knew would be rewarding. I also wanted to get better at photography overall. I knew taking a photo everyday would only make me better and I wanted that challenge of learning how to get a good photo in a short amount of time.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
Life, faces, and light.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
The biggest surprises were the amazing people I met and the friendships I created. During the 365 you get a chance to interact with people all over the world and everyone gets to watch each others lives unfold over the course of the year. I never saw that coming when I started the 365 but I am glad that it happened.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learned how to say “Thanks”. I’m not that great with compliments and it made me better about accepting them. Getting more comfortable with my strobist skills is one other thing I learned this year. I am very confident with the camera now and how to set up my gear to fire off a good portrait quickly.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
Well of course it has to be the photo of the 3 ultrasound pics. We got a great surprise early in the year that my wife was pregnant and then eventually found out we were having twins. A few weeks after that we were told that it’s actually triplets. Talk about your jaw hitting the ground. Life was about to change in a hurry but we knew we could do it and we were excited for the new additions to the family. The flickr community was awesome and everyone gave us great support throughout the rest of the year. Keeping up with the 365 was very hard, but getting a chance to document the entire birth year of my boys was well worth it.

What are your future photography plans?
I want to continue to take pictures of faces. People are very interesting subjects and I love it when I can snap off a photo of somebody that they like and appreciate. Hopefully I can also get back to taking more live music photos this year. I kind of put that on hold with the 365. I have also joined a 52 week group so I can come down slowly from the 365.

I loved this photo because it’s just something you never really see that often. I actually took the photo holding the camera upside down so I could press the button with my right hand.

I loved this photo from the second I saw it on the back of my camera. I love the beat up door we were standing in front of and how the light looked.

I was heading out to work when I looked at the boys and saw the photo just waiting to be taken. This is one of those shots I would have never taken if I wasn’t doing the 365.

Below is a slideshow of Allan's completed project.

Happy Day One!

2011-01-03T06:49:00.000Z

It's been an exciting week in the 365 Community group with many members finishing their projects and lots of people joining (or returning) the group to begin new projects! Welcome to all of the new members and best of luck to all those who are starting their first, (or second or third!) 365 Project this week! Here's some of the 1/365 photos that were added to the group over the last couple of days.

POTW for December 26th- January 1st :)!

2011-01-03T05:16:00.002Z

First off I would like to say congratulations to all our finishers! We had over 50 members finish on December 31st. Yay. We have been posting the individual blog posts here, and will continue to do so over the next few weeks.

And Cheers to 2011! Hope you all had a fabulous new year's celebration. For our POTW, we normally just pick three, but I couldn't resist posting a few more to help ring in the new year!

And as always, if you see an image in the pool that you just LOVE, be sure to nominate it in the discussion threads of our group!

Congratulations Judi FitzPatrick Studio!

2011-01-03T03:32:00.001Z

Congratulations to Judi, another member who completed her 365 on December 31! Judi's photostream offers a beautiful visual diary of her life and creativity. Her wonderful photostream is full of color and light, and I love her TTV shots. Below is Judi's finisher interview with some of her favorite photos, images she choose because they are mostly unprocessed - basically nothing done in post but maybe a crop.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I began once before and had quit at about 18 days when I started a new day-time job that at first took up a lot of my time each day. I began a second round on 1/1/10 to prove to myself that I could finish such a project.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
Mostly I'd describe my photography as peaceful or tranquil.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
Two things surprised me - 1. my skills didn't improved as much as I had planned and 2. that I was feeling rather saddened as it came to an end.

What did you learn during the course of your project?

I learned that I have so much more to learn, that the Flickr community is chock full of wonderful and supportive people, and that as time went on I could more quickly choose and process a photo for the day.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
The only interesting thing is why I took the Shrug photo on day 165 - I found the pattern at my late mother's house 3 days earlier, came home, and started making it, took the photo after several rows had been knitted. There are 2-3 more as this knitting project progressed and was finished.

What are your future photography plans?
I'm not going to do a 365 in 2011; I need a break. My plan is twofold - 1. to pick a subject I wish I had learned more about and spend some concentrated time on doing just that and 2. reach back into my archives, film and digital, and process some good old stuff.

Congratulations again to Judi! Here is a link to her project slideshow!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/judifitzpatrickstudio/sets/72157622993611407/show/

Congratulations to Ken Shelton!

2011-01-03T02:38:00.000Z

Congratulations to Ken, who completed his Project 365 this week! His final project is this one:

In his description he wrote, "For the final photo of my Project 365 I wanted to capture an image of the final sunset of 2010. The photo is both symbolic as well as an appropriate theme for the end of the year and my 2010 Project." Ken's photography contains beautiful sweeping scenes and lovely nature macros. His fisheye photos are fascinating and fun. Below is Ken's finisher interview with some admin favorites mixed in, and then some of his favorites from his project.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
Many of my friends and colleagues that are also educators, like myself, decided two years ago that we should all try a Project 365 together, to get better with our cameras and to learn how to make good/great photos.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
Artistic, avant garde, and purposefully creative

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
How it felt more like a task at time than the fun it was suppose to be.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learned how to use so many of the functions on my dSLR that I now use manual or aperture priority mode about 80% of the time

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
By doing a 365 project, now two years in a row, I have built a library of over 15,000 images. I use these images for the many presentations I give at Educational Technology conference across the country. This has helped me avoid any copyright or creative commons challenges and it has inspired many more educators to do the same. I get messages all the time from others telling me how proud they were that they built a presentation or professional development lecture with only their own images.

What are your future photography plans?
I want to launch a website to serve more as a gallery than anything else. While it would be nice to be financially compensated for some of my images, I like to just create and share those creations with others.

Here are Ken's three favorites with a brief explanation:

One of my favorites because it was the first time I actually used manual mode entirely and was able to effectively capture fireworks

One of my favorites because this was the first time I really got to use a Fish Eye lens, which was while I was on vacation to one of my favorite places, Hawaii

One of my favorites because of all the times I have been to Chicago or flying through Chicago I have never had a view of downtown like this. Also this image was made with my iPhone.

Here's a slideshow of many of Ken's 365 photos from both of his projects, enjoy!

Congratulations to Allison Achauer!

2011-01-03T01:06:00.000Z

Congratulations to Allison, another one 365 Community member who completed her 365 project on December 31. Allison's photos are clever and conceptual. They have a wonderful sense of artful drama, often with flashes of surrealism and/or humor. I love the amount of effort she takes in setting up and lighting her photos, her choices consistently hit all the right notes and produce stunning results. Below is Allison's finisher interview with her final photo and some admin faves mixed in.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
My ability to find a reason not to bother with setting up a photograph was improving faster than my skill at taking them. I knew I needed a disciplined setting that would force me to become so familiar and fast with my gear that I would stop seeing that as a hurdle. I had participated the Strobist Boot Camp II, and found that challenge and structure immensely motivational. I work well with rules and I hate not hitting deadlines, so I knew that a 365 project would keep me on track.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
I really thought that the process of doing a 365 project would lead to a discovery of my style, but I generally found myself drawn to trying new things rather than refining a particular approach. I am definitely obsessed with light, however, and am happiest when I can control it to sculpt my image. I hold out the hope that someone with more perspective will let me know what my style is!

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
The amount of time it took every day! That's all my doing, of course - I was rarely satisfied with a quick snap. When I take into account the time spent envisioning and planning upcoming shoots, the gathering of materials and setup of gear, the light tests and composition tweaking, the selection of the final shot, the post-processing, and finally the interaction on Flickr with other inspiring photographers - I probably put in an average of three or four hours a day.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I really learned how to see light. What at the beginning took much trial and error to discover I can now set up almost right from the start. I also learned the importance of previsualization to a good image. Any thinking ahead of time that I could do about what I wanted to capture dramatically increased my chances of ending up with a quality photograph. It's still important to be open to serendipity, but as they say, chance favors the prepared mind.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?

The Adventures of Mr. Pumpkinhead, Part II was a bit of an adventure to make. It was one of those times when I had a pretty clear vision in my head of what I wanted to create, and it required a lot of props. Finding a large enough pumpkin was the first challenge - it was a week before Halloween and the selection was not as good as it had been for the first Pumpkinhead creation (that one had moldered too much to be reused). I believed we looked in three or four locations before finding a suitable 30 pound monster of a gourd. I gathered picnic goods at the same time, and that took two different grocery stores. By the time we had everything ready, it was getting close to the cemetery closing hour of 4pm. My assistant/model and I explored for a bit to find just the right spot, then I set up lights while he fetched all of our props. I cleared away the remains of a dead bird (so appropriate to the location!), but we still battled ants through the shoot. They sure know how to find a picnic! In the end I had a great image and we had a tasty feast to enjoy for dinner.

What are your future photography plans?
As wonderful as this project has been for my development, I am ready to reclaim those three to four hours a day for more flexible use. I think a 52 week project will be ideal to keep me thinking photographically on a regular basis while allowing more leeway in how I plan my time. I look forward to shooting more for Getty and other stock agencies, and I hope to find a few individual clients as well. I'd also love the opportunity to put together a gallery show of some of my 365 images!

Here are Allison's favorites and a slideshow of her project:

Birthday Treat
I work (making costumes for the Los Angeles Opera) across the street from a Japanese/Korean supermarket, and their fish selection included these giant salmon heads. I had to wrest a pair of tongs out of the claws of a live crab to put one in my bag, and I made my husband drill a hole in the skull to hold the candle. I also had to use a toothpick inside the fish's mouth to hold it open. But despite, or perhaps because of, all that ickyness, the resulting image is fantastic. Cute and gross at the same time, my favorite!

My Leaves
In addition to being a pleasing arrangement of beautiful natural objects, this photograph is a favorite of mine because it is like a shorthand for all that we've done to turn what was a scorched-earth lot of land into a sort of urban Eden. For me each leaf brings up an image of that particular plant or tree, where it is and how it got there.

Baby Bok Choy
This one I love just for its beauty. The vegetable had a pleasing, asymmetrical shape, perfect contrasting veins, and a delicate texture to the leaves. I'm happy with my lighting and just smile with pleasure every time I see the image.

Congratulations to allykatimages!

2011-01-02T03:49:00.000Z

Congratulations to Dave, another one of our December 31st Project 365 finishers! allykatimages's photostream is filled with sharp interesting photos filled with color and great use of light. I had a great time tonight exploring the stunning photos in his project and reading his Strobist info. Below are his final photo of the project, his interview, some admin favorites and a slideshow of his completed project :)

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
On January 1st, my friend Steve (dcis_steve) called me on convinced me to do it. I hadn't even considered it ahead of time. So I just kinda started without thinking about it too much.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
Bright, crisp, I don't know.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
There were a lot of surprises but it was more challenging than I thought it would be...I guess because I didn't think about it ahead of time. Some days it was the absolute highlight of my day. Some days I completely dreaded it.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learned a lot! Here are a few things that stand out to me:
- to see natural light better
- to previsualize an image before I even grab the camera
- to shoot less frames to get an image I want. My kids got tired of being a subject. We made an agreement that I only get 4 shots to get a picture. Talk about pressure! I could do it though.
- Process files much quicker
- to find an acceptable image almost anywhere/anytime.
- to see my surroundings very differently

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
I have a few but most will only be interesting to me. On day 19, I witnessed a police chase and capture of a bank robber. That was pretty cool. I was stuck in traffic so it made it easy to get my camera out to capture the scene.

What are your future photography plans?
To keep on shooting. I won't be doing a 365 again though. I really like portraits and sort of purposely avoided them during this project because I wanted to hone other skills. I want to get back to that. I am considering doing a 100 Strangers project.

Congratulations to mdx!

2011-01-01T17:18:00.000Z

Congrats to Martin! He completed his 365 project on December 31 with this photo:

Martin's project is filled with scenery of London and some great portraits as well. Below is his finisher's interview along with some of his photos.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I had just finished a 365 self portrait project and couldn’t kick the daily photo habit - so I was interested to continue - but with a much more open choice of subjects.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
Documentary, random, relentless, ready for new directions.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
That it was just as hard if not harder than doing the 365 self-portraits project.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
The importance of the histogram, a daily practice and trusting chaos.

What are your future photography plans?
Complete a major photographic documentary of my workplace - continue with the part time BA in Photography - keep taking the photographs – enjoy it!

Martin's favorites:

Congrats again to Martin! Here are the admin favorites along with a slideshow of Martin's completed project.

Congratulations to Free 2 Be!

2011-01-01T16:43:00.000Z

Congrats to Paige! She completed her 365 project on December 31 with this photo:

Paige's project is filled with great color and scenery from British Columbia, Canada. Below is her finisher's interview with some of her photos.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
It’s hard to remember exactly. I joined Flickr a couple of years ago and have enjoyed it. I noticed a few people doing an image a day and thought it might be an interesting way to document a year and hopefully improve my photography at the same time.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
I’ve never thought about it. Eclectic, I suppose. I’ll take a photo of just about anything, except people. I’m not so comfortable with pointing the camera at humans. I tend to favour closeup photography of the things that make up our lives.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
That there are moments in the day that we would miss or forget within a short period if we didn’t pick up a camera and focus in on them. The world around us is so full of what we think is uninspiring, until we look closer at it. The most humble objects can have the most interesting angles and textures when we block out everything else.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
That I can be a bit more creative than I thought I could and that a few simple props can save an otherwise bleak day for ideas. I pretty much always carry some silly thing (Wall-E, a marble, a plastic toy camera...something) in my purse for those “this would be funny” moments. I also learned that not every image needs to be perfect to make me happy. Sometimes the imperfections add more interest.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
My home city, Vancouver, hosted the winter Olympics this year, and it was the most amazing party that was put on. It was a fascinating snapshot of when our national newspaper featured the successes of the USA team on the front page. The Olympics have been held in Canada three times now and we won our first ever on home soil. We won a third gold medal this day, and yet that wonderful news bit was relegated to a small box at the top of the page and buried in deeply. The front page celebrated the success of our neighbours. The news in Canada has a tendency to be more positive than the news in other countries. I like that, and I thought that this particular case was a fascinating statement about our collective personality.

What are your future photography plans?
I’m not sure, I’m struggling right now with whether or not to continue on with another 365 and just keep going. I also want to spend some time focusing in on film a bit more. I’m concerned I might not be able to manage both, but maybe that can be my challenge for 2011. I would like to take a photography course. I’ve only ever taken a basic six evening one, and I didn’t even manage to finish that because I sprained both ankles and broke a bone in one foot part way through the class. Not being able to walk makes the field trips difficult.

Paige's favorites:

Congrats again to Paige! Here is an admin favorite along with a slideshow of her complete project.

Congratulations to TF28 ❘ tfaltings.de!

2011-01-01T16:21:00.000Z

Congrats to Thorsten! He completed his 365 project on December 31 with this photo:

Thorsten's project is filled with scenery and architecture from Germany. Below is his finisher's interview along with some of his photos.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
It was my experimental year on my way to become a better photographer (although it will remain a hobby) and I want to overcome my procrastination.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
No goals, no specialties (for now). Just fun!

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
My creativity ;-)

What did you learn during the course of your project?
To find different angles or details of things to make an interesting photograph.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
By a favorable circumstance I had the pleasure to shoot the first German Radio Award behind the scenes. It was very amusing to watch the professional colleagues over the shoulders. The picture shows Lena Meyer-Landrut on the red carpet.
For those of you who don’t know who she is: Lena was cast in the talent show “Unser Star fueür Oslo” (Our Star for Oslo) and select as the German entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo. Which she won.

What are your future photography plans?
First take a break and than focus on people.

Some of his favorites:

Congrats again to Thorsten! Here are some admin favorites, along with a slide show of the completed project.

Congratulations to Chris Maki!

2011-01-01T15:57:00.001Z

Congrats to Chris! He completed his 365 project on December 31 with this photo:

Chris' project is filled with scenery around Alberta, Canada as well as some good work with flash. Below is his finisher's interview along with some of his photos.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
My good friend Jason and I were talking about photography, and suggested I check out our mutual friend Erin's husband Dustin's Project 365. I started following his photostream in my RSS reader about a quarter of the way into his project. As 2009 was coming to a close, I started to toy with the idea of doing my own 365 as a way to further my knowledge and skills. On January 1, 2010 I was sitting around watching TV; and at around 8:00pm I remembered that I was going to start this project. I went to my basement and took my first shot.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
Developmental, divergent, determined.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
I was most surprised by my ability to see it through to completion…That is, provided that I shoot something today, December 31st. I'm pretty sure I'll get around to it though.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I've learned so much during the course of this project, I'm not sure I could quantify it all. There were huge developments in both my creative and technical areas, as well as personal development due to the discipline required to complete such a project. Everyone makes their own rules when doing one of these projects, but mine were quite strict. I would shoot something everyday before midnight in the timezone I was in. I wouldn't necessarily publish that day, definitely not while traveling.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
While I flirted with the idea of giving up several times over the course of the year, no one day was harder than day 296.

On this day my mother passed away unexpectedly. The one thing that kept me going was how supportive of my photography she was and knowing that she would have wanted me to continue.

What are your future photography plans?
I plan to continue shooting and developing my skills to the point where the income from photography outweighs the cost of new gear. I'm not sure if this will be through wedding photography, portraiture or fine art, but that's the plan for now.

Congrats again to Chris! Here is the admin favorites along with the slide show of Chris' completed project.

Congratulations to A. Aleksandravičius!

2011-01-01T15:30:00.000Z

Congrats to Andrius! He completed his 365 project on December 31 with this photo:

Andrius' project is filled with great colors, an eye for nature and his cats. Below is his finisher's interview and some of his photos.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I was inspired to start the 365 project by Walter Ezell 365 Breakfasts set. When a friend of mine F. Dirginčius started this project, then I said to myself “yes, i can!”.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
Colorful and bokehlicious photography.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
This is the first my picture of a summer lightning. We were camping out and a storm come. It was the scariest night in my life but also so amazing.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
Every day I’m taking my camera with my now and every day now is a day of looking for a pick of a day.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
I was on holiday at Turkey at 2009. I didn’t make any photo of a cup of Turkish tea there. So I remember this sad fact and I did it this year. This cup is not of a Turkish tea but it looks like it, doesn’t it?

What are your future photography plans?
Project 365 2011;)

Congrats again to Andrius! Here is an admin favorite along with a slideshow of his completed project:

Congrats to Simply Lewis!

2011-01-01T15:05:00.000Z

Congrats to Lewis! He completed his 365 project on December 31 with this photo:

Lewis' project is filled with great views into London and beyond. Below is his finisher's interview and some of his photos.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
My wife decided to take on the 365 and so I joined her. Not exactly a considered decision, more a spur of the moment thing.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
Opportunistic, pretty much what happens to catch my eye, rarely planned.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
On some days just how hard it can be to find a subject, combination of lack of time, poor light and minimal inspiration. Especially towards the end there were quite a few moments of desperation.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
Certainly broadened the range of subjects that I shoot, never used to like photographing people and am now quite confident doing so. Similarly never took still life or product type shots, much less deliberately constructed them. This is a good example:

On the technical side have a much better understanding of what my two cameras (Canon 5D2 and Ricoh GR Digital 2) are capable of and what to do in terms of post processing to achieve the desired result.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
One of the few times I set out with a specific goal was to get some shots of the Red Kites that can be seen at Watlington Hill. Was an amazing days shooting and for once was spoilt for choice for my daily shot:

What I didn’t capture was the moment when one of the birds swooped down and directly over me. It was so close that I felt the draft from the wings.

What are your future photography plans?
Continue to enjoy my hobby.

Favourite photos from my 365 are listed below. This was tough, a bit like choosing my Desert Island Disc (if this means nothing to you take a look at this explanation)

Congrats again to Lewis! Here is an admin favorite along with a slideshow of his completed project.

Congratulations to SkinnyOrangeCat!

2011-01-01T03:21:00.000Z

Congratulations to Lori! She completed her 365 Project on December 31 with this photo:

Lori's project is filled with great color and macros and fantastic shots of animals. I've enjoyed visiting her stream and seeing images from her project! Below is her finisher's interview and some of her photos-

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
Encouragement from friends and family - in particular my husband - and then looking through 365 galleries on flickr.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
"up close" - usually it is a challenge for me to back away and get a larger view.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
I really surprised myself by finding the time to do this - that is what worried me the most this time last year. It really became a habit to start looking for photos where I wouldn't normally have done so.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I now look for photographs everywhere....

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?

We went to Yellowstone during the year which gave me a lot of photo opportunities. One of my favorite is of a simple squirrel, though. Everyone was busy taking photos of the Yellowstone Grand Canyon, but I thought this Squirrel deserved some attention. He stayed quite still while I took his photo and then made a lot of chatter - like he was cursing me out :)

What are your future photography plans?
I just ordered some Alien Bees and a light tent - I want to learn more about using light to enhance photographs. I also plan to continue with another 365.

Here's the address to Lori's completed project, enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skinnyorangecat/sets/72157622999486785/show/

Congratulations to The Cleveland Kid!

2011-01-01T02:48:00.000Z

Congratulations to Tim, he completed his 365 Project today! Tim's stream is a wonderful visual diary of his year, and I really enjoyed seeing his take on midwestern photography- his love for his surroundings seems to come through his photos. Tim has done some freelance sport photos this year with great results. He also coupled photos with songs of the day, a practice that I find really fun and creative. He also has plenty of great black and white photos and architectural images in his stream. Check out his project!

Here's his final project shot, his finisher's interview, some of his favorite photos from the year and a slideshow of his entire project.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
Last Christmas I got a new camera and happened to hear about one of the 365 groups on Flickr and thought it might be fun to see how far I could get…I really had no idea that I would stick through to the end of this project!

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
My photography is very urban in nature; I try and find the beauty in midwest city living and the sprawling suburbs that surround them.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
My biggest surprise during the project was how I really had to work to create new scenes for the viewer. One rule I had was never to duplicate an image, but that led me to explore more areas nearby other shots I took and thus made me more aware of my surroundings in the city. I tried to look at it from the vantage point of the viewer…perhaps they've never been to Cleveland, or maybe they have and just never saw the areas I photographed. I wanted to mainly get people interested and excited about the city and the fact that it offers so many visually stimulating things to take pictures of.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learned that not ever shot is going to be a gem. There were countless times where I would come home from work, uninterested in making a really good effort at my 365 and just shot whatever I could find.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
I sure can…on the 90th day of 365, a few friends and I climbed up this abandoned building that will be getting knocked down soon and we got the most incredible view of the city that I've ever seen. I put together a panorama and added it as "90/365: Conquered." Inside the building was just gross…you could smell the mold and asbestos, and to this day I'm not sure what I touched in the stairwells on the way up because it was completely pitch black…all in all though it was worth it for the view of Cleveland, one that won't exist much longer.

What are your future photography plans?
Well I'm planning on doing a 365 for 2011. Other than that I've taken up shooting with 35mm film as well as started up some freelance sports photography work on the side. I'd like to start learning how to process my own film too, so we'll see!

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360 -

A now famous lighthouse in Cleveland was completely frozen over on Lake Erie and it's been the subject of many photos including National Geographic. I remember walking very cautiously in the windy and icy conditions to get this shot and freezing my tail off.

260 -

My girlfriend took me to one of her favorite places in Wisconsin, House on the Rock. This carousel was filled with all sorts of eye catching treasures…toys, diamonds, mirrors, and I had to get a shot of it at full speed; which considering this was a long exposure photo was about two miles an hour.

79 -

This photo is a bit deceiving. My buddy's feet are in the shot, but what you don't see to the left of the photo is the thirty foot drop into a small creek. Located in Van Buren, Ohio, the landscape offers so many cool shots.

259 -

I'd never been to Chicago before this day, and I took some free time and went to see the Sears/Willis Tower. If you ever get the chance to do the glass floor at the top, do it. Take a deep breath, and do it.

Congratulations Ivo Noppen!

2010-12-31T16:21:00.000Z

Congratulations to Ivo Noppen who completed his 365 Project today! His year of photos contains many striking and creative photos, great macros, lovely portraits and nature shots, and wonderful fantasy "deformed" food creations. He has a great way of using punchy, bright colors in some of his shots that create cool graphic results. Here is Ivo's final shot of his project and his finisher's interview.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
Once a year, I cover the freshman's introduction event of the University of Twente. This event basically involves shooting about one and a half week on a fulltime basis with 6-7 other photographers. Life after this event always felt quite 'empty'. After 2009's event, I got hooked to some Flickr streams from people doing 365 projects like Dustin Diaz and Katie Lee. After much debating with myself my primal instinct of taking lots of photos eventually won and on December 31st, 2009 I decided to start a 365 project the very next day.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
My photography focuses on the details of everyday life. I can take quite some time taking photos of seemingly boring things like iron railway bridges, stacks of wood etc. Also, I can be intrigued by lines, curves and colours resulting in abstract visions of reality.
My photography also includes more and more styled conceptual still life. At the start of my 365 I had to learn quite a bit about lighting, and by reading and doing I improved during this project.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
What surprised me the most in the beginning of this project was the massive amount of people starting a 365 project on the first of January. In my direct environment, within the first 10-20 days I met three or four other people doing the same. However, the others all quit their project in the first 6-7 months.
Another surprise was the relative ease at which I got through this project. Sure there were some tough times when the juice wasn't flowing or when my schedule was chock-full. But overall, by bringing my camera almost everywhere or planning my shoot upfront, I managed quite easily.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learnt that you can do things you didn't know before by just hanging on to your goals. Some people didn't think I would actually persevere and probably give up before the 3rd month. To be able to bring such a project to a good end you will sometimes have to prioritize your photography to squeeze out a shot just before 0.00, and more importantly, you have to learn to recognize and break your "photographers-block" when you're in a bad period.

Another thing I learned is to be ever mindful. Take in those little details and the shot of the day comes naturally. For day 364 for example, I saw this brick-pattern under a bridge, which my girlfriend hadn't seen after living nearby for 1,5 years.

What are your future photography plans?
In the future I will continue with my detail photography and try to get even more knowledge of lighting and studio photography. Furthermore I think working with people is something I will expand further (in portraits etc), because I really like the interaction between photographer and model.

Congratulations again to Ivo! Here are a couple admin favorites and a slideshow of his completed project.

Congratulations eahNC!

2010-12-28T03:45:00.000Z

Congratulations to Beth! She completed her 365 today and it has been a pleasure to follow her 365 Project this year and see the world through her eyes! Here, in her own words, Beth describes her project:

What a ride!! I started my 365, having been familiar with the idea of 365's but not really with flickr. It was a steep learning curve for flickr, photoshop, and new processing techniques. I still have quite a lot to learn about photography and processing, but I do think that my 365 has inspired my confidence. Techniques can be learned. Skills can be honed. I CAN straighten my images before I capture them! I can compose a shot in my head before looking through the viewfinder. I feel like my style tends to bounce around, but that's
also my choice. I like a lot of different styles and choose not to commit! After 365 days, I'm comfortable with that. I've learned not to compare my stream to others. The 365 Community group has amazing talent; many talents far above my abilities. One of my greatest honors this year was have an image chosen as the picture of the week for this group. Thank you! I am so grateful to my contacts for their encouragement, even though I had no idea that
"contacts" would become part of the experience. You all are an integral part of making a 365 fun and interesting. Thank you!

The most difficult challenges for me were finding the time to make a shot, and finding something interesting for a subject. Sometimes I resorted to shots from the car. OK, many times. But as a suburban mom of 3, that's where I spend a lot of my time. Next year I look forward to spending more time investigating photography and
processing techniques that I didn't have time to explore this year. Such as trying to get an image of the stars to work out. But especially, taking more portraits and capturing interactions.

I've chosen some images that I feel represent compositions that I wouldn't have "seen" before starting my 365, and/or that incorporate elements that are now more integral to my photography than before. And a couple that involve getting up early... because, let's face it, so often it's all about the light.

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Congratulations again to eahNC! Here is her 365/365 photo, a couple of my favorites from her project and a slideshow of her project, filled with wonderful subjects and gorgeous light:

POTW for December 18-26th :)!

2010-12-27T06:48:00.004Z

Hope you all are enjoying the winter holidays! Below are our photos of the week, nominated by the members of our group.

If you see something in the group pool that you just love, be sure to add it to the nominations discussion thread.

And we are also seeking a new icon for January. Be sure to stop by and submit one of your own fav shots!

Cheers!

POTW for December 12-18

2010-12-19T18:52:00.001Z

December keeps marching right along. With shorter days (at least in the northern hemisphere), it can be challenging to get a photo at times. Congrats to fedora365, marco|g and MarianneLoMonaco for this week's photos of the week!

If you like any of those chosen this week, be sure to visit the photographers stream and leave a comment, they will be happy you did.

POTW for December 6-11

2010-12-13T18:29:00.001Z

Another great week of photos, it's always a challenge to pick only three.

You know the drill: if you like any of those chosen this week, be sure to visit the photographers stream and leave a comment, they will be happy you did.

Where would a 365 be without the "neon lights through rain on windshield" shot? by justmakeit

The Shy Stranger by helle-belle

341/365 Make a wish upon a star... **Explored! by fedora365

Congratulations Jaime Carter!

2010-12-08T02:40:00.000Z

Congratulations and Happy Birthday to Jaime Carter! Jamie recently completed her 365 project, taking a photo a day with a 50mm lens. The resulting photos are full of beauty, bokeh and color and her photostream is well worth a visit. Jaime provided answers to our interview questions and some of her favorite photos below:

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I was inspired by someone else's 50mm 365 project [Al Ronberg] - who's also a member of the 365 Community - and liked the idea of the challenge.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
My photography is about focusing on the details.. with a splash of colour.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
I was surprised at how easy it was to get a photo each day that I was pleased with.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learnt to not plan each day's shot.. that some of the best photos came about by accident. This doesn't mean you can't think of ideas in advance, but to approach each day as it comes.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
This photo represents probably the most important day of the whole project.. my wedding day in Fiji

What are your future photography plans?
Make blurb book of my 365 project, catch up on processing more than a year's worth of older images and will probably dream up a new project to challenge myself.

My final photo, taken on my birthday in Auckland:

And here's our admin fave:

Congratulations to Jaime on a wonderful collection of photos! It has been a pleasure to revisit them today!

Here's a slideshow of her complete project: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaimewalsh/sets/72157622819274229/show/

Congrats to somedesignerguy (M11 Studios)!

2010-12-07T06:29:00.003Z

Congratulations to Mike! Whoot whoot! :) He finished his project on December 1st!

In his own words, Mike describes his project. He sent me his responses to some questions we asked... and I felt they stood on their own without the actual questions there.. so here you go. And I inserted some of my favs inbetween and some of them seemed fitting to what he was describing about his work.

I'm a graphic designer at a design agency, so I spend lots of time around photography and photographers. Over the years, I have returned to shooting for fun, picking up a DSLR a couple years back. While viewing some design and photography blogs, I came across the work (but not the name or story) of Jamie Livingston. As I read further, I realized that he shot a Polaroid of his life from March 31, 1979 until his death on October 25, 1997 (his 41st birthday). I was inspired by the monumental undertaking, and this was also the first time I had heard of such a long "photo a day" project. A few days after my own birthday, I decided to take on a year-long version myself.

It's all about the details - and the unseen.

What surprised me most was how quickly my camera became a constant accessory; like a wallet or glasses. I was almost never seen without my camera bag in tow, regardless of the time or venue. Being without it feels almost unnatural now.

Proper knowledge of technical skills is important, but sometimes going with instinct can create interesting and exciting results. The project has helped me push my technical skills further, while also gaining a better appreciation for my environment. I don't want to say I'm more aware of things now, but I definitely view my surroundings with new eyes... almost establishing visual opportunities before all else.

The most interesting thing that has happened during the 365 was being followed by multiple bike police, while being monitored by security cameras. I was on Nationwide property downtown (a parking lot) and was seen as being a questionable character. After multiple conversations with some officers, explaining that I was simply taking photos of the city from the top of the parking structure, I was allowed to continue with –minimal– supervision.

I don't think I'll shoot another 365 for a little while. Making my own projects and guidelines has always been a great challenge – I will probably keep up with themed monthly projects. My recent idea is to explore both black and white, while also incorporating objects / people frozen in action or mid-air. We'll see how that pans out...

Below, we have featured three of his favorites. He chose these three because they signify some challenges he posed for himself, as well as the process of learning to constantly be looking for photo opportunities.

Day 313 - The L Splash

Day 232 - Wireless

Day 135 - Return to Shopping Cart Cove

And now for a link to the slideshow to his entire project. Have a peak, you won't be disappointed!

Photos of the Week: November 28- December 4, 2010

2010-12-06T05:29:00.001Z

As usual, it was hard to chose just three photos from all of the wonderful POTW nominations. Congratulations to Bernard Soriano Photography, "Olga" and beingjoey for having their beautiful photos chosen this week!

Fish Day

2010-12-04T02:55:00.000Z

I loved watching Fish Day unfold in the 365 Day Community group! I don't think that fortune fish are naturally the easiest subject to photograph, which made me extra impressed to see all of these fantastic and creative photos.

Here they are again, and thank you all so much for participating :)

Please let me know if your fish photo is not here! >)))))))>