To 365 or Not to 365

As the year 2010 draws to a close there are many educators and non-educators alike that are either completing and/or considering doing a Project 365 photo a day assignment. This is the end of my 2nd year in a row, although I have missed some days, doing a Project 365. Doing a Project 365 has most certainly been an eye opener in so many ways more than simply holding a camera and pressing the shutter release. In fact my list of goals and accomplishments are as follows:

• My image library has reached just over 18,000 images
• I am able to make use of my images for delivery of instruction or presentations, thus eliminating a need to navigate the myriad of Creative Commons and Copyright licensing regulations
• My photographic skill set has significantly increased far beyond my own expectations, due in large part to using either my camera or iPhone literally every day
• My knowledge base of Aperture, Lightroom, and Photoshop has more than quadrupled
• And most importantly my use of Photography as a form of creative expression has been such a welcomed addition to my personal life

I have seen on twitter and facebook a number of friends, colleagues, and contacts either considering or committing to doing a Project 365. It led me to writing this post and thinking more carefully if I want to continue for a third year. At times the Project 365 can seem monotonous, arduous, and quite frankly a nuisance. This year alone I even did a Project 52 weekly photo, although my goal with that was to make at least 75% of those images be HDR images in order to expand my photographic repertoire. I probably will not make my decision until after 12am December 31st, but if you are considering doing it I would emphatically say GO FOR IT!! There is no need to feel pressured or obligated to post photos daily, but just like going to the gym, once you get into a groove it can be quite easy. Perhaps you will be able to accomplish your own set of goals and share in the documentation of your daily life as well as your creative expression with others, like myself. I would like to include a few resources that can help you get started and help you along the way.

My favorite website to refer to for a "daily assignment" is the Dailyshoot website. This site is a great resource for not only assignments, but also forcing you to really open your eyes to the images you make.

While there are many flickr groups devoted to a Project 365, one group I have found to be very worthwhile that is not geographically limited is the 365 Community. This is not your typical dump and run group in which images are posted and there is no "community" interaction. All members are encouraged/required to at least interact with others by posting comments and/or feedback where appropriate. This group also provides a suggested theme to help you with your creative expression.

I will soon be creating a Google Site to aggregate all of the Project 365 and Project 52 resources I know of and/or use regularly. So I hope you will consider taking on this commitment and if you really feel daily photos would be too much, try weekly for the first few months and see how that goes. Feel free to post a link to your blog, flickr feed, posterous, tumblr, or any other method you use for posting your images so that I can follow along with you on your Project.

Note: The mosaic at the top is a collection of some of my Project 365 photos for 2010