Cymek Perceived Power Corrupts Absolutely

365 Photographs – 365 Days

I Got New Red Leggings, originally uploaded by Craig Damlo.

During 2010 I did a Project 365. If you're not familiar with it, the quick rundown is to take and post a photograph a day for one year (or one shot a day for 365 days if you're unfamiliar with the Gregorian calendar). I wasn't convinced that it was something that I was interested in doing, but my wife Sherri wanted to do it and "persuaded" me to do it with her. It seemed like a good way to improve my photography and it seemed like it would be easy enough; after all, it's just pushing a button once a day, right?

Some days involved much, much more than just pushing the button, eg, trying to find the time and/or the motivation to push that button. Most of the time, though, it was just a lot of fun. We got out and saw new things in the Puget Sound area that we may have never discovered, and we tried different types of photography and were able to shoot different things. In the end, I think that it did help to improve my overall photography. Despite the fact that I did end up with some really weak photos—like an outlet I took while in Brazil—the point of Project 365 was that I still looked for a photograph and composed a shot. So, I was thinking about photography even if it wasn't a masterpiece.

An Outlet For Your Sadness, originally uploaded by Craig Damlo.

I've heard it said that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert on something, but for photography I think it needs to amended to say it also takes 10,000 different photographs. I think  you could become an expert at shooting a particular waterfall if you take 100 photographs of that waterfall, but that doesn't mean that you will be an expert on shooting any waterfall. If you want improve your photographs of waterfalls, go and shoot 50 portraits to help understand how to capture a subject's best features and 50 macro shots to help you look at and capture the details. If nothing else, trying a different type of photography will help you to better know and understand your equipment as well as give you the ability to look at a subject in different ways.

So, if you're thinking of doing a Project 365 yourself, I have a few lessons learned that I will share. First, do the project with somebody else. I think a big reason that both Sherri and myself were able to complete it was because of the other person pushing you on the days you lost motivation. Second, try different things and have fun with it. Trying different things will help stave off the monotony. Thirdly, remember that it is more than just pushing the button; take time to compose the photograph and try to capture interesting photographs, not just snapshots. But, also remember that they aren't all going to be great; always remember that this is a project for personal growth and and for fun. One way to keep learning from each photograph is to write up a little something about each shot as you post them.

Picture Me in TRIUMF, originally uploaded by Craig Damlo.

Ultimately it's been fun to come back to the photographs after all 365 days have been captured and then to review the year. It's interesting for me—someone who travels a fair amount—to see a day-to-day photograph of not only where I was on each day of the year, but I can also often tell the type of day I was having by the photograph and accompanying text.