HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Wow! 365 days! Well, almost. I almost did a photo a day for 365 days. There were just a few days I skipped for various reasons, but overall I figure I did it, and am pretty proud of that accomplishment. There were times when it almost became a bit of a chore to actually have to take a photo and I had to push myself through those days. Other days I didn't feel particularly interested in the prompt so again it sometimes was any shot will do. Sometimes the prompts were almost the same as other days and it was difficult to think of another way to take the shot. But overall I really enjoyed the process of thinking about a prompt, how I could interpret it, what the subject matter would be, how I could take a more interesting shot of a pretty ordinary subject.
I guess the big question is: Would I do it again? Most resoundingly yes. I feel I have benefited from doing a photo (or more) every day and I think I have become quicker in looking at how I want to take a shot. I've learnt more about composition, framing, apertures and shutter speeds. I have experimented a lot with the shots. And really, it was rarely one photo a day - some days had heaps and heaps of attempts. I have photos of things I would never ever have thought to take a photo of, and there are quite a lot of photos that I am really happy with how they turned out. There are photos of the animals that I would never have taken and I know will provide me with comfort when those precious fur babies are no longer with us. I've taken photos of the grandchildren that I wouldn't have done. The camera is always close by and ready to be used. This year I would like to start thinking more in manual mode and think I might challenge myself to choose one or two prompts a week that I shoot completely in manual mode.
Anyway on to the last photo of 2013. Juanita, Steve and I went to see the 8:30 fireworks at Southbank, Brisbane, and I took the camera along specifically to photograph the fireworks for my daily prompt. While we were waiting for them to start I got on the internet and starting looking up exposure etc for fireworks. That was when I discovered that I really should be using a tripod and a long exposure. Hmmm, first big problem - I didn't bring a tripod and there was no way I could hand hold the camera steady enough for a long exposure. I did try beforehand and have some pretty whacky lighting effects to prove that I really needed a tripod. In the end I just went with a fast shutter speed and wide aperture of f4 with the ISO on auto. This meant I didn't get really good light trails and the photos had a lot of noise (which I reduced in postproduction). These three photos were the best that I got.
Anyway, bring on 2014! Wishing you all everything you wish for in 2014 and more!