Lessons Learned

"When All Else Fails, Find a Way to Shoot the Trellis."

I knew going in that I'd be photographing the trellis for 366 Snaps last December 30, but that didn't stop me from taking pix of the new snow here and there around the yard. But mostly I photographed the trellis, from near and far, from inside the house and outside, from every angle I could imagine.

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So, Joel: What's the point of 366 Snaps?

It's best to see the project as a journal. The point was, and is, the photographs. I started the daily-photo project on a whim, and wasn't really sure I intended to complete it. By May it was clear I'd finish the set, and by September I knew I'd only miss days if outside events intervened.

The point was never to practice specific techniques, or to better my craft, or to amass a portfolio. The black & white photography effort had some of those objectives, but that was (in my mind) a separate decision from the daily photo intention, and actually predated it. On the other hand, learning things and improving my photographic technique were probably inevitable consequences of the project. But at no point were they the purpose.

Much the same can be said of the change-cameras-every-month decision: My intention was to force some variety on myself, but anything I learned by doing so was incidental to just taking photographs. Of course I did learn things from the camera changes. I've tried to mention those in my commentaries.

Other photographers have used photo-a-day projects to learn techniques and to force creativity. These reasons are certainly legitimate. They just weren't my reasons.

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What did you learn from the 366 Snaps project?

I got pretty good at processing photographs in Bibble Pro (rebranded as Corel Aftershot Pro). I'd likely not have learned that software nearly as well without the daily need to process a batch of pix.

I gave a lot of thought to how I frame photographs, and to how that differs from other photographers' methods and preferences. This was both an unexpected byproduct and a useful experience.

I also got better at the "merely technical" aspects of photography. I had a decent technical grounding--I'd been taking photographs with good cameras since my Vietnam tour--but the daily photography grind often forces you to attempt things you'd not otherwise try. This was reinforced by my purchase of the extremely quirky Nikon 1 V1. In truth, learning to use the V1 well did more to improve my photography than anything I've ever tried, with the possible exception of purchasing my original Minolta SR-T 101.

Since my most common photographic subjects were the village and the local farms, I got to be very familiar with their photographic potentials. This was, on the whole, the most fun part of the project.

It was a good year. I'm glad I did it.

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This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps.

Number of project photos taken: 36
Title of "roll:" One Last Trellis Shot
Other photos taken on 12/30/2012: none.