Picture of the Day...or Week...or....

JRomie · May 9, 2011

Hi All -

For those who have it, please reply to this post with a link to your "one-pic-a-day" or "pic-of-the-week" (or similar) gallery. For those who don't have it, or don't know what I'm talking about, read on...

I recently started a gallery on my Smugmug site called "4-Pics-A-Week (At Least)". While the task is new to me, the concept has been used by a host of people. What it means in my case is that I have a personal "assignment" every week to capture and upload at least four photos to my gallery. My personal rules are that they can be taken of any subject -- anything at all, on four separate days, or all on the same day. All that matters is that I upload 4 images (at least!...sometimes more) taken during the week to my gallery.

Actually, this started off for me as "One-pic-a-day" as I've seen others do successfully, but I quickly found that I just don't have the time to meet that requirement, and I'm too picky about what I post to take a picture of and post belly button lint simply as a means of meeting my goal. So rule number one is, like a new years resolution, don't set a goal you cannot meet. So far, the "Four-pics-a-week", for me anyway, is a goal I can meet, though I'm sometimes still just a little stressed about it because it's day 6 of the week and I've yet to take or upload any pics.

What I like about this concept is the following:

it forces me to get out and take some pictures when I might not otherwise do so and, also, to maintain an active website,
it forces me to be creative - to take some pictures that I may not otherwise have thought of -- to try new things, new subjects, new processing steps. In some cases, it forces me to take the effort to capture some pics I'd always wanted to take, but never got around to
it forces me to upload pictures that may not normally "make the cut." With only a few exceptions though, I'm happy that I uploaded those that I have.

So far, I'm really enjoying this, and I hope to keep it up. So, If you have such a gallery in the works, reply with your link. If you don't, and if this idea sounds interesting to you, start one up.....and send the link.

cab.in.boston · May 12, 2011

I've been doing a 365 project since last July. I had wanted to do it and decided not to wait until January to start it. I don't religiously maintain a proper website/blog, so I've just been putting them on my FB page. Links are in my sig, I think they work to non-FBers and/or people I'm not friends with. I had to do multiple albums because FB limits albums to 200 photos. I'm not terribly happy with how the FB compression treats some of the shots, but whatever. I did start to blog posts of a week's worth of shots at a time, along with a little bit more detailed comments on each pic, but I'm months behind that at this point, so I'm not sure if I'll ever get around to finishing that version. So as of now it exists in its entirety only on FB and in my Lightroom catalog.

I have occasionally posted "belly button lint," as you say, but mostly I at least try to get something somewhat/kind of/relatively interesting (at least to me). There are a decent number of shots of my kids because well, parents like to shoot their kids and my friends/relatives in general don't mind seeing them. But I try to only do that on rare-ish occasions.

My "rules" for this project are that the shot is taken on the day it is posted. I could do a shoot on a weekend and come up with 7 shots for the next week, but my intent was to ensure I got my camera out every day. Some shots are more carefully planned out, some are snapshots, and a few are "oh crap, I need to get a photo up today." I appreciate my friends' comments, but my goal with this project is strictly personal, and it has been very fun and educational, and only rarely is it a chore. I'd like to think it has made me at least a little bit better, I know for sure it has made me more aware of possible photographic opportunities. Anyway, take a look if you want (and if I have the links and privacy settings right). It's a little strange for me to think that I've been at this for over 300 days now and only have a couple of months left. I'm not sure what, if anything, I will replace this project with when I'm done.

JRomie · May 15, 2011

I like your project alot. Another thing I like about this concept is that it forces variety; I see that in your project, and it's starting to show in mine as well (though it's a small album so far, so harder to see a trend - or lack thereof).

Thanks for replying. I figured there was no interest in this, but at least now I can say there is some.

Ohiohiker · May 15, 2011

I am 90 days from completing my 365 project.

My original rules were to take and post at least one photo a day using my DSLR. A few times when out of town I took the photo but did not have internet access so those were posted a day later. So far I have missed one day.

I also posted one pic taken while flying with my part time job using my iPod Touch. The biggest challenge I have is work. I work as a Paramedic and 2 days a week I am at the station for 24 hours. If we are busy this makes it very difficult to find things to photograph. I post my picture to my blog, which automatically posts to Facebook, and I post to Flickr. Here is my gallery on my webpage.

eoren1 · May 15, 2011

I have a weekly blog which I named Wednesdays in Marblehead (link below). It started in August as a means to learn my new town better (having only lived here 3 years but with roots firmly placed now). The blog has taken me to places I never thought I would see (the attic of a 240 year old building for one) and has led to showings of my photography around town (I just finished the first showing and have two month-long ones planned in July and Sept).
I was worried that I would not be able to keep up with a daily blog and that the good would get watered down by the mediocre. In fact, the weekly approach has proven just as hard and I had succumbed to posting 2-3 times per week initially until I decided to stick to the more predictable (and expected by my readers) weekly schedule. Good luck with your and eveyone else's projects!

moose135 · May 15, 2011

Nice work in your gallery, John, and you as well, Cab! Last year I tried a "Photo A Day" project, I ended up with 145 days worth of photos. When I started it, I did a bit of chasing around trying to make sure I got something every day (belly button lint photos) but since I end up shooting a lot of random stuff anyway, I simply uploaded a favorite from a day's shooting into that gallery.

This year, I'm still calling it a "Photo A Day" gallery, but in the description I said "Well, maybe not daily, but a look at life in 2011." The 2011 gallery is here:
http://www.moose135photography.com/Other/Photo-A-Day-2011/15290488_7qnfS

ETA: Eyal - I saw your post after I wrote the above, but I'll have to take a look at your blog, it sounds interesting!

Picture of the Day...or Week...or....

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