I had other plans for this shot. I had hoped to have a moving slideshow of my year, of things that really made my life different this year through photographs, and well, that's not the way life works. I'll get to the slideshow or video. Just not now.
This photo is using my new Sigma 35mm prime 1.4 lens which translates to a nifty fifty on my camera as it is meant for a full-frame camera--my husband figured all that out. I put it on my camera today because I couldn't find my zoom (I must have hidden it before leaving for Mexico--that means that I may never find it). Why did I want my zoom? Because ALL THE BIRDS came to say hi today--I mean all of them. They were begging to be photographed for day 365 and I could not find (and still cannot find) the lens.
That's ok. This shot is of the cover to my calendar I made for my family this Christmas--my favorite shots of each month for next year!
What can I say? I love my 365 community. I planned on thanking many of you personally by tagging you, but I'm just exhausted. It makes me cry how exhausted I am and not able to say personal thanks, but it will come, just not today. This has been the best "good-for-me" thing of my life so far. I've taught myself how to use a camera; I've traveled the world through your lenses; I've witnessed some incredible personal moments; I've met "friends" I swear I've known all my life; I've been supported by so many who have put up with my nagging questions and follow-ups about things like abstract photography (I'm finally at peace with that term, thankfully).
If you are new, and you are visiting this page by some random chance, know that 365project is a great life-changer if you want it to be. I have learned to open my ears and eyes to so many things around me. I can identify so many birds, plants, bugs that I never knew existed simply because I decided to take a shot of them and learned about them. The world is worth capturing. It’s glorious. And so are the people in the world. Cheers to everyone celebrating year one of 365! I had 7 “filler” shots from this year and they all mark a day of sickness or of travel when I couldn’t get to a shot. I’m totally at peace with that.
I will be around for Year Two after I take time to process the recent death of my mother-in-law and find time to really just start fresh.
I cannot say enough thanks to everyone. Onward to 2014. HOTDOG! ;)
@seanoneill Sean, I know we got to be "friends" late in the year, but I view your photography and read your narratives with such relish--you have been true inspiration this year. I hope we'll be seeing each other again in 2014!
@kbird61 Hi Kay! I love your new profile shot! Blue is your color! Thanks for being so kind to comment on my photos especially when I have been a horrible one to comment lately. Hope to fix that in 2014. Happy new Year!
@nanderson Oh, Nancy, thanks for such kind words. I can't believe it's been a year. I'm sort of in shock, but very proud. So glad I have been able to meet you and look forward to next year. :)
@kwind thanks so much. I love, love this place--who knew that there was a really positive and supportive online worldwide community out there? I'm staying no matter what. I'm sorry I have not reciprocated the comments lately, but will set the goal in 2014 after a brief hiatus. I love your work and thank you for your comments. :)
Daryl, you are a jewel and I love your enthusiasm! Take care...do what you need to do, and I'll look forward to another year together on 365 :) It has been a pleasure to follow you and be followed by you! xoxo
Congratulations Daryl!I am SO glad you are staying!I would miss you so much!Take time for yourself now,to process all that has happened and to rejuvenate...but come back to us soon!
@vskolnik Oh Vee, I don't know how to tell you how much you have inspired me this year. When I was in Mexico, hummingbirds arrives to feast on the bouganvilla (sp?) and my husband told me one of them must have been one we "fostered" in the states before it traveled south. The birds kept me happy when I was in tears--and I thought of you often whenever I saw one -- I didn't take a lens capable of capturing any of it. What a year. Thanks for everything. I'll be back. need a break first, but I'll be back. :)
You deserve a break. You really put your heart into the project. You work is wonderful. I hope your recipients enjoyed their calendars! Though you are exhausted from your duty, you got through it . That was a major accomplishment--a final honor to your MIL. I look forward to your posts when you are able!
Congratulations, Daryl! I'm so glad we became friends through 365, and I look forward to the day we go on a "live" photo walk together. Your energy, your inquisitive mind, your enormously generous nature . . . I'm so glad we can look forward to year two together!
Dear Daryl,huge congrats on finishing the first year of your project. You're fantastic,and what I really loved in your project is your different perspective than mine (I'm sorry if it's not grammatically right,it's early in the first morning of 2014,but I hope you understand what I mean). I wish you such a successful and enjoyable year than the last was. Have fun ! :)))
Huge congrats on making 365 Daryl - fantastic! : ) Have loved hearing the stories about your images, especially the collapsing nest box!Good luck with your project in 2014!
So sorry to hear about your Mother-in-Law - many condolences to you and your family.
Congrats on finishing year 1!! And congrats on the new lens, looking forward to seein all the beautiful shots you are going to take with them! Take your time to rest and process and I'll see you!!
Daryl, congrats on the completion of your project. I enjoyed following your work, even though I started looking at your photos late. You've come a long way. Thanks for all the encouragement throughout the year. Looking forward to seeing what you do next year. My condolences to you and your family for your loss.
Happy New Year to you. You express your thoughts beautifully and I couldn't agree with you more. 365 has made me observe the world around me like never before. Also this community of photographers is wonderful, I love seeing the world through everyone out there. Thanks.
Wow. What a great recap of your amazing year. I can not agree more on how this site, and photography in general, can be life-changing. Personally, I met my wife and best friends through photography, and wouldn't even be here in Idaho without it. I had to laugh about being able to identify critters because of photography. In my old camera club, the Alameda Photographic Society, we were required to identify anything we entered in a nature competition, so I now own a large shelf full of nature books. I learned more about the world around me, and how great is that? Thank you for entertaining and inspiring us.
Thank you, Daryl! I enjoy your photographs so much and look forward to more when the time is right for you! Have been praying for you and your family. Thanks for being a great friend on 365! Best wishes for 2014! Get some rest and recuperate! Love ya! :)
So sorry for your loss. I'm glad to hear you're to stay on here as I've only just started following you but feel we have the same sort of interests photography-wise. I hope the New Year will be a good one for you. Best wishes xx
@danette Thanks so much! I have really appreciated your support, encouragement, and trust that I WOULD have been a good photographer for your son's special moment. I'm honored and so glad for your 365 friendship. I'll be back soon. It's too good a place to stay away. Love your work. See you soon. xoxoxox Daryl
Congratulations on completing your project, Daryl! It has been an absolute pleasure to get to know you this year. You have a beautiful spirit that shines through your photos and narratives. Love this shot and the idea of a photo calendar of monthly favs. I am glad that you will be staying on after a break. It wouldn't be the same here without you.. I just went back and reread your last posts and have a better understanding of what you have been going though over the last weeks. I am so sorry for your loss. I wish you and your family all the best in 2014.
This is so cool! I want to do this for Christmas next year. Congrats!! You and so many other started a year ago. Hope that you will continue with your project....have so enjoyed the short time I have had to enjoy your photos and inspiration. A very Happy New Year to you!!
Wow, Daryl! I'm so glad I was lead back to 365 this past week if just for this post alone. You have been and continue to be such an inspiration- your eye, your gifts, your flare for words, your curiosity, and your unabashed enthusiasm have enriched my life beyond the photos. Congratulations!
Wow you made it, I'm sooooo pleased that we finished this journey together. You have taken some amazing photographs and will take many more, of that I have no doubt, but first you must rest and gather your energy. I shall look forward to your return, I too am taking a short break, which I have to say, is quite a relief, so until then my friend, take care and see you soon.
@jo13 You were one of my earliest friends, and I'm one of your biggest fans. Yes, a rest. Much needed. I can't find my 75-300 lens either that I tucked away before going to the nightmare in Mexico days--May be Feb. before I head back. I'm glad I'll see you soon, though. Happy New Year dear Jo! ;)
@markp Thanks so much Mark. It has been a pure joy following your work--you are so inspirational and quite the wit! ;) I'll pop over to your album to give a big congrats too. :)
@luvmynynix Thanks so much Laurie--you have always been a very bright spot for me this year. Your enthusiasm and love of life is just so contagious--and it really shows in your beautiful photos. Happy New Year. I'll be back soon. :)
@lubybee Tears. Thanks so much for those lovely sentiments. It's been a rough end-of-year, but I have loved 365 with my whole heart. I miss you! See you soon.
@luvmynynix Oh, and the calendar looked GREAT! I did it with Shutterfly and it was the very first time I even printed one of the 13,000 photos I took this year. Crazy. They looked so good too!
@willowdragon Yes, a break, but I'll be back. And let's hope I can find my 75-300 lens I hid before leaving to Mexico. I swear, I'm a mess. Happy New Year, and thanks for everything. :)
@rvwalker Many Thanks Ross. A banner year. Love the friendships the most. I am joining the Roswell Photographic Society this year too! Might just enter a competition or two (with my bug and bird books securely by my side). Thank you for all your wit, insights, landscapes--ah, that dune--and for your amazing support. I sure do hope I meet you in person someday. Would be a real pleasure. Happy New Year. I'm taking a break, but I'll be back soon. :)
Hey, my friend. I'm so behind on 365, so just now seeing the news about your mother-in-law. Sending prayers, and looking forward to your return. Congrats on completing Year One!
The project is everything you said it is! And sorry that I was out if touch and did. It hear about your loss. And so sorry you are exhausted! Rest up, my friend, there are photos out there just waiting for you to discover. Did you ever find your lens? That was biggest adjustment for me! When I got my macro and my nifty fifty and then I would want to zoom in to photograph a bird or something! Frustrating not always having the right lens....but I got used to that. Happy New Year and Hotdog!
Happy New Year Daryl - just a quick note to say a huge thank you for your lovely words on my final image - I was truly touched! Thank you so much!
As I have already said, I have so enjoyed your project and your great company over the last year and am looking forward to seeing your images in 2014! Happy New Year! Enjoy your break! : ) x
Congrats! I have still long way to go and to be honest I've been struggling with my project recently. But I won't give up - I'll finish it some day as well! Once again, congratulations and Happy New Year!
Congrats and happy new year Daryl! i've very much enjoyed following you and really very thankful to you for all those lovely comments and feedbacks! I'm very glad that you are staying, enjoy your break and be back with more awesome shots! best of luck and good wishes for the new year! :)
Congrats on finishing your project, Daryl! I am so sorry to hear about your mother-in-law! I hope you and your family are doing ok! My thoughts and prayers go out to you!
I just noticed I wasn't following you! My timing has always been just a click off! ;) I'll fix that so I can see when you return! Have a great break and I'm looking forward to another one night stand with you! :)
Congratulations Daryl!! I've thought of you often over the past week and hoped you are doing well. It just goes to show how right you are about meeting folks who feel like they will be friends forever, even if not ever meeting face to face! You have had an awesome year and it's been a joy to be on this journey together. I have loved your creativity, with-it-ness, sense of adventure, and your great shots. Enjoy your (I hope brief) break and take care of self and family. All the best for a great 2014!
I am sorry to hear of the loss of your mother in law. My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family. I look forward to viewing more of your awe inspiring captures!
Oh Daryl! So sorry to hear about your Mother-in-law. That had to have been difficult. My prayers are with you and your family. Congratulations for making it the entire year-- you are very inspiring!
Well stated (as always)! I feel the same way about my 365 experience this year, and I'm going for "round 2" as well! Congrats on finishing your project! So glad you'll be returning after your break. See you then!
在新的一年里我们共同努力工作，把我们喜欢的景物和事情发表在这里，与朋友们一起分享。祝你快乐In the New Year we work hard together, we enjoy scenery and things published here, share with friends. I wish you a happy
So you really aren't posting this year????? I miss you and your fun posts and great shots! Hope you are having a better start to this year than end to last.
@taffy I'm taking some time off to savor the first year and reflect before going into another year. I'm trying to "gear up" for another year. I'm impressed with those that can forge ahead so well into another year without a day off! I am in need of rest, focus, and redirection. I'll be back when I can figure out an organized way to correctly import, edit, and save. It bothers me to no end that I took over 15,000 photos in a year and I can't retrieve them well because I didn't take the time to figure out how to do it on my computer and with my editing programs. I really wanted to make a video too--I can't because of the haphazard way I organized myself. So, when I sort that out, get a plan in place, I'll be back. :) Thanks for the visit Taffy. I am, however, feeling great about just visiting photos and not posting at the same time. I'm one to know when I need a break, and now is that time. :)
@darylo I look forward to it. I read your reply to Taffy. I have a very good way of storing all my photos and knowing how to retrieve them, would you like to hear about it? It's very simple, just like me!!
@seanoneill oh yes please. Do you use LR5? I'm importing directly there. I need to efficiency. I want to start out better than last year (actually the problem came after I started using LR5 because half the year is there and half on computer files). I store by date but want to do tags that make sense.
@darylo@taffy Oh gawd, you can probably teach me then !! I don't fdo anything that fancy!! I just have 2 external hard drives that mirror each other. I import unprocessed shots directly into windows based folders. So for instance, in 2014 I have a master folder called Project 365 2014, and I have 2 full folders for 2012 and 2013 that follow the same structure. Below that I have monthly folders and weekly folders. The weekly folder get all shots dragged into it, and the shots that make 365 get saved into teh monthly folder with dat eand album number as the file name, so today's fiole name for album 1 is January 14th A1. I save as a PSD and a JPeg. Once a month I swap the external drive that is plugged into my PC and copy the previous months files over, so I always have 2 up to date drives that are identical. With you mentioning LR5 I am thinking you want something fancy that will allow batch processing etc. That is way beyond me, I am a bear of very small brain, but it is well organised!!
@seanoneill Thanks Sean. I do something similar but am realizing that dates aren't going to help me get to a specific photo very quickly. I use Aperture which has a system, I understand, like LR for storing and organizing. What I've wondered if I should be using tags more effectively and maybe stars. Do you do that?
@taffy@seanoneill Thanks Sean and Taffy. Sean, my system midway through last year was similar to yours although I just had one folder for the actual date. When I bought LR5, I decided to import directly and was not sure of my system really as I was then creating folders in its library by date, and I would simply delete those photos I didn't feel like editing or I had "enough" for the date. So I have half of the photos in my Windows files and half are in LR5. I'm trying to work on a tag upon import first (something like "365") if I know of the file. The date folders work fine. I'm thinking of exporting back to a file on Windows something, but I think I can do it all internally with LR5 with my backups like you to external drives (I have one). LR does a weekly backup for me. It's really a matter of working with the LR directions before I get all into the editing. It's a great editor, but it's a great cataloguer and I want to get the folders set up more distinctly post editing (for easy retrieval). All I know is that to make my calendar this year (the only printing I did of the thousands of photos, I had to really go back and manually find everything). Fortunately, I could locate the date by just skimming my 365 monthly views--that was a relief, but I want to put things in categories like "macro" "bird" "structural" .... My birthday is in one week. My goal is to learn enough by that day to start Year Two. I'll start and end on my birthday (the big 50 is when I finish--so technically I might start the day after my birthday). I may just go ahead and post my query in Discussions. I have tried to avoid it because I'm afraid I may become more confused than before, but maybe someone can enlighten me. I'm fine with technology. I tend to get caught up in the "how" something works and I want to utilize it to the fullest. But then time gets in my way. So many things are on my plate right now, so I'll just do what I can and then get going. Thanks so much for your help!
@taffy no I don't use tags, I don't struggle to find things with my system, I guess the tags are in my head!! It's a bloke thing, I can find an archive photo in seconds or recount in detail a football match from 40 years ago, but making cheese sauce is always such a struggle!
@darylo heehee! So it sounds like there's no magic system! I have 'libraries' in my Aperture program which is like LR, I think. I keep a separate library for each month called Project365MonthName (e.g., Project365January2014) and I have a 'temporary' library on my computer. I do my Project 365 work for the month - or any other library (e.g., "2014QuarterlyMtg1) on my computer. At the end of the month, I export each library on my computer to an external hard drive dedicated to photos which I will have hooked to my computer. After the exports are done, I hook up another external drive which is my backup drive, and tell it to save my computer and the other hard drive info. But it doesn't solve my problem of finding a photo that I vaguely remember taking in spring. One thing I do maintain is a Quarter#Posted -- so whenever I post to 365, I take the photo from its library and move it to the Posted Library -- that I keep on my computer and I export it each quarter and start again. I mainly don't have that much room on my laptop and don't have any place to keep a desktop in my house.
just came to check up and make sure I wasn't missing your photos, then I realised I hadn't commented on your final shot of the year. (I was sure I had - I wonder how many times I write a comment, and forget to press send before moving on to the next shot) so well done on completing the year, a great achievement! especially when the photos are all so good! its been fab following you and seeing all your shots. so grateful too for all your supportive comments throughout the year. looking forward to seeing you post again when youre ready :-)
Daryl, you've expressed the feelings of all of us who love 365 and perhaps devote too much time to it -- I appreciate your concerns about keeping up with comments -- I'm so far behind I despair of ever catching up. I manager to take, process, and post every day but then realize I don't have time to look at all the wonderful photos posted by the people I follow. I blame my lack of organizational skills. . I think my epitaph will be "I'm surprised I had time to die."
@catwoman2 You just gave me a huge laugh with that epitaph. I hope you don't mind, but I may need to borrow it (will save time coming up with one for myself! lol). Yes, I'm just never going to be the good commenter unfortunately. It's a good thing to be on here and off to be honest. I wish there was a way to have a huge 365 party! :)
January 24th, 2014
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So sorry to hear about your Mother-in-Law - many condolences to you and your family.
I am so sorry for your loss. I know it was a blessing for you to have been able to be there.
Looking forward to sharing 2014 with you.
May it be so. :^)
Hope your girls are doing good! You are a dear friend! Look forward to your pics in year 2...
Sounds like you need a break :( look forward to seeing you back soon :)
Happy New Year to you.
As I have already said, I have so enjoyed your project and your great company over the last year and am looking forward to seeing your images in 2014! Happy New Year! Enjoy your break! : ) x
I just noticed I wasn't following you! My timing has always been just a click off! ;) I'll fix that so I can see when you return! Have a great break and I'm looking forward to another one night stand with you! :)
I am so glad though that you'll be coming back for a second year. You have great photos!!
Love your words. They express so well what this project is all about.