So here I am at the end of Year Two on 365 Project! I planned the end of this year to coincide with my 50th birthday, so yay me! On to the next half-century! And, yes, on to Year 3 at some point. I require an official break between years to review my goals and to gather some phojo. The good news is that I will begin 50 with a new camera: a Canon 7D Mark II. I’m sure I’m going to need some time to read about how to turn the thing on!
Year Two was very different from Year One. For one, I am ending this year on a happy note and I was able to pull together a slideshow. I started Year One as a writing project with no firm plans except to provide visual cues for my musings about the middle years of my life. Year One was to be a record of “A Day in the Life of a Daryl.” But then I discovered that the recording device in my hand every day was something valuable; it could push me in similar ways I have pushed myself over the years to wield my pen/keyboard. I started thinking I should play with the knobs and buttons on my Canon Rebel T2i and my camera phones. Then I entered some challenges. Then I started to see the value of processing. But most importantly, I started to look at what other 365ers were doing and conversed with them about the hows, whys, whats, and whens of this thing called photography! Oh, the friendships here are so dear to me, and I would not have made it through Year One without the essential support of those I follow and those who follow me.
So Year Two. I changed my rules—I realized that I could not keep commenting or taking photos in the ways I wanted. I could keep posting every day, but I needed to stretch my skills (learn what RAW was, in particular) and leave my comfort zones. I joined a photographic society, I opened myself up to public critiques, I submitted work for exhibition (and succeeded!), and I made a mess of my LR5 catalogue (see, not everything is great). BUT I learned by plugging away, commenting here when I could, and pushing my camera to new heights. I also discovered some of my limits (most of which pertain to not owning enough special “glass”), but I did know that I had pushed my Rebel as far as it would like to go for subjects I am very fond of capturing—essentially, I’m a junky for all things that move (birds in particular).
Like many who end a 365 year, I want to thank people individually for the support I received, but I run the risk of forgetting to mention someone who has made a difference in my life (personally and artistically), so here are the folks I would like to thank:
Thank you if you dropped by to view any photo I submitted over the years. Thank you if you left a comment of any kind—I promise I read it. Thank you if you chose a photo of mine to add to a fav list (for its narrative, for its visual merit, or for offering a boost to my ego). Thank you if you joined a conversation with me about concepts I could not understand initially (a few of you in particular about the idea of ABSTRACT photography, cough, cough, Katy, Ross, Jim, Taffy, Junko, cough, cough, and all others). Thank you if you held my spirits up when I was down and didn’t feel like taking up my camera. Thank you if you clapped me on the back (figuratively) when I was riding high (again, figuratively). Thank you if you provided cryptic comments like, “chuffed,” “ cracking,” “pants” over the years and I finally figured out what the heck you meant. I believe I will fit in quite well when I do cross the big pond someday—Sample: “I’d be chuffed to get a cracking shot like you have; all I can produce is pants!” (hehe, Mark, Jo, cough, cough) Thank you to those who went on many scandalous One Night Stand Challenges with me or Pushed me or helped me learn the settings on my camera. Thank you if you responded with the answers when I wrote below your photos: “OMG, HOW DID YOU DO THAT?” Thank you if you sent me a photo of yours I admired and gushed over (I know it was a great cost to send it to me, and I cherish it). Thank you if you visited me in person or allowed me to visit you—it’s fun to tell my kids it’s dangerous to meet “internet friends” in person without vetting them and then do that very thing—parents are supposed to be hypocrites right? Thank you if you considered me worthy of taking a photo of your family member’s special occasion. Thank you if you shared tough moments in your life. Thank you if you exchanged emails with me and invited me to work in critique groups with you to improve my work. Thank you for showing me your world. I’ve travelled the globe in style, and with great food. And finally, thank you if you wrote “hot dog” at the end of one of these super long narratives I write. I can imagine you shaking your head and saying to yourself right now “she does realize this is a PHOTOGRAPHY site, right?”
In closing, the slideshow above was a true learning curve, and I wish I had the skills to say I know how to make a good slideshow with transitioning music styles and such, but I worked with what I could find. It’s also 10 minutes! Yikes. (I know, right, I’ve already wasted about 5 minutes of your time to read this long epistle gushing of 365 love.) So if you want to see the slideshow, I suggest getting a nice cup of tea or coffee and relax a bit. The music is the 1812 Overture via a Creative Commons license through YouTube. Here was my daughter’s first reaction: “Why the sad music?” Here’s the answer I gave her: “It’s the only piece of music I could find that had variation to it (so it’s not all sad sounding) and could last at least 10 minutes, and I’m out of time sampling and messing up my slideshow, so there!” She watched it; therefore, it must not be a complete bust.
HOT DIGGETY DOG!
And to my family, I’m sorry I have dragged you everywhere, held you up to get “one more shot,” or told you, “ok, honey, sure Mommy will do that, just not now; I have to go take a shot”…and then hours later….
You must love me if you’ve put up with two years of this. And I love you too.
Huge congrats on the end of year 2 and happy birthday! Here's to being 50 (I turned 50 in Sept 2014)!
Wonderful narrative as always. Hope to see you back here soon.
I HAVE NOT WATCHED IT YET !
I KNOW IT WON"T BE PANTS ( LOL) ,
EXPECTING A CRACKING SHOW !!
Have a break, come back and show us your new creative ideas, with that new toy.
This shows the camera can be as mighty as a pen.
Your slideshow tells a story, that would take a million words.
Oh ! and my Hot Dog went cold watching this.
I know which I prefered !
Firstly how many of those photos I have missed becaused I am a bad 365er, but how many I saw and thought, wow, how did I miss that?
Secondly, by your remarkable talent at composing a shot, whether it be the light, the subject, the people or animals. I doff my cap at you in respect and add my fav to the accolades above.
Daryl, thanks so much for your reply to my comment. I felt chuffed when you said you recognised the shot of the church lily as being mine. Maybe it's just whatever 'floats' our 'boat'!
I think 'playing' is a key word too - how could I have imagined that, at this stage in life, I would have such an opportunity to play to my heart's content!! All the very best!
I put the "bamboo forest" shot right after our shot together. :) Happy memories there.
Oh, and you were visiting your parents. I remember you leaving a note on the next-to-last shot saying you were going out of town. We all lead very busy lives! Hope that trip was a good one. :)
I had a great trip but missed a lot on 365 while gone!
What a great photographer you are!!
Loved it!!
❤️