Congratulations to patchworkbunny!

Congratulations to Ellie, who finished her second 365 Project on December 31! Yay! Here is the final photo of her 2010 project:



Ellie is one of my flickr heros! Most importantly for her photography, her stream is full of creativity: wonderful self portraits, gorgeous low key shots and dramatic lighting. She combines her unique style with a wide variety of subject matter. In addition Ellie created the 365 Community which has provided so many of its members (myself included) with crucial encouragement and inspiration to complete their own projects. She's created other fun groups as well, including Wall Wednesday and Daily Post. I love reading her descriptions too, they give friendly and interesting glimpses into her life. There's lots of reasons that Ellie's stream is a great place to explore!

Here's Ellie's finisher interview:

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
As many of you know this was my second year. I finished the first on my birthday in November and in the next 2 months I barely picked up my camera. So with the new year looming, I joined the masses and started again.



How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
Resourceful and random.



What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
I think doing most of the second year with a DSLR and a 50mm made me realise how cretaive my previous camera had made me. I kinda resorted to lovely f1.4 shots for a lot of days!



What did you learn during the course of your project?
Sadly, the second year wasn't one of much learning. Though now I covet many expensive lenses! I think it was a lesson in determination.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
The story is in the description of this one (which is one of my faves anyway):


What are your future photography plans?
2011 is the year of the archive! After doing 365 for so long I have so many neglected photos in my archives. I'll be doing a non-strict daily post from past photos and a few new ones. I'm definitely not leaving Flickr behind but I think I need a little rest.

Here's some admin faves from patchworkbunny's project and a slideshow of her completed project. Congrats again to Ellie!

Congratulations to pennacook!

Congrats to Todd! He completed his (second) 365 project on December 31 with this photo:


Todd's project is filled with landscapes, vibrant color and views of New Hampshire. Below is his finisher's interview along with some of his photos.

What inspired you to begin your 365 project?
I had finished one round already in the previous year, so I thought I could continue growing my skills by doing another 365 project.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
documentary, usually unplanned

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
With this being my second 365, I thought I would have more difficulty finding something for the day’s photo - and looking back - it was easier than I thought it would be.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learned quite a bit over the year. I found I really enjoy TtV (Through the Viewfinder) work for one. I also learned to stick to the simple credo of not worrying. A lot of my first 365 project was the 4pm “panic” because I didn’t have a shot in the can. I relaxed (for the most part) during this year’s project. I also found that I truly learned to ‘see’ a shot. From lighting to composition before pushing the trigger, it seemed more natural this year. I also got back into film, which I had not thought I would do previously.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
One good story would be about my third stranger for the 100 strangers project that I took on. George and I met in April originally and I had mentioned to him about wanting to get his photo. I procrastinated and neglected to get back to him. I saw him in October and knew there was another open studios event that he would be at. He gave me a hard time (jokingly) about not getting his photo. When I met him again at his studio, I got his photo and then we sat down and talked for most of an hour like we were old friends. It was an amazing interaction.

What are your future photography plans?
I will be at least doing a 52 week project, along with trying to continue the 100 strangers project and possibly a few state projects.

My favorites:





A slideshow of the completed project:

Congratulations Tyla'75!

Congratulations to Tyla, who has been participating in a 365 Project for the last three years and has just begun her fourth project. Tyla's stream is full of great portraits and self-portraits. Tyla has experimented with lots of different styles of photography and her photos contain beautiful light and color. Her stream is well worth a visit, be sure to check her photos out!

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I started off my original 365 looking for a reason to start shooting and wanting to improve my photography. It's now been three years and I can't believe how much I have learnt.



How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
I am still looking for my own style but I am more focused on putting emotions and feelings into my photos. Trying to show how I feel.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
I am surprised how much I have learnt in all those years. And the urge to take pictures and share stories is still growing.



What did you learn during the course of your project?
I've gone from no idea about Photoshop and cameras to being a confident user of SLR and giving people advice on their gear. There's still a lot to learn though.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
Every photo has a story so it'd be difficult to pick one. A lot of photos from year 3 are full of emotions of heartbreak. It was a difficult year for me.



What are your future photography plans?
I am continuing with my 365 into year 4 and planning on learning more and more about using strobes.

Congrats to dcis_steve!!!

A big round of applause to Steve Skinner! Yay. He was also one of our members who finished on Dec 31st.

Browsing through his project you will find fabulous landscape shots, architectural shots, street photography, visit beaches with surfers, seals & birds, enjoy wonderful macro shots of tasty treats and see snip its of their cruise down to Mexico. Oh, and I almost forgot, you will meet his black lab... Bailey!

Below we have featured his answers to our questions, along with some of his favorites from through out the year.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
In 2009 I had watched several photographers go through their 365 projects and was so inspired by their experience that I knew I had to give it a shot. Plus, I really wanted to immerse myself in it and get better, and I couldn't think of a better way.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
Colorful, sometimes unique, with an emphasis on the beauty of the natural world.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
What surprised me the most was how many days there were when I absolutely had no idea on what to shoot.

What did you learn during the course of your project?
My favorite question - because I learned so much.
- Mastery of my equipment
- That prior to my 365 Project, I was not nearly as observant as I thought I was
- Amazing shots often happen when least expected, or in what might seem like the least likely of circumstances
- Having "tunnel vision" on a photo concept is a terrible thing. Some of the best work results from a specific idea that evolves into something different while you're working with it.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
Lots of interesting things happened during my photo project - some funny, some not, but the one that stands out in my mind the most was what happened to me personally on day 5 when I photographed the homeless man at Carlsbad State Beach. steves365.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/day-5-homeless/. It was a deeply felt life lesson for me. The write up on the post from that day says it best.

What are your future photography plans?
I am an enthusiastic hobbyist photographer, and am not interested in turning it into a job. Very soon, I will begin a new photography blog that leverages on the things I learned and enjoyed during the 365 project, but without a scheduled requirement. I like to think it will be a sort of photojournalistic blog of experiences, excursions and beautiful photos.

And a few admin favs. As always.. very hard to narrow it down to just a few!

To see more.. take a peak at his entire project in the slideshow below. And congrats again to Steve!

Congrats to riebhoff!!!

Congratulations to Rick! Yay. He finished his project earlier in December. Woo hoo!

And he finished off with this shot. What a fine example in cloning. Wow. How many students do you see?

Since he finished his project, he has been busy getting ready for a show! It is up now through January 16th. So if you are in the Bay Area, be sure to stop by and check it out.

Through his project, we meet his lovely wife and his three daughters. Such cuties. He also gave us an inside peak to some of the Giants games! Yay.

Below he has answered some of our questions and we are featuring some of his top pics from the year.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I took my first photography class about four years ago and in class we watched Jim Brandenburg's "Chased buy the Light". If you have never seen this before, check it out, it's amazing. In it, he took only one shot a day for an entire year. I was really inspired to do something similar at some point and about a year ago I started Googling away, trying to find his work. I stumbled onto the 365 Community blog while searching. After reading and viewing the blog posts of those who had just finished the project, I was completely blown away and started my own 365 a few days later.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
I certainly have not settled on a particular style. I wanted to try everything in this year, TTV, HDR, portraiture, macro, sports photography...I have a solid amount of ADHD and my photostream certainly portrays that...

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
What surprised me the most was the support of the people around me. A 365 project seemed like such a solo journey, but there is no way I would have finished it if not for my wife, who I bugged countless times to help me choose my shot of the day. The Flickr community was just fabulous as well, especially the 365 Community members. Jenny, Susie, Phil and so many others made the journey one that I will not forget. Thanks!

What are your future photography plans?
I actually have a show of my 365 opening on January 2nd. It goes through the 18th at the school I teach at, and I am still nervously excited to put it all together. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area in that time frame and want to check it out, let me know. Other than that, I am contemplating another 365 after the first of the year. I already miss posting to our group, so maybe I will start sooner...

And here are a couple admin favs. :)

Would you like to see more? Check out the link to a selection of his 365 project in the slideshow below.

Congrats to fedora365!!!

Whoot. Congratulations to Fedora. She also finished her project on New Year's Eve day. :) What a great day to finish up. Lots of celebrating going on.

And what a ride... through her project we got to know a little more about her, the area where she lives and we got to follow along on her vacations to Germany, Austria and Italy.

Featured below are the answers to our questions and some of her favorites from this past year.

What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I had seen a couple of 365 projects in flickr, but I started mine because I had purchased a new camera, the Canon Powershot SX200 IS and I really wanted to learn to use it well.

How would you describe your photography in just a few words?
This one is difficult, my favorite photographs are always on vacation, I love to photograph nature, cities and new places.

What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?
How much I learned about photography in general, about post processing and about using my cam! Also how difficult it was to make a photo everyday(even though it sounds simple, you always want to make something better)
And how many cool people and friends you make here in flickr!

What did you learn during the course of your project?
I learned to really use my camera, all the functions, and that makes me very happy. Also, how important it is to always have a camera with me, there are a lot of unique shots to miss if you don´t have one. I learned to look at things differently, and now I try to see the beauty in things. I am in constant search of the sun flare!
I learned about composition, about light in the photos, about angles, post processing, and specially what I like and don’t like in my photos.

Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?
On day 161 we were in a park in London and I saw squirrels nearby. Always wanted to photograph squirrels as they are so cute, of I took lots of photos of one that was close by. Never gave it another thought until I was searching for the photo of the day. I chose one where there was a cute squirrel, and when I showed it to my husband he noticed that that squirrel was a little it too happy with his peanut ; ) Ended up being `censored` ; )

What are your future photography plans?
Even though I really enjoyed this 365 project, it has been exhausting and tiring at times when I had no inspiration at all. That is why I am not going to make another one. But at the same time, I love taking photos and I don’t want to loose the practice. That is why I am thinking of doing a 52 weeks project next year. Still not sure if I am going to make one of self portraits, or one of life in general, or maybe both ; )

Some of her favorites from this past year.
102/365 Pink Skies
This photo was a front page explore and special to me because being under those trees felt magical…

199/365 Blue eyed boy
Love this photo of my husband, specially because his pupil looks like a little heart

268/365 The view from Taormina
Couldn´t help but fall in love with this city in Sicily

295/365 Autum light...
The eternal search for the sun flare.

333/365 Snow in November
Never expected something this beautiful when snow surprised us in November!

Here a few admin pics! Was hard to choose just a couple.

To see more, check out the slideshow here.

Congratulations to Tamarak2010!

Congratulations to Tamara who finished her 365 on 31st December with this lovely seasonal shot

Tamara's stream is full of wonderful portraits and shots from her daily life. Tamara kindly provided answers to our interview questions and shared some of her favorite shots.

1) What inspired you to begin your 365 Project?
I had heard about the 365 Project a number of years ago - here I thought it must have been late in 2007, but it looks like it was in 2006 with this newsletter that I received from Photojojo content.photojojo.com/tutorials/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day/ ...anyway, I tried and failed at one in 2008 and then decided in 2010 to try again...I had always loved the idea of the project and I also knew that one way to expand your style and to learn more about your medium was to practice and make it a part of your life - and what better way to do that with photography than with a Project 365?

2) How would you describe your photography in just a few words?

I tend to lean towards the artsy side of things - I like blur and distortion...but I also like detail. This doesn't mean that I only take artsy shots...but those are the ones that I tend to like best of my photography.

3) What surprised you the most about doing the 365 project?

I was happy to find that I grew artistically during the year. I had hoped to learn more technically, but didn't, really - I was surprised by that...maybe in year 2! I shouldn't be surprised by both the findings - they are typical for me - I learned enough technically to grow artistically, but I had thought that I would learn more on the technical side of things.

4) What did you learn during the course of your project?

I honed my 'art of seeing' skills...I allowed myself to push the boundaries and so, like I said before, grew artistically.

5) Do you have an interesting story about taking one of your 365 photos that you would like to share?

Not really...other than the fact that over the year my kids resigned themselves to the fact that their mother "takes pictures of weird stuff...".

6) What are your future photography plans?

Photography has always been a part of my life...when my kids were young and growing, it became more a documentary kind of thing, now I have my first grandchild, so the documenting will continue...but this project has also taught me, or reminded me, of the importance of always having my camera with me, so I will continue to carry it with me - I have also decided to go for a second year, so, for sure I will have camera in hand! I also paint and the practice of 'seeing' helps in that area as well...I used to only have shows of my paintings, now my photography is included as well...so far I have had either shows of my paintings or ones of my photography - I would like to move towards combining the mediums in my shows.

My favorite shots - that is a hard one!

I like that one because it is one of my favorite 'Night Blurs' - this is a way of photographing that I started during this past year and I might not have done that if I hadn't been making myself take a photo a day.

This is another set of photographs I started taking this year...flash photography of flowers at night...

This one may not be one of my best shots, but it is one I like...it is a good example of the main thing that this year has taught me - always have my camera with me!

Congrats again to Tamara! Here are a couple of admin favourites from the year and a slideshow of her complete 365.