Taking a Photo each Day

Back in 2012 I embarked on a journey that has changed the way I live, forever, for the better.

I originally began a “photo 365” project years ago (beginning of 2012), as a way to force my self to go take pictures each day with my new DSLR.

Very quickly, the project became a lifestyle, and morphed from “let’s go take a nice picture with my nice new camera” into “let’s just take many photos each day, and go back and select the most representative photo for that day”.

Basically, I discovered photo journaling, and this has become my new way of living.

Early on, I had to set a calendar reminder for each day, so I didn’t forget to take a picture that day. It didn’t take long for that to become a habit, in which, everyday I am instinctively thinking about making sure I take a photo sometime that day.

A rhythm and definition of my photo-365 projects evolved: I now intentionally take many pictures each day, and go back select the one (or sometimes make a collage) that best represent that day.

an abstract calendar

Since my requirement is that the photo has to be taken on that day, I run into interesting issues sometimes. Some days, I have so many pictures to share that I can’t choose, while other days I’m not to proud of what I post (usually it’s boring). Nevertheless, it’s best to not distort history and more importantly, this rule actually inspires me to be more aware of how I spend my days.

I truly intend on doing this the rest of my life.

I encourage everyone to try doing this for a year. It’s really fun to look back though albums of each year and re-live your life.


 

P.S.: The reason for this post now, is that I’ve just migrated all my previous daily photos (2012-2015) from google plus to my own website:

365-logo
My Photo 365 Projects

I’ve also made video slideshows of each year too…

Enjoy!

2 thoughts on “Taking a Photo each Day”

  1. Great idea, hope to try it out myself! It’s also a nice way to look back and see how your photography has evolved over time. Off-topic: doesn’t carrying a DSLR around all the time really weigh you down? What do you carry it in?

  2. @Emaad
    Thanks! In the beginning, I did try to carry my DSLR everywhere, but over time I have just been using my phone almost exclusively (becoming so lazy >_< ). I mainly use my phone these days unless I am traveling somewhere or going out specifically to shoot. Every once in a while I will be more intentional and bring my camera (just the camera/lens itself), and that helps me be more creative. Indeed, one of the main reasons for not carrying around a DSLR is the bulkiness, but you do end up with much better results! In responding here, I realize that I need to dust off my trusty DSLR... 🙂 Cheers,

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