January Wrap-Up

One month down, eleven more to go! Currently riding the high of being one month into a year-long project and still feeling excited about it. Last year at this time I had taken a photo every day but I was behind on editing. I continued to shoot into late February but January 31st was the last photograph I uploaded to Flickr and I was falling off the train the week beforehand.

On the contrary, this year feels a lot more like 2016 (the year I completed a 365) but with photographs that match my current skill level and a lot more thought behind creative choice and growth. I’ve had a lot of fun supplementing my project with an in-progress book layout and stat tracking.

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Bonus Image Gallery!

Hover over the photo for more information.

There’s always a silly one.

Another part of the New Year’s party portrait tradition is a kiss photo.

The original LEGO bonsai photo idea included a watering can to increase the ridiculousness, I ended up liking my more professional rendering.

First time playing with in-camera double exposure! Lots to learn.

This quick snap of Benji inspired the still life of my caribou figures.

From Braxton and I’s photo walk. One exposure from a less-than-stellar double exposure attempt, I’m glad there’s a setting to save the original shots separately.

The prairie was stunning! Braxton was less than enthused by the feet of snow we trudged through.

Super similar composition to the shot that made the photo of the day slot. This area was maybe half a mile up the trail from the wooded area I photographed but both have a fun sense of scale!

Alternate lighting and processing for day 14.

Alternate lighting and processing for day 15. I chose the shot for its fun color but preferred the feeling in the silhouetted image.

Just in case anyone got the wrong idea and thinks I could hold it together as a serious model.

Braxton was reading on the couch next to me while I took my photograph for day 21, the light was beautiful and it was a lovely moment.

A cute plant portrait I took while I set up my Little Shop of Horrors photograph.

The original idea for my clashing clothes photo included a more dynamic pose but I ended up selecting the more traditional portrait.

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I stuck to the DSLR pretty well this month, though I’m not sure if it’s even necessary to consider this stat anymore with the power of my current smartphone camera. The first two phone photographs of the month were easy snapshots but the last one is an image I am really happy with, partial thanks to RAW shooting on the iPhone and bright natural light.

Always interesting to see what orientation I’m favoring as time goes on and subject interests change. This is the first year that I am entering the challenge without a ratio rule. In previous projects, I stuck strictly to 2:3 for ease of editing and sharing but I wanted to give myself more wiggle room this year. There’s no reason for such varied art to be so strictly bound.

The prospect of utilizing a square format is definitely exciting since I have stayed away from it for so long. One album recreation and one private information masking crop have put the 1:1 ratio on the board for the year.

A perfect split between portrait and still life! These will always be the mainstays for my work but it’s fun to see how they compare and what else sneaks in. I’m interested to see how high the pet count gets by the end of the year but two for one month seems reasonable to me. ;)

I love the tiny bit of architecture rep. since it was the direct effect of a 365: The 2023 Edition prompt getting me to leave my comfort zone (and take something I’m quite happy with!).

I have to admit that this pie chart surprised me! I love black and white images, for showing off contrast, for masking poor quality sensors, for setting a mood… the list goes on. I’d like to think that my interest in color post processing and improvements in white balancing have led to this distribution but maybe I’m just enjoying the color in my life right now.

I was telling my partner that I was feeling a little bit of shame for the imbalance in this chart. They were kind enough to point out that the subzero temps and blizzards may be contributing to this distribution.

I was pleasantly surprised by the balance of light sources used. I was really starting to think that flash would completely take over, and while it’s been a helpful tool, I’m glad to see that I’m still learning about and utilizing all of my options.