Project 365: The beginning of the end

Wow, only three weeks to go in my year of photos! A few of you have been asking what happens on day 366, and I’ve been chewing that question over myself. Back in July, or October, I might have told you enthusiastically that I couldn’t imagine a day without a picture any more, and of course I’d be starting a new Project 365 right on the heels of the old one. In late November, when the picture-taking was an onerous duty instead of a delight, I wasn’t sure I would make it through one year and would be thrilled to be relieved of the millstone — erm, I mean camera strap — constantly around my neck.

I’m still waffling. I hate to stop, I really do, but I think if nothing else, my family has had enough of the 365 for now. I might try something a little easier, like a 52×7 project, where I take seven pictures each week instead of one picture each day. Or, I might take a little vacation and see how keenly I miss the challenge. For all the angst, the annoyance, and the additional stress that this silly project has brought into my life, it has more than redeemed itself in the improvement to my mad photographic skillz, and it’s simply amazing to me that I have this pictorial tribute to a year in our family’s life. Much like the blog has captured little moments that might have been forever lost otherwise, I’ve learned to take pictures I would have never conceived of just a year ago.

Pictures like this one from yesterday, of Lucas playing my cousin’s piano. (A piano has been on my 365 to-do list almost from the start. I still have to get to a billiard hall some time in the next three weeks, too. Anybody got a pool table in their basement I can borrow for half an hour?) The hands-and-feet project has been one of those unexpected and delightful outcomes of the 365.

This was my Christmas Day shot. After the Christmas Eve 12-Hour Photo Project, I was pictured out and this is one of the few shots I took all day.

I got two days worth of shots from the ice storm that moved through the Ottawa Valley just after Christmas.

Lucas at play seems to be another favourite theme of mine — go figure! This was taken through the viewfinder (TtV) of my Kodak Duaflex IV. I don’t think I’ve missed having a TtV shot each week at least since I got the Duaflex in October. This is another thing I never would have tried, probably never would have even heard of, if it weren’t for the 365.

Speaking of TtV and old cameras, check this out. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I found this in the bottom of a box in my own basement. I had no idea it was there. It’s a Kodak Junior Six-20, made in Germany in the 1930s. It must have belonged to my grandmother, who lived in Germany until my father was born, or maybe my grandfather. Makes a nice addition to my vintage camera collection, though, don’t you think?

And finally, another bit of play that I never would have thought of before the 365 project: light painting with Christmas lights. Leaving the camera on aperture priority on a dark night keeps the shutter open for a long time as the sensor tries to gather enough light. By moving the camera around in little circles, the Christmas lights on the maple tree in my neighbour’s yard make cool light trails that look like a psychedelic spirograph! (After much deliberation, I designated this one an outtake and chose the next shot as the picture of the day.)

And by holding the camera (relatively) steady but zooming in on the same tree while the shutter is open, you get a different kind of light trails.

It was only after I’d posted it to Flickr that I saw the impression of the angel in the light trails. Can you see it? Total fluke, a serendipitous bit of luck.

Kind of sums up the whole project sometimes — a bit of skill, a bit of observation, and a whoppingly large dose of serendipitous luck!