First, today's pictures. Photos of blowing glitter have become a bit clichéd, but I've wanted to try one for months. I remembered today that I was waiting for snow to try it, and guess what? We have snow today. Next time I try, I'll use bigger glitter (and keep those stars. LOVE those stars!). And I'd love more glitter bokeh, but I think I'd have to wait for the sun to be shining, use a model with more lung capacity, and maybe a wider ap.
But it was 29° today, and her fingers were getting cold, so I called it good with what we had.
And since today is the day of clichés, I animated a couple. Another new experience for me!
Now, I can't let today—the 366th day of my 366 day photo project—go by without some kind of reflection. I did not search my archives for my favorite photos of the year, but I am going to list things I've learned on my journey.
- Light. Light, light, light, light, light. Most days, I tried to make light my subject and really pay attention to how light affects objects. I am better able to recognize light I like before I pick up my camera.
- White balance. I've learned a few tricks this year to help with white balance, but I still feel like I have a long way to go.
- I'm much faster at setting my camera, and I can expose pretty accurately before looking at my light meter.
- I'm correcting exposure much less in post-processing, but I still feel like my processing overall is missing something.
- I definitely tried things I wouldn't have tried without the push of this project—long exposures, gritty black and whites, self portraits (gah), spending 45 minutes photographing a single dandelion.
- I discovered that even though I'm a cautious person, that caution flies out the window when the camera is in my hands. I will happily sit inches from bees, creep toward snakes, teeter on cliffs, and lie down on wet, dirty surfaces to get the picture I want.
I honestly don't see much improvement in my actual images from last year to this year, but I'm more comfortable and more efficient with my camera. And I still enjoy taking pictures, even after doing it every day for the last year, so that's something. (“Good thing!” says my husband, as he looks at all my camera equipment.)
Thank you for following along, friends. I'm not going anywhere—I'll still be posting pictures frequently, and maybe a recipe or craft or two. Maybe. So don't forget to stop in and say hi once in a while. And if you have a blog or photography project for 2013 that I don't already know about, leave me a link or send me an email. I'd love to see what you're up to.
Happy 2013!
