But I was really, really tired of my camera. In fact, I barely picked it up for the three weeks following the end of the project.

Then I started to get itchy to start taking photos. But now it’s almost ingrained that I can’t just take pictures, I have to take pictures with a goal in mind. It’s almost like that’s part of the fun, somehow. So while I’m still doing Shutterboo’s challenge, and the 52 weeks of self-portraits challenge, I wanted to do something even MORE challenging.

So I started a Year in Pictures project. That’s right, 365 Days of Photos. Photos of anything.

This is my second day of the challenge, and I’m already seeing that this is a whole different ball game. I can take pictures of anything. ANYTHING. It’s a whole new world for me, since I’ve spent the last year trying to figure out ways to get myself in every single photo. All of this choice is fantastic, sure, but also a little overwhelming.

But I’m ready for it. Let the year of no-boundaries photo taking commence!

Yes, it’s a flower. A fairly safe start, but at least it’s a start.

I can already see that this is going to be more of an artistic challenge than the journal aspect of the 365 SP project. Hopefully this will give me the opportunity to learn more about composition and framing and post-processing.

I’m really looking forward to this! If you’d like to follow along, I’m sure I’ll be posting plenty of photos here, as well as in my Flickr set. Feel free to join along, if you want!

Project: 365, A Year of Self Portraits

Materials: Two cameras. Computer. Flickr. Various props, including cats. Self.

Mods: While this should have been done in exactly 365 days, starting 3/18/09 and finishing 3/17/10, I missed three days throughout the process (11/20, 12/20, 1/5). I made these days up at the end of the project, and took my final 365 shot on Saturday, March 20, 2010.

Verdict: I am so glad I did this. This wasn’t a banner year for my in any way with no major life events (like a marriage or round number birthday). This was just a typical year in my 30s, living in a fairly new city (we’d lived in Louisville for 6 months when I started).

I will say this: this project was NOT easy. There were days when I really, really didn’t want to take a picture of myself. There were many days where a so-so picture of my hand holding some random object were all I could muster.

However – I put together the collage above to show off some of the photos that I took for the project that I really, really like and am proud of. They are all photos I wouldn’t have taken if I hadn’t done this project. Looking back on them, it’s like a gift I gave myself – memories of a not-so-typical year, made special merely by doing this crazy-making project.

If you have a camera, and have any interest in journaling a year of your life, I highly recommend this. It’s crazy, but worth it.

Last photo of the project. Don’t worry, I have another project I’m working on, so the self-portraits aren’t over yet!

I can’t believe I’ve made it this far. I think the last month has been the toughest yet, but now that I see the finish line I’m a little more enthusiastic.

I know that Janaury is a big month for starting new photo projects- in fact, there’s a new-ish group for Knitterly and Crafty types (or, really, anyone who likes knitterly and crafty types, even if you yourself aren’t much of a knitter or crafter). It’s called “52 Weeks for Knitterly and Crafty types” and it’s similar to the 365 project, but you only post one self portrait every week.

Right now, I’m planning to add photos to both (1 picture per week in both groups) but the plan is that after the 365 project is completed, I’ll continue with the 52 weeks through the rest of 2010.

Even if you didn’t start on January 1, it’s never too late to start. The two main self-portrait groups for knitterly and crafty types are here: 365 Days, and 52 Weeks.

Come on, join the fun!

It’s a lot of fun, and the participants are from all skill levels. The best part is seeing how different people interpret the weekly theme.

Since this week was week 14, which is just over a quarter of the way through, I thought I’d spotlight a few of my submissions. I did miss a week here and there, but I’m doing my best to keep up!

Week 3: Windows

Week 8: Speed

Week 13: Water

Week 10: Time

The group is always open to new participants, so if you feel like submitting a shot or joining the challenge, feel free!

I’ve been wanting to make a lightbox for quite a while now, and today I finally got everything together to make one today.

Since we have an abundance of moving boxes left over, I had plenty of boxes available to make one. I just had to run out to Hobby Lobby yesterday to get the translucent paper (which they don’t have at Joann’s, FYI). Today, it took about 45 minutes (probably less) to do the cutting and the taping to make this:

OK, that’s not the best representation of the light box. But I wanted to show that it’s collapsable, so I can fold it up and store it behind my yarn cabinet. Which is a good thing, since the cats have already tried to attack it like Godzilla.

Here it is in action:

On cloudy days like today, I’ll need to get some light sources for it. But on sunny days, I think I’ll be able to set this up in the sunroom and just use natural light.

Even with the low light, I did manage to get a couple of good yarn shots. Which, let’s face it, is pretty much the inspiration for this project in the first place.

Success! And the best, best part was that this project was so inexpensive. One box (free!) plus 2 sheets of transparent vellum ($3 each) and one sheet of white posterboard ($0.33) and this entire project cost less than $10. Nice!