Dec. 16, 2012 – The final image of the project, children in song.

A year is a long time to perform a daily task, if it is something aside from eating, bathing or brushing your teeth. But Dec. 16 I brought to a conclusion something of an unnatural commitment: to take at least one picture every day, for a year, and post it on my Facebook page.

July 2, 2012 – Shot on the L in Chicago of one of our youth group members and a counselor from Door Chicago heading out for our first day of work on an urban mission trip.

The past several years, I certainly had taken pictures on more days than I didn’t. But the idea here was to get a camera — usually one of my Nikon DSLRs or my HTC cellphone — everyday and take a picture. Some days this came naturally due to work or life events. Some days I had to be purposeful in taking a shot. And then there were days, like June 28, when I remembered at about 11:50 p.m. and took a shot with whatever I had, wherever I was.

My intentions were not totally clear. In some ways I wanted to push myself technically, which I did in some instances. Now that I have the collection to look at, my reflection is it taught me to look around. Whether it was the landscape whizzing past me on the Interstate or a box of donuts, I became better at seeing the pictures around me and developing a sense of how to take them, particularly with limited means, which is kind of funny, because I thought this deal would have me pulling out my Speedlights and special lenses more.

There were days it was a bit of a struggle, ironically, particularly on days where my photo business was a bit busier and I was needing to process pictures for clients.

I thought it turned out to be a nice, unintended parallel that the first shot was of ceramic figures of choir children singing, made by my great aunt, and the last image (above) was of real choir children singing at my church, which felt sort of comforting a few days after the tragedy in Newtown, Conn.

Would I do it again? Not anytime soon. I would rather concentrate on more purposeful photography for a while, and if I do a project, put it in those parameters — I do have some ideas.

But am I glad I did it? Yes. In addition to refining my “eye” I think, I also just like having a year in the life in pictures. It marks the passages of events and seasons, even growth in my children that I don’t see day-to-day but may see comparing a picture from last winter to this fall. In some ways, it also illustrates how short a year can be.

Regardless of the format or intention, taking pictures is a great way to chronicle the passage of a year. Have a happy new one.

~ Rich

 There were two other posts chronicling this project: A one-month post and a six-month post.

Sept. 27, 2012 – My daughter's platforms in silhouette.

Aug. 24, 2012 – I got to know my cell phone camera this year, and was frequently stunned by some of the detail I got out of it.

Sept. 22, 2012 – My cousin, waiting for her daughter to come down the aisle.

July 2, 2012 – The Chicago trip was a real excercise in working with what I had: a backup body and a few prime lenses. That was enough to get shots like this one, of one of our youth mowing down an overgrown lawn on the South Side of Chicago.

Nov. 8, 2012 – Bassman at a high school orchestra concert.

Oct. 12, 2012 – A late Sunday afternoon glass of bourbon, shot at sunset.

Sept. 29, 2012 – The first hints of autumn leaves in Gratz Park.

Oct. 25, 2012 – Parallel cats.

Aug. 11, 2012 – I just happened to look out the window and liked this image, particularly the shadows of the stair rails.

Aug. 7, 2012 – The 366 project made me more likely to shoot images as I saw them, like this sunflower I spotted on a morning walk.

Nov. 18, 2012 – Late year image of my kids on a big night.

Oct. 30, 2012 – A little 2013 preview. I have been hired to shoot a cheerleading competition in January. Having little experience shooting cheerleading, I went to a practice to get a little practice of my own. I'm looking forward to getting back to work in 2013.

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