Complete

I thoroughly enjoyed Project 365; however, I'm a little relieved it's over. There were days I spent upwards of two hours (sometimes longer) photographing and editing in the evenings. Surprisingly, I only cheated twice, but the two photos I cheated on I could have easily replicated anyway. Even with two cheats, I am going to give myself a pass and call it complete. 2010 had its ups and downs, so when the days were not going well--and there were many--it was difficult to stay committed.

I never got that "perfect" shot; in fact, there were times I fell so far short of perfection that I wanted to give up, especially if I spent hours trying to get it right. One thing my shortcomings forced me to do was learn how to apply textures in Photoshop. A cool texture can salvage a mediocre photo, let me tell you. I also learned how to sharpen around my subject with the help of Kimi Kreations. The sharpening technique helped tremendously with my insect shots. Now for a better lens in 2011... :)

I'm a nature girl through and through, so shooting birds, flowers, sunsets, dogs, and bugs gave me the most pleasure. This love of mine inspired me to find nature areas in my town that I didn't know existed before this project. I also lost weight along the way because it was difficult hiking and carrying equipment with 40 pounds of extra baggage. I still need to lose 10 more, but I'm not complaining--a 30 lb. loss is nothing to frown about.

This video is a compilation of some of my favorite photos from Project 365. I set it to the music of Broken Bells' song Trap Door for no particular reason other than I love the song and the timing fit with the number of photos I chose. It's about 3 minutes long, and you can see an improvement in my skills about halfway through.

Happy New Year to you all! I'm now embarking on Project 52, a once a week endeavor. Hope to see you around!