A New Year Brings New Challenges

Part 1
Happy New Year, Everyone. It's time for a fresh start and taking on new challenges. It's that time when people make their dreaded (and sometimes dreadful) resolutions. But it may be the perfect time to just try something new. I read the other day about planning fun and exciting activities for yourself in the coming year rather than "resolving" to do things you don't like so well. Yes, of course, many of us could do with a little less eating and a little more exercise, but how about promising to do something nice for yourself this year?
You could plan a special outing, read that book you've been meaning to get to, reconnect with an old friend, learn a new language or skill. What would you really like to do for yourself or for others this year? How about taking ukulele lessons? (Yes, more about that in a subsequent post). Or perhaps you should join in the photo challenge.
Stop reading here if you hate taking pictures.
Part 2
As you know the 365 Day Photo Challenge for 2016 is on. So far we've had a great response. People really like these things for a lot of different reasons. One is obviously the challenge itself. Can you follow through and really take a picture every single day for a year? I'm betting you can.

In the last post I talked about documenting your life and the importance of that. This may be a big year for you. Perhaps you're getting married, having a baby, starting a new job, or going on an exotic vacation. You'll want to be able to look back on it all and a photo a day journal fits that bill nicely.

On the other hand, maybe this will be a hard year because you've suffered a loss or simply find yourself in a bad space. A photo challenge forces you to really look around and to see things you might have missed. Hopefully, you'll see some good things.

Photography is all about seeing and capturing so perhaps it can make everyone's year just a little bit more enjoyable. 

It's Time for Another 365 Challenge

I know I said in the last post that I needed to stop telling you what I'm doing with my time now that I'm not working. Well, let's make today an exception. Why? Because it's time for another 365 Day Photo Challenge! As some of you may know, we did one of these in 2014. You can see the results on Pinterest at https://www.pinterest.com/barbararicker/365-day-photo-challenge/  You can also look back at previous posts about it if you're so inclined. I'll include those links below.

Why take and share a picture a day every day for an entire year? My quick response would be "Hey, why not?" But some of you may need a bit more convincing so I'll start with this. We all have a camera with us most of the time. We all are living our lives in moments that flash by and are too quickly forgotten. Some of those moments are captured and shared on social media but most are not. Those moments are often lost, but they are special and deserve to be documented. I really believe that the folks who participated last time would agree but I'd love to hear your thoughts so leave a comment below and subscribe to the blog to follow along as we go.

I'm hosting the event for 2016 on Facebook this year. Check out the page at - www.facebook.com/365photochallenge2016

We should be good to go. Hope you'll join us.

Archive -
http://sobarbsays.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-photo-challenge-goes-on.html
http://sobarbsays.blogspot.com/2014/09/about-that-photo-challenge.html
http://sobarbsays.blogspot.com/2014/12/good-bye-to-2014-photo-challenge.html

About That Photo Challenge

So, yes, the 365 day photo challenge continues or should I say is still creeping along? Today is Day 256 which means there are only (do the math) 109 days remaining.  When we started out there were about 10 of us regularly pinning our daily shots to our shared Pinterest board -   http://www.pinterest.com/barbararicker/365-day-photo-challenge/ It was fun while it lasted. Then we slowly began losing folks. Now there are only three of us still at it and two of us are related. Perhaps there is some stick-to-it-iveness in the DNA, Deb Cleveland. 

Photo by Deb Cleveland

People drifted away because they got busy, got injured, got distracted, got bored. One person told me that it didn't feel right just taking a picture every day for no reason other than to post it. (You know who you are, Maureen Hopkins)  Another simply said, "Photography is hard." Some, I suspect, quit because they missed a day or two and thought the photography gods had been offended enough to kick them out. Yes, those were the purists who felt they had somehow failed the challenge. Silly people, I thought the same thing until I missed my first day. I lost three days around the time my mother passed away but I'm back at it.

I love taking at least one photo a day to share. Pardon the pun but it keeps me focused. Focused on things beyond my day to day routine. It keeps me framing and seeing little slices of my world in a different way every day. It also makes me try harder to be a better photographer. It just works for me but I understand why it isn't for everyone. 

I know I should just leave the rest of you alone, but I can't. Maintaining the board this year has made me eager to see what other folks have focused on, framed and chosen to share. I miss your photos, People. I really do. Yeah, even some of the blurry ones taken in low light. So I challenge you to come back if you were in and then were out. I challenge you to join in if you missed all the fun so far. There are still over 100 days left for great picture taking and I want to see yours. 

Photo by Pamela Hodenberg

Here's that link again - http://www.pinterest.com/barbararicker/365-day-photo-challenge/ Email me if you need an invitation to join in.

The Photo Challenge Goes On

Well, here we are 143 days into our 365 Day Photo Challenge and I haven't missed a day yet . However, there's a reason those people in the know use the word "challenge" rather than project or undertaking. This is difficult. To take and upload a photo every single day requires time and effort. It has to (and I hate "have to's") be done regardless of available time, motivation, or the weather. No wonder we've lost some folks. Some folks? Hell, we have lost most folks, but a faithful few still carry on and others come and go. 

I started this post back in March when I realized that most of the eager photographers who originally signed on were no longer pinning. My intent then was to encourage everyone to keep on keeping on or to come back to the board with no questions asked. I never followed through with that. I mean, what was there to say? We all have busy lives and differing levels of enthusiasm. We all also have many interests, passions, and ways to spend our all too scarce slices of time. 

I love to read, but I would probably start and no be able to complete a "Read a Book a Week" challenge. I want to blog about all kinds of things but I haven't blogged since January. Yeah, I can't even blog once a month. I faithfully follow the Red Sox, but I don't watch every single game. You see how it goes? 

So I'm not complaining one bit that our numbers are down. I'm just having fun and really enjoying seeing what other people do.  Keep giving us the cat shots, the tree studies, the beach scenes, the selfies, and the other odds and ends that make up your days. I like seeing what you see and thank you for sharing with us.

Here's the link to our shared  365 Day Photo Challenge board on Pinterest  -

http://www.pinterest.com/barbararicker/365-day-photo-challenge/

Photo by Maureen Hopkins

Take a Photo a Day in 2014

Happy New Year!  It's time to welcome in 2014. What's on you list of resolutions? Do you still make resolutions? If you're like me, you've made and failed at a fair number of them through the years. The old standards involve losing weight and getting more exercise which are very good things to work at. Yikes! I plan to do the second annual obstacle 5k for Second Chances Foundation (http://aimeescause.org/events/) this year. Time to hit the gym. But I have an additional resolution  in mind, the 365 Day Photo Challenge.  

Yes, I am going to take a picture a day every day in 2014. Why you ask? Well, my original purpose was simply to get better at photography. The experts recommend the P.A.D. thing to folks like me who love taking pictures and want to learn and experiment with new techniques. You can't do that unless you are out and about with your camera, so the key is to get out there every day. 

The idea appealed to me so I started reading up on 365 day photo projects. I was, of course, skeptical after struggling with the 25 Days of Christmas Photo Challenge. (See my two previous posts if you missed all that fun). Interestingly, I soon I discovered that there is much more to this thing than getting good. A photo challenge gets us out doing things and meeting people. It keeps us thinking and creating. It provides an opportunity to really focus on the day to day and perhaps see our lives through different lenses. It provides a way of sharing our shots with others. Here's the link to my Pinterest 365 Day Photo Challenge board  - http://www.pinterest.com/barbararicker/365-day-photo-challenge/

I'm sharing the link because any of those reasons should be good enough to get us going. But, wait, there's even more. Where were you this time last year? When did you change your hair style? What did your dining room look like before you remodeled? What was the weather like when your cousin came from Texas? When did you transplant those peonies? When did you son get so tall? How much of 2013 do you really remember?

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to take a look back at the days that made up your year? A picture a day records one of those small moments in time that make up your life. I want my very own 2014 photo journal. Don't you? 

What do you need? Just a camera and a way to save and backup your shots. It doesn't matter whether you have a fancy dSLR, a nifty purse sized point and shoot, or just your cell phone. All you need to do is keep a camera with you and use it at least once every day. How hard can that be?  If you want to share your year with us, follow my board on Pinterest and I'll send you an invite.