Day 365 - The End

Wow, I can't believe I finished my project 365. Trust me, there were days when I wanted to quit. But thanks to my parents, who checked my blog every day, and my family and friends who did as well. You guys kept me motivated. I knew you all were expecting a post. :)

First off, I have learned SO much about photography from taking a picture every day. I've studied, researched, read and practiced practiced practiced. I looked back and this was my first picture I took with my camera.

Not bad for my first picture. However, It's actually not completely in focus. I wouldn't have shot so wide open because if his ears weren't blurry it would look better. And his eyes aren't in focus either. 

I know so much more about lighting. I notice light everywhere now. I can actually get the settings pretty close for almost any lighting situation. It's like second nature to me. I understand white balance and I'm not afraid to raise my ISO. (That's what makes the picture look grainy.) I remember being worried about winter coming because I knew I wouldn't have as good of light as summer. But I still got some really good pictures with a high ISO. I'm not afraid of it anymore. And I've learned a lot about composition too and really just how to make my pictures look more professional. I love editing. It makes the picture look even better after I edit them, and I think it's fun! I'm still learning, but my pictures now are WAY better than a couple years ago when I was using my point and shoot. Look at a picture taken with my point and shoot camera (which by the way is broken now, thanks to Jonas. Oh well!)

It's a cute picture, but the lighting is horrible (a little underexposed) and there's not one particular place that is the focus. Everything is the focus, which is sometimes ok, but I would have done it differently if I had my DSLR. But don't worry, I'm keeping it.

But understanding and getting better at photography isn't the thing I loved most about my project 365. I've loved documenting my kids' lives and capturing moments that I might not have otherwise captured. Like Jonas playing with his toys, or him holding my hand, or him sleeping on my bed while he was watching my kindle, playing with bubbles, drinking out of a straw, etc. As for Alexis, it's just a bunch of head shots and facial expressions now, and "loves" from Jonas, but I'm glad I got them documented.

If you like taking pictures, I would highly recommend doing a project 365. You don't have to have a fancy camera, just the fact that you are documenting something everyday is pretty cool. You start to notice the small things in life and capture them on camera. Not just your typical birthday and holiday pictures. Oh, and make sure to share the pictures.

I've also learned that I love to blog! I think it's the writing and sharing the pictures that I love. Being a teacher for 4 years, I was constantly learning new things and then all of a sudden I was home and I stopped learning. I felt like I was getting... less smart, to put it nicely. So I've really enjoyed writing and learning something new. Keeps me on my toes.

Because I like to blog, I'm still going to take pictures almost everyday. I'm in the habit now. But I don't think I'll post them everyday. It can get tedious, especially when you have two kids and one of them won't sleep well (her "day routine" only lasted a couple weeks, now she's back to inconsistency - which should be her middle name) and gets fussy. But I'll try to post around 3 times a week. Who knows, maybe I'll still post everyday. Just whenever I have something to say or a cool picture to share.

And I'm still going to continue learning about photography. I've made a huge list of things I want to get better at. And I'm thinking about focusing on a few of them each month, and then in one year from now I'll be even better! However, some of the things require me to go to different places to get pictures, or try posing people, or other types of photography, like couples. (My brother will be getting engaged soon and I asked if I could take their engagement pictures for practice! I'm super excited about it) So be excited to learn with me and see my progress.

As for now, I went back through the whole year and found the best & my most favorite pictures and made a portfolio, if you will. They are the tabs at the top of the different types of photography I did. Enjoy looking back at my year, I sure did!

And of course, here is my last picture of my project 365. I took it using my tripod. I love my children!