With my 365 photo-a-day project complete, I wanted to share some thoughts about it. Was it worth it? What did I learn? Would I do it again? I’m sure there are a number of you who have considered doing your own, so perhaps answering these questions will be useful insight to you.

One reason why I wanted to do this project in the first place was for practice. In the very first post I said, “Athletes practice daily. Musicians practice daily. If you want to be great at something and stay great at it, you need to regularly challenge yourself. This is just as true with your camera as it is with everything else.” A 365 project is one way to photographically exercise. It keeps you in camera shape and hopefully builds camera muscle. With each exposure there is an opportunity to learn. I do believe that I did improve my photography skills over the last year, at least a little.

If you do something everyday for long enough it will become habit. Picking up my camera and having it with me is now habit. Thinking photographically while I have my camera nearby is a habit. Capturing daily pictures is a habit. More importantly than all of that, taking note of the exposures I made and whether or not they’re good enough, and, if not, trying again a little harder to capture something better is now a habit. Those are good habits that I can thank this project for.

Something else that I gained from doing this photo-a-day project is I captured some pictures that I would not have otherwise captured. I forced myself to make some exposures “because I had to” and some of those pictures I quite like. I wouldn’t have made them if I wasn’t forcing myself to do so. This project increased my productivity.

My advice for someone who wants to do a project like this is, first of all, to do it. Actually decide to start and follow through. I took things one week at a time (which is why I called it “Weekly Photo Project”), so if I happened to fail at one week I wouldn’t feel like I failed the whole project. It’s easier to say, “I have just three days left” than “I have 147 days to go!” Taking things in small chunks was mentally very helpful. My advice would be to schedule breaks, perhaps once a quarter or maybe at the mid-point, to allow yourself the opportunity to guilt-free miss a day or week. I found that the winter, with its cold and short days, was the hardest. The second half of the project was much easier than the first because habits were setting in.

I’m not continuing this project because I have other things that I want to devote my time and energy towards. I will still be photographically exercising because I want to continue to build my camera skills, but it will be different exercises, such as the Film Simulation Challenge. It was great to do, and I’m very happy that I completed this project, as it was very beneficial to me, but I’m glad that it’s now over.

I’ve selected one picture to represent each week for the second half of this project. I did this already for Weeks 1-26. Some weeks I had several good pictures to choose from, and some weeks I had seven mediocre ones. That’s just the way it goes. I hope you’ve enjoyed following this project, and I hope that it has been an inspiration to you.

Week 27

Snow Falling On The Ridge – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T20

Week 28

Brush Strokes Over The Great Salt Lake – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X-T20

Week 29

Wide Load Chairs Out In The Cold – Uintah, UT – Fujifilm X-T20

Week 30

Shopping Cart Return – Roy, UT – Fujifilm XF10

Week 31

Silver Mountain – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T20

Week 32

Lifting Morning Mountain Mist – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T20

Week 33

Hat – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X-T20

Week 34

Fresh Neighborhood Snow – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

Week 35

It’s Lit – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

Week 36

Neon Reflection – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

Week 37

Frozen Reservoir – Causey Reservoir, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

Week 38

Oquirhh Rain – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

Week 39

Vibrant Flowerbed – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

Week 40

Colorful Cactus Blooms – Phoenix, AZ – Fujifilm X-T30

Week 41

Yellow Palo Verde – Black Canyon, AZ – Fujifilm X-T30

Week 42

Treeline Impressions – Eagle Island SP, ID – Fujifilm X-T30

Week 43

Dark Cloud Over The Dark Mountain – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

Week 44

Red Tricycle – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

Week 45

The Corporate Ladder – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

Week 46

Morning Mountain Rain – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

Week 47

Blue Sunset – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

Week 48

Waterfall Into The Ogden River – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

Week 49

Wearing Grandpa’s Hat – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

Week 50

Monochrome Sunset – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

Week 51

Traffic Lamp – Bountiful, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

Week 52

Onaqui Wild Horses – Dugway, UT – Fujifilm X-T30