Project 365+

I

have always enjoyed going out on photo expeditions looking for odd things. At various times I have headed out with my camera looking for pictures of common things taken so closeup that it is hard to identify them, pictures of contrasting light and dark, pictures of complementary or contrasting colors, candid pictures of people touching, crying, and showing various emotions, and pictures of unique architectural elements. That kind of focus on a specific topic of interest always seems to unleash my creativity.

But today I came across a concept I had not heard of before—Project 365. This project is a commitment to take at least one picture every day for a full year. There’s even a web site dedicated to this project [365Project.org]. I liked the idea, but I’m calling mine 365+ because I know I won’t be able to limit myself to just one picture per day.

It ought to be fun.

So today, during my lunch break, I headed out into my yard to get the first of 365 straight days of photography. I wanted to up the ante, so to speak, so I also limited myself to using my Canon EF 80mm f/1.8 fixed focal-length lens. It’s a great lens, but the lack of a zoom makes me carefully consider the shot, rather than just twisting the zoom dial until the picture is cropped properly in the camera. I hope you enjoy these. I enjoyed taking them.

My son’s tire swing with our beautiful flowering Dogwood tree in the background

The Dogwood is the Virginia State Tree and one of my favorites. This is a closeup of the Dogwood flowers

These flowers are from our apple tree. The peak of color for the blooms was almost a week ago, so the flowers are not nearly as plentiful. But everytime a breeze blows, the whole backyard looks like it’s snowing because of all the white apple petals in the air.

Dandelions are weeds, but they’re beautiful when they’re flowering. This one is just under our apple tree and is surrounded by apple blossom petals.

This tree is actually in our neighbor’s yard. I love the deep red leaves.