A Picture is Worth 365 Days

I didn't have an Instagram until Aug 10, 2016. Being someone who loved to take pictures I'm not sure why it took that long. My mom had always shown me National Geographic's great images and told me I should really get one if I wanted to share all my photos. I never got one because I thought Instagram was just for selfies lol.

The first day I logged into Instagram was actually the first day I started the #365challenge. The whole idea of the challenge was pretty straight forward: Take a picture everyday and post it. 

Easy.

Or so I thought. . . . .

I chose to take a picture everyday using my Sony a6000, and I stuck to the rule that I had to use that or at least a Sony camera in the future (spoiler alert, I eventually bought a A7RII....).

I had no inspiration for why I started my challenge. I had no intentions that it would make me want to use my camera to create amazing, emotional images. Wanting to learn more about cameras. Wanting to try and create a worthy picture out of something no one would look twice at. I had no idea I would want to upgrade my equipment in the future. But that is what makes the #365challenge awesome! If you stick with it, you realize how much fun it can be taking a picture everyday of the year. 

So I'm 278 days into my challenge. 278 pictures taken. And out of those 278, every one of them has a different story, a different reason why I chose to take it.

 Some days I have specific thoughts in mind of what I want to take. Like these two golf balls. 

Some days I have no clue what I'm going to take and I take something completely random and try to make something out of it. Like these pinecones.

See the whole idea of this #365challenge is to CHALLENGE you to take a picture. No matter the circumstances. I've learned that if I can't come up with a set picture in mind, it doesn't matter! Just go out and take one. 

Here's some where I spent a lot of time setting up, getting my composition right, getting the right equipment, being in the right area...

Others where I have no f*&$'in clue what I'm going to do and I just find something. . . . 

I'm not sure I'd ever put Allen Iverson and photography in the same sentence but he's exactly right in that quote. Practice is what I'm doing. Always practicing. Because every time I go out and shoot something, I am practicing to get a better picture the next time. 

                      My dog Petunia is a great model to practice getting shots.

With this challenge, I do have a side challenge going on as well, a small one. This was something I came up with while standing at work, and I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be cool if I were to take a picture wherever I was standing and post it?" It wouldn't have to significant, could be me just standing in my yard. But to have a whole collection of photos standing at different places across the country would be pretty cool.

And I plan on continuing this "challenge" called #WhereImStanding as long as I have Instagram

I wish I had the time to post all the stories with each picture I've taken but that would take days to write..... So I will end with this. 87 more days to go. 87 more photos to take. 

I will finish my #365challenge on Aug 10, 2017. I will have posted at least one photo everyday. I will have taken many, MANY, more photos since the start. I will probably be done with a daily challenge for a long time. Honestly, I thought I wouldn't make it this far, pretty sure I was going to get bored with it.

Haven't missed a day yet. But I've came close!

At the start of this I mentioned I had no inspiration on why I started. But in the end, I will have 365 photos that I can look back on, and maybe inspire others.