The Last and Final Day

With today being the last and final day of the photography challenge I figured that I would shed some light on the whole process. A behind the scenes look, if you will.

-The challenge started on June 1st, but I waited until the 7th to actually start participating. Why the wait? I was scared. Afraid that I would declare my participation, then not be able to take "cool enough" pictures, get frustrated, and ultimately give up. I took the plunge anyways.

-The challenge didn't require each picture to have a particular thought or meaning, but I liked trying to incorporate a picture and a thought into each blog post. It was hard, sometimes, to think of something creative or tie it into something else that was going on. There were lots of times that I would take a picture and my fingers would hover over the keyboard while I waited for some sort of inspiration. Some days were better than others.

-Speaking of which, it was really hard to blog on the weekends. If you look back you'll notice some of the lamest thoughts/pictures came on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. With Aaron being home the last thing I wanted to do was lock myself in my room and blog.

-Taking a picture everyday forced me to learn more about my camera. I learned the good spots for lighting, the best time of day to take pictures, and that sometimes you have to take 200 pictures just to get one good shot. People were even nice enough to give me tips and tricks along the way. My sister taught me all about metering and the manual setting, and I am a changed woman.

-Okay, so I didn't technically take a picture everyday. Some pictures I took on different days. For example, I knew the "Something Blue" day was coming up so I used a picture from a few days earlier. Or I forgot to take a picture with good lighting but had a viable option on hand. It made the whole process more doable.

-All in all I had a lot of fun participating in the challenge. I liked trying to find meaning in something small during the day, I liked having a topic to blog about each day, and I liked stretching and going outside my comfort zone with certain types of pictures.

-I'm sad that it's over, but grateful at the same time. It's nice to have a specific purpose for something each day, but it's also nice to not be tied down to something.

-Finally, it's on to the last picture. I'm breaking all sorts of rules with this one. First off, it's not a self portrait, it was taken by my incredibly talented sister Ashby. And second, I'm not the only one in the picture. However, with all of that said, I think this picture says more about who I am than any other picture. I absolutely love it.

Day 30: Self-portrait.