No, not THAT Project 2025! A much better one than that: a photo-a-day project!
A photography 365 project is a pretty common artistic undertaking that many photographers attempt: the main idea is that you take a photo every day for a year. I thought about making other qualifications or goals like it has to be a "good picture" but I just ended up with these two:
1) it has to be me to take the picture
2) it has to be taken with my Canon R8 (so film or phone ones don't count).
I came into this project knowing that there might be days where I don't take a picture and there will be days where I don't take any good pictures. Most of the days I took more than 1 picture, and so my selection criteria for is by either that picture being my favorite or that being my best picture that day.
I wrote about my thoughts and the lessons I learned on this project, which can be found at the end :)
1) it has to be me to take the picture
2) it has to be taken with my Canon R8 (so film or phone ones don't count).
I came into this project knowing that there might be days where I don't take a picture and there will be days where I don't take any good pictures. Most of the days I took more than 1 picture, and so my selection criteria for is by either that picture being my favorite or that being my best picture that day.
I wrote about my thoughts and the lessons I learned on this project, which can be found at the end :)
Without further ado:
Week 1 - Jan 1 - Jan 7
Week 2 - Jan 8 - Jan 14
Week 3 - Jan 15 - Jan 21
Week 4 - Jan 22 - Jan 28
Week 5 - Jan 29 - Feb 4
Week 6 - Feb 5 - Feb 11
Week 7 - Feb 12 - Feb 18
Week 8 - Feb 19 - Feb 25
Week 9 - Feb 26 - Mar 4
Week 10 - Mar 5 - Mar 11
Week 11 - Mar 12 - Mar 18
Week 12 - Mar 19 - Mar 25
Week 13 - Mar 26 - Apr 1
Week 14 - Apr 2 - Apr 8
Week 15 - Apr 9 - Apr 15
Week 16 - Apr 16 - Apr 22
Week 17 - Apr 23 - Apr 29
Week 18 - Apr 30 - May 6
Week 19 - May 7 - May 13
Week 20 - May 14 - May 20
Week 21 - May 21 - May 27
Week 22 - May 28 - Jun 3
Week 23 - Jun 4 - Jun 10
Week 24 - Jun 11 - Jun 17
Week 25 - Jun 18 - Jun 24
Week 26 - Jun 25 - Jul 1
Week 27 - Jul 2 - Jul 8
Week 28 - Jul 9 - Jul 15
Week 29 - Jul 16 - Jul 22
Week 30 - Jul 23 - Jul 29
Week 31 - Jul 30 - Aug 5
Week 32 - Aug 6 - Aug 12
Week 33 - Aug 13 - Aug 19
Week 34 - Aug 20 - Aug 26
Week 35 - Aug 27 - Sep 2
Week 36 - Sep 3 - Sep 9
Week 37 - Sep 10 - Sep 16
Week 38 - Sep 17 - Sep 23
Week 39 - Sep 24 - Sep 30
Week 40 - Oct 1 - Oct 7
Week 41 - Oct 8 - Oct 14
Week 42 - Oct 15 - Oct 21
Week 43 - Oct 22 - Oct 28
Week 44 - Oct 29 - Nov 4
Week 45 - Nov 5 - Nov 11
Week 46 - Nov 12 - Nov 18
Week 47 - Nov 19 - Nov 25
Week 48 - Nov 26 - Dec 2
Week 49 - Dec 3 - Dec 9
Week 50 - Dec 10 - Dec 16
Week 51 - Dec 17 -Dec 23
Week 52 - Dec 24 - Dec 31
Now that I'm done, here are my thoughts:
1) It's really fricking hard to do something every day. But! I only ended up missing one day! That day I was really into editing this website and by the time I realized it, it was past midnight. So that's 364/365. Not bad! I ended up cheating by picking a picture that I took that same day in 2024, so dear reader, you still get 365 pictures here.
2) Connected to No. 1, this is probably the longest project I've ever done in life. I don't think I've been this disciplined and consistent about anything beside biological functions (going to the bathroom) and hygiene (showering and brushing my teeth).
3) It definitely pushed me creatively. There were days when I felt like just taking a picture, without trying to make it good. Half of the days, I'm like "shoot I need to go find a picture!" The other half is just taking a picture of either what I'm doing/eating or who I'm hanging out with that day.
4) Around 80% of the pictures are straight out of camera (plus maybe cropping) and the rest I actually edited from the RAW. Also, if I already edited the picture for a previous project, I just used the edited version.
5) It also probably caused some burnout from photography. At least with digital. Now that it's done I am looking forward to shooting film and doing other creative stuff in 2026 (like more music and poetry etc.).
6) Would I do a 365 photo project again? Heck yes! Anytime soon? Probably not! Overall it was a fun project and it taught me a lot. The discipline in creativity, even when I wasn't feeling particularly inspired, was a great thing to experience since it's something I've been wanting to work on. This is in contrast to poetry in which I only write when I'm inspired. But this way I get into the mindset that creativity takes practice and discipline.
7) I am SO glad to be done. Maybe I can start leaving my camera at home in 2026 some days :)
1) It's really fricking hard to do something every day. But! I only ended up missing one day! That day I was really into editing this website and by the time I realized it, it was past midnight. So that's 364/365. Not bad! I ended up cheating by picking a picture that I took that same day in 2024, so dear reader, you still get 365 pictures here.
2) Connected to No. 1, this is probably the longest project I've ever done in life. I don't think I've been this disciplined and consistent about anything beside biological functions (going to the bathroom) and hygiene (showering and brushing my teeth).
3) It definitely pushed me creatively. There were days when I felt like just taking a picture, without trying to make it good. Half of the days, I'm like "shoot I need to go find a picture!" The other half is just taking a picture of either what I'm doing/eating or who I'm hanging out with that day.
4) Around 80% of the pictures are straight out of camera (plus maybe cropping) and the rest I actually edited from the RAW. Also, if I already edited the picture for a previous project, I just used the edited version.
5) It also probably caused some burnout from photography. At least with digital. Now that it's done I am looking forward to shooting film and doing other creative stuff in 2026 (like more music and poetry etc.).
6) Would I do a 365 photo project again? Heck yes! Anytime soon? Probably not! Overall it was a fun project and it taught me a lot. The discipline in creativity, even when I wasn't feeling particularly inspired, was a great thing to experience since it's something I've been wanting to work on. This is in contrast to poetry in which I only write when I'm inspired. But this way I get into the mindset that creativity takes practice and discipline.
7) I am SO glad to be done. Maybe I can start leaving my camera at home in 2026 some days :)
8) Thank you everyone who became a part of this project. I am eternally grateful.
9) I think there was a time when I would see good shots but I already had taken enough pictures that day so I'm like okay I'll save that shot for a different day. Lo and behold: I didn't go back to take it! So lesson: if you see a nice picture, take it then!