Tomorrow I reach the half-way point for my 366 Project! 183 days of photos taken–183 left to go. And you know what? I’m having a blast. I really enjoy the challenge of finding something photo-worthy every day. Here are four things I’ve learned during June, my fifth month taking (at least) one photo every day.

I can take pictures of my kid. This month I pushed myself to try to get more photos of my daughter.  And I did.  Nine photos made it to my photo-of-the-day, a huge accomplishment for me! I discovered a few tricks to help her feel more comfortable and willing to get in photo-mode to begin with, and I tried to drop my expectations that she look at me or smile. What I want to capture is my daughter in her element, and I think I was pretty successful…and that felt good.

I can’t go too long without a dose of nature. On the days where I was solely photographing my daughter, I missed photographing the natural world. Rain, shine, wind, calm, animals, plants. Being surrounded by nature makes my world go round. And what a beautiful world it is!

There are so many different ways to frame a shot. I can shoot close-up or crop my photo and catch every tiny feather in an Anna’s Hummingbird, or I can widen my view with a panorama. I can shoot  straight at my subject or looking down at them from above. The angle I choose totally changes the mood and the “story.” I’m enjoying experimenting: with crops, macro, wide angle, different lenses, times of day, light. It’s fun to look at a shot and see what “grabs me.”

Maybe I can make money with my photography. This is something I’ve wanted to try most of my life. So…I got my business license! Beth Shepherd Photography, LLC was born, just like me, in the month of June. People reinvent themselves all the time, so why not me? Photography has been my love for most of my life. I wish I’d followed my passion decades ago but since I’m still alive and able, why not now?

Here’s June:

Rock on!

It’s all about the journey,

Beth

When I first started my 366 Project, I worried whether I’d make it through the first month, taking pictures every day. Here I am four months later and still at it! I am loving my project and find the more I shoot, the more I discover about photography and my own strengths and limitations. What I’ve learned this month:

Those darn birds: Okay, I confess I am downright addicted to bird photography. Especially this month. Even though my garden is going gangbusters and occasionally I coerce my 5-year-old to get in the frame, I am absolutely obsessed with those birdies. Chickadees building a nest in our birdhouse, flying back and forth to feed their growing family; ducks and geese at Lake Washington; bold little hummingbirds flitting about, and all the usual suspects: robins, finches, jays, sparrows. The air is filled with song and my shots with feathers.

Think outside the box–or inside it: My yard is really tiny, 18×40. It is surrounded by a fence. I used to feel as though I was living inside a box, which motivated me to grow plants everywhere I could, around the edges, up the fence, and fill the middle with planter beds. Ironically, being constricted to a small space encourages me to find interesting angles (shoot the flower from the side rather than straight on), to look at details (ladybug on the rosebud) and pay attention to the tiniest of subjects (a feather on the deck). At first glance, the “view” seems small…but when you really LOOK, the possibilities are limitless!

Inspiration is all around me: Honestly, if I ended up being stuck in my tiny yard for the next year, there would always be something interesting to shoot. Plants, birds, my cats…something new is growing, blooming and dying. There are fascinating colors, shapes, movement, and I love to capture all of it. That said, I am truly blessed to live in a breathtakingly gorgeous city: Seattle. Everywhere I go I am surrounded by beauty, both the natural and man-made world around me.

Share the journey: My photographer communities, Mamas with Cameras 365/52 Week Project Wonder Women and 365Project, INSPIRE me to grow and be a better photographer. Seeing the amazing shots my fellow photogs take gives me new ideas and challenges me to find new angles (literally). I am certain I would not be shooting every day without the commitment I made to shoot and share.

And with that…here’s May!

It’s all about the journey,

Beth

I’m two months into my 366 Project. One photo each day, all year. Here are four things I’ve learned during my second month of this project.

I’m big on little things: I’ve always been a detail-oriented person (unless we’re talking about technology–see last month’s post), especially where visuals are involved. My eyes are drawn to tiny buds on a Clematis vine, the patterns made by a goose’s feathers. Looking back at the photos I’ve taken over the past two months, I notice there are a lot of close-ups. That or a big picture panoramas. Maybe I’m not much of a middle-ground gal?

Put a bird on it: Not a revelation, but still worth noting, 1/3 of my shots in January and nearly half of my shots in February are of birds or have a bird in the picture. One of the mamas in my Mamas with Cameras/365-52 Project Wonder Women commented, “You’re a bird whisperer.” I do love birds, so this may be true.

If it’s not in the air, it’s in the ground: Most of my photos are nature shots. I do manage to include a few photos each month of my sweet cats and my spirited daughter, but for the most part I’m a nature girl. It doesn’t seem to matter whether the flowers and plants are living or dead. I’m fascinated by them all.

I’m eclectic: Sounds better than unfocused or all-over-the-board, doesn’t it? Black and white, intense color, dreamy and diffuse, high definition, close-up, far away. I suppose that’s what this project is all about: experimenting, practicing…and finding my photographic self along the way.

Thanks again to my virtual 365project.org friends. And Mamas with Cameras, 365/52 Project Wonder Women–you mamas are the bomb!

It’s all about the journey,

Beth