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