Photo-a-Day, Part 1
"The Kiss"
Based on the prophotolife.com blog entry I mentioned earlier, I managed a full week of “a photo a day”. Here’s the story, and some results.
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The point was not to publish a photo every day. Nor was it even to take a good photo every day. Rather, the point was to shoot something every day, even if the day didn’t yield anything. And then after the week was over, to post whatever I thought was good.
The first day turned out to be tough. I had an appointment in downtown LA, and figured I could do some shooting while I was down there. Things got a bit hairy though, and I ended up running way behind schedule. My first pathetic shot was the only one I got that day! A self-portrait (while driving), using my Ricoh Super Ricohflex twin-lens reflex camera. Not an auspicious start!
Self Portrait, While Driving
I look a little stressed, don’t I? 
The rest of the week was hit and miss. For example, after posting about street photography and my fear of and/or attraction to it, I decided to give it another try. I was a little braver than I used to be, but the results were abysmal. Partly this was because of a light leak in the camera I was using, which ruined most of the shots. I also happen to be pretty bad at street photography. But it was good practice…but that day yielded nothing.
(Insert picture of nothing here.)
And yet another day, that I hadn’t expected much from, showed some good results. My five year old wanted to go for a bike ride, and I said I’d walk with him. Turns out there were some nice clouds in the sky, so I grabbed my camera to add to my ‘cloud bank‘. In the end I got some nice shots from our walk. Digital, no less!
untitled
The lead shot of my two boys (above, “The Kiss”) typified some of the shooting days. It was near the end of the day, and I hadn’t shot anything, so I bribed them with stickers if they’d sit for me. I shot on the Ricohflex again. I used color slide (’chrome’) film, but converted to black and white. This has been cropped from the square format that the Ricohflex provides.
And here’s one from the Busy Bee restaurant in downtown Ventura. Same Ricohflex, cropped, but I kept the color.
No Dancing On Tables
I’ll have more images to post in a second installment. I’m happy with the results. Not always ground breaking, but it was a good exercise. Don’t think I could do it for a whole year, not without a little more flexibility. I think also my kids would get tired of it really fast! I’d be forced to not use them as a cop out.
Comments
Right on, Matt, I’d call it a success. The “kiss” shot is great, one of those that will probably end up defining the summer of 2008. And you might not have gotten it without making yourself get the camera out that day.
[...] Matt Haines’ blog recently reported on his personal experience of shooting “a photo a day” for a week. It’s a good read, as is the rest of his blog, well written and enjoyable. Matt is a [...]
Great job with your shot-a-day. Challenging yourself to shoot, even when you don’t want to, is great for your creativity and sometimes you even learn something new.
When you’re ready to step up a bit, come join us at PhotoChallenge.org. We usually commit to shooting once a day, for a whole month. There are themed challenges that will push you even more!
PS: I’m from Camarillo, not far from you, I think.
Thanks Trevor! I’ll check out your site.
And yup, you’re right down the street (or the freeway). I belong to a professional association, Channel Islands Professional Photographers Association. They happen to meet in Camarillo once a month. You should stop by some time and check it out.
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