Pancake Tuesday

Trying out my new 40mm pancake lens yesterday. I bought it so that my SLR would fit snugly in my day bag, and thus I'd not need to carry a camera bag as well as everything else. I'm off to London at the weekend, and I don't want to be without a camera, so this is the perfect lens (my Leica has gone to Germany for a little holiday to get some dust off its sensor). As always I had a less than willing subject to practice on.

Year One - Epilogue

Success!
A year has passed since I set myself my photoblog challenge: one photo every day. When I first thought of the idea I thought it would be an easy way to revitalise my creativity, and to breathe new life in to my photography. I was right, and I was wrong. It was rarely easy, but it was always rewarding. I learned a lot, and I like to think that my photography has improved. I also noticed a lot of trends emerge along the way, namely:

-I like macro, a lot!
-I like shallow depth of field, a lot!
-Macro shots with a narrow depth of field are possibly my favorite thing.
-I got tired of big wide landscapes with dramatic clouds quite quickly: after two or three they start to look very similar.
-I don't like to photograph people.
-I do like to photograph flowers and plants, especially  after the rain.
-It rains a lot in Ireland (this may not be news)

It was difficult to get variety in to the shots: a lot of weeks had similar patterns of work and weather, so not posting a similar image on successive days was a huge challenge. It was also difficult when work stretched out over the whole day, so the hours of darkness were my only opportunity to take photos. This was where my tripod came in to its own. I quickly became frustrated by the limitations of my Leica X1: I wanted to focus closer, or expose for longer, or use a longer lens. My purchase of a 7D with a macro lens answered all these issues, and with only the occasional exception, I was not left wanting equipment wise.
It was an odd feeling to reach Day 365: on the one hand I wanted to finish on a high, on the other hand it was a relief to have reached the end. Not posting yesterday actually felt good, but today I felt that there was something missing.

Thanks to everyone that looked at my pics, to everyone that left a comment, or liked a post, or retweeted a link. It was never about viewers, but it made it all the more easy to persevere knowing people were clicking on the links.

I was asked yesterday if I'd continue for another year, and my response was a resounding NO!!! I need to see if the whole process has been successful; will I take my camera with me when I leave the house, will I keep taking photos of things that interest me, will I continue to exercise my creative muscles? I hope so, and to that end I'll continue to post, but sporadically, and hopefully to good effect.

My new Lensbaby arrived today: that should help!

Day 365

I've been wanting to get a shot of sand dunes for a long time, so when I arrived in Brittas Bay today I was delighted to see that it was nothing but dunes as far as the eye can see. It's an image I've wanted to catch for a while, so it seems an appropriate way to round out this project.

Day 364

Just over a year ago I dug and planted the grim and mouldy piece of wasteland beside our apartment building. Now it's grown and matured, and it's a wilderness for the adventurous stormtrooper. I must admit to a feeling of pride each time I pass it.