It’s been a month since I started my photo-a-day project, known around the web as Project 365. So far it’s proving to be a great challenge and a great learning experience. I’ve built a lightbox, learned how to use (in the most basic way) an off-camera flash, and spent more time rigging shots than I would have ever thought possible. If one thing has been proven, it’s that I still have a lot to learn.

Trying new things and learning to see the world differently is a big part of what Project 365 is about. It’s certainly succeeded for me on the former; as I mentioned, one big new part of my skill set is now off-camera flash. I only have one so far, and no significant rigging to speak of, but even with my relatively simple setup I have learned a lot about how to perform certain types of shots that I never would have understood before. For example, On the Rocks demonstrates two of my favorite properties of using off-camera flash: a blacked-out background and frozen motion (without the harshness of on-camera flash). This is really, really basic stuff in the realm of lighting, but it’s valuable to know.

Seeing the world differently is definitely still a work in progress. Looking around me and knowing what might make a good picture is still a great challenge I deal with almost every day. I don’t live in an area with much in the way of beautiful parks, gardens, or architecture, and it often isn’t an option to spend much time driving somewhere else for a shot every single day. As a result, I often look for things around the home; at least until spring comes, I expect this trend to continue. I still, some days, have trouble honing in on what in my surroundings might make a good photograph, however. Someone once said that painting is the art of inclusion, but photography is the art of exclusion — you have to decide what to keep out of the shot to make it meaningful and balanced. That is what makes it such a challenge.

One interesting observation from my first month on this project is that my most popular shots have been the unplanned, unrigged, spur-of-the-moment ones. For example, Heat was shot while I was at a friend’s apartment and she was making dinner. I just looked over at the stove, saw the glowing burner, and asked her to lift of the pot for a second. I spent ten seconds taking a few shots, and that was it. As it turned out, Heat become one of my most popular shots (by my modest measurements — 477 views and 12 favorites, and a spot in Flickr Explore). Conversely, shots that I spent a long time setting up and fine-tuning (like Drink Drama, my first shot of that kind, which took nearly an hour of experimentation) got far less attention. And that’s perfectly fine, because that shows me what’s good and what’s not, and what I need to improve upon.

In just one month on this project, I’ve improved my throw-away ratio (the number of “good” shots I take vs. how many get trashed), made a serious effort at a portrait, built a lightbox, learned to use off-camera flash, and greatly improved all my post-processing skills with Aperture and Photoshop. All that, while also learning to better drive my camera — I got a Nikon D90 the same day I began this project, and that’s quite a bit more camera than the D40 I used to have. Shooting every day has made me quite comfortable and quick with the myriad settings available on today’s DSLR.

So, as a learning experience in more ways than one, I can’t recommend this project enough for anyone who has a passion for photography and wants to improve and try new things. I can only hope that I continue to improve, and that the next 30 days are even better than the first.

See all my Project 365 photos on Flickr