three sixty five

*Deep breath* I can't believe I'm about to commit myself to this...but I think I'm going to attempt to take a picture every day for the next year. 365 photos from 365 days.

Three hundred. And sixty five.

I'm not really sure how this is going to look for me blog-wise, whether I'll post a picture a day (so very HIGHLY unlikely, haha) or sum up at the end of the week, or maybe just post my favorites at the end of the month...or maybe scrap this blog altogether and start a tumblr, where it seems more...acceptable (?) to just upload a picture a day. I really don't know. And I'm just going to let it grow and develop on it's own, so we'll see what happens.

But I'm kind of getting ahead of myself here. This past weekend, I did something so completely out of character that I'm still shocked with myself about it today. Ryan and I went to our local photo/camera store to get a print made of that picture of Drake in the dog park that I took with my Diana camera, and I walked out with a brand new DSLR camera in tow.
Can you believe it?!

(really terrible photo) Here it is! My Canon SL1.
The smallest and lightest DSLR, perfect for my little hands :)

Actually, that makes it sound much more spontaneous than what it was. You see, I've been wanting a nice camera for years. And I've been researching them more seriously the past several months. I knew the camera that I wanted. But I just couldn't bring myself to spend that kind of money on myself. Not that we are hurting for money right now, but even with Ryan's steady income and my measly contribution we want to continue to be smart with our money. We're trying to build up our savings account (which was non-existent just a few short months ago) to have a little bumper in case of emergencies. And OF COURSE, we're saving up to buy a VW camper van. In short, we are trying to not spend when we don't have to. So I just couldn't do it. I couldn't bring myself to buy it. And then I got an email about my rewards points that I've been building up since I was 19 with my trusty old credit card. And there was my loophole :)

We went to Nelson photo knowing that I was going to look at the camera while I was there. You know, actually get to hold it and see how it felt in my hands. But neither of us expected me to really go through with finally buying it. Like I said...I'm still kind of in shock. But I'm thrilled with my new purchase. I have a pretty good grasp on the concepts of photography...composition, exposure, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc. But I wasn't able to practice most of that knowledge with my point and shoot. With this camera, I actually have control of all those things. So I'm just...really excited about it.

See how perfectly it fits my hands?
Don't worry, this is a one time deal. This new project does not mean
I'm now in the business of taking selfies in the bathroom mirror.

I'm rambling now. Anyways...

My purpose behind this 365 project is to mostly improve my photography skills and to get to know my new camera :) And similarly to this blog, I think it'll be a great way to document our lives. Next year, 5 years, and even 10 years from now, I know I'll enjoy looking back on all these photos.

I also know this challenge is going to be just that...a CHALLENGE. Yeah, taking a picture every day doesn't seem like much work. But doing it with the hope of improving my skills means that I'll want to be a bit more intentional with each shot and I'll need to step outside my comfort zone and look for variety. I have taken a vow to not use my camera in auto mode, so I'm hoping this will help me to feel more comfortable in manual for all situations and be able to quickly identify when I need to increase my shutter speed or decrease the aperture, etc. This challenge also means I'll need to carry my camera with me all the time. I'm already fairly good with this, because the first rule of lomography is to take your camera with you everywhere. I'm pretty good at toting my Diana around (love that little camera, even the mention of 'er makes me smile) so now I'll just have to start carrying something a tad bit heavier. But I think the hardest part about this will be staying inspired. It's pretty easy to want to take a photograph when you're on vacation (which is never me, who am I kidding?) or doing something fun, but what about those days where I'm just doing dishes and making dinner? What about those days when the nanny-child doesn't want to nap and then I go home and re-heat some leftovers for dinner? Those days it'll be hard to find the inspiration for a photo. But in a strange way, I'm kind of looking forward to those days the most. I think that's where I'll do most of my growing.

My goodness, this has been a wordy post. To sum up: I got a new camera and for the next year you all will get to see a whole bunch of pictures of Drake.

Currently on the record player: Led Zepplin, Presence