We first heard about “Project 365” on a Podcacher podcast back in 2007. The idea behind this photography project is to take at least one photo each day of the year and to select one photo to share online – with family, friends or anyone with access to the internet. Sonny and Sandy, co-hosts of Podcacher, have created two flickr groups: Podcacher Project 365 and Podcacher Project 365ish (for those not quite able to commit to a photo a day). Although we haven’t joined these flickr groups, we have posted our Project 365(ish) photos on flickr since 2009, most recently our photo set for 2011.

There are lots of options for taking part, including a Project 365 app for iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. 365 Project boasts more than 70,000 members and includes weekly challenges, online forums that offer support to get your going and to keep you motivated, etc.

Looking back at the photos posted to our 2009 through 2011 photo sets, the majority are nature, landscape and still life photos. There are some pictures of our family, but those are in the minority, reflecting our on-going hesitation to share too much of our lives with the world-at-large. So our Project 365(ish) participation isn’t quite true to the underlying concept: create a photographic record of your life over a year. But it strikes the right balance for us.

Looking back, our participation rate has been steadily declinging:

• 2009 – 365 photos (100%)
• 2010 – 313 photos (86%)
• 2011 – 265 photos (73%)

We’re definitely in the Project 365(ish) camp at the moment. Hopefully, with our whole home renovation project pretty much behind us, our participation rate will improve in 2012.

There have been past discussions about Project 365 on the Podcacher forums. Here are some of the thoughts we shared there about a year ago:

• We take a lot of pictures at home or when out walking near our house, which means we are always looking for the little, interesting details that we otherwise might not notice
• Mrs. GeoK, in particular, has become a more confident photographer, but still hase’t mastered all the capabilities of her Olympus E-PL1
• We try (but don’t always manage) to post a good mix of people pictures and object pictures, as a mix of both helps to better tell the story of our year
• We’re not afraid to ask a passerby to take a photo that includes us if we’re the only one at a particular spot that day, and we don’t hesitate to post this as our photo of the day.
• Try not to get discouraged, and if you find Project 365 becoming a chore, change your perspective, use a different camera for a few days or get a theme (a colour, an particular type of object, peoples’ hands, etc.) going for a week or so to get you through your lull. The reward of being able to go back and look at your whole year through the lens of one picture a day is definitely worth it!!

It’s time to take our own advice and start 2012 with a challenge: for the next week or so, we’re going to search out vibrant colours in the Canadian winter. We’ll post a link to our 2012 photo set later in January, along with an update on how we’re doing with 2012’s Project 365(ish?).