halfway point, pt. 1
183/365 halfsies
Originally uploaded by embem30I realize that by titling this entry with a "pt. 1" I am implying that there will be a part 2 in the foreseeable future. While I've been negligent yet again on the blog front, I do have two posts in mind, which will hopefully get written before I become distracted or uninspired again.
The first halfway point that occurred recently was day 183/365. Since I began Project 365 on January 9, day 183 was Thursday, July 9. I'm working on the summer shows now, so the best way I could think to mark the occasion--and hopefully provide some suitable pictures--was to go out to dinner after work. Steve and I decided on Range, a restaurant in the neighborhood we've only eaten at a couple times. It's probably one of the fancier ones that's on our regular list, although being in San Francisco, it's still pretty casual.
I had sort of hoped to take a picture that some somewhat symbolic of being the halfway point or that used the number "183" somehow, but I wasn't feeling that creative. Instead, the dinner ended up having some nice dualities that made for a fitting caption at least.
As we usually do, Steve and I decided to order mostly small plates and split them all (see? half!). We looked over the menu and decided on 3 appetizers (a halibut tartare, an artichoke salad, and a goat cheese ravioli), 1 entree (the pork trifecta), and 2 desserts (a stone fruit cobbler and a strawberry tart with creme fraiche). Everything was really good, although my favorites were the ravioli and the strawberry tart. The pork trifecta wasn't my favorite, but it's more Steve's thing anyway.
The funny part was that we were sitting next to a couple of women who were about a course or two behind us in their meal. When they were ordering, we couldn't help but overhear them. The waiter noticed it too and commented: they were ordering the exact same appetizers to share as we did, and they settled on the pork trifecta as well after the waiter described it to them. I don't think they realized it until their second pair of plates arrived, but they did eventually comment to us on the coincidence. By that point, we were eating our desserts, so I informed them that we had ordered the first two on the menu, just in case they wanted to continue the trend. We were finished before they got that far, but I'd like to think that they got the same desserts as us as well.
So that takes care of the story of the Project 365 halfway point picture, but I thought it would be a good time to reflect on some of the things I've learned so far by doing this picture-a-day thing.
For starters, it's gotten me to take a lot more pictures. There are plenty of shots that I would never have taken if I hadn't been forced to take a picture each day. Part of it is probably that I take my camera with me a lot more often and make the effort to get it out to take the shot if I think it will be remotely interesting. More pictures mean better chances for good photos.
Of course with Project 365, having a lot of good pictures one day means nothing for the next day. Sure, I post all the good ones to Flickr anyway, but only one can be the picture of the day. The next day, I start over and still have to take a new picture. There's a temptation to stop taking pictures once I have one that I think I like, but I've learned that it's usually better to keep shooting if more/better ideas come, rather than trying to stockpile ideas for a "rainy day." I still try to keep things in mind that I could photograph close to home, just in case I feel incredibly uninspired, but if I go out to take a picture of one thing and see something else, it's usually worth it to switch gears and give myself more choices later. The surprise shots are often much better than the ones I set out to take in the first place.
In giving myself more choices, I've noticed that I'm getting a little more picky about the pictures I'll post on Flickr. I'm probably posting close to the same amount overall than I did when I took fewer pictures. That may mean that events like the Fourth of July get less complete coverage, leaving holes in the day where I didn't much like the pictures I took, but it makes my Flickr page cleaner. Unless it's my only choice for a picture on a certain day, I'm not posting a picture that I don't love. (The exception to that rule: meals in good restaurants. I like to chronicle all the dishes we had so I can go back to them later.)
While the general quality of the pictures is going up (I hope), I think I'm also getting better at editing the images in Lightroom. I know I'm still not using the program to its full potential, but I am more comfortable with it. I've collected a few sets of Lightroom presets (one-click setting adjustments to give a shot a certain look) from some of my favorite Flickr contacts, and those have been really useful. Steve makes fun of me for paying for them, but they've also made me aware of how to do more in Lightroom as I watch what some of them do to the various sliders.
Has the project been super easy all the time? Definitely not. There have been a lot of days when I've wondered around the house aimlessly, looking for something, anything, that catches my eye to photograph. I can look at all my 365 pictures and see the ones for days when I settled for "meh" because it was the best I could do. Now that I'm working for the summer, I don't have the time or energy to go on so many special photo outings, and the places I go a lot don't inspire me so much anymore. I've taken a whole lot of pictures on the way to Noe Valley or around the neighborhood or in the park next to the house. I've also photographed most of the food that Steve makes regularly. I've discovered new spots in the house to take pictures of food and other random things, but I've also started to get pretty bored with using those as backgrounds. (I'm looking forward to getting a new dining room table... whenever that is.)
I have my arsenal of standard subjects: dinner, flowers, baked goods, the occasional neighborhood cat, restaurants, stores, and random things around my house. Now the challenge is to try to keep things fresh, branch out when possible, and continue to raise the standards in terms of quality. I know that my pictures are better than a lot of the stuff on Flickr, but I also know for a fact that they are plenty of photographers there that are much better than me. No pressure...
Despite the occasional ennui, Project 365 has been very enjoyable so far. I'm very happy with most of the pictures I've taken, and I'm sure there will be many more good ones to come in the second half.