Project #365Photo : First Month

One of the goals i decided to work on this year is doing a photo a day project,which consists of taking a photo a day for an entire year,and submitting it online. as much fun as that sounds it turned out to be not a very easy thing to do,and i say this and i have been taking photographs since 2003.

i must admit i knew this is going to be a hard task,but reading this post made me go ahead and take the challenge, as mentioned in the post,use your iPhone,and instagram, that sounded easy enough for me to go ahead and do it, i managed to pull it out to the end of January.

The initial goal for me from this project was to train my self how to compose photographs that are not rectangular but rather square,which is used by instagram,the point from this goal is to give my self the ability to think outside of what i have learned from bigger cameras like My Nikon D300s, and the square frame by it self breaks many of the rules in photography that many consider fundamental in this hobby.

i will be posting a monthly digest including what i have learned from the journey so far,and share the photos that i took in that particular month.

What i realized so far includes:

- The Second you think of doing something as a duty,it becomes a burden.

- Deciding that i should use only iPhone camera in this project,was not the smartest idea,even though it sounded an easier way out in my head.

- At the Beginning, my plan was to gather ideas for the photo until the end of the day,and take it when i am sure i won't come up with any other.

-later through the month,i decided,if its a good photo,snap away and upload immediately,if you found another, and it can be taken another day,i can do that,if its not to be missed,then shoot it and upload it,it doesn't have to be part of the #365photo project.

-Instagram,even though it was intended to make photography through iPhone easier,after awhile you realize how restrictive it makes you,especially if you are an avid SLR user. don't get me wrong,its an awesome app that makes taken an artistically looking photo a breeze,but some times you can't help it but to think of what you would have done if it was more capable.

-the square frame,will definitely makes you think completely differently about you compose your photographs,its quite a challenge.

-it does take you in a beautiful journey in rediscovering your surroundings.

-if you wait until its really late in the day,you probably gonna end up with a horrible "let me just get it over with" kinda photo.

-i reached a point many days,where my main object was not the photo,but rather for it to be shot in the same calendar day as it supposed to be,which came many times on the expense of the quality and composition of the photo.

-Relax,take it easy,you will end up doing a lot better when you are.

Now for the photos!

#day1

#day2

#day3

#day4

#day5

#day6

#day7

#day8

#day9

#day10

#day11

#day12

#day13

#day14

#day15

#day16

#day17

#day18

#day19

#day20

#day21

#day22

#day23

#day24

#day25

#day26

#day27

#day28

#day29

#day30

#day31

-Another thing i learned from this very post, iPhone Digital Zoom Sucks.

i bet all of you who follow my photography think this is horrible compared to what i do with my Nikon,i can only say its a learning curve,and i hope with time things improve to better,so stay tuned!

Which one is your favorite? any tips,advice?


P.S. we are aware that this year is a leap year,the hashtag was intentionally made into 365 to correlate with the whole concept of the project which many might miss in case they forgot its a leap year,the totally outcome of this project will be 366 photos after all.

Enjoy 2012!

Parenting impacts : A Short story.

Reading through some parenting books,I've came across some advices that tell you how to treat your kid and how not.

One of the things that rang a bell with me was "Never address a kids mistakes or short comes with titles "bad boy" or "Naughty" or anything that addresses HIM, but to address his mistake,or behavior as wrong,or inappropriate, this way the kid will understand that the shortcoming is with his behavior,which can be corrected,and not with him, addressing him with for his behavior will build up with time for him to believe that the problem is something he is born with,he cannot be fixed,which might lead to catastrophic results.

A Memory that lives within me,a personal experience that was of affect on me for a long time.

it was one of those big family barbecues, everyone is enjoying his shish kabob and basmati rice,everyone is socializing and having a good time, dinner is over, people are sitting and chitchatting,watching TV and enjoying dessert.
my father called my name,and asked me to pour water on the burning charcoal used for the grill.
his words were "pour the water on the charcoal and extinguish the flame"
i was 13-14 years old at that time,i nodded and brought a water filled jug and started to pour the water on the charcoal.

A Shout : "NOT LIKE THAT YOU DUMB", a wave of cracking laughter followed,my father came and snatched the jug from my hand angrily and with a disappointed yet pissed tone he said,"i don't know when will you learn to do something right!"

i was very embarrassed and stunned,i was wondering what did i do so wrongly,to deserve to be humiliated this way.

my father holding the jug now,poured the water on the open palm of his left hand so that water gets dispersed fanned out with the fingers pattern so it covers all the charcoals while the water pours,and not as a single stream of water like we pour into a cup.

looking at him,i understood what he meant,the charcoaled is no longer burning, and a teenage kid is wondering how the hell was i supposed to know this if i was not taught before?

Sure,i know my father wants whats best for me,i love my father,he is the reason why i am who i am as we speak now,i bet dear dad doesn't even remembers that incident and probably will think i am making all this up.

yet,what happened that day never left my memory,it became of those moments that perpetually came back to me to remind me of things i was not supposed to remember,it flashed in front of me the second i read that paragraph in the book,it was not an easily forgettable incident,especially when you are surrounded by a family that loves sarcasm,and roasting someone makes their day.

its tiny moments like these,that you,parents (and i stand among you) do, without even thinking it would sink this deep into your kids mind,that shapes his emotional health.

remember that,folks,and please think before you speak to your kid.