Somewhere fairly random in New Minas, Nova Scotia. Nikon D7000, quick fiddle in Photshop. Boom. #maximisingmylunchbreak

A couple of shots of Dayspring, Nova Scotia. I’ve got to admit, I’m no huge fan of Bridgewater. However, I took a short drive to Dayspring on my lunch break and I love the place! So full of character. Next time I’m working in Bridgewater I’m definitely bringing the D7000 with me for some lunchtime/post-work shooting!

Anybody who has been, for some bizarre reason, following this page over the last couple of months will be aware that I was trying to take (and post) one picture a day for all of 2012. You may also be aware that it has been a little while since my last update. I have still been dutifully snapping away like a mother-bitch, and I’ve got a backlog of 366 material for almost every day of my period of silence.

Almost every day. Earlier this week, there were two days where I failed to take a picture. If it was one day, or even two non-consecutive days, I probably would’ve cheated and carried on but two days in a row? I think that tells me something. After all, it’s not like I forgot to do it. I didn’t.

My commitment has already, if I’m honest, wavered several times throughout the project. My main problem? That I don’t do anything interesting at the moment. I get up, get in the car, drive for an hour and ten minutes, sit in a mall for 8 hours, drive home, eat supper…and that’s about it. When I’m done eating, I generally think “oh shit, I haven’t taken my picture yet today” and try desperately to find something to take an interesting picture of. The weather has generally been too cold/snowy/rainy to get outside so my pictures have represented increasingly desperate attempts to make something interesting out of whatever is laying around the house. This kind of exercise is definitely worthwhile every now and then for any photographer. It challenges you and helps you to consider composition and think out of the box. But not every day. If your doing this sort of thing every day then you’re, frankly, clutching at straws.

I started the 366 Project because I wanted to take more photographs. I didn’t want to document a year of my life, find things about myself through photographic exploration, or prove anything to myself by sticking to something for a full year. I just wanted to take more pictures. And I wanted to make them interesting. So this is why I’m thinking that it’s time to let this thing die a quiet, dignified death. It’s serving it’s purpose in as much as I’m taking more pictures, but I’m not taking anything interesting. I’m also not coping very well with the pressures of absolutely having to take a picture that day. Or of remembering to charge my camera battery. Or tidy up my memory card. Or upload my pictures.

So instead of adding yet another admin job to my life, I’m just going to relax, take as many pictures as I can and create the photographs that I want. No more pressure, no more forcing myself to take a picture every day, even if it’s just of the floor. I’m just going to get back to doing what made me fall in love with photography in the first place…doing it for me.

You look how I feel.

You know that fog you sometimes get after a long day of work?

Walk in the woods.

Second cheat day.

Holy lens distortion, Batman!