The 100 Day Project – Finding my Love of Photography again.

I’m doing The 100 Day Project. And here’s why.
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In 2012, I bought my first “real” camera. I had always wanted to learn to be a photographer but didn’t think I could be any good at it. The first day I took over 500 photos. It was pure joy!

I took my camera everywhere with me. I learned to do fancy editing like the pros and eventually graduated to a better camera and lots of lenses! I cannot even describe the excitement I felt when I bought or rented a new lens! My camera and those lenses made me feel ALIVE!

Until they didn’t.

Somewhere along the way I lost my Love of photography. I don’t think I properly protected that Love. I didn’t keep her close and nurture her they way she was nurturing me. I could tell you all the ways I abused her (and yes, I know that is a strong word but I believe it is fitting) but you could probably name them yourself. So I’ll just leave it at Neglect combined with Overuse for the wrong reasons. That’s it. That’s all it took to destroy something that was pure and sweet and innocent. I’ve decided to see if I can repair my Love of photography. Bring her back to life and back to me.

The 100 Day Project is a free art project that takes place online. Every year, thousands of people all around the world commit to 100 days of exploring their creativity. Anyone can join. The idea is simple: choose a project, do it every day for 100 days, and share your process on Instagram with the hashtag #The100DayProject. You can read more about it here. The project officially started February 13, 2022. I started on that day too but will be posting a day or two behind as I go along. You can jump in whenever you want to. It’s never too late.

Here are the rules I’ve set for myself.

1. Daily Solo Walk of any duration. I love to walk! Alone or with my dogs, Skeeter and Maya. (I tossed in a picture below so you could see how much they enjoy their daily walks!) I am adding the word solo because I always make time to take my dogs for a walk, but rarely make time to walk alone. Since this project is about me, my first rule is my walk has to be solo. It can be 10 minutes, an hour, or any duration that I’m in the mood for. It all counts!
2. Daily Photo taken on my walk. Take a photo on my walk. I’m going to be using my iPhone 12 Pro because it’s easy, always with me, and it takes great photos. I love my “real” cameras and lenses, but this isn’t the project for them. Maybe they can be part of next year’s project.
3. Creative fun editing or no editing of the photos allowed. It depends on my mood. I’ll be using Lightroom Mobile on my phone when the editing bug strikes me.
4. No overthinking or judgment of the photos, my walks or myself! I’ve already run into this taking my first couple of photos. Instead of taking what caught my eye and emotion, I ran it through the filter of “oh that doesn’t look cool,” “oh that’s too sad,” “what will people think if I take that photo,” STOP! I told my mind to STOP. Take the picture. See where it leads. TRUST my impulses. It’s the only way this project has any chance of working.

That’s it. Those are the rules I have created for my #100dayproject. And although this my sound silly, I’m afraid to commit to this. I’m afraid that I won’t keep it up. I’m afraid of what I will start to see revealed in my photos and posts. But I’m not going to let fear keep me from moving ahead. I’m doing this for me. For me! No specific outcome in mind. Curiosity has assured me that She will be my guide. She will help me find my way back to Love of Photography. I trust her.

If you want to follow along, you can find me on Instagram at GentlyDoWhatIsRightForYou. Or you can follow my blog. I’ll be doing a weekly post summarizing my Daily Walk Daily Photo adventures.

As promised above, here is a pic of Skeeter and Maya reveling in their daily walk.

P.S. You can see some of my photography that I have taken over the years here.

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