Photo from 365project.org website

I’ve sorted a few things out and am gearing up for a Sept. 1, 2010 launch of my 365Project.

Check out the new site for the details.

I arrived a bit early for an appointment this morning.  While I waited in the car, I noticed this little guy:

Kinda glad I had the camera with me.

Photo from 365project.org website

On the way home from work, I thought about the 365Project a bit more.  I have resolved a few things and brought up a few more.

Photo Hosting:  I think, for now, I’ll continue to host my photos on Flickr.  When I get my pro account later this year, that will give me enough space and freedom to not worry about the 200 photo limit imposed by the free account.

Lightroom vs Photoshop:  For now, I’ll stick with Lightroom.  With 98% of the post-processing power I need and the ability to store, import, catalog and maintain all of my photos in one application, I don’t feel the need to rely on Photoshop CS5.  Maybe that will change during the year, we’ll see.

Where to Hold the Project:  This is one of the new things that I thought about.  I’ve thought about housing it completely in Flickr, but quickly dismissed that as I want more control over the “presentation”.  Because of that, I think I’ve also pretty much eliminated most of the online free services as well.  And since I’ve already spent a bunch of money simply getting the camera, I don’t think I want to spend any additional money for monthly hosting fees.

So that brings me to hosting it myself.  I can do that simply enough, right here in this blog, but honestly this blog has started to become all about photos and not about myself, or tech, or any of the other things I set out wanting it to be.  No, I think I want the 365project to be a completely different entity.  This means a sub-domain and the software to do the posting.  To start off, I think I’ll simply create another WordPressblog and use a different, minimal-type theme in dark and dedicate it solely to presenting the photos, thoughts, inspirations and struggles of the project.

Doing it this way, I honestly think it’ll only need one plugin – the Flickr Gallery.  Again, time will tell, but I think that’s where I’m starting.

When to Start:  Speaking of starting, that’s the next thing I need to decide.  I definitely have to wait until the new site is up, but that really will only take a day or two.  Should I start Sept 1?  Should I wait until 2011?  I’m still wresting with that, but I don’t think I want to wait until next year.  I’ll think about that a bit more.

Workflow:  I still need to decide on this.  My biggest concern is backups and how/where to store the photos long term.

I’ve got a lot to think about still, but I’m ready to get foundation built.  Stay tuned here for links to the project site.  I really hope this works out.

Photo from 365project.org website

So I’ve been thinking about starting a Photo 365Project - basically taking a picture a day and posting it.

I think this will do a couple of things for me.  First is will get me familiar with my camera.  This should also have the side effect of making me faster because over time I’ll be fussing less with camera settings.  Second at the very least, taking one picture a day should improve my photography skills.  Additionally, and the primary goal of the 365Project, it will allow me to remember things that have happened over an entire year.  And finally it will (hopefully) get me in the proper mindset to finish SOMETHING that I start.

That last thing alone is worth me doing the project.  You see I’ve always had the ability to start something – put a lot of effort into it and then loose intrest in it.  My hope and goal is that this project will not be one of those things that slip to the side.

I’ve got to get a few things in order first – like my photographic work flow.  I need to be able to assure myself that all the work that I plan on putting into this project will not go up in smoke with a power blink at home.

So I need to sort a few things out and then I’ll start.  But I need help from those of you who are still watching this blog.  I’ll need you guys and gals to encourage me and better still, nag me when I fall behind in posting the pictures.

First thing on the list:  Find a way to allow this blog to host the images.  After that I need to decide on Lightroom or Photoshop for post-processing.

Image from the Web

Last month I took nearly 1300 pictures with a borrowed camera.  I’m expecting my very own camera later this week which I think will lead to another spree of pictures being taken.  I know, over time, that I’ll be collecting a ton of pictures.  Which has got me thinking about how to deal with them.

Currently, I’m using Adobe Lightroom to import and post process the pictures.  The import process takes the pictures off of the memory card and places them into folders on my PC based on the date they were taken.  As I look at and process these pictures, the really good ones – the ones I intended to upload to Flickr and talk about here - I place into a “touch up” folder and then use the Flickr Uploadr to post them to my Flickr photostream.

This weekend I did my first real backup of them – just because I felt guilty about not having a plan already in place.  Which is why I’m writing this post.  I’m having a hard time completely working through that plan.  I’m getting stuck at the part of “Do I keep ALL of the pictures?”  Part of me says “Yes.”, and the other parts keeps asking “Why?”.

The other part of the workflow problem, which can be linked into backups in a way, is where to I house my images when I put them on the web.  I mean I do have my own webserver!  It seems like I should be able to come up with some open source software that will let me add a “Flickr-like” section to my wbesite.  But nothing that I have tried has made me happy yet.  (I’ve only been looking at WordPress plugins so far.) 

I know I hear people screaming already: “Gallery!!!”

But Gallery has never really impressed me.  Yeah, I can upload pictures and have people look at them, but there’s a crudeness to Gallery that I simply can’t get over.  Not being a very apt web dude, I can’t seem to blend it into my blog seamlessly enough for people not to notice.  I really wish there were more apps like Gallery so I had more of a choice.

I guess for now, I’ll simply use the external hard drive for backups and Flickr for presentation.  But I know there has to be more elegant solutions for both issues.

Image from Canon's Website

Well, I will in a few days time…

Yesterday, my mother and sister bought me a camera kit.  I can’t wait until it arrives…I’m so stoked.

I found the kit on the forums of Digital Photography School.  A guy from West Virginia had just upgraded to the Canon 5D and was selling his Canon Rebel XSi that he no longer needed.

The kit included the camera, the kit lens, 4 batteries, a battery grip and a 4GB memory card.  I think that’s a very good start for my camera equipment.  Add a couple of lenses to that list later on and I’ll probably be set for a very long time.  I’m hoping that it arrives before this weekend so I can have a weekend photo shoot.

Went back to Thoroughbred Park the other day at lunch…took a few pictures.  Here’s the best one of that bunch.

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