D 250 - Twisted by the pool

This swimming pool was a ruin even when it still worked.

D 222 - Rainy days

Funny case.
It looked great through my bare eyes, then it looked poor on the mobile phone LCD, but after spicing it up in Lightroom it looks good again.

D 218 - Towards the light

Fooling around with 300mm (x2 crop) focal length.

D 217 - Wrinkles

Accidental head turn.

D 184 - Ablaze

Another photo of a big fire.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442.
RAW edited in Lightroom.

D 183 - Half Way There

Abstract composition of a ceiling lamp and a photo on the wall.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442.
RAW edited in Lightroom.

What I learned

So, this is it. It's summer solstice and I am half way through my Project 365.

What do I like about it so far?
It pushed my photography forward and made me shoot some great photos. It helped me explore new areas which I neglected before.

How my photography changed?
Only recently I stopped shooting compulsively. I became more critical about what I photograph. This resulted in not making dozen shots of a single object.

That's a good thing since I used to shoot the same frame many times looking for technical excellence (perfect sharpness, exposure triangle, metering and framing) which gave me several compositionally identical photographs.

Now I circle around a subjects, moving up, down, closer and further. I control myself not to shot an interesting snapshot until I work it out to be a good photograph. If I can't find a satisfactory angle of an interesting object, I force myself to leave it be and don't photograph it at that moment.

This is what I mean by compulsory shooting. I used to think that if I waste a single photographic opportunity I will loose something. No I know that I will truly waste the opportunity if I don't stop and try to make the shot. Whether I press the shutter or not is irrelevant in the long run. I could learn just as much and develop my skills equally if I only walked around with a viewfinder and a light-meter.

Let's imagine a situation when I have my camera holstered and see a funny situation on the street. I grab the camera, turn it on and press the viewfinder to my right eye. I adjust the zoom and check the shutter speed at preset aperture and ISO. Then I tilt and turn the camera a bit to improve the frame and composition. The scene doesn't usually look as good in the camera as it does in 3D but the funny situation won't last forever so I take the not-so-good photo because otherwise the opportunity would be wasted. I end up with a mediocre photo which I copy to my disk and soon forget about it.

That would be just a waste of shutter and disk space. So now I control myself not to take such a photograph. And I loose nothing because of it.

D 181 - Old Shed Door

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Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442.
RAW edited in Lightroom.

D 180 - Night Stripes

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Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442.
RAW edited in Lightroom.

D 169 - Bus Reject

If you pay attention, you can spot water in a ditch between the road and this old bus stop.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442.
RAW edited in Lightroom.

What I learned

Recently my Project 365 with a photo-every-day turns more into photos-every-weekend with occasional shot made during the week.

But I don't worry. I'm not even half way down the project and I already feel my work becoming more to my liking, taking some shape. Not distinct enough to call it a name but just enough to feel it's presence.

D 168 - Swingallows

And sometimes a night can look like a day.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442.
RAW edited in Lightroom.

D 164 - Twist

A slightly overcomplicated ceiling.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442.

D 163 - A Cherub

One of the new fountains at Piotrkowska street, main commercial alley, in my city.

Equipment

w810i
Corrected and turned monochrome in Lightroom.

What I learned

Again: "Your best camera is the one you have with you". After Chase Jarvis.

D 162 - Crane

Long tele-lens shot from my window.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442.
RAW developed in Lightroom.

D 161 - Urban Planning

View from a backyard just next to my house.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442.
RAW developed in Lightroom.

D 160 - A Cell

Part of a corridor in my house.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442.

D 159 - Another World

Reflection in a traffic jam.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442.
RAW developed in Lightroom.

D 158 - Tower

Detached from other buildings this red brick tower stands in a back alley of an industrial complex with it's roof collapsed and bricks forming a heap seen through a window some 20 feet above ground.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442.
RAW developed in Lightroom.

D 157 - Point!

Another photo from an old industrial complex.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442.
RAW edited in Lightroom.

D 156 - Typing Machine

Another neglected and abandoned factory in my city. A large lot in front of it looks like some old foundations covered with soil and weeds.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442.
RAW edited in Lightroom.

D 154 - Trailer / Park

Another kindergarten shot. I spotted this lonely trailer on a desolate lot behind a new house from D 149. Then I found a satisfactory angle to shoot it from the kindergarten window.

Equipment

E-510 with ZD1442.
RAW edited in Lightroom.

What I learned

I'm more and more happy with my new, critical attitude toward making photos.
I don't take quick snapshots. I respect every shot like if I had a film with limited capacity loaded into the camera body.

As a result I come home with three to eight shots, each of them workable, some half of them interesting to my eye even after the first enthusiasm passes.

I don't get the nasty feeling I used to, when I look at my photos on PC and wonder: 'What the hell did I see in this frame when I pressed the shutter?'.