It's a Wrap

I didn't know, when I started this project, that it would develop into a two year commitment--one to take the photographs, and a second to try to explain them.

The building's the local Masonic temple, which is a rather ugly structure wrapped in tin siding. It sits on the edge of Mulliken's downtown park and presents park visitors with a large and forbidding wall, broken only by a door, a single window, and this fire escape.

I'd decided months before that the escape would be the last 366 Snaps photo subject. So a year ago I headed downtown to find a couple dozen photos from a variety of angles.

Please take note of the ice....

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A Photo a Day: advice

* Set some simple rules. Just getting out there to take a photograph is hard, some days. Adding a layer of complexity is unwise.
* Take photos early in the day. You may well take/post a better photograph later in the day, but at least you'll have something to work with if the day heads south.
* Budget time. Between taking the photographs and processing them I usually spent 45 to 90 minutes each day on 366 Snaps. Some days were quicker, of course; some were slow.
* Create sub-projects. These give you fallbacks for the dull days.
* Scout out locations. Every day. These give you fallbacks for the dull days.
* Experiment. Be creative. This goes without saying. But it means different things to different photographers.
* Boredom is the enemy. Shoot anyway.
* Busy-ness is the enemy. Shoot anyway.
* If you miss a day, keep shooting anyway. This isn't a test, it's a project.
* The last month is hard. Everyone I've followed during a daily shoot project reports this. I'm confirming it.
* Some days you won't be happy with your daily photo. Those days you need to just go with what you've got. And learn from the mistake.

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Would I do it again? Yeah. With even fewer rules.

But not starting tomorrow. I've got some non-photographic projects I've been neglecting.

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This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps.

Number of project photos taken: 24
Title of "roll:" Fire Escape
Other photos taken on 12/31/2012: I spent much of the day playing with a lens adapter--attaching various Minolta lenses to my Nikon D300. The results were interesting, but in the end I concluded it wasn't a gain as my Minolta lens kit's much like my Nikon lens kit.