Alright, so I’ve started a new photo-a-day project for 2012. I know I failed at this last time, but I think it was because I was doing fairly detailed descriptions and lots of photo processing. I set my hopes too high for what I wanted each post to be and ended up being disappointed more than proud of what was being posted. So the enthusiasm kind of fizzled out.
A close friend of mine brought up the idea of doing a year-long photo-a-day project, and I liked the idea but knew that I’d need to do something different to be successful this time around. So for this new project, I’m simplifying the photo processing and upload process a bit by using my iPhone 4S and Instagram for every photo. I may do other editing in various apps before the photo hits Instagram’s processing, but everything will be done in my phone, meaning that taking and posting photos should take less time and be more portable.
And for descriptions? Well, this may be a little crazy, but six photos in, I’ve decided to write a haiku poem for each photo. I just went back today and wrote a haiku for each photo I’ve taken so far to see if it’s doable, and it was a lot of fun, so I’m hoping this new element will add more excitement to the project than dread. (You can see the haikus I wrote for the two photos above by rolling over them with your mouse, or by clicking and reading the Instagram comments.) I know writing haikus seems like it will really slow down the process, but since they’re such short little poems, I don’t think it’ll be too bad.
All of the photos will be posted and tagged on my Instagram feed, which you can find by username ryantoyota, or by searching for the #photohaikuaday tag as I seem to be the only one using it at the moment. If you’re not an Instagram user, or you’d like an easier way to view all the photos, I’ve set up a feed of the photos on Tumblr, although the photo quality isn’t quite what I’d like, so I recommend you click on the photos to see the images in full-quality on the Instagram pages. I’m also posting all of the photos to Google+, so you can follow my stream there or just view the whole gallery so far.
Well, here’s hoping this lasts longer than last time. I’m hopeful!
I will be watching with curious interest at how your project unfolds.
You can do it, Ryan! (And even if you don’t, what you’ve got so far is of such quality that I’m sure no one will mind.)