Kristen Olson Photography

Two and a half years ago, I started a photography project — a 365 project, which I had seen others do and thought it would be fun to try. The ‘rules’ I gave myself were to take a picture every single day for 365 days, and for a twist, I decided each photo had to have a word somewhere in it. I posted all of the photos on a blog, and I’m happy to say I only missed two days in that entire year. Here are a few of the shots I took:

When it was over, I was a bit relieved — I mean, it had been quite a bit of work! But, it was also quite fun and looking back at the photos is pretty neat. I took photos of ordinary things that I never, ever would have photographed, and there’s something really cool about that. And, after a solid year of daily shooting, it had become a very normal part of my day and when it was done, I missed it! So, I gave myself a little break, and about a month after my first project ended, I started a new one, my “Random 365.”

This time I was a lot more flexible. My only real goal was to post a photo every day, but exactly what photo I posted was completely flexible. I used new photos, old photos, photos with/without words… much less challenging. I posted those on a blog, too. BUT, although I liked this project as well, I will say that I was much less attached to this project… maybe because it was less work, I invested less in it, I’m not sure… Oh, and it didn’t help that the project was interrupted by the very busiest time of my life, EVER. So this one made it about half-way through — I ended it after Day 177. That was really okay with me, honestly. Here are some of the shots I posted for that project:

Now, a year later, I’ve been missing the 365 thing. Although life is about to get incredibly busy again, I dare say I’m contemplating starting something up again… Something with words again? Or self-portraits? (Now THAT would be a stretch for me… yikes!) Or something else? ………. I guess we’ll see