Maine based family and wedding photographer

Happy New Year Everyone! I can’t believe I am saying this … but the 365 Photo Project is complete. I did it! My year-long personal project to take a professional photo every day for one year is complete! My goal was to take out my camera take photographs of our everyday moments every day. I know it sounds easy but to remember to take a photograph with my camera, download load, edit, and upload had its challenges.

I was so excited to show Geoff and the kids the finished project. We had such a great time looking at them and hearing the kids reactions to each photo. If you personally know me I get emotional and tears were streaming down my face noticing how much they have grown in a year. This project taught me to slow down and focus on my family.

I am not going to lie there were days I would come home working a wedding or a long day at work I would come home to no light, kids asleep and I would want to sit down and do nothing but I didn’t. . The winter months created some dull and challenging lighting which made me work harder as a photographer. I feel these moments have made me become a better photographer. I know not all of the photos are perfect but I am ok with that they are perfect to me.

To complete this project I had to set a timer on my phone for 7:45 pm. This was a daily reminder to make sure I had taken a photo and if not to go do it! t Most of the year I was good at doing a weekly and or daily upload and back up of images. Yet in the height of photo season, I had to schedule out 1 day a month in August and September to edit my photos. That one day a month wasn’t ideal but I am ok with it, I had to do what I had to do! On those nights Geoff would put the kids to bed and I would work on my project. It was sorta fun to treat my self as a client and set deadlines, edit and create an online gallery as well. The kids became invested in the project and would even give me reminders for their photos of the day and had some creative control of their photos.

Looking at our day to day life through this slideshow makes me realize how wonderful my life is. So many emotions are felt. Some highlights were a trip to Montreal, Flordia, and Prince Edwards Island, many moments exploring Maine land and sea, soccer and dance classes and mainly my kids being goofballs. Some days I had more motivation and went on an expedition to seak light and adventure while other days we had messy hair, boogers, and pjs. I hope one day my children can look back and see how much love I felt for them and share these images in years to come with other generations of our family. I am so proud of these little ones and myself for completing this. I have never done something for 365 days. I know I can it has given me a little more confidence in myself.

Fun fact there is 1 day I did have to post an iPhone pic. This summer on our boat with friends we ended having to much fun exploring a Maine island and our boat got washed up with the tide. We were supposed to be home around 3:30 so I left my camera at home but we had to wait for the tide to come in which was 11:30 pm so I had to resort to my phone and I was so happy to take that pic and my kids love that day and their rendition of that day is so funny to listen to.

My next goal is to make a photo book for myself and each kid and print my favs. Next Year I may do the 52 week challenge but to be honest, I still will leave the camera out on the counter and do a picture every day. One thing will be different for 2019 that I will let go of the guilt and rush if I didn’t get one. I bet in a few years I will do this again but if not I will love 2018 and this personal project.

I hope this inspires you to do one. You do not need to have a camera to take a photo per day take out your phone and curate images per year. But if you are a photographer or aspiring one this project will make you think outside the box and take time for your family. Thank you, Rourke and Onora for being good creative sports during this project I am so proud of both of you and can’t wait to continue to capture your life as long as I can.

Love and Joy

Siobhan