What a long, strange trip it has been! I really can't believe I made it through 365 days of self-portraits without missing one single day. Honestly, when I started this project, I didn't believe I would finish it. I started just playing around with it, taking arms-length snapshots with my compact Olympus point and shoot. But then, it became an obsession (note that I have upgraded cameras twice during the project). A friend told me that she thought the idea of taking one's picture everyday was a bit egotistical. Anyone that has worked on a 365days project knows that is not the case. Most of us started this actually hating to have our picture taken. What Project 365 is really about is making yourself use your camera every single day. And in shooting the same subject every day (yourself, a model who is always readily available), you are forced to get a little more creative. There are only so many arms length SPs you can bear to look at before you start thinking of new ideas for props and composition, start playing around with camera settings, and start experimenting with post processing. In other words, by using my camera regularly and finding new camera settings and thinking of more creative ideas, I was teaching myself the basic tenets of photography. In no way do I think that I've come close to mastering photography, but I can honestly say that I have come out of this a better photographer than I was when I started. And perhaps more importantly, I have discovered a passion for photography that has truly enriched my life. I'll paraphrase Nick (a/k/a Programmerman) here, because he said what I am trying to say much better and much more succinctly that I have tried to do above: I went into this a girl with a camera, and I came out a photographer. To everyone that has taken the time to comment on my photostream, and to everyone that has continued to inspire me with their own Project 365, I owe you a debt of gratitude for keeping me going. And a big thank you for helping me to discover a love for photography. See you tomorrow with my plus one and my statistical summary, since it's a leap year and all.

299/365 ... thank you all so much. Can you see the dragon? Good 'ol food colouring and water and viola... mug art. My hands are stained all different colours, but it was worth it. They didn't come out as crisp as I would have liked... but then again, I was using computer paper against my purse as a backdrop. Improv right? Mugs up my friends. ODC: MUG 3/17/11